Another crash - Peru this time

Reuters -- A Peruvian passenger plane crashed in heavy storms in Peru's northeastern jungle on Tuesday, killing at least 40 people, police said. A spokesman for the state-run airline TANS said the Boeing 737-200 plane, which had a capacity of 120 passengers, made an emergency landing without its landing gear in the jungle town of Pucallpa, 490 miles (785 km) northeast of Lima. It was not immediately clear if the plane was taking off or landing. It was due to fly to the northern jungle city of Iquitos. "There are 40 cadavers that rescue teams are pulling from the wreckage. There could be more deaths, we assume some 60 people in total since we've rescued 20 injured persons," a police officer in Pucallpa told RPP radio. Peru's Transport Minister, Jose Ortiz, said 93 passengers were on board the plane. TANS declined to comment. "It's really a Dantesque scene," said police officer Arioso Obregon, referring to the apparent destruction the aircraft. One witness, Tomas Ruiz, told RPP radio the plane was "totally destroyed." "The plane made an emergency landing but without its landing gear," said firefighter Ilda Pineda. "The weather was really terrible, there was a fierce storm at the time," said a police officer in Pucallpa. TANS, founded in the 1960s by the Peruvian air force to help serve remote jungle communities, started up as a commercial airline in 1998. It has around 30 percent of the local market. --------- This is turning out to the worst period in memory for aircraft crashes. Its like one a week!

Sun Country installs security cameras on its planes

bizJournals.com -- Sun Country Airlines Inc. has improved security by installing multiple cabin-surveillance cameras on its seven Boeing 737-800s. The Mendota Heights-based low-cost airline is an early adopter of pilot-monitored surveillance video of passengers and flight crew. Sun Country said the Federal Aviation Administration will eventually mandate all airlines to install such cameras. Tony Loeks, Sun Country director of safety and security, said streaming cabin video allows pilots to check out a situation without leaving their seats or opening the cockpit door: "A door doesn't do you much good (for protection) if the crew has to open it." Sun Country used an FAA Enhanced Airplane Security Program grant of $230,000 to test wireless and wired camera systems. T.J. Horsager, Sun Country operations engineer, said the wireless system took less time to install, but pilots preferred the TV-quality video stream of the wired system. The wired system also passed FAA certification and ElectroMagnetic Interference (EMI) tests, said Sun Country Avionics Engineer Derik Boucher. After a 90-day trial run in 2003, the airline proceeded to outfit every plane. Horsager said each system costs about $20,000 and takes roughly 24 hours to install, but Sun Country spent more on both during preliminary phases. Horsager said with the poor economic climate of the airline industry, the FAA is not yet asking the major airlines to install cameras. But that could change if there is a security disaster that could have been prevented with cabin surveillance, he said. "Typically the major carriers are trying to stay out of bankruptcy, so they're not going to spend money on this," he said. "I think the FAA will look at that and analyze when the right time is to do that. The European airlines are being mandated now, so it's not a question of if, but when." Eagan-based Northwest Airlines Corp. would not confirm or deny whether it has installed cameras. Spokesman Scott Tennant said, for security reasons, the airline cannot discuss on-board security measures. ------- This is very cool.

Remember Southwest's Ding?

From Gary Potter at acemakr.com -- One Million Dings That's the number of downloads of Southwest's Ding. And, while Southwest won't talk about the revenue distribution, they did say that Ding was responsible for $30 million in revenue. Pretty impressive.

The Fascination of Live data

Life has evolved for many of us beyond simply being online. We need to know what is happening as it happens. Happily we have discovered a fabulous tool to watch you watching us. Yes dear reader, we are watching you as you read this. Using a dashboard that looks like this You can read more about it here. This is one of the neatest pieces of software we have seen. We even have a PowerPoint demo for you to download and watch - click If you like this and want this on your site, please contact us at info@iag-inc.com.

US Airways new look

Better than the current dull US Airways look and gone is the American Southwest feel of the current America West look.

737 Holds Back 787?

The success of the Boeing 737 among U.S. and international airline might delay the advent of its more fuel efficient successor -- the Boeing 787. Gary C. Kelly, chief executive of Southwest Airlines, says the more compact Boeing 787 is his dream plane. The Boeing 737, the Dreamliner, is a midrange, 220-passenger plane that Boeing says will be more fuel efficient and aerodynamic than the Boeing 757 it replaces. We want Boeing to come out with the Dreamliner version of the 737 at some point, he told the New York Times in an interview. However, Kelly, whose airline only flies the Boeing 737, says he's still very happy with the Boeing 737. Southwest Airlines is buying about one Boeing 737 a month. Boeing doesn't plan to build the Boeing 787 while the 737 is still selling strong, according to Randy J. Tinseth, the director of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. -------- Don't read too much into this. Everett has gobs of capacity with the 767 winding down. Renton's space used for 757s is now being used for 737s. Southwest will not buying anything bigger than the 737-900. If Southwest gets more involved with ATA then maybe ATA will get 787s. In short, this is a silly story.

Airline Labor - A New Reality?

So now it appears that Northwest is going to badly beat up the mechanics' union. We predicted that labor had to win this one - especially in Detroit. Seems labor is not going to win. Now the next steps will be a much more compliant flight attendant union follwed, in all likelihood, by caving at other airline unions. This could all change overnight if Northwest's 30-year old DC9s cannot be kept flying by the replacements. Northwest says the replacements have at least 5 years' of experience each. You can bet your last dollar these replacements will fight to keep their new jobs - having been laid off from other airlines previously. The airline industry is not awash in jobs so you take one where you can and fight to keep it. Too bad for the strikers - their jobs are probably gone. The new workers, we bet, won't go near a union. In the UK we are about to see Gate Gourmet go into their equivalent of Chapter 11. BA thinks the company is bluffing but the laid off workers at Gate Gourmet don't. BA, if they gamble badly and Gate Gourmet closes shop, will end up paying a lot more for their meal services. With a huge number od long haul flights out of the UK, this adds up fast as these flights all have warm meal service. It is amazing that airline labor thinks that because of the glimmer of profits at some carriers mean the return of the "good old days". With short memories they forget the horrific accumulated losses. One analysts stated that US airlines have lost more money since 9/11 than they ever made.

Northwest looks like winning

The market has spoken and its betting NW has broken the strike. Informal surveys show that ~60% of its flights are on-time which is much less than than the typical ~73%. While the replacement workers might be slower than the experienced people out on strike, the new folks are learning on the job and will get better every day. Time now to watch the DC9 fleet. If they can keep these flying without delays and mechanical issues over the next 2 weeks then, in our opinion, the union has lost.

Commercial Missile Defense

Defense Tech posts on the status of commercial anti-air missile defense testing. The weight and dollar cost turns out to be minimal, but rationality in and of itself has not always been reason enough to implement a good idea. The slight cost is definitely worth paying, especially looking at the probable collapse of the aviation industry if there would be perceived threats of anti-air missile terrorism.

It's taken nearly three years. But the Homeland Security Department is finally ready to start testing out missile countermeasures on commercial planes.

...

Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems have been working on cheaper, easier-to-maintain versions of the countermeasure. And Northrop says it should be ready to begin "operational testing and evaluation... aboard an MD-11 airliner later this month and a Boeing 747 later this year."

A company spokesperson says that the system "will cost airlines $0.003 to operate per available seat mile or about 70 cents per passenger on a 2,000-mi. trip. This is about the cost of a bag of peanuts," Aviation Week notes. "However, there is a weight penalty with the system. The Northrop Grumman installation weighs 500 lb., including 350 lb. for the pod, about the weight of two passengers and bags."

It's still a significant cost for already-troubled airline companies. But given the countless thousands of MANPADS floating around on the international market -- selling for as little as $5,000, according to Rand -- a bag of peanuts and two extra passengers seems like a price worth paying.

Saudia wins safety recognition

Saudi Arabian Airlines has earned top spot in safety and security measures among 43 international airlines. The national carrier earned a 100-per cent safety ranking. Saudia always meets air security conditions flawlessly. It has passed the safety and security examination of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in different fields, including security, technical issues, supervision operations, customer service, catering, human resources, cargo handling and sales. "Only two international airlines succeeded in the security certification programme in the very first attempt," said an official from Saudia's supervision office in Jeddah. --------- And the $64,000 question - which was the other airline? No doubt ElAl - perhaps a Saudi could not say that name and keep his job. Is that the reason we see this came from an "official"?

Detroit Day 2

AP -- MINNEAPOLIS - Northwest Airlines and its striking mechanics are both watching to see if replacement workers can maintain the fleet of the nation's fourth-largest airline. "If they are qualified mechanics, the way the PR people say they are, then I'm not too worried," said Gail Loffler, who was waiting for her husband to arrive on a Northwest flight from Portland, Ore. "We never thought there was going to be an instantaneous effect from us walking off the job," said the union's national assistant director, Steve MacFarlane. "We're confident that over a period of time it begins to snowball, and they're going to have a real problem maintaining their schedule." ------- Northwest switched to its fall schedule on Saturday, a few weeks earlier than usual, lightening the schedule by about 17%. Even so, if the airline can get through these first few days without rolling maintenance issues, they will break the strike.

Another Airline Strike

We advised not to fly Northwest saying the union needed this strike to prove its power. Predictably the union blames management. Where does this lead? Passengers are going to be irritated beyond what many will think acceptable. Northwest's brand and loyalty will be in the toilet within 3 days if the strike disrupts lots of flights. The union hopes this will happen. If any other union - pilots or flight attendants go on a sympathy strike - we predict Northwest will declare Chapter 11 in short order. AirTran is going to make out like a bandit building its brand at Detroit. This is cheaper and better than any advertising they could put out. Who would want to be anywhere near a Northwest employee in Detroit now?

Helios - more confusion

ONE of the most puzzling air crashes, the loss of Helios Airways flight 522 in Greece this week and the lives of all 121 people aboard, has relatives demanding answers and nervous speculation running through the aviation industry. Had the plane been hijacked? Did it run out of fuel? Why was the captain missing from the cockpit? And who was the man seen struggling with the plane's controls during its death dive into mountains near Athens? Even the crash investigators dispute how the 115 passengers - with 23 children among them - and six crew died on a flight from Cyprus on Sunday. Did they freeze to death on the Boeing 737-300, made in the late 1990s? Did they suffocate or were they killed on impact? The latest theory, to be tested through toxicology examinations on the corpses over the next week, is that they were poisoned. "It's like a puzzle that can't be put together," Helen Xiourouppa, a Cypriot relative of the Australian family killed in the crash, tells Inquirer. "It's chaos in Cyprus at the moment. There's a lot of grief and anger because so many families have been lost." Among the victims were former Adelaide businessman Demos Xiourouppa, 39, his Cypriot wife Margarita, 34, and their dual-citizen daughters Sophia, 10, and Ioanna, 9, flying to Athens for a family holiday at the peak of the Mediterranean summer. Their orphaned toddler, George, had been left behind with his grandparents in Cyprus. "Everyone's just waiting for the coroner's report," says Helen Xiourouppa, the dead man's cousin. "We just want to get our family and bring them back to Cyprus and bury them so they can be at peace, and the rest of the family can get on with their lives." As anguished relatives clamour for answers, the Greek and Greek Cypriot governments pledged yesterday to speed the investigation. The black box flight recorder has been sent to Paris for analysis but the tape inside the cockpit voice recorder - nominated by the Greek airline safety chief as among the most crucial evidence in his probe - is missing, presumed destroyed in the crash fireball. Combing for clues among the shattered wreckage, investigators were quick to rule out terrorism. Yet to some aviation experts, the alternative scenario of a technical fault is flawed. Initially, investigators blamed the plane's cabin pressure, suggesting its failure had snap-frozen the occupants and starved them of oxygen, creating a flying tomb that cruised on autopilot 10km above the earth in minus-50C temperatures. The same Helios plane experienced cabin-pressure problems on a flight from Warsaw last year, reportedly after a door was not properly sealed. Other decompression precedents include an Australian light plane that crashed in 2000 after flying pilotless for more than an hour, and a Lear jet carrying US golfer Payne Stewart that flew for five hours before crashing in 1999. "It certainly sounds like lack of cabin pressure and hypoxia is a potential cause of the accident," says David Newman, medical consultant to Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority. A plane's occupants would black out within a few minutes and die within 10 if the aircraft lost cabin pressure at a cruising altitude of 10,0000m, he says. "I would pretty much guarantee that everyone onboard the aircraft was at least deeply unconscious; you're looking at 10 minutes from start to finish." Commercial pilots are trained to don their oxygen masks the instant they note a drop in cabin pressure, so they can bring the plane down to a safe altitude below 3000m where the air is breathable. Yet the Helios jet appeared to cruise on autopilot at 10,000m for more than two hours before slamming into a mountain 400m from the scenic Greek village of Grammatiko, 10km north of Athens airport. "It is highly unlikely that the failure of the cabin air-pressure system alone could cause such a serious action," European Aviation Safety Agency spokesman Daniel Holtgen tells Inquirer. "There may have been other contributing factors." The Italian pilots union, baffled as to why the Helios pilots failed to fly their stricken jet lower, suggested they might have been poisoned, through sabotage or accident. As aviation specialists questioned the cabin-pressure scenario, Greek forensic scientists came up with more contradictory evidence as they carried out their gruesome task of identifying crash victims. Most of the bodies were so badly charred when the plane burst into flames in impact that they will have to be identified through DNA tests. But examination of 25 corpses showed they were alive - although possibly unconscious - when the plane smashed into the mountain. Soot detected in the lungs of a five-year-old boy indicated he had survived momentarily after the crash. A Reuters photographer at the crash site, Yannis Behrakis, reported that some of the bodies were strapped in their seats, wearing the remnants of oxygen masks. One charred couple was hugging. Hellenic Radio reported yesterday that Greece's chief medical examiner, Filippos Kotsaftis, had "almost ruled out" the possibility that passengers had been exposed to a sudden decompression or subzero temperatures. Some of the strongest supporting evidence was dismissed as a publicity stunt, after a Cyprus man admitted in court yesterday that he had invented his story of a passenger sending a mobile phone text message that "the pilot has turned blue and we're freezing to death". The hypothesis that the plane's air supply had been contaminated will be tested in toxicology reports due in 10 days. Urine samples had been extracted from the dead co-pilot and a flight attendant for testing. The poison theory - possibly by carbon monoxide or toxic fumes from passenger baggage - might explain why the co-pilot was slumped over the controls of the stricken jet when he should have been sucking oxygen from the emergency tank stowed beneath his seat. Greek fighter pilots flanking the doomed plane reported the co-pilot's predicament, noting that the German captain was missing from the cockpit while two unidentified people struggled with the controls. Two F-16 fighters were sent to escort the jet after it failed to respond to radio contact in Greek air space, marking it as a "renegade plane" and a potential target under counter-terrorism measures adopted after last year's Athens Olympic Games. Greek leaders denied speculation in the Greek, Cypriot and Turkish media yesterday that the fighter pilots may have downed the Boeing for fear of a 9/11-style terrorist attack on Athens. But the Greek Eleftherotypia newspaper, citing an anonymous senior government source, reported that if the plane had continued flying for just five more minutes, the Greek Prime Minister would have ordered it shot down. The flight, operated by low-cost Cypriot carrier Helios Airways, was on its way from Larnaca in Cyprus to Prague, via Athens. According to early reports, the captain radioed Cypriot air-traffic controllers soon after take-off to report problems with the plane's cooling system, then lost contact. After half an hour the jet entered Greek air space, still incommunicado, and crashed 2 1/2 hours later. Chief accident investigator Akrivos Tsolakis yesterday said the plane's autopilot had been programmed to fly to Athens airport, but had been diverted out to sea where it flew in a holding pattern for an hour before changing course and crashing. "What troubles us is that the automatic pilot was functioning up to a certain point, and then it was disengaged, possibly by human action," he told Associated Press. Greek NET television reported that the plane had been brought lower before it apparently ran out of fuel and fell. Cyprus media speculated that two heroic flight attendants, trained pilot Andreas Prodromou and his girlfriend, Haris Charalambous, had tried to land the plane after the pilots blacked out. Sofia Charalambous, the wife of the plane's co-pilot Hambos, told Greece's Kathimerini newspaper yesterday that her dead husband had kept a diary of the problems with the state of the Helios aircraft, and complained about poor relations between Helios management and his German captain. Police raided the offices of Helios on Tuesday, confiscating documents under a search warrant issued by Cyprus's Attorney-General. The six-year-old airline insists its crew were highly trained and that the aircraft had passed all safety tests, including a maintenance check two days before the crash. "It [the crash] doesn't make sense," Helios marketing manager Nicholas Anastassiades told Inquirer yesterday. "We're not a Third World country. We are a member of the European Union and comply with all the European regulations. We know we've done nothing wrong. We need to know what happened as much as anybody else." In the Cypriot seaside town of Larnaca, distressed relatives are agonising over how to tell orphaned baby George, who turns two in November, that his mummy, daddy and big sisters won't be coming home. "He seems happy enough but he doesn't understand," says Helen Xiourouppa. "He gives a bit of happiness to the grandparents as well - as soon as they see him the atmosphere changes. They try so hard to look happy for the sake of the child. It's so sad."

