Concern that travel plans for millions of Qantas passengers could be severely disrupted next month grew after the airline's engineers voted overwhelming to take industrial action to support wage and job security demands.
Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn. and the Air Line Pilots Assn. on Thursday signed a "four-party process agreement" that allows the two carriers' pilot groups to move forward with seniority list integration discussions in advance of SWA's acquisition of AirTran closing.
British Airways and its cabin crew, represented by the Unite union, pledged to seek “an honorable and fair settlement to the long-running dispute” and both agreed to continue negotiations, lifting the threat of strikes over the Easter and the Royal Wedding bank holidays.
[Updated] Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn. and the Air Line Pilots Assn. on Thursday signed a "four-party process agreement" that allows the two carriers' pilot groups to move forward with seniority list integration discussions in advance of SWA's acquisition of AirTran closing.
Iran has reacted angrily to a ban on sales of aviation fuel to its airlines by an Austrian company and has retaliated by refusing to supply fuel to Western airlines landing in Tehran
NASA awarded contracts for what are termed N+3 aircraft designs that could enter service between 2030 and 2035 and would be on the cutting edge of the industry’s goal of carbon-neutral flight in 2050.
Certification of biofuel for commercial aviation use has been delayed until August owing to an oversight in the testing process. According to ATAG Executive Director Paul Steele, an error occurred in the testing protocol and USAF overlooked a test for contamination. Ironically, the missed test relates to standard jet fuel. Boeing Director-Biofuel Strategy Darrin Morgantold ATW’s Eco-Aviation Today that the tests were repeated by the USAF Research Laboratory and the report is scheduled to be submitted to the fuels subcommittee in June.
Airbus is sponsoring an electric concept technology demonstrator aircraft. The "eGenius" is an electrically propelled two-seater designed by the Institute of Aircraft Design at the University of Stuttgart. The concept aircraft made its debut at the international Aero-Expo in Friedrichshafen.
Boeing and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne announced the creation of the Sustainable Biomass Consortium, a “research initiative focused on increasing collaboration between voluntary standards and regulatory requirements for biomass used to create jet fuel and bioenergy for other sectors.” The consortium also will “seek to lower overall sustainability certification costs,” Boeing said.
Air Transport Action Group Executive Director Paul Steele will address ATW's 4th Annual Eco-Aviation Conference May 3-5 in Washington. Steele will deliver the morning keynote on May 5. Also on the agenda is a panel discussion among executives from Aeromexico, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and WestJet discussing the biggest environmental challenges they face.
The Air Transport Action Group released a report, Powering the Future of Flight,at the World Biofuels Market in Rotterdam last month to assist governments in forming policy to take advantage of the opportunities that the fuel source presents.
The European Commission said it is committed to a “complete modernization of Europe's air traffic control system by 2020, delivering the Single European Sky … and the completion of the European Common Aviation Area of 58 countries and 1 billion inhabitants by 2020.”
US President Barack Obama directed the Energy and Agriculture Depts. and the US Navy "to work with the private sector to create advanced biofuels that can power not just fighter jets but trucks and commercial airliners."
Europe’s controversial Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation has been criticized by Chinese airlines while Lufthansa has repeated its call for a 12-month delay because "too many problems remain unresolved" regarding implementation of airlines' inclusion in the ETS.
Cathay Pacific has increased its shareholding in Air China from 18.43% to 18.77% after acquiring 5.48 million shares for HK$40 million ($5.17 million). SAS Scandinavian Airlines, along with Star Alliance partners Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines, said it has again won the Swedish government's procurement of air travel, in a contract carried out by Swedish Armed Forces Logistics FMLOG. The agreement is worth a total of SEK700 million ($111.6 million).
Approximately 1,300 kg. (2,866 lbs.) of fuel leaked from the left RB211 engine of a Thomas Cook Boeing 757 during a June 10, 2010 flight from Milas-Bodrum Airport in Turkey to London Gatwick, according to a UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch report released Thursday.
US FAA Air Traffic Organization COO Hank Krakowski resigned Thursday as the agency conducts a "top to bottom review" of the way it operates the ATC system in the wake of several embarrassing incidents involving controllers who were sleeping on the job.
US FAA Air Traffic Organization COO Hank Krakowski resigned Thursday as the agency conducts a "top to bottom review" of the way it operates the US ATC system in the wake of several embarrassing incidents involving controllers, including unresponsive controllers who apparently were asleep on the job.
Rockwell Collins was selected by Ethiopian Airlines to provide its second-generation dPAVES high-definition digital overhead audio/video IFE systems for 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Mxi Technologies announced LAN Airlines completed enterprise-wide implementation of its Maintenix Software.
Although the US and EU remain apart on several key aeropolitical issues such as foreign ownership, airport security and the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, European Commission VP Transport Siim Kallas expressed optimism that the divide can and will be bridged.
US FAA announced it will place an additional air traffic controller on the midnight shift at 27 control towers around the country where only one controller is on duty.
American Airlines charged Travelport with violations of federal antitrust laws in a new lawsuit filed against the GDS company and Orbitz in a US federal court in Fort Worth.
US FAA assigned Barbados a Category 2 safety rating, which means that Barbados does not comply with international safety standards set by ICAO, based on an assessment by Barbados’ civil aviation authority. As a result, Barbados’ air carriers, which do not currently serve the US, cannot establish US service.
