India is making a considerable effort to join commercial aviation's environmental effort, Civil Aviation DG Nasim Zaidi said at the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in Washington this month, with authorities committed to establishing a national inventory of carbon dioxide emissions for the sector (with a base year of 2005) along with programs compelling both airlines and airports to be more efficient and green.
The US Environmental Protection Agency, as expected, on Dec. 7 issued a formal finding that greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide emissions "threaten the public health and welfare of the American people," clearing the way for the agency to regulate a wide range of CO2-emitting industries, including aviation, under provisions of the Clean Air Act.
As airlines grapple with the challenges of implementing the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, it turns about that most passengers don't really care very much about offsetting their flights. Dutch bank ING's economic survey team interviewed travelers about their opinion on their CO2 output, asking if they cared about the environmental impact. According to the survey of 41,900 passengers, only 3% actively try to offset their emissions while a further 12% make a minor effort. A staggering 76% didn't care and 9% had no opinion.
ATW announced that the third annual Eco-Aviation Conference will be held June 22-24 at the Marriott Metro Center in Washington. Topics to be discussed will include the development and certification of alternative aviation fuels, the impact of potential EPA CO2 regulations and cap-and-trade legislation in Congress, preparing for and participating in the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, identifying and implementing operational and air traffic efficiencies, and other topics related to the industry's efforts to become greener.
Fifteen US and non-US airlines, under the umbrella of the Air Transport Assn., entered into MOUs with AltAir Fuels LLC and Rentech Inc. for the purchase of up to 325 million gal. of alternative fuel. The new fuel, which includes second-generation biojet and biodiesel, could begin flowing as early as the fourth quarter of 2012.
US Dept. of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Dept. of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced in early December the selection of 19 integrated biorefinery projects to receive up to $564 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate construction and operation of pilot, demonstration and commercial-scale facilities. The projects in 15 states will validate refining technologies and help lay the foundation for full commercial-scale development of a biomass industry in the US.
Nearly a year after it operated the first second-generation biofuel test flight, Air New Zealand continues to be focused on ensuring that "a material portion of its annual fuel use comes from sustainable second-generation sources," according to GM-Operations and Chief Pilot Dave Morgan.
UK Committee on Climate Change report published on Dec. 8 said that the country's aviation policy should be based on the assumption that demand growth between now and 2050 cannot exceed 60% if the UK is to meet the government's target that aviation emissions in 2050 must not exceed 2005 levels. The CCC said that left unchecked, aviation in the UK would grow by 200% by 2050.
Colgan Air and the Air Line Pilots Assn. issued contradictory findings regarding the cause of the February Q400 crash that killed 50 people near Buffalo. The airline said the pilots' "loss of situational awareness and failure to follow Colgan Air training and procedures," along with a lack of low-speed warnings from the aircraft, were the principal causes, while the union blamed the carrier for inadequate training ( ATWOnline, May 15).
Austrian Airlines Group will rethink its network as it restructures and will focus on high-volume routes rather than connectivity between Western and Eastern Europe, CEO Peter Malanik told ATWOnline at last week's Star Alliance event in Brussels.
The 787 achieved first flight today, taking off at 10:28 am local time from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., as a throng of Boeing employees gathered in the airfield cheered.
International Aero Engines named Executive VP-Customer Business Ian Aitken president and CEO, succeeding Jon Beatty, who will return to United Technologies Corp. Aitken joined IAE in June 2008 after nine years at Rolls-Royce.
Worldwide Flight Services signed new cargo handling contracts with 12 airlines at Paris Charles de Gaulle: Korean Air, TAM, Air Caraibes, Air Madagascar, Air Algerie, SAS Cargo, Air Transat, Vietnam Airlines, Oman Air, Air Mali, Syrian Arab Airlines and Air Ivoire.
The US and Japan announced late Friday that they reached agreement on an "open skies" accord that will liberalize access, largely removing restrictions on the number of airlines allowed to serve each market as well as the number of flights.
GE said that KLM Engineering & Maintenance selected GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies' USM Go inspection device to perform nondestructive aircraft and engine testing.
Iceland Express will launch four-times-weekly Keflavik-Newark service on June 1 and weekly KEF-Birmingham, UK and Akureyri-London Gatwick flights later that month. Transaero Airlines launched flights from Moscow Domodedovo to Novy Urengoi (thrice-weekly aboard 737s), Ulan Ude (twice-weekly aboard a Tu-214) and Magnitogorsk (five-times-weekly using 737s). Half of Transaero's 24 domestic routes were launched in 2009. Hainan Airlines will increase its thrice-weekly Beijing-Brussels A330-200 service to daily on April 27.
Sky Holding Co. and Oaktree Capital Management announced formation of a new aircraft finance and leasing partnership in which funds managed by Oaktree invested $500 million in Sky.
Garuda Indonesia pilot in command of the 737-400 that crashed at Yogyakarta in March 2007, killing 21 people, won his appeal against a two-year prison sentence that was handed down last April ( ATWOnline, April 7). All charges against Marwoto Komar were dismissed by the Yogyakarta High Court, which ruled that he did his best to save the aircraft.
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Blue/V Australia will commence codeshare flights next month as part of the partnership that gained approval from Australian competition authorities last week ( ATWOnline, Dec. 11). Blue will place its code on Delta flights from Los Angeles to Cincinnati, New York JFK, Orlando International and Salt Lake City beginning Jan. 18, and DL will codeshare on Blue service from Sydney to Brisbane and Melbourne from Feb. 15.
BAE Systems Asset Management announced the sale of three BAe 146QT freighters to Cobham Aviation Services Australia, which had been leasing the aircraft since the early 1990s. Cobham will use them to service a renewed A$100 million ($91.2 million) contract awarded by Australian air Express. BAE and Cobham also extended the lease on one passenger BAe 146-300.
US airlines collected more than $2 billion in ancillary fees in the third quarter, up 36.4% year-over-year, helping the seven network carriers post their first combined operating profit margin since the 2007 third quarter, the US Dept. of Transportation reported yesterday ( ATWOnline, Nov. 12). Network airlines' third-quarter operating profit was $338 million, reversed from a loss of $1.62 billion in the year-ago period. Operating margin was 1.4%, reversed from a loss margin of 5.4% in the 2008 third quarter.
British Airways faces a Christmas crisis following yesterday's announcement that 92.5% of voting flight attendants represented by Unite are in favor of a 12-day strike beginning Dec. 22, a decision that Unite Assistant General Secretary Len McCluskey said was taken with a "heavy heart."
Embraer and Shenzhen-based CDB Leasing signed an MOU last week providing up to $2.2 billion in financing "designed to enhance financing opportunities for acquiring Embraer aircraft in the People's Republic of China and abroad, focusing on developing regional aviation in China," the manufacturer said. CDB will work with potential customers on aircraft acquisition and also may purchase planes directly.
Boeing is prepared to fly the 787 as early as Tuesday morning, it said last week, adding that the timing is "dependent on final internal reviews, taxi test and receiving the final experimental ticket" from US FAA. On Dec. 10 the manufacturer finished its final review of the Nov. 30 static test designed to validate the side-of-body modification to the aircraft ( ATWOnline, Dec. 2). Final gauntlet testing on the first flight test aircraft also was completed successfully, it said.
British Airways will keep full ownership of its OpenSkies subsidiary, which launched last year and currently operates between Paris Orly and New York JFK and Newark. It abandoned Amsterdam-JFK service in August, which raised questions about the all-business-class carrier's viability ( ATWOnline, July 28). In July, BA appointed Reynolds Partners to assess options for the loss-making startup, including selling part or all to external investors.