EU Transport Chief Says Airline Blacklist Vital

The European Commission is planning to introduce a European Union-wide blacklist of airlines whose aircraft are grounded for safety reasons, Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said on Thursday. France, 152 of whose nationals perished when a Colombian charter plane crashed on Tuesday in Venezuela, said there was already support for the measure among major European countries. Barrot told France Inter radio that Tuesday's "terrible catastrophe" showed an airlines blacklist was now vital. He said the blacklist could be set up under an EU accord predating the crash that will make sharing information on air safety obligatory. "As soon as the European Parliament has ratified this agreement, we think the European air safety agency will be able to organize this information sharing," Barrot said. In practice, "it would have to take the form of a blacklist, as in the United States". ----------- France has seen many of its people die in air crashes and so is keen on this. But as we have seen the recent banning of a Turkish airline was short lived. The main source of unsafe flight has been charter related service. What will they do with "unsafe" Euroland charter carriers? There are a number of hurdles to overcome. Sources for airline safety data is AirClaims in the UK and also the Airline Passengers Association. Here is a link to the latest Euro air safety story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4167950.stm

More JAL issues

A Niigata airport air traffic controller permitted a takeoff of a Japan Airlines plane bound for Osaka without approving the plane's flight plan Tuesday, the transport ministry said Thursday. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport admitted that the controller made a mistake and warned JAL the captain needed to receive approval before the takeoff of the McDonnell Douglas MD-90 aircraft carrying 132 people. The captain asked a different controller and received approval of the plane's flight plan two minutes after takeoff, but until then the plane had no identification number and no flight information of the aircraft was displayed on the radar, ministry officials said. Airline companies usually submit flight plans to air controllers all together in advance and planes receive approval of them respectively before takeoff. But in Tuesday's case, the air controller told the captain, who asked for approval, to wait awhile, but then forgot to do so and gave permission for the takeoff, ministry officials said. Flight 2250 arrived at Osaka airport shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, which was around the scheduled time. Officials of the Niigata airport office said the controller forgot to give approval to the plane as traffic control work of takeoff and landing of other passenger planes as well as a training flight of a Japan Coast Guard plane fell on the same time. ---------- What the reader should bear in mind is this - JAL has been having a spate of issues. These issues all revolve around safety in some form or another. Postings on various aviation websites & blogs all seem to express the same dismay at the apparent decline in operational safety at JAL.

Korean Air Pilots Drop Strike Plan

Reuters -- Unionized pilots at Korean Air have dropped plans to strike after reaching a last-minute agreement with management, South Korea's biggest airline said on Friday. About three percent of Korean Air's pilots had planned to begin a strike on Friday, starting midnight, unless an agreement was reached with the company. Concerned about the potential impact on exports, the government had said on Thursday a full strike by Korean Air's pilot union could delay exports worth about USD$1.4 billion a month. South Korea's export earnings in July were just over USD$23 billion, an 11 percent improvement over July 2004. -------- Go figure. One has wonder what the government offered them.

Airbus sells more 350s

CIT Group, the New York-based finance and leasing company, ordered five A350s and 24 A320s from Airbus valued at $2.2 billion at list prices, the companies announced yesterday. CIT said it also took options on an undisclosed number of additional aircraft. The A320s deliver in 2007-08 while the A350s will arrive in 2012-13, assuming the program is launched. CIT did not specify engine choice on the A320 nor which version(s) of the A350 it will take: The 253-seat, 8,800-nm A350-800 or the 300-passenger, 7,500-nm A350-900. The GEnx is the only engine currently offered on the A350. CIT's current Airbus portfolio includes more than 100 aircraft. "We chose the A350 after extensive analysis because it will offer airlines new standards in performance and economics," CIT Aerospace President Jeffrey Knittel said in a statement. -------- Good for Airbus, their 350 campaign needed this boost. Now onward to Qantas.

More Pilot Trouble in Korea

Reuters -- South Korea's government warned on Thursday that the economy could be damaged by a threatened strike by unionized pilots at the country's biggest airline, Korean Air. South Korea, which has Asia's fourth-largest economy, is heavily dependent on air cargo, since it exports almost all of its semiconductors and mobile phones by air. About 3 percent of Korean Air's pilots would begin a strike on Friday, starting at midnight, unless an agreement was reached with management, a spokesman for the pilots' union said. Concerned about a possible impact on exports, the government said a full strike by Korean Air's pilot union could delay exports worth about USD$1.4 billion a month. --------- Coming so soon after the Asiana fiasco one has wonder what is going on over there. As stated elsewhere on this blog, we see rising airline labor unrest across the globe. This portends poorly for the industry already beset with high costs from fuel and weak revenue streams. Perhaps after the airlines go bust and hire nobody, organized labor will come to its senses. Every other industry has had to make painful adjustments, increasing productivity with fewer resources. The airlines have suffered along with everyone else - but their models remain broken.

Airbus signs LOI for Russian participation on A350

ATW -- Airbus and Russia's Irkut Corp. signed "a preliminary agreement" on Russian participation in the design and manufacture of the proposed A350 "on a risk-sharing basis," the companies announced yesterday. The letter of intent was signed at MAKS 2006 in Moscow by Airbus and Irkut on behalf of Unified Aviation Consortium, "a new umbrella organization that is being formed as a result of the restructuring of the Russian aviation industry," Airbus said. The LOI also establishes that both parties "will explore opportunities in research & technology that could further enhance Russia's contribution to future Airbus aircraft programs." Irkut is a holding company for Irkutsk Aviation Plant, Beriev Design Bureau and Yakolev Design Bureau. Its main products are the Su-27 and Su-30MK fighters, the Be-200 amphibian and the Yak 130 training and light strike aircraft. Last year it won Airbus work packages worth $200 million over 10 years and is launching production of A320 family components at its facility in Irkutsk. --------- Very creative. Costs are lower in Russia and they have vast skills in aircraft design and production. Moreover, three major Russian aircraft companies -- Yakovlev, Tupolev and Ilyushin -- have pooled their efforts in producing a new plane capable of competing with Boeing and Airbus, the Itar-Tass news agency reported on Wednesday. The plane, called MS-21, is designed to accommodate 132-168 passengers and fly 5,000 kilometers. Russian and foreign experts believe that more than 700 such planes will be sold inside the country and abroad, the report said. The new plane will be 30 percent cheaper than that of foreign counterparts and 15 percent more efficient in fuel consumption. According to some Russian experts, the cost of transportation by the new plane will be 20 percent lower than that of similar planes currently in service.

Qantas - the next battle looms

Flight International: Australia’s Qantas Airways has confirmed it will issue a request for proposal (RFP) to Airbus and Boeing for new medium-size widebody aircraft. The Oneword carrier says an RFP will be issued to ask Airbus to offer a mix of A340s and A350s and Boeing a mix of 777s and 787s. The A350s or 787s will be used to replace Boeing 767-300s on medium-haul international, trans-Tasman and domestic routes while the A340s or 777s will be used on “hub busting routes”. Qantas began evaluating A340s and 777s last year as possible replacements for its Boeing 747-400s. Flight International’s sister publication Air Transport Intelligence reported in June its fleet modernisation study had been widened to include the A350 and 787. Qantas told ATI the carrier was looking to order up to 60 new widebodies by year-end but the statement today does not disclose how many aircraft are being sought as part of the RFP or when a selection will be made. Chief executive Geoff Dixon says in the statement the RFP is the first stage in a new fleet renewal programme. Qantas already holds options on new Airbus A320s and Boeing 737-800s to cover narrowbody growth and possible Boeing 737-400 replacements. Dixon says new widebodies are now needed to further improve Qantas’ flexibility and cost structure. -------- Another cat fight coming up. Airbus has small stake with its 330s at Qantas and a nice 380 order to boot. They will muster everything they can to get the 350 in there too. Boeing has had Qantas as a customer for decades and is determined to get its 787 sold too - with an eye on the charter carrier as well. This campaign is going to be fun to watch.

LCCs are smarter

CS Monitor -- "It's usually a long cold winter, and this one, I suspect, will be even rougher than usual. In fact, it could be the worst," says aviation analyst Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, N.Y. "[Airlines] that usually lose money in the winter will lose even more." As a result, passengers can expect fares to start climbing. Analysts predict between 4 and 6 percent in the next year. That's still a bargain, considering that jet fuel, a major expense, has almost doubled in some markets. Even with their continuing losses, however, airlines are hesitant to pass the higher fuel costs along. The reason: They're terrified that more fliers will abandon them for the low-cost airlines, which have already made significant inroads into the major carriers' market share. From less than 10 percent prior to 2000, the low-cost carriers now have more than 25 percent of the market, and some analyst predict they will control 30 percent by the end of the year. Still, why aren't low-cost carriers also passing along the increased fuel costs? In part, it's because they don't have to. Take Southwest. It has the most aggressive fuel hedging program in the industry. While other carriers are paying for jet fuel based on as much as $60 a barrel of oil, Southwest is paying only $26 a barrel for as much as 85 percent of its fuel. ---------- Southwest's employees are also a pleasure to travel with. They were like this even when fuel prices were half what they are now.

'Silent aircraft' design launched

BBC online -- Plans for the world's first completely silent aircraft have been unveiled by Cambridge University engineers. Environmental campaigners and people living on flight paths have already welcomed the campaign to build the jet. Now it could become a reality some time in the next decade and Luton Airport is to be a partner in the venture. The main development is a new shape for the aircraft after engineers identified traditional designs caused much of the noise at landing and take-off. The new aircraft is basically a flying wing and would be inaudible once it left the airport. Project manager Paul Collins said: "It's a radically different design from the traditional tube and wing we are all used to flying in. "For passengers we think it will be like flying in a cinema or theatre seat. "People are used to that and I think they will be very comfortable with the new design." The project is an intitiative of, and is funded by, the Cambridge-MIT Institute. Cambridge's engineering department has gone even further to dampen noise and the solution is to mount the engines on top of the aircraft so much of the noise would be generated upwards. The initial prototype design should be finished within 12 months and it is hoped test models might be made within the next decade.

Helios update - Code 7700 sent?

ATI reported on Monday that Turkish radar did detect the aircraft broadcasting the 7700 international distress code at around 10:30. That would require manual operation of the system and would be the first indication that the crew realised they might have a serious emergency to confront. Greek authorities have since told newspapers in Greece that they received no such broadcast. But today, the Turkish CAA and national airport authority DHMI confirmed to Flight that the signal was detected by military radars and the controllers alerted the Izmir regional ATC centre, which in turn passed on the details to Bodrum-Milas Airport – the Turkish ATC unit closest to the aircraft’s location. It was determined that the aircraft was not in Turkish-controlled airspace and no further action was taken. ------ There have been such conflicting data on this tragic event its becoming ever more sickening. Does anyone over there have a clue?

UPS Orders 8 New Freighters From Boeing

ATLANTA (AP) -- UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, said Wednesday it has ordered eight new freighters from Boeing Co. to support its international growth. Terms of the deal for the Boeing 747-400 freighters, which will be delivered in 2007 and 2008, were not disclosed. General Electric will provide engines for the new aircraft. Atlanta-based UPS said the new freighters will help it increase capacity on routes connecting Asia, Europe and North America. UPS already has 20 Boeing MD-11 freighters that it uses on international routes. It said the new 747-400 aircraft can handle a larger payload than the MD-11 and will be used as international volume grows. The Boeing 747-400 freighter has the capacity to carry a structural payload of 250,000 pounds with a range of 4,400 nautical miles. ------- OK new 744Fs....and they have a bunch of 380Fs on order too. Interesting. Why would they do this?

INDIGO FLIES INTO ROUGH WEATHER WITH MEGA ORDER

17 August 2005 / The Times of India By Byas Anand NEW DELHI -- It was the order that made the entire aviation world sit up and regard India as a serious market. But the same 100 aircraft order is now threatening to become the reason preventing IndiGo from taking flight in the domestic skies. Ministry of civil aviation's aircraft acquisition committee - which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday - has decided to put off a decision on IndiGo's fleet purchase proposal. The reason, as senior government officials said, is that further clarifications are needed on the airline's funding as well as slot requirement at airports before the proposal is given a final go ahead. With this, the ministry has also deferred a decision on renewing IndiGo's no-objection certificate which is due to lapse on October 13, 2005. IndiGo - which was among the first new airlines to get the ministry's NoC on April 14, 2004 - is planning to take to the skies by early 2006. Unless the NoC is renewed by then, the airline will not be able to take-off. IndiGo promoter Rahul Bhatia, when contacted, refused to comment. "The IndiGo proposal is not likely to be taken up at the meeting on Wednesday as further clarifications are needed on the airline's funding," a senior government official said. The fresh clarifications are being sought in the light of the market buzz that Indigo has not placed any firm orders for the planes, a buzz that was vehemently denied by officials at both IndiGo and Airbus. "These are firm orders and there's no reason to doubt the same. These are not just letters of intent as it is being made out by some people," said Airbus V-P Kiran Rao. --------- Sooner or later it had to happen. These orders were huge.

HOTEL ROOM KEYS & IDENTITY THEFT

This looks like a new twist on identity theft On leaving a hotel it is customary to return the key of your room, whether regular key or plastic card key. NO MORE. There seems to be more people out there every day just trying to figure a new way to steal our identity. You know how when you check out of a hotel that uses the credit-card-type room key, the receptionist often will ask if you have your key(s) to turn in, or there is a box or slot on the Reception counter in which to put them? It's good for the hotel because they save money by re-using those cards. But, it's not good for you, as revealed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation: "Southern California law enforcement professionals assigned to detect new threats to personal security issues recently discovered what type of information is embedded in the credit-card-type hotel room keys used throughout the hotel industry. Although room keys differ from hotel to hotel, a key obtained from the “Double Tree" chain that was being used for a regional Identity Theft Presentation was found to contain the following the information: a)Customers (your) name; b) Customers partial home address; c) Hotel room number; d) Check-in date and check-out date; e) Customer's (your) credit card number & expiry date. When you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is therefore available for any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner An employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning device, access the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense. Simply put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an employee re-issues the card to the next hotel guest At that time, the new guest's information is electronically "overwritten" on the card and the previous guest's information is erased in the overwriting process. But until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually is kept in a drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT!!!! The bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home with you, or destroy them NEVER leave them behind in the room or room waste basket, and NEVER turn them in to the front desk when you check out of a room They will not charge you for the card (it's illegal) and you'll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted off with any simple scanning device card reader For the same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash basket Take it home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially through the electronic information strip!

US goes to e-passports

US State Dept. said it plans to issue the first full-validity US electronic passports in December and by October 2006 all domestic passport agencies will issue e-passports. The new passport will combine facial recognition and contactless chip technology with antiskimming technology to prevent unauthorized reading. State said it also is considering incorporating basic access control technology in the new passport.

