To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 12-15—Practical Aeronautics Short Course “Introduction to Aeronautics: A Practical Perspective,” National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, Va., www.practicalaero.com Sept. 12-15—“Introduction to Aeronautics: A Practical Perspective,” National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, Va., 970-887-3155, www.practicalaero.com
Debt-ridden national carrier Air India does not have the funds to pay for the 27 Boeing 787s it has ordered, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said Sept. 9, a day after the country’s nodal public auditing agency flayed the state-run airline’s hasty expansion plans.
Flight delays are expected this weekend at Baltimore’s Thurgood Marshall Airport as two runways are scheduled to close for completion of a pavement project. Runways 15R-33L and 10-28 are set for closure at 11 p.m. Sept. 9 through 5 a.m. Sept. 12. Pavement at the intersection of the two runways will be rehabilitated. The work is dependent on weather conditions and could be postponed to Sept. 16-19. BWI will use Runway 4-22 for most operations under the plan.
Spirit Airlines says it can break even on a fare of about $64 per flight segment—far less than its competitors offer—because of its lower costs and industry-leading, per-passenger, non-ticket revenue. The per-segment revenue from fees, travel insurance sales and other items has reached $43.
UPS and the Independent Pilots Association are laying out strategies for negotiating a new contract, which becomes amendable Jan. 1. The IPA is pushing for compensation to stay ahead of inflation and retirement program improvements on parity with FedEx. Average wages for UPS pilots are calculated by the company to be $223,385. Captains on average make $245,320. The sluggish economy prompted UPS to furlough 109 pilots last year; it operates 220 aircraft, down from 280.
AirAsia Philippines has been lobbying hard to get its air operator’s certificate (AOC) and hopes to start flying next month. The Clark-based carrier, subject to regulatory approval will offer scheduled services to Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau, AirAsia Philippines CEO Marianne Hontiveros, told reporters in Xiamen, China. She was part of a business delegation accompanying Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Aquino, who is Filipino-Chinese, is in China for trade talks.
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs and Statistics, 12 Months Ended December 2010, (Jet Aircraft Page 11 of 11 DC-10-30 Manufacturer: McDonnell Douglas
Expanding airline service to important East Asian and South American markets is a high priority for the New Zealand government as it looks to launch new rounds of aviation negotiations. The government in July said it had given its negotiators a mandate to begin air service talks with China, Brazil and eight other countries that it declined to name. Aviation Week has learned from industry sources that the others are Argentina, Colombia, Indonesia, Japan, Peru, Thailand, Uruguay and Vietnam.
The Department of Homeland Security fiscal 2012 funding bill is headed to the Senate floor with a $1.50 increase in the aviation passenger security fee after the full Appropriations Committee approved the legislation Sept. 7.
Cargo is growing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest for passenger traffic, and is bracing for a boost in shipments as carriers offer new services.
American Airlines is accusing Sabre of secretly organizing “an unlawful group boycott” of the carrier by travel agents in a revised lawsuit against the GDS.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is acquiring 300 wave-based Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) full-body scanners for $44.8 million. The L-3 Communications units, which show less revealing images, will be deployed in coming months at airport checkpoints. The agency has installed 500 AIT units at 78 airports.
An International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) conference may have built momentum for an alternative to rigid flight- and duty-time limitations for pilots—so much so that they might be expanded to mechanics and air traffic controllers.
Air India’s management, under fire for past financial decisions, must be left alone by the government to have a chance for survival, says a new report by a nodal public auditing agency. The Indian comptroller and auditor general (CAG), in a Sept. 8 report to parliament, recommends “a total hands-off approach” with regard to managing the airline. It says Air India has “inherent strengths,” but there is no evidence that the Civil Aviation Ministry has given the carrier positive support in the past few years.
The chairman of a House panel on transportation plans to offer a new extension to the current Airport and Airways Trust Fund Extension Act today—giving Congress just one week to keep the FAA operating at full capacity. Although a week would be plenty of time to approve most of these kinds of extensions, it was not sufficient in July when Congress failed to agree, forcing a two-week partial shutdown of the FAA and construction projects around the country.
The French air accident investigation office, BEA, has convened a panel of human factors experts to help analyze information linked to the crash of Air France Flight 447. The BEA, when issuing its latest interim report, noted it would set up such a panel to help better understand the actions taken by the plane’s pilots. The big question has been why the cockpit crew did not properly respond to stall warnings as the Airbus A330-200 flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The aircraft crashed into the Atlantic on June 1, 2009.
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The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to vote on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011 (H.R.2594) today at 10 a.m. as one of six bills it will be considering.
Hurricane Irene exacted a serious, but manageable, impact on U.S. airline income in the third quarter. Delta Air Lines says the hurricane, which resulted in more than 2,200 flight cancellations for the carrier, will reduce its income by about $15 million. US Airways is estimating an $8-$10 million impact from temporarily suspending service at airports in Philadelphia, Washington, New York and Boston and from canceling a quarter of its 9,100 scheduled flights.
The Irish government appears to be closer to selling its 25% stake in Aer Lingus just as Ryanair says it will not attempt to buy the shares. Transport Minister Leo Varadkar says the strategic argument for keeping a 25% stake in the airline no longer applies; it has been keeping its stake in Aer Lingus to block an attempted hostile takeover by local low-cost rival Ryanair. Those attempts have been blocked by the Irish competition authority and the European Commission.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says air travelers will not be required to take their shoes off in the future for explosives detection screening, but did not specify when the rules will change. Rapiscan, a security manufacturer, has a walk-through scanning device in production and other manufacturers have proposed similar scanning devices to the Transportation Security Administration. However, a spokesman says the process to test and procure systems has not begun and suspension of the rule is “a long way off.”
