US Dept. of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Dept. of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced in early December the selection of 19 integrated biorefinery projects to receive up to $564 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate construction and operation of pilot, demonstration and commercial-scale facilities. The projects in 15 states will validate refining technologies and help lay the foundation for full commercial-scale development of a biomass industry in the US.
Nearly a year after it operated the first second-generation biofuel test flight, Air New Zealand continues to be focused on ensuring that "a material portion of its annual fuel use comes from sustainable second-generation sources," according to GM-Operations and Chief Pilot Dave Morgan.
UK Committee on Climate Change report published on Dec. 8 said that the country's aviation policy should be based on the assumption that demand growth between now and 2050 cannot exceed 60% if the UK is to meet the government's target that aviation emissions in 2050 must not exceed 2005 levels. The CCC said that left unchecked, aviation in the UK would grow by 200% by 2050.
Colgan Air and the Air Line Pilots Assn. issued contradictory findings regarding the cause of the February Q400 crash that killed 50 people near Buffalo. The airline said the pilots' "loss of situational awareness and failure to follow Colgan Air training and procedures," along with a lack of low-speed warnings from the aircraft, were the principal causes, while the union blamed the carrier for inadequate training ( ATWOnline, May 15).
International Aero Engines named Executive VP-Customer Business Ian Aitken president and CEO, succeeding Jon Beatty, who will return to United Technologies Corp. Aitken joined IAE in June 2008 after nine years at Rolls-Royce.
The US and Japan announced late Friday that they reached agreement on an "open skies" accord that will liberalize access, largely removing restrictions on the number of airlines allowed to serve each market as well as the number of flights.
GE said that KLM Engineering & Maintenance selected GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies' USM Go inspection device to perform nondestructive aircraft and engine testing.
Garuda Indonesia pilot in command of the 737-400 that crashed at Yogyakarta in March 2007, killing 21 people, won his appeal against a two-year prison sentence that was handed down last April ( ATWOnline, April 7). All charges against Marwoto Komar were dismissed by the Yogyakarta High Court, which ruled that he did his best to save the aircraft.
US airlines collected more than $2 billion in ancillary fees in the third quarter, up 36.4% year-over-year, helping the seven network carriers post their first combined operating profit margin since the 2007 third quarter, the US Dept. of Transportation reported yesterday ( ATWOnline, Nov. 12). Network airlines' third-quarter operating profit was $338 million, reversed from a loss of $1.62 billion in the year-ago period. Operating margin was 1.4%, reversed from a loss margin of 5.4% in the 2008 third quarter.
Embraer and Shenzhen-based CDB Leasing signed an MOU last week providing up to $2.2 billion in financing "designed to enhance financing opportunities for acquiring Embraer aircraft in the People's Republic of China and abroad, focusing on developing regional aviation in China," the manufacturer said. CDB will work with potential customers on aircraft acquisition and also may purchase planes directly.
Republic Airways Holdings CFO Hal Cooper said the CSeries represents "a pretty interesting opportunity" as the company considers fleet renewal at its Frontier Airlines subsidiary. Republic also in talking with Airbus and Boeing, he said at an investor conference last week, according to Reuters, but "unlike Airbus and unlike Boeing, we believe we can tap into some very attractive export financing through the [Export Development Canada] there," he said.
Tiger Airways parent Tiger Aviation suffered a S$50.8 million ($36.5 million) loss in its fiscal year ended March 31, reversed from a S$9.9 million profit in 2007-08, according to a recent company statement cited by press reports. Revenue rose 24.3% to S$378 million.
US Airways said consolidated November RASM was flat year-over-year, while mainline unit revenue fell approximately 2%. It flew 4.35 billion consolidated RPMs, down 1.6%, against a 1.4% cut in capacity to 5.65 billion ASMs. Load factor slipped 0.1 point to 76.9%. Air Canada and Jazz flew 3.18 billion RPMs in November, a 1.2% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.7% to 4.26 billion ASMs and load factor declined 2.9 points to 74.7%.
Hawaiian Airlines and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers-Clerical Division, which represents 1,245 HA airport customer service, ramp, reservations, schedule planning, purchasing, records and crew scheduling employees, announced a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract. A ratification vote by union members is expected in the coming weeks.
The US Transportation Security Administration said it is moving ahead steadily with procuring and deploying next-generation airport security technology to screen both checked and carry-on baggage, spurred by $1 billion that was allocated to the agency for aviation security in the $787 billion stimulus passed by the government.
US Congress last week passed another three-month extension in FAA funding to March 31, formally conceding that it will fail to enact reauthorization legislation for the third straight year. The agency's authorization officially expired on Sept. 30, 2007. It has remained operational via a series of temporary extensions passed by Congress ( ATWOnline, Sept. 24).
US Air Transport Assn. welcomed passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 by the House of Representatives. The massive bill, which is intended to prevent a recurrence of last year's credit meltdown through new regulations on Wall Street and the credit markets, also takes aim at excessive speculation in the commodity markets that many blame for last year's wild fluctuations in oil prices. ( ATW, September 2009).
Delta Air Lines said the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission granted authorization for its proposed joint venture with Virgin Blue to operate flights between Australia and the US ( ATWOnline, July 10). "Delta and [Virgin Blue subsidiary] V Australia are eager to move forward with their joint venture and to bring new services to the market," DL said. "We look forward to a similar decision from the US Dept. of Transportation and urge the DOT to quickly conclude its review."
Lufthansa Systems said Malaysia Airlines will use FMS data from the Lido/FMS navigation database for its new 737-800s. It also inked a five-year contract with Brussels Airlines for the use of its SchedConnect codeshare management solution.
US FAA said that the Depts. of Agriculture and Energy awarded $600 million in grants to advanced biofuel projects, including projects that could "produce. . .renewable jet fuels." It noted that "a number of the awardees also have a longstanding relationship with the FAA co-sponsored Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative."
Emirates said it has raised more than $1.13 billion to finance the delivery of six A380s. The first, and EK's sixth overall, is scheduled to arrive early next week, the second in late December and the remaining four next year, the airline announced. The A380 arriving next week will begin flying to Incheon on Dec. 14. The seventh will operate to Paris Charles de Gaulle starting Dec. 29. Two weeks ago, EK President Tim Clark claimed the airline would be unaffected by the Dubai debt crisis ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1).
India is making a considerable effort to join commercial aviation's environmental effort, Civil Aviation DG Nasim Zaidi said this week at the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in Washington, with authorities committed to establishing a national inventory of carbon dioxide emissions for the sector (with a base year of 2005) along with programs compelling both airlines and airports to be more efficient and green.
Asiana Airlines will construct a second maintenance hangar at Incheon. The hangar, which will cost KRW1.1 billion ($948,000) to build, will be 63,800 sq. m. and able to fit two 747s and one 767 simultaneously. Construction will begin at the end of 2010 with completion targeted for April 2013.
ST Aerospace won a three-year contract to provide A320 and 767 airframe MRO to an unidentified "major US airline." Contract is valued at $90 million, which could increase to $170 million if two option years are utilized. Work will begin in the 2010 first quarter in Mobile, Ala.