Asiana shows strikes cost

Asiana Airlines will offer free domestic flights Thursday when services are expected to return to normal after a lengthy pilots' strike. International schedules, however, are not expected to be back to normal until the end of August. The free flight offer applies to nine destinations and there will be a 30% discount on the same routes until Sunday. The offer does not include the holiday island of Jeju. -------- This is one way to get customrs back - the airline's credibility is shot. Could BA try this? Guess not.

British Airways Planes Left with Empty Seats, Passengers Angry (again)

In the aftermath of British Airways' Heathrow meltdown last weekend, revelations that some of the airline's flights left with empty seats are angering passengers all over again. According to a report from The Times, British Airways flights left stranded economy class passengers behind while flights left with open business and first class seats because the airline refused to upgrade passengers to fill its planes. Virgin Atlantic told The Times that its policy would have been to upgrade passengers. -------- Can you imagine what this mess has cost BA in future business? Brand is in the tank and of course Virgin added to that at NO REAL COST to themselves. Its the customer, stupid!

Gate Gourmet - sign of the times

US-owned airline catering firm Gate Gourmet faces a squeeze between its creditors and unions, after a source close to debt talks said banks were considering foreclosing on the company's senior debt. The in-flight meals supplier, owned by US private equity firm Texas Pacific Group, is in talks with unions after it sacked 660 staff last week, which triggered wildcat strikes and the cancellation of over 700 flights at London's Heathrow Airport. Some 1,000 BA staff walked out last Thursday in support of the Gate Gourmet workers, leaving more than 110,000 passengers stranded and over 700 flights cancelled at the peak of the summer travel season. (Reuters) ------ As can be plainly seen, organized labor is better organized than management in the aviation world. It is crucial that airline managers seek to protect each other during the current unrest which seems to be developing into a rash. Passengers don't deserve the treatment they got at Heathrow this past week. Passengers get squeezed between managers and labor and, in the end, airlines lose huge amounts of brand value. Labor does not seem to care. Therefore airine managers would be wise to create contingency plans with other carriers BEFORE the trouble starts.

Helios Update - this is sick

Police raided the offices of Helios Airways on Monday in the coastal city of Larnaca, near Cyprus international airport, a day after one of the company's passenger jets crashed in Greece, killing all 121 people on board. Police spokeswoman Christalla Dimitriou said officers "carried out a search" after asking the city's court for a search warrant. There were no arrests and she did not specify whether police had confiscated any material from the office. Meanwhile, Greek police on Monday arrested a man they said had pulled a hoax on TV stations by saying he had received a mobile phone message from a cousin on the Helios jet, a message that said the passengers were freezing cold shortly before it crashed. “The pilot has turned blue. Cousin farewell, we’re freezing,” the supposed message said, in words flashed around the world as a dramatic description of the Cypriot plane’s plight. “The man did not receive any message from the plane and has been charged with spreading false information,” a police spokesman said. ------ Add this jerk to a global no-fly list. He deserves the most severe punishment for doing this. The next-of-kin suffer enough without this kind of prank. Why is it that some don't comprehend the huge tragedy these accidents represent?

Greek Helios 737 Down

No survivors. All 121 aboard were lost, 49 of them children. Helios has grounded all current flights in response. From Aero-News:

As Greek recovery teams sifted through the wreckage of a Helios Airlines 737 that went down on Sunday, they reported finding bodies that were "frozen solid" after the plane suffered what appeared to be a catastrophic loss of cabin pressure and heat, authorities said. The Cypriot aircraft's black boxes were recovered and investigators hoped to find they would provide some insight into the mishap, which killed all 121 people on board. Early speculation centered on the air conditioning system aboard the 737. Before becoming incapacitated, the pilot radioed the air conditioning system was malfunctioning. Greek authorities, who had declared the aircraft a "renegade" and scrambled F-16 fighters to intercept, said terrorism had been ruled out as the cause of the accident. "The situation was characterized renegade, meaning the aircraft was not under the control of the pilots," Roussopoulos told reporters. At a later stage, the F-16s saw two individuals in the cockpit seemingly trying to regain control of the airplane," Greek government spokesman Theodore Roussopoulos told Reuters. It was not known if the two people in the cockpit were passengers or crew members. "The F-16s also saw oxygen masks down when they got close to the aircraft. The aircraft was making continuous right-hand turns to show it had lost radio contact," Roussopoulos said. "A passenger on the doomed plane said in an SMS text to his cousin in Athens: "The pilot has turned blue. Cousin farewell, we're freezing." The Cypriot aircraft was on a flight from Larnaca to Athens, then on to Prague. Ninety minutes after the aircraft was declared "renegade," it went down in the mountains near Athens.

Before we bag on Helios' maintainence, take into account that this airplane was two years old.

Maxjet eyes 15 Aug launch

Flight International online news 09:00 GMT: US startup Maxjet has successfully completed its US FAA proving runs and was due to receive its operating certificate from the agency yesterday. The license comes after a protracted certification process, which, coupled with record-high fuel costs, recently prompted the east coast carrier to delay its launch of scheduled service until the fall and reconsider plans to operate a large fleet of Boeing 767-200ERs. In a letter to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Maxjet says it is ready to launch charter and aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) operations with 767 aircraft beginning 15 August. Scheduled services are now due to follow on 1 November with four weekly flights between JFK and Stansted in November, as well as weekly service linking Florida and Stansted via JFK. The company also recently informed the DOT that its fleet strategy has been altered. Originally envisioning a fleet of eight 767s by December, Maxjet now says it will not increase its fleet beyond three 767s before “at least the third quarter of 2006”. -------- This has to be one of the toughest times to start an airline, ever. Good luck to them.

Another chamber joins Wright debate

bizjournals.com -- The Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce is the latest organization to join the debate over the Wright Amendment. The chamber on Thursday said that it has passed a resolution opposing any change or repeal of the amendment, a 1979 federal law that limits flights from city-owned Dallas Love Field to short-haul trips to seven states. The Irving-Las Colinas chamber said a change to the federal law would negatively impact Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's $14 billion in economic activity and 268,000 full-time jobs in North Texas. -------- Can you imagine this? It is a blatant travel tax on people who live in the Dallas area to leave this legislation in place. So the good people of Dallas are expected to believe that protecting DFW is in their interests. This strikes us as spurious logic - are we to think the people of Dallas can't see this for what it is? By the way, numerous cities around the country have more than one airport and NONE of them want to see any of their airports close. What are AA and DFW so scared of? Could it be that Southwest is so efficient as to threaten them this much? Do you remember the AA of a few years ago - a rough-playing airline afraid of no other? We do and wonder what happened.

British Air Is Forced to Cancel Flights

By DANIEL MICHAELS Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL August 12, 2005; Page B4 British Airways and its passengers faced travel chaos at its Heathrow Airport hub outside London after a labor dispute at the carrier's catering company spilled over into a wildcat walkout by BA staff. The airline was forced to halt check-in for all flights and cancel 120 flights on Thursday, disrupting travel plans for many thousands of passengers, a spokesman said. The carrier has canceled all flights into and out of London Heathrow airport until at least 6 p.m. London time Friday. ------------ here we go again - airline labor at its best. Is there any wonder at the world's desire for automation? No doubt BA's customers will love the staff even more now.

Airbus paying Qantas $100m in A380 delay costs?

12 August 2005 / Sydney Morning Herald By Scott Rochfort Airbus's head salesman flew into Sydney to "explain to Qantas how sorry" the aircraft maker was for the major delay in the delivery of its superjumbo A380 - and discuss the issue of paying compensation to the airline. Amid speculation Qantas might seek up to $100 million in penalties from Airbus, the aircraft maker's chief operating officer customers, John Leahy, said yesterday: "I think it's fair to say that [Qantas chief] Geoff Dixon is a little annoyed at us by delaying his program by six months." Two months after Airbus was forced to concede its A380 program was running way behind schedule, Mr Leahy admitted the fiasco could affect the Toulouse aircraft maker's promotion of its yet to be built A350. "I would like to believe not - but people are people," he said. Directly aimed at long-haul oriented airlines such as Qantas, the 250- seat A350 is designed to attack Boeing's launch of its new 787 Dreamliner. Airbus stressed the planned delivery of its first A380 to Qantas in April 2007 was still on target. It was originally meant to be October 2006. Mr Leahy admitted some airlines had reacted badly to the delay. "When they start pounding the table and say they are building their plan around this plane ... you feel bad that it's late but you feel good that they see so much value in this airplane," he said. Qantas has declined to say how much it was seeking in damages but has made it clear it is not happy. Chief executive Geoff Dixon said: "Both companies are basically in agreement that penalties are on the table as part of the contract." As for Mr Leahy's assurances on delivering the first of Qantas's 12 A380s in April 2007, Mr Dixon said: "We felt that what he said was quite reasonable." But if Airbus has any further delays in store, Mr Dixon said: "We would be quite seriously impacted in our planning." The first airline due to receive the A380, Singapore Airlines, has already hinted it could take legal action against Airbus. Chief executive Chew Choon Seng recently told the German magazine Focus: "It's a bit like riding in a taxi, the meter has started running and the longer the delay, the higher will be the damage." ------ Ouch! And this is just the start....we wonder what the real cost of the A380 is going to reach. Also gets us thinking how much the 747A can be priced at - no doubt cheaper than the A380 at this stage.

Boeing's Electric Drive Works

From FI -- Success of Boeing 767 trial prompts effort to develop production version of powered nose-wheel system for taxiing Boeing and electric-drive specialist Chorus Motors are in “active discussions” over possible follow-on work on a powered nose-wheel system for airliners following a successful series of tests on a proof-of-concept motor on a 767. The ultimate plan would be to develop a fully integrated electric-drive system to allow aircraft to move around the airport without using their engines or tow tugs. The result, say the developers, would be more energy efficiency, increased engine life and reductions in maintenance costs and harmful environmental emissions. “Overall, the results were extremely encouraging,” says Chorus Motors aerospace applications programme manager Robert Carman. Future challenges include making a “weight neutral” system, packaging within the existing nose wheel gear envelope, system integration and ensuring flight-critical levels of reliability. The tests were conducted in co-operation with Air Canada which supplied a 767-200 and crew. The pilots performed ground manoeuvres on slopes and terrains “typical of those at airports around the world”, says Boeing Phantom Works, which led the effort with Chorus. Evaluations included reversing away from a gate and taxiing forward to a runway. Tests also were performed at ramp temperatures exceeding 49˚C (120˚F) and at loads of up to 94% of the maximum take-off weight of the aircraft. “We were in the neighbourhood of 300,000lb [136,200kg],” says Carman. “Up until now the technology has been lacking because no-one has been able to produce this sort of power density,” he adds. The Chorus-Boeing developed nose-wheel power device is based on a concept called the Meschon system. --------- This is clever.

Wright Amendment Update

In response to this morning's statement supporting the Wright Amendment by U.S. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, representing Texas' 30th District, American Airlines Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey said: "We are incredibly encouraged by Congresswoman Johnson's statement of support for keeping the Wright Amendment. We applaud her principled stand. The Congresswoman has a unique and in-depth knowledge of what is truly at issue in this debate. As the only North Texas member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, and the U.S. Representative in whose district Love Field is located, her conclusions on the topic carry significant weight. "Congresswoman Johnson recognizes the economic impact that DFW Airport has in the North Texas region and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that are associated with it. The employees of American Airlines and American Eagle applaud and support her actions. "The fact continues to be that North Texas airline service has been truly open to competition for decades, and that the Wright Amendment itself was the compromise. This arrangement has served the region well for several decades. There should be no talk of opening up Love Field without a discussion of the original intent of the federal government and local communities to close Love Field to commercial air traffic." -------- And we're sure the esteemed member of Congress will keep her AA Platinum status for the foreseeable future. You have to wonder, why is AA so nervous of this arcane rule being dropped? If Robert Crandall was still running AA we would hear crystal clear messages. Legacy hates change in this industry.

About that A380 flight you want to book

According to Flight International Report: Singapore Airlines - Nov 2006 (slipped from 06Q2, but SIA cannot guarantee it will enter service by Dec) Emirates - Apr 2007 (Oct 06) QANTAS - Apr 2007 (Oct 06) Air France - Oct 2007 (Apr 07) AF got Airbus guarantee first 2 in 2007 Dates in brackets are original delivery date. Airbus says it may take "a couple of years" to eliminate delivery delays of A380

Virgin Develops Meditainment - or brainwashing?

Virgin Atlantic Airways is delighted to introduce ‘Relaxation and Sleep’, a video version of its audio Meditainment programme to its inflight entertainment system. ‘Relaxation and Sleep’ is a 55 minute programme that helps passengers relax into a perfect sleep. The new visual programme has been produced for Virgin Atlantic’s inflight entertainment system by Meditainment Ltd, which specialises in guided meditation experiences -------- You are going to sleeeepppp.... and you will enjoy the fliiiightttt. Actually a bit more space would probably do the trick too. Oh well, what next?

Chertoff: Privacy fears not justified

By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday that Americans need to ease their concerns about turning over personal information to the government — especially if they want to fly safe from terrorism. "Would you rather give up your address and date of birth to a secure database and not be pulled aside and questioned," he said, "or would you rather not give it up and have an increased likelihood that you're going to be called out of line and someone's going to do a secondary search of your bag and they're going to ask you a lot of personal questions in the full view of everybody else?" ------- Absolutely correct! Take our DNA please - and get the goons off our backs (and feet and buttocks) at the airports. Security AT the airport is too late - get the threats before they even enter the building. See IAG's survey on this matter - where the majority of respondents prefer backround checks be made 24hrs before the flight.

Airlines Face Growing Fuel Shortage Risk - and more

By Brad Foss, AP Business Writer Airlines Face Growing Risk of Fuel Shortages at Busy Airports As Passenger Traffic Rises WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lost luggage, bad weather and now ... no fuel? While fliers haven't yet had to add that problem to the list of headaches associated with air travel, it may not be far away. Airports in Arizona, California, Florida and Nevada recently came within a few days -- and at times within hours -- of running out of jet fuel. Because of supply bottlenecks, airlines were forced to fly in extra fuel from other markets and scramble for deliveries by truck. But these are expensive, short-term fixes that do not address what airline executives consider to be the underlying problem: with passenger traffic rising above pre-9/11 levels, the nation's aviation business is slowly outgrowing the infrastructure that fuels it. What started as routine supply tightness in these markets quickly snowballed following disruptive events that included a hurricane, a canceled fuel shipment and, ironically, the airlines' own efforts to prevent shortages, according to several airline executives. -------- This is a serious condition. Add to this high load factors with much of the 2001 fleet grounded (remember those DC10s and Tristars?). To complicate the mix further, even with higher fuel costs and reduced capacity the industry still cannot seem to raise fares. The whole business seems out of whack. Now the unions at a few airlines are acting up, too. Its going to be a long summer.

Northwest starts the game of chicken

By Jeff Baenen, Associated Press Writer Union Pilots File Grievance After Northwest Uses Charter Company for Two Scheduled Flights MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Union pilots filed a complaint with Northwest Airlines Corp. after the carrier used a charter company Wednesday for two scheduled Northwest flights. Northwest has said it could use planes and pilots from Champion Air as part of a contingency plan if its mechanics go on strike. Will Holman, spokesman for the Northwest chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, called the flights from Detroit to Dallas and back "a clear violation" of Northwest's pilot contract. He said Mark McClain, chairman of the Northwest pilots union, contacted Northwest CEO Doug Steenland and "told him to cease and desist from further violations of our contract." The union filed its grievance with Northwest officials. ALPA represents pilots at both Northwest and Champion, which flies college and professional sports teams and military personnel. In a statement, Northwest said it invoked its contingency plan "due to an abnormally high level of aircraft that are currently out of service. The use of Champion Airlines to fly a very limited number of flights is part of our commitment to serve our customers." Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch would not confirm details or comment beyond the statement, except to say Northwest is discussing the matter with its pilots union. Both Eagan-based Northwest and Champion have said Champion could operate some Northwest flights if mechanics go on strike after 12:01 a.m. EDT on Aug. 20. Champion, a unit of Bloomington-based Grand Holdings Inc., has a fleet of 16 Boeing 727s. Airlines contract with Champion for backup flight coverage, but Champion spokesman Jon Austin said he didn't know if Northwest had previously done so. Northwest has said it wants a total of $1.1 billion in annual savings, including $176 million from mechanics. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association has offered temporary cuts it says would add up to $143 million a year, which Northwest disputes. Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest airline, has said it plans to maintain a full schedule if mechanics strike. Mediated talks are set to resume Monday in Washington after breaking off last week. ----------- Here we see phase 1 of Northwest management plan to deal with a strike. But with only 16 planes, management has very little room. They have, perhaps, played their card too soon. The pilots are now as irritated as the mechanics. We repeat, book somebody else in the meantime until this settles.

