According to WWF Director Stephen Singer, the aviation industry should look to liquid hydrogen and not biofuels if it wants to reduce CO2 emissions. Addressing a roundtable on the environment at the European Parliament last month, Singer declared that liquid hydrogen and algae should be the sole focus because they do not interfere with food production.
The world air transport industry managed to come through the UNFCCC COP16 climate talks in Cancun unscathed and with ICAO's role as the proper forum to address aviation emissions firmly established. Although delegates agreed to create a Green Climate Fund to help developing nations cope with climate change, no determination was made on how to pay for it and aviation was not mentioned.
MTU Maintenance Hanover extended its existing contract with TAM by covering 57 additional V2500 engines for the carrier's A320-family fleet. The volume of the contract is expected earn an additional €500 million ($652.8 million) by 2019. Lufthansa Technik AG and Wizz Air reached a five-year line maintenance services agreement including A-checks for eight Airbus A320s based in Bucharest, Timisoara and Cluj, as well as a further two A320s based in Prague, beginning in February.
Southwest Airlines stock clerks, represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, rejected a tentative agreement calling for a five-year contract through Aug. 16, 2013 ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 12). Earlier this year, SWA and IBT, which represents the carrier's more than 170 stock clerks, agreed to seek assistance with the National Mediation Board.
Finnair announced Monday that its flights are “back to normal” after cabin crew members went back to work “without delay” Friday following agreement on a new wage proposal made by state mediator Esa Lonka.
British Airways on Tuesday received notice from Unite, the trade union representing the majority of the airline’s cabin crew, of its intention to ballot members for strike action. The voting, on more than five outstanding issues, is due to begin on Dec. 21 and close one month later, on Jan. 21, Unite said, thus sparing BA from any industrial action during the busy Christmas and New Year holiday season if cabin crew members vote to strike.
US airlines collected a total of $1.5 billion in baggage fees and reservation cancellation/change fees in the 2010 third quarter, up 10.6% from $1.35 billion in the third quarter of 2009 according to US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Baggage fees in the third quarter accounted for $906.4 million, up 22.5% from $739.8 million in the year-ago period. Reservation cancellation/change fees accounted for $590.4 million, down 3.8% from $613.5 million in year-ago quarter.
Air traffic to and from Greece will be severely disrupted on Wednesday owing to a general strike called by Greece's two biggest unions—private sector GSEE and public sector ADEDY—in protest of an overhaul of the country’s labor laws and austerity measures.
Ryanair announced further cuts to its German operations next year, citing the new flight tax as reason for its decision. German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the new tax in June as part of a €80 billion ($106 billion) package of austerity measures, although she justified it on environmental grounds.
IATA said Tuesday that the world's airlines will earn a collective $15.1 billion net profit for the full-year 2010, a 69.7% increase over its September forecast of $8.9 billion and, in terms of sheer profitability, the most money ever earned by the international air transport industry in a single year.
IATA on Tuesday outlined a new, significantly different airport security checkpoint paradigm that calls for pre-screening passengers prior to issuing a boarding pass to divide them into three levels of risk classification, and aims to enable passengers to eventually "walk uninterrupted" through an airport.
IATA said Tuesday that the world's airlines will earn a collective $15.1 billion net profit for the full-year 2010, a 69.7% increase over its August forecast of $8.9 billion and, in terms of sheer profitability, the most money ever earned by the international air transport industry in a single year.
SITA announced it has acquired Com-Net Software, a provider of integrated audio-visual passenger communication system to airports and airlines in North America. SITA CEO Francesco Violante said it will “greatly enhance SITA’s airport management offering and will ensure our customers have best-in-class technology at airports.”
The US Dept. of Transportation Monday announced it assessed a civil penalty of $600,000 against JetBlue Airways for “violating rules protecting air travelers with disabilities and for failing to disclose when flights sold by the carrier were being operated under a codesharing arrangement.” DOT noted that “$350,000 must be paid by the carrier” and “up to $250,000” may be used to improve its service to disabled passengers beyond what is required by law.
IATA continued to call for a "measured" response to the late October discovery of explosives disguised as printer cartridges in air cargo shipments that originated in Yemen, warning that "knee-jerk" unilateral actions by governments could slow global airfreight flows and by extension the world economic recovery.
As Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue work to persuade the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to reverse its draft ruling and approve their proposed transtasman alliance, speculation increased that Blue would join the Star Alliance following CEO John Borghetti’s presence at the Star CEOs' meeting in Queenstown, New Zealand on Monday.
IATA said the air cargo traffic rebound that started in late 2009 will continue through 2011, though not at the robust pace of 2010. The organization also noted that divergent levels of economic growth in different regions of the world are affecting the way the airfreight industry develops.
Ryanair on Monday said it will take legal action against the Spanish air navigation and airports authority AENA, the aviation regulator AESA and the USCA traffic controllers union, over the unauthorized and unannounced work stoppage by air traffic controllers on Dec. 3 and 4, which forced the LCC to cancel over 500 flights.
IATA said the air cargo traffic rebound that started in late 2009 will continue through 2011, though not at the robust pace of 2010. The organization also noted that divergent levels of economic growth in different regions of the world are affecting the way the airfreight industry develops.
UNFCCC climate talks in Cancun (COP16) ended early Saturday morning with ICAO firmly established as the proper forum for addressing aviation's role and responsibilities regarding emissions, according to air transport industry officials attending the event.
Jeppesen has signed a five-year charting navigation service renewal agreement with Turkey's Pegasus Airlines, The agreement extends standard airway manual paper charting service and digital Web access to industry-leading Jeppesen charts through e-Link online and NavData service applications for the airline.
United Parcel Service announced it is expanding its policy to require customers who ship packages from retail shipping locations to present a government-issued photo ID for verification of identification. The directive will apply at The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. locations as well as authorized shipping outlets worldwide.
