On April 15 th , airports came to a standstill, planes were grounded and travelers stranded. The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland had erupted, creating an ash cloud that forced the cancellation of many flights and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe. Unfortunately (maybe we were fortunate in the long run), my husband and I were among the millions who were left to fend for ourselves. It all started on Saturday, April 18 th .
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Volcanoes Happen
British Airways has announced it plans to operate all flights to and from London City airport and London Gatwick during the next period of strike action – 24 – 29 May 2010 – and has confirmed its schedule of flights during the same period at London Heathrow.
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BA confirms flight operations for next week’s strike action
Six years ago Wizz Air launched its very first service from Katowice in Poland to London Luton, today Wizz Air is one of the largest low fare – low cost airlines in Central and Eastern Europe carrying over 8 million passengers per year across its network.
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Wizz Air celebrates six years at London Luton Airport
I’m up in Montreal, one of my favorite cities, at a meeting of the ACI World Governing Board. I’ll have more to say about this trip next time. But I promised that I would write about my trip to Chicago and tour of their sustainability project. Chicago Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino and Greg on the green roof covering the new FedEx building at O'Hare.
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A Visit to the Green O’Hare
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Aviation India: Heathrow shuts down for seven hours, flights to L…
Flybe has confirmed it is the first airline in the UK to be able to fly within the new Time Limited Zone. Under the new regulations the airline will be able to fly through denser volcanic ash than previously approved – 0.004 grams per cubic metre compared with 0.002 grams per cubic metre. Commenting on the news
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Flybe first airline to fly within new ash cloud zone
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced the introduction of a new Time Limited Zone (TLZ) which will allow flights to take place though denser ash cloud than previously permitted. Following discussions with airlines, regulators, and aircraft and engine manufacturers the new Time Limited Zone, which effectively doubles the amount of permissible ash grammes per
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New fly zone introduced to reduce ash cloud airspace closures
I just got back from Chicago visiting with Aviation Commissioner Rosie Andolino and her staff. I had planned to write about the tour I had and the sustainability initiatives they have undertaken.
British Airways has confirmed its schedule of operations during the planned strike action by cabin crew. Between the 18 and 23 May, British Airways plans to operate all flights to and from Gatwick and London City airports. The airline has also confirmed its schedule to and from Heathrow – for more information and to check the status
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BA confirms Heathrow schedule during strike
Lufthansa is set to take delivery of its first A380 – MSN038 ( D-AIMA ) on May 19. Final preparations are underway for the arrival of the first of four superjumbos to join the German flag carrier this year. The first, arriving next week, will be followed by additions in June, July and September.
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Lufthansa preps for arrival of first A380
One of the consequences of the new coalition government taking office in the UK between the Conservatives and Liberal Democraft will be the cancellation of plans set in place by the previous Labour Government to build a third runway at London Heathrow.
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New UK coalition puts halt on third Heathrow runway plans – Airli…
Thomas Jefferson's restored retreat house at Popular Forest I’m back in Washington after my short tour of The Commonwealth (in Virginia, we just call it “The Commonwealth”). Touring Jefferson’s Poplar Forest was just fascinating. He wanted a place he could “read, think and study.” Poplar Forest is a great place to do just that. They are working on further restoring the house and I look forward to visiting again. My wife also bought three boxwood plants that were grown there, which she will plant and attempt to grow at our house (thereby establishing some sort of link between us and Jefferson). I did find myself wondering a little bit what Jefferson might have made of politics and government today. Certainly, he was not in favor of a strong central government (in theory at least, read the story of how we consummated the Louisiana Purchase, all the way up to bluffing Napoleon into thinking he might have to fight a war with the U.S.
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Reflecting on Jefferson and Transportation
JetBlue and South African Airways have combined efforts to make it easy for travelers going between South Africa and the United States. The two airlines, which are dominant in New York City and Johannesburg airports, respectively, will allow customers to purchase single itineraries that connect in New York’s JFK International Airport.
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JetBlue and South African Airways team up
Italy, News, Airlines,Aviation, Aerospace, Alitalia, Routes, Services Alitalia and Maggiore, signed an agreement whereby passengers flying between Rome Fiumicino and Milan Linate Airport can take advantage of three new services – “Park, Fly & Drive”, “Car Valet” and “Car Valet Fly &
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New tailored services on Rome-Milan
It is Sunday night at Peaks of Otter Lodge , a very quiet and beautiful place just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. There is no internet or blackberry service here; sort of like being on a very long plane flight without being able to communicate, only with more leg room! We found ourselves here after spending yesterday and last night at the wedding of our VP for Security and Facilitation, Chris Bidwell, and his very lovely bride Kristen.