Second African 787 Carrier Announced

SEATTLE, Aug. 10, 2005 -- Boeing and Royal Air Maroc today announced the July 31 signing of a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of up to five 787 Dreamliners. -------- Another blow for the A350? Or for Airbus in general? There has to be more to this order that has not not come to light yet. If you know something, post it below please.

Great work in Hawaii?

Joshua Gotbaum says he earned the $9.4 million in fees and reimbursements he wants from his tenure as trustee of Hawaiian Airlines. Gotbaum, who has moved back to the Washington, D.C., area, says that is fair compensation for his role in bringing the airline out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He filed a claim for the $9.4 million Monday. "We are talking about large numbers, but when you look at what others who have done this job have been paid, it's within the range," Gotbaum told PBN. "What I am proposing is within the lower end of the range. Obviously, at the end it's the judge who decides." However, the airline's parent company and unions representing employees don't share his view, calling the compensation outrageous. In the claim filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Gotbaum's attorneys petitioned for $9.15 million in fees and $276,562.41 in expense reimbursements for his role as a trustee of the airline from July 3, 2003, to June 2, 2005. Of this amount, $8 million would be a success fee for Gotbaum for ensuring that the airline emerged from bankruptcy, that its creditors were paid 100 cents on the dollar and that its stockholders retained their share values. The remaining $1.4 million is salary and expenses that already have been paid by the airline to Gotbaum, who received monthly compensation of $50,000 in salary and $10,000 in living expenses during his tenure. "Hawaiian's bankruptcy has turned out amazingly well for its creditors, its shareholders and its extraordinary employees," Gotbaum said in the filing. "Now the judge must decide what's right for Hawaiian's trustee." Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris is expected to hold a hearing on the issue Sept. 21, although several interested parties have requested a later date. Among those taking issue with Gotbaum's request was Larry Hershfield, chairman of Hawaiian Holdings, parent company of Hawaiian Airlines. "The proper forum for a complete response to both success fee requests is in court," Hershfield told PBN. "However, given current industry conditions and a realistic analysis of who did what during the bankruptcy, we think the requests are outrageous." Hawaiian's pilots say they plan to oppose the payment of what they consider an excessively high fee. In making his case, Gotbaum says "he was air-dropped into the case -- Hawaiian was reeling from a bruising fight with Boeing, one of its primary aircraft lessors, and dealing with the fallout of that battle, including an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission." Gotbaum said he worked a total of 4,995 hours or about 217 hours a month on the case. That computes to about $1,832.50 per hour, about 3.67 times higher than the $500 the court initially approved as his compensation. Published August 9, 2005 by Pacific Business News ---------- What a cool gig and the bucks are nice, too! This charge is really high - $1800 an hour? No wonder people make lawyer jokes.

QUALCOMM and Connexion by Boeing Testing In-Flight Mobile Phone Communications

From Airfax.xom -- If you check out the Connexion by Boeing release this week (http://www.airfax.com/airfax/releases/showrelease.asp?id=1438) you might be surprised. The CBB team is working with Qualcomm to develop a cell phone application on planes equipped with their Ku-Band system. But before you leap to any conclusions about US airspace and telephony, listen up! That isnt the intended market, and we believe you had better think over water on this one. First some background. Of course, you are aware of an FCC effort re-allocating the NATS Spectrum (see our archived Hot Topics). This program has been kicked off with great interest from Verizon, AirCell, and others including Boeing. All involved in this reshuffle have the admitted goal of providing broadband internet service to planes flying over US airspace. No doubt, voice will be a part of this final offering. The FCC, FAA, RTCA and WAEA will actively working this issue and we understand the FCC has put the frequency auction off till 1st Qtr. 06. However, this program is not an endgame of the Boeing/Qualcomm testing, but it could have an impact as Qualcomm is actively involved in both programs we hear. If you have been tracking the CBB Lufthansa progress you will know that passenger take-up could be better and we think it is because of a multitude of factors. For example, not everyone carries a laptop on these flights; however, some 90% of passengers carry cell phones. Get the picture? Cell phone ubiquity is driving this application and a pico- cell connected to the CBB hardware could provide an analog to the ground based service, over water. Text messaging, interactive gaming, email, and data are all possible over the CBB network.voice too. Customers have tried successfully to use VOIP on the CBB/Lufthansa service with some issues arising from other passengers so a way is needed to control voice usage. We understand that it is relatively easy with the Qualcomm product to give flight crews the capability to allow or inhibit cell phone voice usage so the airlines will have options. With Boeing studying the aircraft/RFI issue and Qualcomm working the phones, dont be surprised if they get this one flying soon.

Delta done for?

Delta Air Lines, struggling to avoid Chapter 11, said on Tuesday it was trying to reduce the amount of money it needs to pay up front to secure a new credit card processor. Delta told the US Securities and Exchange Commission it would delay a routine quarterly filing while it explored options to the full cash requirement, but noted it might not be successful. "There can be no assurance whether or when it can implement any such alternative," the airline said. Delta said it was negotiating with a third party to process its Visa/Mastercard charges, which is necessary to operate. The current contract expires on August 29. The prospective processor is requiring that Delta deposit "a significant cash reserve" once the new contract begins, the airline said. Delta would not identify the potential processor, its upfront cash demand or how much the carrier wants to shave from that requirement. Separately, Merrill Lynch said in a research note on Tuesday that soaring oil prices could trigger a Delta bankruptcy filing in the next two months. Merrill cut its rating on Delta shares to "sell" from "neutral." The airline has been battered, along with the rest of the industry, by skyrocketing oil prices, which set a record high of USD$64.27 per barrel on Tuesday. Delta shares were also pressured by Monday's news that Todd Helvie, the airline's treasurer, has left the company a year after being promoted to the job. (Reuters) ---------- At one stage today you could buy ALL of Delta for just under $290m. Things look awful. Bob Mann (http://www.rwmann.com) on NPR sounded a similar sombre tone. What happens to this once mighty company now, worth a fraction of its local Atlanta LCC rival, AirTran? Word is that Delta needs to declare Chapter 11 before the new bankruptcy rules kick in.

Two world-class companies join onair’s team

GENEVA - TriaGnoSys and Miltope will provide the software and the server for the OnAir onboard GSM solution which will allow the safe and effective use of mobile phones on aircraft for the first time, it was announced today. “The contribution of these companies will be crucial in realising OnAir’s business objective of making mobile phone use a reality on short- and long-haul flights for both Boeing and Airbus aircraft,” said OnAir CEO, George Cooper. Munich-based TriaGnoSys will deliver the key software that will run on the airborne network server, a vital part of the onboard GSM system; the server will be provided by the Miltope Corporation, headquartered in Alabama. Both companies have been selected by Airbus, which will integrate and certify the onboard solution for the OnAir mobile telephony offer. With the recent selection of Siemens as the pico cell manufacturer, all suppliers for the onboard GSM system are now identified and fully engaged with Airbus. A pre-production version of the server with the TriaGnoSys software is expected by end 2005. Within the first half of 2006 a commercial version of the onboard GSM system will be ready for integration and end-to-end testing with the OnAir ground infrastructure. Dr. Axel Jahn, Managing Director of TriaGnoSys, said, “We bring world-beating expertise to OnAir and Airbus because of our experience leading the EU Wireless Cabin project. Our GSM software on the aircraft will allow fully automatic control of all GSM services, including voice, data and SMS according to flight phases.” Steven Rines, Miltope’s Director of European Business Development, said, “Our server has the necessary aircraft interfaces to work on any aircraft type, and provides the platform for accessing the Siemens GSM cell and Miltope’s wireless LAN products. With the Miltope server, the OnAir system has enough capacity to allow web surfing, text messaging and phone calls by up to 200 users simultaneously.” Miltope’s network server is housed in a standard aviation 4-MCU case (about the size of a large toaster) and provides all the processing and storage for the OnAir system. The state-of-the-art device is fitted with an Intel Dothan Pentium processor and complies with the ARINC 763S3 industry standard. OnAir CEO, George Cooper, said, “We are very pleased to welcome these two companies into the OnAir team. Their knowledge and engineering skills make them the best in the world at what they do and the OnAir project will benefit enormously from their very active participation in making our vision a reality.” The full OnAir service portfolio will allow airline passengers to use their personal devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs and laptops, to communicate in a variety of ways during flights: to make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, read and send e-mails, access corporate networks, browse the Internet or chat over the Internet. OnAir in-seat SMS and mail services are already available on Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, EVA Airways, Iberia, KLM, Malaysian Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic. OnAir is a joint venture with SITA INC (Information Networking Computing) and Airbus.

Use of 757s to Europe

I'm really not convinced about the need for single-aisle transatlantic operation. COA and others are using 757s because the aircraft and its capability already exist. Some of the aircraft are being used there because the airlines cannot make money currently out of flying them on the traditional US domestic routes. If the 757 did not exist, would COA be demanding Boeing or Airbus give them a transatlantic single-aisle? I doubt it - I think they would simply fly 767s on the routes in question. Several European and Canadian leisure airlines used to fly 757s across the Atlantic. However, as customers have become more demanding (and the markets have grown), they have almost exclusively switched to 767s and A330s since they have the range to fly to the Caribbean non-stop, plus the space to offer business class or premium economy cabins. The airlines have also tried to make use of the underfloor cargo capability to get extra revenue etc. COAs transatlantic 757s currently have only 172 seats, including 16 55" pitch business class seats. It must be questionable how many routes one can profitably fly such sized aircraft if there is heavy competition from the other Alliances flying larger types. Thus I would say there may be a niche for transatlantic single aisles, but it may not be a large enough niche to justify an aircraft with >3500nm range. As for transatlantic liberalisation creating demand, it's already happened. The only major market without Open Skies is London-USA, and the London market is so large, and the airports so congested that very few opportunites for single aisles exist. Richard Evans Market Forecasting Manager Rolls-Royce Airline Business

Customers Flying to Las Vegas Are Watching Ted's Figure

CHICAGO, Aug. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Customers on Ted, United Airlines' low-fare service can place their bets even before they arrive in Las Vegas, when they play the "Guess Ted's Weight" game for a chance to win two free tickets to the smash-hit musical, Mamma Mia. Now through the end of the year, the "Guess Ted's Weight" game is played onboard all 34 Ted flights to Las Vegas from three United hubs, including Chicago, Denver and Dulles (pending flight conditions). Customers receive game pieces and are then given helpful hints from the crew to help guess Ted's weight. Hints could include number of passengers, weight of cargo, and gallons of fuel that the plane needs to takeoff. Each customer on board receives a game piece with a coupon for a free CD sampler of the musical's soundtrack when they purchase a full price ticket to the show. The customer on each flight who comes closest to guessing the actual takeoff weight of the Ted aircraft wins two free tickets to a Mamma Mia musical performance in Las Vegas redeemable while they are visiting the city. --------- Yet another example of United trying to be creative within the limits of an oligopoly and Chapter 11. This is excellent and should play out in higher customer satisfaction and higher load factors. You only have to look at what making flying fun did for Southwest. Watch these people, they're on to something.

S Korean Govt Threatens Asiana Pilots

The South Korean government said Monday it was running out of patience over a three-week long walkout by pilots at Asiana Airlines, the country's No. 2 carrier, and would be forced to end the strike barring swift progress toward a solution. "We strongly urge both the management and the union to make active and specific efforts toward an early termination of the strike," Construction and Transportation Minister Choo Byung-jik said in a statement after talks between pilots and management broke down. The government last week warned it was prepared to end the walkout at the country's second-largest airline if no conclusion was reached this past weekend but softened its tone Sunday, raising expectations that a possible compromise was imminent. Those hopes were dashed as the latest attempt to seek a solution to South Korea's worst-ever aviation strike collapsed early Monday. A marathon meeting lasting into the early hours failed to achieve an agreement and no further talks had yet been scheduled, said Asiana spokesman Oh Kyung-keun. "It's a dangerous situation," he said. The pilots' demands include fewer flying hours, more say in management decisions and a higher retirement age. Both sides have offered concessions, but not enough to end the walkout, now in its 23rd day. If the government steps in, Asiana's union would have to immediately stop the strike for 30 days, a step used in sectors considered critical to the national economy. The government has invoked such powers twice before: in 1993 during unrest at Hyundai Motor Co., and in 1969 at Korea Shipbuilding Corp. For several days, Asiana President C.B. Park and other top executives have been trying to persuade union officials to end the strike, holding talks in a mountainous area in central South Korea where the pilots have established a base. The negotiations have focused on so-called "deadhead" hours, the time spent traveling by air to locations from where pilots are scheduled to fly aircraft. The pilots want that time to be counted as part of their total flying hours. Asiana is the country's second-biggest carrier after Korean Air. Asiana's international destinations include New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Bangkok, New Delhi, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The strike, which began July 17, has been costly, forcing Asiana to cancel all its cargo flights, over 1,800 domestic flights and more than 100 international passenger flights during the peak summer travel season. The airline said Sunday it was canceling a total of 314 international flights for the entire month of August, including service to Frankfurt, on Aug. 15th, its first to Europe so far. Asiana said its losses from the strike totaled $198 million through Sunday. Including losses to travel agencies and exporters, the figure comes to $348 million, the airline said. So far, 450,000 passengers have been affected, Asiana said.

United getting smart

Five extra inches of legroom, better access to overhead bins and faster deplaning is more attainable than ever, thanks to United Airlines' new Economy Plus Access program -- the instant ticket to award-winning, Economy Plus seating.Economy Plus Access, a year-long membership to Economy Plus seating, gives customers access to United's preferred seats, subject to availability, when they book tickets. Three different Economy Plus Access offerings are available, including a package that bundles a Red Carpet Club membership. "Our customers have told us they want more access to Economy Plus, which was voted best premium economy class in the world, in 2004, by readers of Business Traveler magazine," said Dennis Cary, United's senior vice president- Marketing. "Now customers won't have to hope for a chance at getting an Economy Plus seat the day they depart. Rather, they have another inroad into this preferred-seating section." "We know that United customers enjoy Economy Plus comfort especially as other carriers reduce legroom in their economy cabins," Cary added. "United is committed to being the best choice for customers who crave comfort while traveling for business or pleasure." Economy Plus is currently available to Mileage Plus Premier members and full-fare customers. This preferred seating is available on United(R) and Ted(SM) aircraft, and United Express(R) 70-seat aircraft too. Customers want premium seating and United stands the best chance of accommodating their requests, as the United fleet has more premium seating -- including United First(R), United Business(R) and Economy Plus -- than any other U.S. carrier. Customers can select the one-year Economy Plus Access option that best matches their needs: -- Economy Plus Access ($299 annual fee) provides extra onboard comfort, by enabling each member and one companion to sit in Economy Plus. -- Economy Plus Access with Red Carpet Club Membership ($699) offers extra comfort on board and in the airport. The United Red Carpet Club(SM) lounges and their high-end amenities -- such as Wi-Fi service, complimentary snacks, beverages and local phone calls -- are available in more than 40 airports worldwide. -- Economy Plus Access with Premier Fast Track ($749) offers customers extra comfort on board, and a quicker way to start reaping the benefits of United's Mileage Plus Premier(R) status. Only 15,000 qualifying miles or 15 flight segments, accrued during the Economy Plus Access membership are required, compared to 25,000 or 30 segments without the new program. -------------- Now this is a great way to extract extra money from its customers. Buying these deals you know what you're getting and based on recent UA experience across the Atlantic, those extra inches are to be prized. Now if only they would add in-flight WiFi...

