The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has filed a whistleblowing challenge with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on behalf of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employee and aviation security expert Bodgan Dzakovic.
Air Canada’s Robert Atkinson has resigned as chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK), effective immediately. Atkinson cited new duties at Air Canada for his decision, but he will remain as a director. Taking over from Atkinson is Sandra Bloodworth, area manager UK and Continental Europe for Royal Brunei Airlines. The official change will be made at the annual meeting May 20.
Italy’s Air One in June will inaugurate its first U.S. services with the introduction of nonstop flights to Boston and Chicago from Milan. Air One will start its Boston service on June 14, and plans to serve the city-pair five times a week. Chicago service six days per week will begin on June 21. The carrier will use two-class configured Airbus A330-200s on the routes. These aircraft seat 38 in business class and 201 in economy class.
It’s a myth that airline accident rates are now so low that “we should no longer expect sudden and sustained breakthroughs in the future rates,” believes FAA safety chief Nicholas Sabatini. The aviation community “is on the threshold of reaching the next level in aviation safety,” Sabatini says, and programs that mine safety data for remaining or undiscovered risks are the key to future breakthroughs.
A combination of issues – not teething problems – caused the chaos that marred the opening of London Heathrow’s Terminal 5, said British Airways CEO Willie Walsh in testimony before the U.K.’s House of Commons Transport Committee.
Continuing demand in business and regional jets prompts GE Aviation to predict the CF34 engine fleet will expand to 11,000 power plants by 2018 from today’s base of 4,000. The biggest increase will be in regional aircraft, which are expected to reach 8,600 units. Demand for Bombardier’s Challenger business jet will account for the boost in business jet sales. GE expects this year’s CF34 deliveries to reach 500 engines for regional jets, with demand growing more than 20% annually. At current rates, deliveries will exceed 700 engines in 2010.
New York-based electronics and lighting specialist Astronics will provide the power supply system for both inflight entertainment (IFE) systems recommended for the 787 after revealing a new contract with Panasonic Avionics. The new contract with Panasonic comes two months after Astronics announced an agreement with Thales to develop and install the power supply for its 787 IFE system. Panasonic’s X Series and Thales’ TopSeries are the only two IFE platforms recommended by Boeing for its new widebody.
Air China’s April load factor fell 0.7 percentage points compared with the same period last year as small traffic gains failed to match the airline’s increased capacity. Systemwide traffic for the month grew 0.3% year-on-year to 5.59 billion RPKs, aided by small gains in both domestic and international services. Capacity, however, also grew in both markets resulting in a 1.3% systemwide increase to 7.29 billion ASKs. Loads consequently dropped from 77.5% year-on-year to 76.8%.
Taiwanese airline Far Eastern Air Transport has suspended operations after running out of cash while looking for an investor. The company, which flies as far as Indonesia, Japan and South Korea, hasn’t given up hope of resuming flights, however. Singapore’s Jetstar Asia has been considering an investment in the business, turning it into the Taiwanese offshoot of the Qantas group’s Jetstar brand. Far Eastern Air Transport has been under protection from its creditors since February.
Virgin America is going to try to get U.S. government approval to begin service to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport from Los Angeles and San Francisco after O’Hare new runway opens this fall, but faces stiff competition on the routes and also could have a fight on its hands for the airport’s expanded capacity. American and United are the only carriers currently offering nonstop service from Los Angeles and San Francisco to O’Hare on what are considered lucrative business routes.
New Zealand citizens holding ePassports now have access to Australian Customs’ SmartGate, a self-process kiosk for customs and immigration control. SmartGate is currently in operating at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns airports. Australian Customs made some changes to SmartGate in order to accommodate New Zealand citizens, said a spokesman.
May is shaping up to be a busy month for Czech Airlines. The airline recently launched twice-weekly flights to Almaty in Kazakhstan and yesterday added five services on the Prague-Brno route for a total of 18 weekly flights. The airline renewed service to Damascus on April 30 with four weekly flights and is starting service to Heraklion, Crete, on May 30.
United Airlines has completed a major part of its 2008 capacity reduction plan by cutting 52 flights from its schedule. The cuts, which were loaded into United’s schedule during the weekend (May 10-11), will take effect in July.
Peru plans to review and strengthen safety regulations concerning overflights of the Nazca Plain, following one deadly accident and several emergency landings in the past few weeks by light aircraft operated by tourist airlines (DAILY, May 5), said Transport Minister Veronica Zabala. The review will be done on the basis of a special report by ICAO inspectors to be submitted on May 15 at the request of the Peruvian government and covers air operations and traffic control in this area from Lima, Ica and Nazca Airports.
Seven U.S. airports have begun running the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) 90-day employee screening pilot program Congress mandated under the omnibus spending bill passed in January. The pilot, first unveiled in February, will help TSA decide how to handle employee screening at the nation’s airports (DAILY, Feb. 6). Boston Logan, Jacksonville and North Carolina’s Craven Regional airports will run the 100% physical screening part of the pilot. Logan will also evaluate biometric access controls.
A Northwest spokesman said the airline currently plans to get rid of its one-stop service from Detroit to Guangzhou via its Tokyo hub to make room for the Seattle-Beijing nonstop service it will start March 1 (DAILY, May 12). The spokesman, however, said it’s possible the airline will find an alternative cut to make by the time the Seattle-Beijing service takes off.
May is shaping up to be a busy month for Czech Airlines. The airline recently launched twice-weekly flights to Almaty in Kazakhstan and yesterday added five services on the Prague-Brno route for a total of 18 weekly flights. The airline renewed service to Damascus on April 30 with four weekly flights and is starting service to Heraklion, Crete, on May 30.
Romanian airline Tarom will join the SkyTeam alliance as an associate member, the group says. Air France is sponsoring the Tarom application, and will represent Tarom on the SkyTeam board. Associate members do not have as many rights and commitments as full fledged members. Tarom operates a fleet of 21 aircraft and carried 1.8 million passengers last year. SkyTeam’s other associate members are Air Europa, Kenya Airways and Copa Airlines.
Romanian airline Tarom will join the SkyTeam alliance as an associate member, the group says. Air France is sponsoring the Tarom application, and will represent Tarom on the SkyTeam board. Associate members do not have as many rights and commitments as full fledged members. Tarom operates a fleet of 21 aircraft and carried 1.8 million passengers last year. SkyTeam’s other associate members are Air Europa, Kenya Airways and Copa Airlines.
Air Canada reported record April load factors last week for both its mainline and combined operations with regional subsidiary Jazz. The new highs come on a capacity control program that has reduced mainline service from Canada to the U.S. and Pacific and added double-digit growth to Latin America.