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Discovering More of Virginia
I just read an article that says U.S. airlines made $7.8 billion (with a “ B ”) in revenue from fees last year. Most of it from checked bag taxes (remember, if they can call an airport fee a tax, I can call an airline fee a tax). They may say they can’t raise “fares” but clearly they have pricing power in this area. Whether a fare is bundled or unbundled, it still comes out of the passenger’s pocket. This makes some things I saw reported from executives at US Airways quite interesting. First, the good. US Airways CEO Doug Parker admits that airlines brought the new passenger rights rules on themselves. If airlines had just kept the promises made after the series of strandings in 2000, he says, the rules would have been unnecessary. He is right, and I give him credit for saying so. It would have been far better had these rules been made unnecessary by the airlines’ own initiative. Good for him for saying so. Now, the bad. Mr. Parker also said that air traffic control modernization is not worth it if it costs the airlines any money. Never mind that whatever costs there are would be made up over time in better efficiency (and would amount to less than a year’s worth of bag and other fees, err, taxes). If reforming air traffic control would cost airlines money in terms of equipage and so forth then airlines aren’t interested, at least his isn’t. Remember that the next time an airline executive blames an antiquated air traffic control system for their problems. (And remember it was airlines that were the main culprit in killing air traffic control modernization in the 1990’s because, as one airline CEO told me, it doesn’t put money onto our bottom line). Now the ugly. Another US Airways executive trotted out the “Do No Harm” mantra that airlines like to put out when arguing against anything that might improve infrastructure and lead to a more efficient system and more competition. He took out after the proposed increase in the passenger facility charge (PFC) from $4.50 to $7 (that’s a $2.50 change; can’t even check 10 percent of your bag for that much on some airlines). “Do No Harm” means, other words, do nothing to improve runways, taxiways and terminals because, airlines think, it will lead to a reduction in revenue to them. You see, airlines believe every nickel spent while a person is in the air transportation system, be it on an air fare, a bag tax, an airport fee, a hamburger or a newspaper, belongs to them. That the reason the system exists, essentially, is to provide revenue to airlines (notice I didn’t say profit, they care more, MUCH MORE, about revenue than profit, but more on that another time). I looked up the origins of the “Do No Harm” expression, which comes from the Hippocratic Oath , taken by doctors when they begin their careers. In its most common use, the phrase is “First, Do No Harm,” more than implying that you move on to fix whatever problem exists. The word “first” is not part of the original oath; it became part of the usage later. But if you look at the oath, and its origins, you see that the purpose of “doing no harm” is to move on to actually fix the patient’s problem – it acknowledges that the doctor’s expertise and training can be used in both positive and negative ways, and the oath clearly points the doctor away from the negative and toward the positive. But the way it is used by airlines in the context of legislative debates is something completely different. In essence: do not fix air traffic control, do not build or improve infrastructure, do not promote competition, ensure that we can access every penny that is in a traveler’s pocket. We work closely with airlines on a host of important issues – security, facilitation, environment, technical and other issues. Even on financial issues, I can’t think of a single airline that has not supported specific projects financed with PFC’s because they see those projects as being in their interests and understand that financing them another way will not be as efficient or effective. That is why I just don’t understand the blind spot many in the industry continue to have on air traffic control and on financing infrastructure. And that is why I hope that after this reauthorization is completed, the airport community and the airlines can come together and figure out a better way forward
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Airlines’ focus on self harms national interests
I just returned from our Public Safety and Security/Ops Tech/Information Technology conference in Orlando. We also held meetings of those committees in Orlando together with their counterparts from ACI World Committees. We had 340 people with us in Orlando
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Our Florida conferences
Air travel across much of Europe was paralysed for a fourth day on Sunday by a huge cloud of volcanic ash, but Dutch and German test flights carried out without apparent damage seemed to offer some hope of respite. By Patrick Sawer and Robert Mendick Daily Telegraph Volcano chaos could continue for months Britons stranded as Iceland volcano grounds flights British Airways and Irish Aer Lingus highlighted uncertainty over any resumption of flights in the immediate future by cancelling all of its flights for Monday
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Volcanic ash cloud: test flights raise hope for European air traffic
What beautiful weather!!! I’m so glad that the sun is shining, even though it’s only 6o degrees. On Friday night after we came home from Michaela’s, Kate and Brent had some friends who were visiting in town so there was a lot of food and drinking and laughing and guitar playing.
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Home Again in Minnesota
Mumbai: The developers of the Mumbai Airport are working on a blueprint for setting up a dedicated cargo complex to cater to all types of cargo requirements which is expected to be finalised in the next two to three months.“We are currently working on a master plan for setting up a cargo complex at