Hooters Air Expands Service

Hooters Air today announced that it will commence new service from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport beginning October 28th, with introductory fares starting from $79* one way. Hooters Air plans to begin non-stop service from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Orlando International Airport, Ft. Lauderdale and St. Petersburg/Clearwater with service two days a week to each destination. Hooters Air also announced additional service from Gary/Chicago Airport, Columbus Rickenbacker Airport, and Chicago/Rockford Airport to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport also commencing on October 28th.
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Sounds (and looks) like fun. Something not associated with this industry very much these days.

Asiana Cuts Flights As Strike Continues

South Korean airline, Asiana, said on Sunday it would cancel more international flights as a pilots' strike dragged on into its 22nd day. The strike by the union that represents about 65 percent of Asiana's 839 pilots has cost the company KRW152 billion won (USD$150.3 million) so far, the company said in a statement. "During the July 17 to August 7 period, 450,000 passengers have been affected, with 38,000 tonnes of cargo shipments delayed," the statement said. "International routes to some European countries and Japan are to be affected this month following a cut on July 29 in flight services to Los Angeles, New York and some Chinese cities," it added. The union is seeking better perks, work conditions and a greater say in management decisions, while the airline has said it will not make any concession on the pilots' demand to participate as observers in meetings of board of directors. The government has threatened to step in if a solution cannot be found this weekend. The strike came during the busy summer travel season, and seriously challenges Asiana, which has seen many of its passengers take flights on routes duplicated by its larger domestic rival Korean Air. (Reuters) ---------- Strikes do not come as a huge surprise to management. It is becoming clear that airline managers are facing rising labor tension worldwide. Consequently it seems airline managers should be planning for these much better by making arrangements with their alliance partners to move traffic. It should not be forgotten that passengers can "strike", too. Bad publicity and even worse, a bad experience, can destroy a good name forever. The airline industry is more competitive than ever. If airline labor drags down a company via strikes, the airline (and its jobs) will dissappear while passengers will simply go elsewhere.

India reveals pilot shortage at state-owned airlines

Flight International online news 09:00 GMT: India’s Government has revealed the extent of the country’s pilot shortage on its state-owned airlines and detailed measures it is taking to address the problem. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel told parliament that flag carrier Air India is currently short 118 pilots while Alliance Air, a subsidiary of fellow state-owned carrier Indian Airlines, is short 40 pilots. All state-owned and privately held airlines in India are suffering from a severe shortage of pilots caused by rapid growth in the sector amid the establishment of new low-fare carriers and the expansion of operations by existing players. The shortage has led to poaching of pilots by new airlines and forced many airlines to slow aggressive expansion plans. Recently launched Air India subsidiary Air India Express, for example, was recently forced to scale back its operations after several of its pilots quit without giving notice, presumably to join other airlines. Patel said the government is “taking steps to overcome [the] shortage of pilots” and has changed the commercial pilot retirement age to 61 from 60 while reducing the total flying time required for the issue of a commercial pilot’s licence to 200hrs from 250hrs. ----------- This is further evidence that India may be the fastest growing commercial aviation market outside China. This is very good news for pilots the world over who might benefit by getting jobs after the past few years of awful layoffs in other places.

Northwest flight attendants lose suit

bizjournals.com -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Northwest Airlines by the Professional Flight Attendants Association. The association, which filed suit in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis two weeks ago, sought a temporary restraining order to block the airline from training prospective strikebreakers on actual flights. Flight attendants objected to having to train their own replacements in the event of a strike, and their union said it was illegal to share homeland security procedures with non-employees. ------ This is going to get ugly - don't book this airline for a while.

Airbus Backs Off Morocco Tender

Airbus said on Friday it would not take part in tendering for the supply to Royal Air Maroc (RAM) of four long-haul aircraft, leaving the potential USD$790 million deal to Boeing. The European planemaker said it had "regretfully" decided not to put in an offer by a July deadline because the airline's needs were not clear. "We are ready and willing to continue consultations and to discuss all proposals by RAM," an Airbus spokeswoman said in France, where the company is based. Airbus had initially offered its future A350 mid-sized carrier against Boeing's 787 in the tender to replace RAM's 757 and 767 aircraft, Airbus officials said. The purchase is part of a program launched in 2000 for the purchase of 22 to 24 aircraft to renovate RAM's fleet of 32. The A350 and 787 are at the heart of a transatlantic fight between Boeing and Airbus for control of the mid-sized, long-range segment of the jet market. After redesigning its original concept for the A350 to include more seats, Airbus has been waging a counter-offensive against the 787 since the Paris Air Show in June, with the two rivals battling for every last plane order. "It's with regret that we withdraw our bid for this RAM deal," David Dufrenois, Airbus sales manager for Morocco, was quoted by Le Matin newspaper as saying. "The terms of this tender are not clear and bid deadlines are too short," he added. Dufrenois spoke during a private lunch with a handful of journalists from local newspapers in Casablanca on Thursday. Some analysts say the rival jetmakers are treading carefully to avoid being played off against each other to depress prices as the industry recovers from a damaging recession. Aside from a previous order for four A321-300 short-haul Airbus jets, RAM's loyalties have mainly been with Boeing. Two of the A321s ordered in 2000 have been delivered and the other two will be delivered in 2007, Airbus said. Le Matin and business daily L'Economiste said RAM will make a decision on the long-haul deal in September and has set a July deadline for the two manufacturers to make their bids, without precise details. (Reuters) -------- Here's a weird one. Why would Airbus withdraw from this opportunity? Recently RAM has been an Airbus buyer. Airbus' reasons are not compelling. Certainly the 350 is too big for a 757 replacement - the 321 is better for this. So RAM is being handed off to Boeing for the 787. Airbus might still be smarting form its India experience - the last time they cried foul interms of RFP wording. Or maybe, given the 380 delays, Airbus is telling RAM (and all of us) that the 350 is also going to be delayed. Yet RAM might have looked at the 330 as an interim step and appears not to be interested.

Greece Signs Olympic Airlines Accord

Greece signed a preliminary agreement to sell flag carrier Olympic Airlines to the private New York-based investors group Olympic Investors-York Capital, the finance ministry said on Friday. "The Greek government agreed in principle with Olympic Investors-York Capital an agreement that paves the way for the sale of the airline," a finance ministry statement said. The agreement requires European Commission approval and sources close to the deal said that many details for a sale still had to be worked out. In June, Athens picked Olympic Investors-York Capital as the preferred bidder for the loss-making Olympic Airlines which was born out of Aristotle Onassis original Olympic Airways. Government sources said the group had proposed a EUR128 million (USD$158.3 million) offer. The deal has been delayed since June while the group proved its credit worthiness, sources said. Transport Minister Michael Liapis has said the sale is the carrier's last chance for survival. Olympic Airlines remained in the red in 2004 for the second consecutive year. Olympic Investors-York Capital was set up to bid for the carrier, which has been under EU scrutiny for several years because of government subsidies paid to keep the airline flying. Earlier this year the European Commission urged Greece to recover EUR194 million (USD$239.9 million) in illegal state aid given to the old Olympic Airways after the European Court of Justice ruled in May that Athens had not done enough to get the money back. Olympic Airlines posted a net loss of EUR87 million (USD$107.6 million) last year and a loss of EUR23 million (USD$28.4 million) in 2003 when it was launched. The accumulated losses are dangerously close to the airline's equity of EUR130 million (USD$160.7 million). The European Commission launched an investigation in March 2004, saying it had doubts about the Greek plan to set up and privatize Olympic Airlines. It said at the time it wanted to ensure no state aid was involved in the process. To make things worse, the carrier is being sued by former employees for wage claims of EUR55 million (USD$68 million), according to auditors' notes on its financial results. (Reuters) ---------- We knew something was up - traffic to this blog has been rising and the keyword search has inavriably been York Capital and Olympic. One has to think about this. ~$159m buys the airline that has never made a profit. If you think the employees are going to work American style - forget it. The NY investors may be in for a shock. Better to let the entire morass collapse on itself and then pick the pieces you want and start fresh. Capitalism is not something that comes naturally to mind when thinking of Greece - unless we're talking shipping.

Canada Plans No-Fly List

Canada said on Friday it will compile a "no fly" list of potentially dangerous airline passengers as it reviews security at airports, seaports, railways and urban transport systems following last month's attacks in London. "We're going to go ahead with the no-fly list, a Canadian no-fly list," Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said. The list will cover people identified as an immediate threat to aviation security. Lapierre added that screening of passengers at airports would be beefed up using fingerprints and other biometric techniques. The move could help appease US demands that Canada provide Washington lists of passengers on all Canadian flights that travel over US territory. So far Ottawa has resisted the pressure for such a list. "We know Canada has been identified as a target for terrorists," Lapierre said. "Unfortunately, we will have to develop a culture of security... The situation in the whole world is forcing us to have a whole plan covering all transportation without exception." Asked why the government must still review transportation security four years after the attacks of September 11, 2001, in the United States, Lapierre told the CBC: "We have already taken a lot of measures but it was never part of a comprehensive plan. What happened is we took ad hoc measures." "If you've traveled by plane lately I'm sure you know that we have improved security... but we still have more to do." Since 2001 Canada has spent about CAD$9 billion (USD$7.4 billion) on security, Lapierre said. (Reuters) ------ Can it really be? The Canadians are joining the US & UK to fight terrorism? How about starting to clean house Canuks? Canada is a haven for terrorists because of the "political correctness". Until Canada has a serious domestic incident (we pray this never happens) they won't have the guts to do this. Tony Blair has shown the way - the world has changed and recoginition of the problem is the starting point to getting things done. The question is this - have the Canadians really come to that place? Because if they have, we should see lots of Tamils being deported. Quite a few other radicals too - some of them in parliament.

Singapore Airlines chief furious at A380 delay

Singapore Airlines chief Chew Choon Seng is furious with Airbus over a delay in delivering its giant A380 airliners and could sue the European aircraft maker for damages, he said in an interview to appear next week. He told the Germany weekly Focus On Saturday that the first double-decker planes would not be delivered to SIA, a launch customer for the aircraft, until November next year, eight months later than originally promised. "Airbus took some time to acknowledge the delay in the timetable for the A380's entry into service," Chew said, adding, "I would have expected more sincerity." He said the delay "greatly upsets our forecasts with regard to capacity," while ageing Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets would have to be kept flying for longer. In addition the programme for training flight crew and engineers would be disrupted. Chew said a clause in the sale contract provided for SIA to seek damages for late delivery. "It's like a taxi hire," he said. "The longer the journey, the more it costs. Each month's delay will be more expensive for Airbus." SIA has ordered 10 A380s, the biggest airliners ever, with an option for another 15, to operate initially on flights from Singapore to London and Sydney. Chew said SIA would now be focussing on Boeing rather than Airbus, given that SIA would now be receiving 19 Boeing 777-300ER airliners before the A380s, instead of after. ------ Wow! Normally soft spoken people don't speak this way. Boeing's 747A never looked better. We bet that if the 380 shows any further issues - performance related such as range or payload - SQ will cancel their options. Just like they did with the 345s. This is very bad news for Airbus as the other customers are going to request the same financial compensation.

Northwest Strike Looms

The likelihood of an August 20 strike by mechanics, cleaners and custodians ballooned yesterday as Northwest Airlines representatives refused to move beyond 'unacceptable' demands in a last-ditch negotiating session called by the National Mediation Board. "Northwest's continued refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations destroyed yesterday's session and left little hope for a consensual agreement needed to avert a strike," said AMFA National Director O.V. Delle-Femine. "There is no use scheduling another negotiating session unless both parties come prepared to negotiate." Delle-Femine said that in yesterday's session, Northwest repeated its previous demand that would require AMFA members to approve a contract in which 53 percent of them would lose their jobs. "Common sense should tell Northwest that's a non-starter." Other demands already deemed non-acceptable by AMFA include pay cuts for remaining employees of 25-26 percent, along with other major concessions. "Even at this late date, Northwest still has not developed a comprehensive counter-proposal to our last economic proposal that offered generous 16 percent pay cuts and other important concessions," he said. "Northwest's only new offers in yesterday's session consisted of a single sentence about limited job protection for remaining employees--the individuals, not the positions--and meager profit-sharing, which in the current economic environment is likely to amount to nothing at all." "The only logical conclusion you can draw from Northwest's refusal to take multiple negotiation sessions seriously, and their rejection of arbitration, is that the company's strategy has always been to enter bankruptcy in order to get more concessions. If Northwest goes bankrupt, it will be by choice and they'll have no one to blame but themselves," Delle-Femine added. A strike by AMFA mechanics, cleaners and custodians could begin at any point after 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on August 20, 2005. In July, an overwhelming 92.4 percent of its Northwest members voted to authorize Delle-Femine to call a strike. Delle-Femine said Northwest is irresponsible for continuing to claim that outsourcing aircraft maintenance is just as safe and secure as doing it in-house. "An update report issued just last week by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Inspector General (IG) concluded that Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) oversight of outsourced aircraft maintenance facilities remains poor." The report said the FAA has "completed only one of nine promised actions" and went on to say that "FAA inspections of (domestic) repair stations were infrequent and did not encompass a review of all aspects of repair stations' operations." Regarding inspection of foreign repair stations, the report said, "The foreign aviation authorities did not focus on FAA standards during surveillance, and the inspection documentation provided by the authorities to FAA was incomplete or incomprehensible." Delle-Femine also disputed Northwest claims that replacement mechanics will keep the airline running on schedule. "Northwest executives sound like Eastern Airlines execs of old when they tell the public maintenance will continue to go smoothly during a strike. In the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit hubs, hundreds of Northwest planes arrive and depart every few hours. Replacement mechanics would have to keep up with this high volume while learning from scratch how to work in this totally unfamiliar environment. They won't even know where the tools are. "It's also no secret that Northwest has one of the airline industry's oldest fleets, including 150 DC-9s and 20 DC-10s from as long ago as the 1960s," Delle-Femine added. "Our mechanics grew up with these vintage planes and know all of their idiosyncrasies and how to keep them flying reliably. Many of the replacements will be learning to work on these aircraft for the first time." ---------- Don't book Northwest....the unions need to win this one big time. Motor City has lost lots of jobs already... unions can't afford to lose this one.

Logan Airport Tries to Block Continental From Providing Free Wireless Access to Frequent Fliers

BOSTON (AP) -- Logan International Airport is trying to block Continental Airlines Inc. from providing free wireless Internet access to its frequent fliers -- a service for which the airport charges a daily $7.95 fee -- calling it a threat to safety and security. The Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan, claims Continental's Wi-Fi service interferes with other wireless devices. Continental rejects that claim and argues Massport has no legal authority to restrict its use of the technology. Massport ordered Continental to remove the Wi-Fi antenna from its Presidents Club lounge by July 9, prompting the Houston-based airline to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. An FCC spokesman said the complaint is the first of its kind involving Wi-Fi access at airports. The agency isn't expected to rule on the dispute before Aug. 29, its deadline for accepting public comments on Continental's complaint. A Massport spokesman declined to comment on Continental's complaint. All 27 of Continental's frequent-flier lounges at airports have offered free Wi-Fi service since last December. The airline's lounge at Logan has offer the wireless connection since June 2004, but a year passed before Logan notified Continental in writing that the Wi-Fi antenna violated the terms of its lease. Last month, a Massport attorney warned the airline that its antenna "presents an unacceptable potential risk" to Logan's safety and security systems, including its keycard access system and state police communications. Massport told the airline it could route its wireless signals over Logan's Wi-Fi signal, at a "very reasonable rate structure." In response, however, Continental said using Logan's Wi-Fi vendor could force the airline to start charging its customers for the service. Craig Mathias, founder of the Farpoint Group, a wireless consulting firm in Ashland, Mass., said Wi-Fi signals can interfere with each other, but not with other wireless devices. "It's hard to imagine how this is a security threat," Mathias said. "They clearly don't want the competition." Continental argues that restrictions on the installation and use of Wi-Fi antennas are prohibited under FCC regulations. "We believe that offering the free Wi-Fi service at Logan is consistent with FCC regulations and its prior rulings, and is permitted by the terms of our lease with Massport," Continental spokeswoman Julie King said Thursday. --------- Here we go - airports love to think they don't need to compete. OK, here's another solution. Verizon offers 3G cell phones and we have seen how easily these can be patched to the bluetooth connection on your laptop. Presto! High speed via your cell phone - who needs the airport and its WiFi? A threat to safety and security - what crap is this? BTW - you can pick up an open (free) WiFi link near gate 72 at SFO. We highly recommend you post any free airport based WiFi signals here for others to benefit from.

