The Joint Planning and Development Office plans to unveil the latest version of its air traffic control transformation timeline to industry stakeholders on Feb. 15, followed by a more complete version in the summer. The Integrated Work Plan outlines how the U.S. will move to the model envisioned by the JPDO. In addition, the JPDO board members are scheduled to meet Jan. 11, and the senior policy committee on Jan. 16.
30 Years Ago Jan. 11, 1978 – BCAL Chairman Adam Thomson called on the U.S. government to re-evaluate its policy of “the lower the fare, the better,” or airlines will suffer “severe injury” and “some carriers inevitably will drop by the wayside.” Thomson said “low fares, yes – but not at any price.” 20 Years Ago
Brazil’s GOL saw its group-wide load factor increase slightly in December after significant increases in capacity and traffic. Consolidated system traffic rose 55.7% on a 53.8% capacity increase, resulting in load factor lifting 0.9 points to 68.3%. The largest increases were in international operations, where traffic was up 215.7% on a 218.1% capacity hike; however, load factor dropped 0.4 points to 56.2%. Load factors were much healthier on the domestic side, growing 3.5 points to 72.4%. Traffic rose 37.6%, with capacity rising 31.1%.
Finnair will start a share buy-back program, starting no earlier than Feb. 5, when the carrier posts annual results. The purchase of up to 600,000 shares will end no later than April 1. The purchase was approved during the last annual general meeting. Shares are being used to support the group’s incentive program covering 2007-2009.
Travelers enter the new year with “sober acquiescence” of the frustrations experienced while traveling, says the latest quarterly index from travel insurance firm AccessAmerica. The aggregated hassle factor was down to 3.9 out of a possible 10, and 41% said airport security/passport/border crossing issues were their largest frustration. One in five of those surveyed said they plan to travel more in 2008.
Alaska Airlines last week made two senior appointments, naming Gary Beck as VP-flight operations and Elizabeth Ryan managing director for labor relations. Beck comes to Alaska from Delta, where he was senior VP-flight operations and chief pilot. He was also CEO of the Delta Connection Academy, a pilot training organization in Orlando, Fla. During a 20-year tenure at Delta, Beck held several senior operations posts. He is a captain on the Boeing 727, 757 and 767 aircraft. Beck replaces Kevin Finan, who retired from Alaska last month.
FAA has approved UPS’s application to fly advanced ADS-B operations at Louisville, including the first satellite-guided merging and spacing during approaches in the U.S.
Boeing last week announced a record tally of 1,413 commercial aircraft orders for 2007, thanks to a late flurry of large orders, although it will not be clear until next week whether the U.S. airframer has beaten the Airbus total for the year.
Kazakhstan’s national airline, Air Astana, Friday announced it has chosen Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines for the three Boeing 787-8s it has on firm order. The deal is valued at US$90 million at list prices, and deliveries are expected to begin in 2016. Air Astana has three 787s on firm order, and has options to buy a further three, the airline said in a statement.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JAN. 16-18 — ACI-NA Insurance & Risk Management Conference, Coral Springs Marriott Hotel, Golf Club & Convention Center, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 954-753-5598 or 800-311-8018, www.aci-na.org/ asp/meetingdetail.asp?art=1552 JAN. 17 — Wings Club Luncheon featuring Robert Genise, CEO, DAE Capital, Yale Club, New York, 212-867-1770, e-mail: [email protected].
Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, is retiring because of family health issues at the end of 2008. Peterson, who sits on the Homeland Security appropriations subcommittee, is the 18th Republican in the House to decide against seeking re-election in November. Four Democrats, including Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), have also announced their retirement from the House.
Members of the Air Line Pilots Association ranked foreign control of airlines as their top issue when looking at presidential candidates, followed by airport access, terrorism, honest government and flight time (fatigue), according to an ALPA poll conducted by the Wilson Center for Public Research. ALPA has not yet backed a candidate. In 1996, three out of four ALPA pilots were Republican, but now more than 55% say they are independents.
British Airways says it wants the one-bag restriction lifted at London Gatwick and other airports as quickly as possible, and is working with the U.K. government and BAA to achieve this. The government today lifted the carry-on restriction at some airports – including Heathrow – after a year of lobbying by BA and aviation groups, but the rules remain in place at other airports.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers filed a petition Thursday for an election with the National Labor Relations Board to represent 850 automated flight service specialists at Lockheed Martin. IAM currently represents 15,000 other employees at Lockheed Martin under 35 different contracts at 46 sites nationwide.
AirTran has awarded Israel Aerospace Industries’ Bedek Group a maintenance contract for the landing gear on the carrier’s Boeing 737 fleet. The long-term maintenance contract extends the two companies’ existing decade-old business relationship. AirTran has ordered 115 737s and has so far taken delivery of 50.
NASA’s partial release of data from a controversial airline safety survey still has left some questions unanswered among observers in Congress and industry. Keeping a promise NASA Administrator Michael Griffin made before lawmakers in October, NASA on the last day of 2007 released a redacted version of data from the $11 million National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service (NAOMS) pilot survey that contained little analysis or illumination of safety trends.
You can now register online for AVIATION WEEK events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) APRIL 15-17 MRO/MRO Military North America, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. SEPT. 12 Management Forums, Green Aviation, Brussels, Belgium OCT. 2-3 Lean/Six Sigma, San Francisco, Calif. OCT. 29 Avionics Outlook, Phoenix, Ariz. NOV. 26-27 BizAv Trends/VLJ West, San Diego, Calif.
Mexico’s Aviacsa is planning to launch new flights to New York and Los Angeles next month. The airline would offer four weekly flights between Monterrey and New York Kennedy and four weekly flights between Guadalajara and Los Angeles, using Boeing 737 aircraft in both markets. Mexico’s civil aviation department awarded the carrier designations for the routes in late November [DOT-OST-2007-0128; DOT-OST-2007-0129]. Aviacsa flies to Las Vegas and Houston from Monterrey and Mexico City and also serves the Los Angeles-Monterrey market.
Sixteen cities that received Big Sky’s Delta Connection service will be affected by Big Sky’s end of East Coast operations (DAILY, Jan. 2). Eight are Essential Air Service communities (Ogdensburg, Massena, Watertown, Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake, N.Y.; Cape Girardeau, Mo.; Jackson, Tenn.; Owensboro, Ky.) that don’t have many options for alternate air service. Also on the list: Allentown, Pa.; Bangor, Me.; Boston; Burlington, Vt.; Cincinnati; Fredericton, Canada; Trenton, N.J.; and White Plains, N.Y. Delta said it was offering customers with reservations booked after Jan.
Dayton Airport is hoping a new marketing campaign will help boost its fortunes in a region where it competes with Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Columbus and Louisville. More people should be flying out of Dayton, said Gene Conrad, the airport’s air service development coordinator. “We want people to know that we are served by nine airlines offering 22 nonstop destinations, including a new flight to Las Vegas on AirTran,” he stated. “We are losing 50% of our traffic to Cincinnati for nonstops.”
