A lawsuit filed by the Spokane Washington Airport Board against the FAA’s planned closure of the air traffic control tower at Felts Airfield early in April questions the agency’s logic in deciding which towers should be shuttered. The FAA on March 22 said it would close 149 contractor-staffed towers, including Felts, in three phases, starting April 7 and ending in May. The closures, which are part of the agency’s effort to trim $637 million from its fiscal 2013 spending plan due to mandatory sequestration cuts, is expected to save $33 million.
Boeing is adamant that the modified 787 battery system nearing the end of certification testing in Seattle will allow the aircraft to return to unrestricted service, and says reports of a potential impact on extended range operations are “pure speculation.”
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is criticizing the U.K. government’s proposal to more than triple the fine imposed on airlines for bringing inadequately documented passengers into the country.
The proposed merger between American Airlines and US Airways has been given the green light by a bankruptcy court, although more approvals are needed before the deal can be finalized. After a hearing in New York on March 27, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the merger plan. The widely-expected decision is an important step in American’s emergence from bankruptcy protection. However, American still needs to gain court approval for its reorganization plan, and regulatory clearance also is needed for the US Airways merger.
When International Airlines Group completed the purchase of British Midland International (BMI) from Lufthansa in late April 2012, it presented British Airways with the major challenge of quickly bringing BMI’s Airbus narrowbodies into BA’s existing fleet. From May 2012 to January 2013, in what BA describes as “an extremely complex process,” it integrated 11 Airbus A319s, seven A320s and seven A321s from BMI into its fleet. BMI’s two A330s were returned to lessors because BA does not operate Airbus widebodies.
Forty-three years after entering revenue service, the Pratt & Whitney JT9D series continues to power a cross section of operators sprinkled around the globe. While still diverse, the cross section is much thinner than in years past, however, with many operators flying just a handful of engines. It is a sign of the steady and inevitable decline facing the venerable series.
International Airlines Group (IAG’s) has increased and revised its offer to purchase Barcelona-based Vueling Airlines. The new bid increases IAG’s offer to €9.25 ($11.86) a share from €7 and revises the minimum purchase requirement from 90% of Vueling’s voting stock not currently owned by IAG’s Iberia operation to 4.16%. If accepted by Vueling’s board of directors, this minimum requirement would give IAG a 50.01% stake in Vueling.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of March 27, 2012, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
Airbus ProSky, the airframer’s air traffic management (ATM) subsidiary, has undergone a leadership change. Aviation Week has learned that Airbus ProSky’s previous CEO, Eric Stefanello, has left the company. His replacement is Paul-Franck Bijou, who was ProSky’s VP-global customer affairs. Bijou also was CEO of Quovadis, one of the companies owned by Airbus that is within the ProSky group.
Brussels Airlines CEO Bernard Gustin expects the airline’s restructuring to produce margins of 5-8% by 2017, the last year the carrier’s largest shareholder, Lufthansa, currently has to decide on acquiring the Belgium operator. In an exclusive interview with Aviation Week, Gustin says the airline’s effort to reverse two years of losses likely will trim losses from almost €70 million ($90 million) in 2012 to about €20 million this year, produce a profit in 2014 and “bring us to recurrent profits” of €40-50 million a year thereafter.
Australia’s competition watchdog has approved partnership between Qantas and Emirates Airline with essentially no changes to its earlier draft ruling, although it refutes Qantas’s claims that the partnership is needed to preserve its international operation. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) authorization was expected, since the regulator had already issued a draft approval and interim authority to begin marketing the alliance. The two carriers intend to partner on major international routes from March 31.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA), complying with a court order issued in July 2011, is inviting public comment on its use of full-body scanners to screen passengers at airports. But the agency is not backing down from its defense of the advanced imaging technology. “It is the primary mission of the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States and to reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism,” the agency says in the Federal Register notice (TSA-2013-0004).
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Berlin Tegel - Frankfurt, March 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Berlin Tegel - Frankfurt, March 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs (000) Share Seats/Dept
Taipei Taoyuan International Airport is proceeding with plans to develop a new passenger terminal, but has scrapped the idea of building a dedicated terminal for low-cost carriers (LCCs). Samuel Lin, CEO of Taipei Taoyuan Airport Corp., says the operator was considering turning a vacant catering building into an LCC terminal but decided there was sufficient capacity at its two current terminals to accommodate LCCs. The airport recently completed a refurbishment of Terminal 1, which included a capacity increase.
Airport executives are looking at their internal budgets hoping to come up with money to save 149 contract air traffic control towers that are slated to close beginning next month, but officials fear that few individual airports have the resources necessary to privatize the towers. The FAA on March 22 announced plans to shutter about 60% of the contract towers as part of its effort to make requisite cuts under sequestration.
Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) is joining other lawmakers in drafting legislation to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens from being watched by unmanned aerial systems (UASs). “The only way to truly embrace these innovative, job-creating technologies, is to assure the public that these technologies will not compromise Coloradans’ basic privacy rights,” says Udall, who is supportive of a bid from his home state to become one of six test sites for civilian-use UASs.