Great news for Detroit - not for Northwest

Low-cost carrier, AirTran Airways on Thursday said it would launch service from Detroit in November, marking the start of fresh competition for troubled Northwest Airlines, which has a hub there. AirTran said it would begin flying from Detroit to Atlanta and Orlando starting November 8. The Orlando-based carrier said it would add service from Detroit to Sarasota in February. Northwest already flies each of those routes, and the introduction of new competition will increase the carrier's financial strain, an analyst said. "This adds to the spectrum of problems that Northwest now faces: labor, fuel costs, looming bankruptcy and discount competition," said Joe Schwieterman, a transportation expert at DePaul University. Northwest is seeking USD$1.1 billion in annual concessions from its unions. Without the savings, the carrier risks bankruptcy. Northwest is embroiled in heated contract negotiations with its mechanics union, which has threatened to strike. The carrier's woes come at a time when the entire airline industry is battling high fuel costs and competition from low-fare rivals. The expanded service into Detroit, the tenth busiest US airport, makes AirTran the seventh low-cost carrier to set up shop there. The others include Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines and America West. "We compete with many low-cost carriers in our hubs, including six at our Detroit hub," a Northwest spokesman said. "And already today we compete with AirTran in our twin cities and Memphis hubs as well as in Flint (Michigan)." He added, however, that the arrival of new competition in Detroit underscores the need for Northwest to achieve its labor savings target to make its costs more competitive with lower-cost competitors. (Reuters) -------- The people of Detroit who have been virtually stuck with Northwest to date. Choice is never a bad thing and one only has to look at AirTran's success in Atlanta to see how this new entrant might make a positive impact.

The joy of flying fades as fliers face more hassles

By Brian J. O'Connor, The Detroit News DETROIT — Darlene Bainbridge packed up her National Coney Island Express lunch and hustled toward the gate Monday at Detroit Metro Airport. "I live in the airport. I eat in the airport," said Bainbridge, a consultant from the Buffalo, area. The scene was a far cry from a time when meals were served on planes. In coach. For free. A time when there were magazines, free snacks, even pillows for your head. Now Bainbridge totes a red pillow from flight to flight, surrounded by girls in flip-flops and guys in cutoffs who'd be astonished to hear that people once dressed up for air travel. Flying used to be a miracle and a luxury, when Pan Am Clippers laid linen table settings and skycaps carried the bags. Now it's a $59-each-way do-it-yourself trudge that holds as much romance as climbing on a bus. That's never been more clear than today. Metro Detroit's largest carrier, Northwest Airlines, dropped free pretzels in June, a week after it shelved free magazines. The pillows went, too, even after Northwest finished last in a J.D. Power and Associates satisfaction poll. Complaints about airlines are increasing, too, said the U.S. Department of Transportation. In May, overall complaints were up about 37% over last year, and baggage gripes rose 25%. Still, as Metro heads into what's shaping up as a record year for summer air travel, there's one thing passengers aren't complaining about: cheap tickets. "Customers are voting with their dollars, saying, 'All we want is an inexpensive airline ticket,'" notes Michael Tretheway, executive vice present of InterVISTAS Consulting in Vancouver, British Columbia. Squeezed — hard — by rising fuel, health care and labor costs on one side and cheap discount carriers on the other, the older established airlines are pinching every dollar. Amenities have gone by the wayside. So has service. Customers often buy their own tickets over the Internet and check themselves in at self-service kiosks. Comfort? Forget it. Coach seats are typically a mere 31 inches apart. To save on fuel, idling planes turn off air-conditioning on the runway. Fees are up, too, with charges for extra bags, heavy bags, ticket changes and snacks. "I do expect to see airlines start charging for soft drinks soon," says Terry Tripler, airline expert and analyst with Cheapseats.com, "but I don't think the FAA will let them charge for the lavatories." More and more, flying the stingy skies these days feels like the philosopher's dour take on life — nasty, brutish and short. Except for the short part. Besides pitching the perks, airlines also save money by increasing their "load factors." That means packing passengers onto smaller planes for fewer flights. Northwest reports that its June load factor was its highest ever — nearly 88% of its seats were filled with paying customers. Metro Airport itself reports an increase of 300,000 passengers through May over its previous record in 2000. But all those extra passengers flew on 12,000 fewer flights. While that helps keep ticket prices low, those cheap seats come at the cost of convenience. First, it means fliers are less likely to find a flight that departs and lands when they want to travel. They're also more likely to find those flights are filled, or that all the bargain seats and frequent-fliers slots sold out long ago. Second, when passengers do find a ticket, high load factors mean that if the flight is canceled because of a summer thunderstorm over the Rockies, they often face a long wait to catch another plane. It also means they're more likely than ever to be bumped from the flight. Take Northwest, which handles more than 78% of traffic in and out of Metro. Its total of bumped passengers increased by 20% for the first quarter of 2005 over the same period in 2004 — which already was up from 2003. That included an increase of 14% in voluntarily bumped passengers, but the number of unwillingly bumped fliers more than doubled, according to federal statistics. All told, Northwest bumped 25,200 passengers from January through March, 2,048 involuntarily. Of 18 major airlines, Northwest had the fourth-worst ranking for bumps. Darryl Jenkins, a visiting professor of airline management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., puts it succinctly: "With load factors being as high as they are, the passenger is basically screwed." Just ask Jeffrey Hibbard. The Bloomfield Hills man was supposed to be on a 7 a.m. Monday flight to St. Louis, for a 10 a.m. training session. But with only 15 minutes before it started, he was still walking around Metro's Midfield terminal, hoping to catch his third flight of the day. After getting caught in a lengthy security line, Hibbard explained, he rushed to the gate with eight minutes to spare. Northwest, however, won't let passengers board less than 10 minutes before takeoff. He watched the door close, then watched his 9:30 a.m. standby flight take off without him. Then his corporate travel department at Kronos Inc. in Southfield, Mich., rebooked him on the 12:03 p.m. to St. Louis. As he lined up for a new ticket and another slog through security, he figured he'd make the after-lunch session. "You're standing there looking at the door close," he said with a sigh. "It's frustrating." It's also the way things are going to be for a long time to come. After years of underpricing to keep up with discounters and struggling to contain rising costs, the major airlines have no choice but to completely join the stripped-down world of discount air travel. "The amount of excesses we've had in this business for the last 20 years is enormous," said Tretheway, the airline consultant. "So this is judgment day, and judgment day is never pleasant." Pleasant wasn't exactly the word at Metro on Monday. Over at the security gates, passengers moved through quickly, but only as quickly as they could balance carry-ons, unwrap laptops, fold up strollers and tend to crying babies. The lines looked like a sock-hop as shoeless passengers shuffled around, retrieving the belts, keys, change and cell phones they'd shed to pass through the metal detectors. At the self-service check-in kiosks, passengers lined up seven deep, with looks ranging from mild annoyance to outright disgust. Patricia Knehler, 64, of Windsor, Ontario, and her sister, Margaret Brow, 73, of Montreal, were bound for Vegas. Knehler nervously navigated the check-in computers. "Your reservation could not be located," the screen said. "My heart's all aflutter," Knehler confessed, after an agent coaxed boarding passes from the machine. "I hope I never have to go through that again." --------- And you wonder why people flock to Southwest and jetBlue? The two airlines promise little and deliver time and again. Look at airline advertising and then look at what they deliver. Over promise and under deliver. Its not like you could pay the airline more and get a better seat or a meal - or even a smile from the surly crew. Mind you, I wouldn't smile much either if I had that job.

SAA Pilots Ballot To Strike - As Predicted Here

South African Airways (SAA) pilots have approved a motion of no confidence in management and began balloting for a strike, their association said on Tuesday, raising the prospect of a second walkout at the troubled airline. The state-owned carrier is still recovering from a crippling six day strike by cabin crew and ground staff that ended last week and which economists estimate cost SAA about ZAR25 million rand (USD$3.8 million) per day. "At the moment we are busy balloting our members to see whether they want to take industrial action. We have applied to the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) for a strike certificate," John Harty, the chief negotiator of the SAA Pilots' Association, which represents more than 800 pilots. It would be the first strike by pilots at Africa's largest airline. "But obviously we want to avoid industrial action and we are hoping that SAA management will come back to the table and we can negotiate in good faith." Harty said pilots and SAA were in disagreement over certain management issues, but declined to say what they were. Media reports have suggested that these could be linked to alleged attempts by SAA management to unilaterally change the pilots' contracts. "They are normal, ordinary issues that we should be able to settle. It's got nothing to do with salaries. We settled earlier this year on a 3.5 percent increase," said Harty. The association ran an advertisement in local papers on Tuesday announcing that a special general meeting on July 27 had unanimously agreed to pass a motion of no confidence in the airline's chief executive officer, Khaya Ngqula, and his team. "We the pilots of SAA call upon the government and shareholder of SAA to take immediate steps to appoint a competent leadership team with relevant airline experience -- a leadership team that has the interests of the airline, its employees and the public at heart," the association said. SAA spokesman Onkgopotse Tabane said the airline would not directly respond to the statement from the company's pilots, who own 5 percent in the otherwise state-owned airline. "We see no need to respond. There are various forums through which they can express their concerns. Pilots are not just employees, but also shareholders of the airline. We have our annual general meeting next Friday," Tabane said. The airline's management team was changed last year following a record ZAR8.7 billion (USD$1.33 billion) pretax loss in the 2003/04 financial year, with Ngqula taking the reins. The loss was triggered by a nearly ZAR6 billion (USD$920.3 million) hedge book loss. Ngqula has been criticized for his management style, particularly the airline's handling of the strike by cabin and ground staff, which critics said could have been avoided. Ngqula joined SAA from the state-controlled Industrial Development Corporation, taking over from Andre Viljoen. SAA posted a net profit of ZAR966 million (USD$148.2 million) in 2004/05 compared with an ZAR8.6 billion (USD$1.32 billion) loss in the previous period. It has announced plans to cut costs by ZAR1.6 billion (USD$245.5 million) by 2007. Last week, it was fined ZAR45 million (USD$6.9 million) by competition authorities for abusing its dominant position by operating an illegal incentive scheme for travel agents. (Reuters) ---------- Just avoid this airline - management is out of their depth it appears and the chaos is going to grow.

Miracle in Toronto

There were no fatalities in a firey jet crash in Toronto today. More details to follow, but in my professional opinion, this crash is a Modern Day Miracle.

Air France accident in Toronto

A passenger jet burst into flames after apparently skidding off the runway at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Few details are known, and there is no word on whether there are any casualties. Police indicate the aircraft was an Air France jet that was trying to land when it ran into trouble. "An Air France plane landing on runway 2-4 left went off the end of the runway the area of Convert Drive and the 401 area in Mississauga," said Sgt. Glyn Griffiths. He couldn't say whether there were any injuries or if any passengers had been removed from the plane, but said there's been a full response by all emergency vehicles. Air France has not released a statement, but a ticket agent with the airline told Reuters that the burning plane is an A340 Airbus (Not a 737 as first reported) that flew into Toronto from Paris. Live television pictures showed flames and smoke billowing from the aircraft in a wooded area on Highway 401 near the airport, with emergency vehicles surrounding the area. A section of the plane's wing could be seen jutting from the trees. CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin reports that 200 people are thought to have been on board. Severe storms were hitting the area at the time of the accident. Witness Mark Yppelar told CTV Newsnet that he saw heavy lightning strikes in the area before he saw the aircraft on fire. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority is expected to hold a press conference at 5 p.m. ET.

Boeing Tests 'Electric Powered' Jet

Boeing has tested an electric motor that could allow commercial jets to taxi around airports without using their engines or ground-based towing vehicles, the planemaker said on Monday. Chicago-based Boeing said its Phantom Works unit had used the nose-wheel motor, built by Gibraltar-based Chorus Motors, to move around an Air Canada Boeing 767 jet in tests simulating various runway conditions in June. The system could offer a glimmer of hope to US airlines, which have been looking for cost savings amid record fuel prices, by directing pilots to taxi with one engine operating, among other steps. It was unclear how soon the motor would be ready or how much it would cost. Boeing said the companies are working to overcome various technical issues that had surfaced during the tests. The motors could save airlines money by eliminating the use of airport tow tugs and boost efficiency by running their jets less, as well as reduce emissions, the companies said. (Reuters)

Judge Tosses JetBlue Passenger List Suit

Monday August 1, 7:48 pm ET By Kelly P. Kissel, Associated Press Writer Federal Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit in JetBlue Passenger List Case LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- JetBlue Airways Corp. violated customers' privacy by turning over passenger lists to the government but the affected people are not entitled to damages, a federal judge ruled in dismissing a class-action lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon in New York City found that JetBlue had violated its agreement not to share passenger data by sharing the information at the behest of the Transportation Security Administration. But Judge Amon said the passengers could not prove damage. In an order signed Friday, Amon also rejected a claim that JetBlue unjustly enriched itself. New York-based JetBlue had given the information to Torch Concepts of Huntsville, Ala., a Department of Defense subcontractor and a co-defendant in the suit along with Little Rock-based data broker Acxiom Corp. and SRS Technologies of Newport Beach, Calif., the main DOD contractor in the case. The plaintiffs sued after learning that TSA, in July 2002, sent JetBlue a written request asking that it supply passenger data for a database being compiled by Department of Defense contractors. The following September, JetBlue delivered some 5 million passenger name records to Torch Concepts, according to court records. A passenger name record includes addresses, telephone numbers and itineraries. The following month, Torch Concepts bought additional data from Acxiom, one of the nation's largest consumer data brokers. Torch Concepts sought the information from JetBlue and Acxiom in an effort to identify people who might be a risk to military installations. The database built by Torch Concepts included details on whether JetBlue passengers owned or rented their home, how long they had lived at that residence, the number of immediate family members, Social Security numbers and whether they owned or leased their car, the lawsuit said. Government interest in passenger list data grew after the 2001 terror attacks, and subsequent revelations that airlines turned over passenger lists for government research triggered a number of class-action lawsuits. Federal law prohibits the government from keeping a secret database, and the Department of Homeland Security has questioned whether it broke the law by failing to disclose its past use of commercial databases in its passenger screening program. Homeland Security's privacy manager, Nuala O'Connor Kelly, said last month that she was investigating whether any laws were broken in the government's Secure Flight program. --------- Sigh - only in America. What morons to be worried over their "privacy" instead of the threat to their lives. We happen to think this data mining idea is very smart and should be used in every form of public travel. We are also sure the majority of people agree with this.

Who has Asiaphobia?

Feeling old? Me too. Here’s consolation. You understand market cyclicality if you live through enough cycles. At 42, I’m old enough to see several booms and busts, in both the defense and commercial markets. But there’s one market condition I didn’t think was cyclical. Asiaphobia. It’s baaaaack! The late 1980s and early 1990s were a great time to be scared of Asian aerospace dominance. Foolish Americans, with their obsolete free market system, low savings rate, and complacent government technology policies would be left in the dust by the emerging aerospace powerhouses, with their sophisticated government industrial roadmaps. Japan would leverage its FS-X fighter, 777 role, space program, and broad defense industry capabilities to replace the US as the dominant aerospace power in the world. Indonesia would take the 50/150-seat airliner segment. Malaysia and South Korea would be regional aircraft players. Taiwan would buy Douglas Aircraft, and build its own 747 competitor. And China? By 2010 they’d be the center of an Asian Airbus. If you were an engineer, you might as well quit your job and learn Mandarin. There was no future back home. It was all nonsense, of course. Asia’s aerospace investments merely absorbed cash that was better left to the private sector. Indonesia imploded. China retreated, abandoning its jetliner ambitions for an underwhelming component role (about $120 million annually in Boeing and Airbus work). South Korea abandoned its commercial projects but is still hard at work on the military side, re-inventing the wheel. Taiwan is hoping for 3% of the next Cessna. And Japan? Well, the FS-X became the F-2, an F-16C with a flimsy plastic wing and an F/A-22 price tag. It’s tough for Japan’s Government to admit it, but the next step is backwards—a JSF workshare, perhaps. As an artifact of the bad old days, I recommend Jeff Shear’s The Keys to the Kingdom: The FSX Deal and the Selling of America’s Future to Japan. I helped Shear with advice, all the while feeling like the conscientious dog in Davey And Goliath (“gee, I dunno, Davey…”). Shear, an otherwise superb writer, was with the Asiaphobes, and like the dead people in Sixth Sense, they saw what they wanted to see. During America’s 1995-2001 boom, Asia fears vanished. Discredited Asiaphobic pundits lost TV airtime to money-crazed day traders and the Pets.com sock puppet spokesdog. The US economy is less confident now, with uncertain indicators and burgeoning deficits. So, the nervous Asia nellies are back. Their new focus is China: the prospective Unocal and Maytag acquisitions, an overvalued yuan, and another “sucking sound” of jobs going offshore. And in the aerospace world: • The QRS-11 chip incident. The State Department wants to punish Boeing for past China jetliner (with embedded QRS-11) sales, even though it’s now legal. Is this: (1) An effort to stop jetliner sales to China? (2) An effort to permit only dumbed-down jetliner sales to China? (3) Bureaucratic self-aggrandizement coupled with shameless pandering to the anti-China lobby? Hmmm…. • DoD’s China report (http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2005/d20050719china.pdf). China should be studied as a potential adversary. But China recently ended license production of the Su-27 fighter, a major retreat from expectations. In the interest of a balanced threat appraisal, shouldn’t an important DoD study mention this crucial development? Remember when the sky was going to turn dark with Chinese-built Sukhois? No longer. Except, perhaps, at DoD. • Noted Japanophobe and serious FS-X worrywart Clyde Prestowitz, author of 1988’s quickly obsolete Trading Places: How We Are Giving Our Future to Japan and How to Reclaim It is back with a new book. With Three Billion Capitalists: The Great Shift of Wealth and Power to the East he’s focused on China this time, perhaps because getting worked up about Japan’s imminent supremacy is now a total non-starter. “Trading Places”? “Great Shift”? Is everything a zero-sum game to this crowd? But Japan still occupies a big place in Asiaphobe hearts, so there’s the 787. Once again, Japan’s government will provide taxpayer money to acquire jobs and technology. Once again, as with the 767, MD-11, and 777, jetliner manufacturing jobs will go abroad. There’s no coherent industry roadmap; Japan’s 787 work has more to do with bureaucrats and engineers gone wild. That’s great for Boeing, and it says nothing but terrible things about the Japanese economy (it’s tough to maintain 0% growth). Japan’s 787 role is easily overstated. They’re getting 35% of the airframe, or about 17% of the total aircraft (the airframe is 40-50% of the plane’s value). Yet even The Economist reported, “At least 70% of it will be built outside America, mostly in Japan.” (June 25th 2005, page 78.) When a highly respected pro-trade magazine writes breathless gibberish like this, you know Asiaphobia is back. Et tu, Economist? Yet the US industrial future might resemble the iPod. There’s a $5 billion a year market catering to yuppies like me seeking to archive their Gang Of Four collection. Apple’s iPod is doing great, smashing Sony’s Walkman (if you predicted this in 1990, the Japanophobes would have laughed). Apple invented the iPod, markets it, sells it, supports it, and integrated the whole concept. But they don’t care about building it. With the 787, Boeing is moving in Apple’s direction. Touch labor is gradually moving to the Third World, or to Asian countries with pointless industrial strategies. When Boeing sold its Wichita facility, the unions wisely gave ground to the new owners. They could read the handwriting on the thrust reverser. Where’s the new Asiaphobia heading? I’ve seen enough in my 42 years to guess. Japan will continue to coast. China will be hit by a banking crisis, or something that will make the US’s troubles look insignificant. The US system, warts and all, will look pretty good. But in ten years, there’ll be another crisis of US confidence, and another round of books about Mongolia’s coming industrial supremacy, or something like that. Yours, Until My Nepalese iPod Overloads, Richard Aboulafia

ICAO Forecasts 6-7% Passenger Growth PA through 2007

Following a strong rebound in 2004, world airline passenger traffic measured in passenger kilometers performed (PKPs) is expected to expand at 7.6, 6.5 and 6.2 percent growth rates in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively, according to the latest medium-term forecast prepared by the International Civil Aviation Organiation (ICAO). Traffic had been negatively affected in 2001 and 2002 by a slowing world economy and the events of Sept. 11. In the first half of 2003, it was further negatively impacted by the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the war in Iraq. Traffic started to recover during the second half of 2003. Last year’s estimated 14 percent growth in part reflects the strong recovery by the airlines in Asia/Pacific, the region worst affected by the SARS outbreak, ICAO says. It was also supported by the improved performance of some regional economies and the sustained expansion of the Middle East economy, as well as the marginal decline in the cost of travel in real terms. Total (international and domestic) scheduled passenger traffic generated by airlines of ICAO’s 188 contracting states was 2,950 billion PKPs in 2001. For the years 2002 and 2003, it remained well below the level achieved in 2000 (3,038 billion PKPs). For 2004, the traffic is estimated at 3,442 billion PKPs, thus surpassing the 2000 traffic volume by about 13 percent. With the anticipated continuing moderate performance of the world economy, traffic is expected to rise to about 3,705 billion PKPs in 2005, 3,947 billion PKPs in 2006 and 4,192 billion PKPs in 2007. Traffic development will vary by region due to specific local, intra- and inter-regional factors, according to ICAO. For the period 2005-2007, it is anticipated that the traffic of the airlines of the Middle East will show the highest average annual growth rate of about 10.9 percent (11.8 percent for 2005, 12 percent for 2006 and 8.8 percent for 2007). ICAO says the airlines of the Asia/Pacific should experience fairly strong traffic growth rates throughout the forecast period, well above the world average. The markets for the European and North American airlines are expected to grow at over seven and six percent respectively in 2005. The growth rates for 2006 and 2007 are projected to remain somewhat lower. The traffic of the airlines of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Africa is expected to grow somewhat below the world annual growth rates over the forecast period.

SAA Strike Over?

As previously reported, a deal between South African Airways and the unions representing its cabin crew and ground staff means that the airline's crippling strike is over. The company was expecting to have operations back to normal by the weekend just passed. -------- Right now for round 2 - rumor has it now the pilots want to try their luck too. Avoid booking this airline until further notice. The pilots wanted to see how the management handled the action last week - they buckled and the company ground to a halt. So the pilots will be fiesty.

Expedia - will they or won't they?

EXPEDIA.COM'S FIVE-YEAR AGREEMENT WITH SABRE, signed 14 months ago, under which Expedia was to move a substantial number of its transactions from Worldspan to Sabre, has yet to be implemented. And, Expedia appears to have no immediate plans to put the agreement into practice. "There are no segments going through Sabre," said an Expedia spokesman, who declined to cite a reason for the unrealized agreement. Henry Harteveldt, Forrester Research's vice president of travel research, noted that Expedia may have signed the deal in part because Sabre has more airline relationships than Worldspan, and might have decided to hold off implementation until there is more certainty regarding the distribution environment. With airline content agreements expiring over the next 18 months or so, none of the GDSs can guarantee which carriers will choose to distribute through them, Harteveldt noted. Another factor, he said, is that Expedia has never ruled out introducing airline direct-connects that bypass the GDSs. Dennis Schaal Travel Weekly Technology & Business Travel Editor

Farecast.com can stop the madness

FARECAST.COM, using data-mining technology, believes it can find a method to the seeming madness that characterizes ever-changing airline fares. The Seattle-based startup said it has a business plan that promises to help leisure travelers figure out when to book airfares online to get the lowest fares. Farecast, formerly known as Hamlet, said last week that it attracted $7 million in Series B funding from one new investor, Greylock Partners, and two existing backers, Madrona Venture Group and WRF Capital. The latter two companies led an initial round of $1.5 million in 2004. Farecast's technology concept, was developed by the company's founder, Oren Etzioni, a University of Washington computer science professor. He was a co-founder of Netbot, a comparison shopping site acquired by Excite. The president and CEO of Farecast is Hugh Crean, previously senior vice president of business development at NLG and a former vice president of product development at Priceline. Farecast is being coy about its plans, saying it will provide more information in about three months. Dennis Schaal Travel Weekly Technology & Business Travel Editor

United flight attendants stage pension protests

United Airlines cabin staff, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants, went on the offensive yesterday with coordinated demonstrations at airports in the US, Europe and Asia, threatening to strike in protest over the termination of their pension plan."Current United management has held its employees and creditors hostage in Chapter 11 for nearly 1,000 days," union head Greg Davidowitch said. "We're hitting the streets around the globe to demonstrate our resolve. We want our pensions back, and we want this management team out." The flight attendants claim the right to strike owing to the termination of their pension plan, although management disputes this interpretation of the applicable federal labor law (ATWOnline, July 4). In a statement issued yesterday, the airline said, "The actions the AFA leadership has threatened are illegal and will not be tolerated. United will do whatever is necessary to ensure the continued smooth operations of the company for our customers." ----------- Here we go again - more labor unrest. Just what the airline industry does not need. One has to wonder when travelers are going to start reacting back. Flights are full and not as cheap as they were, in-flight service is generally awful - cabin crew are right to worry about air rage.

Asiana's Strike Cost Dear

Asiana Strike Costing Airline $3 Million a Day Meanwhile, unionized pilots at South Korea's Asiana have been on strike since July 17, a strike that is costing the airline $3 million a day, according to Singapore's Business Times. The pilots want their flying hours cut from 1,200 a year to 1,000 and an increase in their retirement age from 55 to 60. Asiana reportedly now has cancelled 60 international passenger flights through the end of July, according to Agence France Presse. Affected routes include Delhi, Guilin (China), Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sydney. Also affected are most of the company's cargo flights and about half of its domestic flights. The strike comes as Asiana last week posted a second quarter loss of $8.3 million --reversing the $25.5 million profit the company posted for the same quarter in 2004. ------ What's with the sudden airline labor action all over the place? Got to love a full time job that only uses 1,000 hours per year at the office.

SAA in safe hands?

South African Airways (SAA) has reached a pay deal with two unions, it said on Thursday, ending a strike which crippled Africa's largest airline for almost a week. "The decision here taken by the unions and management again confirms that this airline is in safe hands," SAA chief executive Khaya Ngqula told reporters. Two unions representing SAA ground staff and cabin crew walked off the job last Friday, forcing the airline to cancel international flights and sharply scale back domestic flights. Economists had estimated the strike was costing the state-owned carrier about ZAR25 million rand (USD$3.8 million) per day, but Ngqula declined to give SAA's figures for its losses. --------- You read this and you have to laugh. All the CEO has to say is the company is in safe hands. What a stupid remark. SAA have lost a fortune on the strike and ruined their reputation. We think business travelers would think twice about flying SAA after this mess. Very safe hands indeed, when you are owned by the government.

UK travelers jumping online

KLM said it has seen a 45% increase in the usage of its website by UK passengers to book tickets and check in for flights over the past 12 months, and it now receives an average of 105,000 UK visitors per week. In addition, nearly 85% of UK flyers now travel on an e-ticket, the highest penetration in its network, the airline said.

Southwest Driving Lots of Politicos Crazy

Item 1 - Southwest Airlines on Thursday officially announced its intent to ditch Seattle's major hub at Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International and switch flights to the much smaller Boeing Field. Southwest says it's frustrated with rapidly rising user fees at Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International. Item 2 - If Southwest's moving to Boeing, then Alaska Air — which operates a hub at Sea-Tac — says it will move a matching number of flights to Boeing. Item 3 - Not happy to have the Dallas-Love airport flap overshadowed by Seattle matters, the Texas battle over the Wright Amendment restrictions at Love Field have been ratcheted up. There are separate bills in the House and Senate that would nullify the restrictions at Love Field, and that's not sitting well some legislators. Frustrated at the increasing momentum to overturn the Wright Amendment, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), chairman of the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he is considering supporting a bill that would force Southwest's hand by ending all commercial flights at Love Field. That drew a sharp rebuke from House Majority Leader Tom Delay, who also says he'd vote to repeal Wright. Closing flights to Love "won't ever happen," Delay says. But, even at that level, the stakes were promptly raise. In what he termed a "lighthearted swipe," Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) has proposed a bill that would ban passenger flights at the commercial airports in Des Moines and Tulsa, reports The Dallas Morning News. Why those cities? It's legislators from the states those cities proposed the ban on commercial service at Love. --------- Wow, Southwest is having a great time.

Chirac Urges Air Tax To Fund Africa Aid - Today's Dumbest Idea

French President Jacques Chirac has again urged world leaders to impose a levy on airline tickets to finance extra aid for Africa, his office said on Tuesday. Chirac, who told the World Economic Forum in January that a tax of USD$1 per airline ticket could raise USD$10 billion a year to fund campaigns against diseases in Africa, pressed his case in a letter he wrote to more than 140 world leaders. "I offer you to associate yourselves with the establishment of an international solidarity contribution on plane tickets, aimed, particularly, at financing the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria," he said in a letter dated Monday. In the letter addressed to state leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chirac said the tax would be imposed on tickets of planes leaving from airports in participating countries. Chirac urged world leaders to work on the proposal ahead of the United Nations' summit in September. "If the September summit allowed to launch this project, it would constitute a historic moment of hope, of mobilization and action, and I would be happy if your country could participate in this," Chirac wrote. The Group of Eight industrialized nations have decided to consider imposing a levy on airline tickets to finance extra aid for Africa, a proposal which has run into opposition in Europe and the United States. Chirac's idea has received support from Germany, but even though talks so far have centered on a voluntary tax, some other European governments, including tourist destinations Greece and Italy, have given the idea an icy reception. (Reuters) -------- What, another tax on tickets? What a dumb idea! Why should travelers’ money – note the idea is to tax all airline tickets – be sent as aid to Africa? It is well documented that up 40% of aid to Africa comes right back to the donor country within days to be banked in, shall we say, certain accounts that might (or might not be) for the nation granted this largesse. Africa is the poorest continent because it has more crooked and corrupt governments than any other continent. The best thing the West can provide that place is advice on implementing democracy and capitalism. This formula has worked wonders in other places – why not Africa? African nations and people need to stand up for themselves and quit this handout requirement every few years. Bob Geldorf should give up this gig – it is not working on anywhere near the scale he and others want. Only Africans can solve Africa’s manifest problems. Just leave them alone – and while Chirac is at it, leave us alone too. We think this idea of a ticket tax for Africa is the dumbest idea in a while.

LAX - Heathrow Flight Diverted

Via AP this morning:

BOSTON (AP) - A flight from Los Angeles to London was diverted to Boston early Tuesday because three Pakistani passengers were acting suspiciously, but nothing amiss was found and the three were released after questioning, authorities said. United Airlines Flight 934 landed in Boston shortly before 3 a.m., Logan Airport spokesman Phil Orlandella said. Three people he described as Pakistani citizens were taken into custody and questioned. All three were later released and no charges were filed, said Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Boston. "The flight crew made an observation of their behavior which caused the flight to be diverted to Boston," she said. "It's all being resolved. They will be on another flight this morning for Heathrow." Flight 934 is expected to depart for London later in the morning. Police searched the aircraft and found nothing suspicious, Orlandella said. State trooper Veronica Dalton said the three passengers had been "acting suspiciously and making the passengers nervous." "The crew made the determination that they were going to land the plane in Boston," she said. The three passengers were not identified.

I am waiting for eyewitness accounts to surface to better describe their "suspicous" activity.

The discomfort of strangers - great piece

By Sean Coughlan BBC News It's a crowded train in central London, and I'm sitting opposite an Asian man carrying what looks like a large laptop bag. Is it a coincidence that no one else is sitting near us? Is it an accident that he's pushed out his corporate ID card so that it's clearly visible over his jacket, hanging like the open page of a passport? Public transport can be a world of unspoken signals and gestures - but am I right in thinking that he looks self-conscious, sometimes burying his face in his arms as though asleep? When that woman getting into the carriage half-turned towards us and then moved away, was that a deliberate decision, or was it a random commuter choice? How would it feel to have someone literally turning their back on you? Mind-games I change Tube lines and in the next train I'm sitting close to a woman wearing Islamic dress. But this time, all the seats are filled around her, and the atmosphere feels relaxed. What's going on in the thoughts of passengers? What judgements are they making? It's a mind-game being played out all over the Tube network, and indeed on many trains and buses throughout the country. It's performed in silence, with people unsure of their neighbours' motives and guilty about their own feelings of suspicion. Following the London bomb attacks, there have been stories swapped all over the capital of people switching seats because of "suspicious" passengers. And targets of that suspicion have talked about their sense of frustration at the unsubtle attention of other travellers. Even though people say little when they're travelling, there's plenty going on inside - fears of danger, changed routes, calculations to avoid risks, guilt at making stereotypical assumptions, anger at being unfairly distrusted. Stopped carrying rucksacks In the rather unreal atmosphere of familiar places facing unfamiliar threats, people are taking note of actions and appearances they wouldn't usually see. Hundreds of e-mails sent in to the BBC News website show how, in the uneasy mood on public transport, we're thinking all kinds of unspoken thoughts. There are flickers of bigotry and thinly-disguised racism, but there are also convincingly understated descriptions of people's edginess - and examples of how it is changing people's behaviour, including a number who say they have stopped taking Tube trains. Marcus, who says his family are Greek-Cypriot, has devised a strategy to avoid "odd looks" on the Tube (which he attributes to his Mediterranean appearance). To make himself seem non-threatening, he now wears a Make Poverty History wristband and makes a point of reading the Economist. "Whilst this sounds ridiculous it does reassure people around me. Of course, the whole thing is ridiculous but these are ridiculous times we are living in," he writes. An Asian reader says fears about what people are thinking have stopped him carrying a rucksack. "I do not take my rucksack to work anymore, which had my lunch and work shirt. I would rather wear a dirty shirt left at work than be looked at suspiciously. I also wear a T-shirt to work now, as I am afraid to wear too much, after the shooting," he writes. There are also people who have stopped wearing their MP3 players or iPods because of worries about trailing wires or not hearing orders from the police. Empty seat Being on the receiving end of such a hostile atmosphere has persuaded Leila, a white convert to Islam, to stop travelling by Tube altogether. "I sensed people's fear of me because of my Muslim dress. Sometimes people even preferred to stand rather than sit by me, leaving an empty seat next to me." Hindu and Sikh readers have also written to say they have experienced the same sense of rejection. "As I got on the tube with my rucksack, a fellow passenger saw me, waited a second then got up, to wait on the platform for the next train," writes Dev. Violence This distrust between travellers is a phenomenon that feeds on itself, says psychologist Gary Fitzgibbon, from the north London-based consultancy, Fitzgibbon Associates. "You've got a strange effect here. Everybody's awareness of a threat is raised - and everyone is looking round suspiciously. So they're looking at each other - and what they observe is people looking at them suspiciously, which immediately raises their awareness that this person might be a threat. "You can get very anxious situations arising - and in the extreme it could lead to violence." Mr Fitzgibbon says fear is a natural response to a threat - but the prolonged media coverage, and the way that people continue to talk about the bombings, can generate a response that is greater than the actual threat that exists. And amid such fears, he says that people can tend to seek people more like themselves and to avoid those who are different. Such a reaction, already witnessed by people sending in e-mails, would threaten what a worried reader described as the capital's "multi-cultural mini-world". ------- And this is the outcome of terrorism - less tolerance and understanding. It seems counter-intuitive. Rather than a sympathetic view of the terrorists' world view, people are reacting quite rationally. We forget today's European tolerance of "others" is quite recent - the holocaust was only 50 some years ago. Threats like the London bombings might rekindle all kinds of behaviors.

Live TV on Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines became the first carrier to introduce live TV on international flights. The infotainment option was enabled by SIA's installation of Connexion by Boeing and TV is free for passengers paying for Connexion for their laptops. The airline is proceeding with plans to bring TV to seat-back IFE by 2006. The four international channels to be beamed live are BBC World, EuroNews, Eurosportnews and CNBC. ---- Slowly but surely we will see a migration away from stale and boring options offered today towards fresh content. The canned movies might be an option, but clearly live content is the way to go.

Airline Labor - is this going to get worse?

South African Airways (SAA) was forced to cancel dozens more flights as one of the worst strikes in the airline's history went to a fourth day on Monday, stranding travellers from London to Lusaka. Olympic is about the strike and Northwest is also facing action. What's going on here? In the US, we have just seen the AFL-CIO go through a split, which puts Northwest in a strong position becuase union labor is too busy with in-fighting. In Africa other carriers are scrambling to fill in the void created by SAA's mess. Similarly, we think that Olympic's strike will be handled by other carriers. What does this teach us? Worldwide there are more seats that passengers. Airlines can dissappear and people will find another way to get where they want to go. There too many airlines employing too many people. Excess capacity cannot be supported by strikes. Organized labor is going to destroy airlines - the bad news for travelers is that as capacity shrinks, choices decline and fares will go up. But the employees will have no where to go for jobs. Who is the bigger loser?

Olympic Cancels 50 Flights Due To Strike

Greek flag carrier Olympic Airlines will cancel 50 flights on Tuesday because of a 24 hour strike as part of industrial action called by main trade union body GSEE against proposed government reforms. Olympic Airlines said on Monday it would fly to one domestic destination and one international on Tuesday. On Tuesday, parliament will debate reforms proposed by the New Democracy government intended to create more jobs and boost competitiveness. The proposed bill aims to introduce more flexible working hours and cheaper overtime pay. Unions said the proposed changes will trim workers' pay. Athens' transport system will ground to a halt on Tuesday as workers join in GSEE's strike. Public utility employees and bank workers will stay away from work while civil servants will hold a four hour work stoppage in the morning. GSEE will also stage a protest rally outside Parliament. Athens' determination to push through politically difficult reforms comes after Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis easily won a parliamentary confidence vote last month. (Reuters) ----- And they wonder why there are no investors to buy the airline? Nuts!

US Government still not data sharing effectively

USA Today -- The federal government is awash in lists of all manner of criminals. Fugitives charged with child molestation or murder. The FBI's 10 Most Wanted. Illegal immigrants. And, most usefully, terrorists. Two of the 9/11 hijackers — Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Al-Midhar — were allowed to board the jetliner that was flown into the Pentagon, even though both were on a State Department list of 60,000 known or suspected terrorists. The Federal Aviation Administration might have stopped them before they boarded, had it been checking travelers against that list. Instead, it was using its own "no-fly" list of a mere 12 suspects, according to the 9/11 Commission. Nearly four years have passed since that debacle. Still, the federal government hasn't gotten its information-sharing act together. At times, one arm of government doesn't check lists kept by another. Often, agencies don't even know what they're missing. The latest revelation of a lapse came last month, when Congress's non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the State Department was issuing passports without systematically checking applicants against FBI lists of fugitives and against a new, consolidated terrorist list. The upshot? In a GAO test, 20 out of 43 federal fugitives weren't flagged by the State Department's system. One was on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Another had obtained an updated passport 17 months after the FBI listed that person as wanted. A U.S. passport is considered the gold standard of identity documents. It enables holders to travel freely into and out of the USA and gain visa-free passage into many countries. The State Department says it checks passport applicants against its own database filled with information from many agencies. State, however, wasn't aware that thousands of federal fugitives known to the FBI weren't included, until the GAO discovered it. The department lacked data from the terrorist watch list because it wasn't routinely receiving that information, according to the GAO. A department official said last week that the agency will get the watch list in coming weeks, and it has a deal with the FBI to get data on more fugitives. Despite some strides in sharing information, the lapses at State are emblematic of problems that remain across agencies. The Transportation Security Administration, for example, still doesn't scrutinize every government list in its screening of passengers. Concern about sharing intelligence information with private airlines, which still handle the checks, is one of the reasons, the 9/11 Commission found. For decades, U.S. agencies worked alone on their individual missions. They seldom looked across the government for help. That mindset is tough to change, but 9/11 certainly should have provided the impetus, and the 7/7 bombings in London last week underscored the continuing terrorist threat. Come next year, Americans will suddenly need passports to travel by air or sea from the Caribbean, Bermuda and other places where passports have not been required. Mexico and Canada will be added later. The goal is more secure borders. By then, it would be nice if the State Department could ensure that anyone getting a passport is not a fugitive or terrorist known to some other arm of the U.S. government. ----- This is simply outrageous! What are we paying taxes for? How can there be no data sharing of this type? Given the vast amounts of money poured into these agencies one would think that something as easy as this would have been done by now.

Scary Runways, Scary Skies

NYT -- For those of us who travel, reports of near collisions on the runway send a jolt up the spine. Such incidents are admittedly rare. But there is no such thing as rare enough when you're strapped into your seat and waiting for takeoff. Times article on Thursday by Matthew L. Wald reported that two weeks ago, a fully fueled wide-body Israir jet carrying an undetermined number of passengers wandered onto the wrong runway at Kennedy International Airport, smack into the path of a cargo plane accelerating for takeoff. Spotting the looming disaster, the pilot of the cargo plane got airborne early, skimming over the top of the passenger jet by less than 100 feet - the barest whisker by aviation standards. This was an avoidable crisis, and it should never have happened at all. Yet on June 9, the co-pilot of a US Airways Boeing 737 had to delay takeoff and keep the plane's nose down to avoid crashing into an Aer Lingus Airbus A330 taking off on an intersecting runway at Logan Airport in Boston. On Aug. 19 last year, a Boeing 747 flown by Asiana was cleared to land on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport at the same time that a Southwest Boeing 737 was cleared to take off. Disaster was averted when the Asiana pilot spotted the Southwest plane as it swung into position for takeoff and turned the Asiana plane away at literally the last minute - with two seconds to spare. The Federal Aviation Administration has improved pilot training and equipment at some airports, but the National Transportation Safety Board still characterizes the F.A.A.'s actions on this issue as "unacceptable." Life is dangerous enough these days without adding avoidable accidents to the mix. It's past time to push everyone - including air traffic controllers, pilots and technicians - toward making these near-collisions a thing of the past. ------- Lets hear it for sharp eyed pilots! It is truly an act of faith when you sit down on an airplane and hope to get to the other side alive. Pilots have been called glorified bus drivers and it is clear from these few anecdotes that this is a very unfair statement.

CS Monitor on In-Flight Internet

Inflight Turbulence for the Net The Monitor's View The business of providing Internet services on airplanes is just taking off. Care to send e-mail, receive instant messages, or surf the web while in flight? The emerging technology will soon make doing so as easy as placing a phone call from a plane-seat or logging on in a hotel room. But like meals on most flights, the service won't be free. And like almost everything having to do with aviation, it must pass an antiterror filter. The FBI, along with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, wants to be able to read or block online communications to and from airplanes. They have applied to the Federal Communications Commission for this authority and would use it only after obtaining a court order for each case. They also want the airlines to be able to tell them electronically the seat numbers and itinerary of inflight Internet users as well as store records of all communications for 24 hours. Given the security concerns - that hijackers could communicate and coordinate actions at 30,000 feet, or an explosive device smuggled on a plane might be triggered remotely - the law enforcement request seems prudent and reasonable. But why make the request of the FCC? Congress is considering renewal of the Patriot Act. Certainly compromising Internet privacy rights inflight, and the potential for the same technology to find a landing pad on overall Internet use on the ground, should be debated and decided by legislators accountable to the citizens rather than by administrators appointed by the President. Public confidence in the security of airplanes is likely to trump private electronic communications every time. It would be best if the decision of privacy rights were part of a democratic process rather than a bureaucratic ruling. ---------- We especially take note of the part that says the Feds want to know which seat is accessing the web - PNR matching will answer the itinerary question. But the first part is silly - if you go online in-flight and you want to drive the Feds nuts, change your seat.

Flight Database Found to Violate Privacy Law

NYT - The Transportation Security Administration violated the federal Privacy Act by creating a database of aviation passenger records that merged airline records with commercial data in an improper way, government auditors said Friday. The violation did not result in the inappropriate release of personal data or wrongly prevent anyone from boarding a plane, the Government Accountability Office report said. But it still violated the law, the report said, because the database included biographical information on 43,000 passengers from private companies, contrary to the agency's promise not to collect and store commercial data. The database was used to test a new screening system known as Secure Flight that is due to be introduced by early next year. The agency issued a revised Privacy Act declaration to make public the way it uses the data in testing Secure Flight. Such disclosures are required by the 1974 privacy law. Secure Flight, as planned, should enhance the government's ability to find terrorists while reducing the frequency that passengers are delayed simply because a name is similar to that of a terror suspect on the watch list. Security agency officials did not dispute the findings, but some in Congress called them disappointing because they followed a similar privacy violation in which airlines turned over passenger data to government contractors. "Careless missteps such as this jeopardize the public trust and D.H.S.' ability to deploy a much-needed, new system," Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, wrote on Friday to Secretary Michael Chertoff of the Department of Homeland Security. ------- We remain amazed by the concern with privacy during a war on civilians. What does it take for people to back off and let the government do its main job - namely protecting its citizens?

SAA Halts All Flights

South African Airways (SAA) has suspended all international and domestic flights until further notice as a strike by cabin and ground crew entered a second day, the company said on Saturday. SAA said in a statement that it had managed to get a significant number of travellers to their destinations on other carriers, despite the cancellation of domestic flights. It appealed to people planning to travel by SAA to postpone their travel plans and not to arrive at airports for check-in. Satawu, one of the unions leading the industrial action, said it hoped to meet with SAA on Saturday for talks. "We are hoping to have a meeting this afternoon... It is in the public interest for them to talk. We have to start today," Satawu general secretary Randall Howard told domestic news agency SAPA. Scores of passengers have been left stranded as flights were cancelled, including to other African cities like Lagos in Nigeria and Nairobi in Kenya. SAA cabin crew and ground staff went on strike from early on Friday after unions and management failed to reach agreement on wages at a final meeting on Thursday. The union is demanding an 8 percent annual wage increase while SAA is offering 5 percent. The other union involved, the United Association of South Africa, said it was seeking a meeting with SAA management and added that the strike would continue until an agreement was reached. The union's umbrella federation approached the national Ministry of Labour to facilitate a meeting with SAA management, but no talks were planned. The national Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration said in a statement on Friday SAA management and the union had rejected intervention. The Australian national rugby team -- in South Africa to play the Springboks in the final game of the Mandela Charity Cup on Saturday -- had to charter a special flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg for the game due to the extensive delays. The unions argue that SAA can afford an 8 percent raise after it disclosed a ZAR966 million rand (USD$146.2 million) net profit for the 2004/05 financial year earlier this month. It suffered a ZAR8.6 billion (USD$1.3 billion) loss the previous period. Reuters) ------ Yes, you did read an earlier blog where airline management said everything would be normal. African aviation at its finest!