Archive for April, 2008
April 7, 2008
“Hi, I’m on a plane” will be increasingly overheard on flights — much to the annoyance of some passengers — as the European Commission on Monday unveiled a pan-EU approach to licensing in-flight calls.
The EU executive is harmonizing the use of mobile communications on aircraft in EU airspace so that an estimated 90 percent of passengers who carry a mobile can make and receive calls, text messages and use email1313131313131313131313131313131313131313.
The aim is to provide a licensing “one-stop shop” for airlines and avoid a patchwork of approaches emerging as in-flight calls using personal mobile phones start to take off.
“One regulatory decision for all European airspace was required for this new service to come into being,” said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.
Reding has stepped in to cap the price of mobile calls made on land in the 27 nation bloc and wants to ensure callers in the air will not be ripped off either.
The industry will be given a chance to show it can offer competitive services before any possible intervention.
“Now we expect operators to be transparent and innovative in their price offerings. However, if consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take off,” Reding said.
Passenger phones would be linked to an on-board network that connects to the ground via satellite so that aircraft equipment is not affected.
Phones will have to be switched off for take-off and landing, with usage only above 3000 metres. Passengers would be billed in the usual way.
The Commission expects the service to be popular as it will be cheaper than the back-of-seat satellite services.
Reding said airlines should ensure passengers are not disturbed by people on the phone and that they can enjoy what her spokesman called “zones of tranquility”.
“It’s common sense airlines offer that. The Commission will not regulate on this issue, which is a fact of modern life,” the spokesman told a regular news briefing.
British communications watchdog Ofcom is to allow airlines to offer mobile use on board in line with the EU approach. Air France is already trialling the use of mobiles in-air.
Reding’s measures will harmonize and simplify the technical requirements for using mobile phones and the way EU states will grant national licenses to airlines.
An aircraft registered in France or Spain would be able to offer mobile communications services to passengers when flying over Germany or Hungary without having to apply for additional national licenses.
EU states have six months to introduce two measures:
– a recommendation or non-binding set of guidelines that lay down a harmonized approach to licensing;
– a Commission decision that harmonizes technical parameters of onboard equipment for in-flight mobile phone use throughout the EU.
Non-EU airlines can also use the one-stop licensing system.
(Reuters)
April 7, 2008
British Airways cancelled another 34 flights at its new Terminal 5 at Heathrow on Monday as it battled to clear a backlog created by bad weather.
Heavy snow on Sunday morning forced BA to cancel around 140 flights at T5 as runways were de-iced and air traffic control reduced the number of take-off and landing slots.
“We’ve had to cancel 34 flights today due to the backlog from yesterday and the problems we encountered because of the snowfalls,” said BA spokesman Martin Johnson, adding that the cancellations would affect 10 percent of T5 flights.
Airport operator BAA said the knock-on effects from Sunday’s snow meant a total of 57 flights had been cancelled across London Heathrow, down from a total of 185 the previous day.
Baggage and staff familiarization problems have forced BA to cancel hundreds of flights from the GBP4.3 billion pound T5 since it opened on March 27.
(Reuters)
April 2, 2008
UK airline Flybe has given the term low-fare airline an entirely new meaning: it is paying 172 people to fly back and forth across England and the Irish Sea to help it meet a target for passenger numbers at Norwich Airport.
Flybe was narrowly falling short of a target to deliver at least 15,000 passengers on the Dublin-Norwich route in the 12 months ending on Monday, which meant it would have to forego a GBP280,000 pound (USD$550,000) rebate from the airport.
After the airport rejected a request for a partial rebate for almost hitting the target, Flybe hired 172 temps for GBP30 – GBP40 pounds each, plus a free bar and in-flight entertainment, though it admitted “it probably sounds like an early April fool.”
But Richard Jenner, managing director of the airport in eastern England, called the British carrier’s move “ludicrous” and said the target had to be met by regular fare-paying passengers.
“The ludicrousness is on the Norwich side who in essence have tried to hold us to ransom, putting at risk routes into Norwich,” Flybe Chief Commercial Officer Mike Rutter replied in a joint interview with Jenner on Irish public broadcaster RTE.
(Reuters)
April 2, 2008
The FBI arrested a Jamaican man on Tuesday on charges he tried to board a plane at Orlando Airport with pipe bomb components and instructions in his checked luggage.
The agency identified the man as Kevin Brown, 32, who was ticketed for Air Jamaica flight 80 from Orlando to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
In a search of Brown’s luggage, agents found two galvanized pipes, end caps, two small containers of air gun pellets, batteries, two containers of an unknown liquid, a laptop computer and bomb-making literature, according to a statement from Steven Ibison, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Tampa division.
Initial record checks indicated Brown was in the United States legally, the FBI said. Brown is scheduled to make a first appearance on Wednesday in US District Court in Orlando on charges of carrying a weapon or explosive on an aircraft.
The Transportation Security Administration said a “behavior detection officer” keeping watch for suspicious activity singled out Brown for closer inspection.
Airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell said Brown was detained while preparing to check his luggage for his flight.
His luggage was searched, he was taken into custody by Orlando Police and then turned over to the FBI, which announced the charges late on Tuesday.
Passengers were evacuated from a section of the airport terminal around the Air Jamaica, Air Canada and Air Frontier ticket counters and 11 flights were delayed, Fennell said.
(Reuters)
April 1, 2008
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday cut its profit forecast for the airline industry for the second time in four months due to rising oil prices and deepening global economic gloom.
“We still expect a positive bottom line of USD$4.5 billion, but it’s turning out to be a very tough year,” IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said in a statement.
High fuel costs and economic disquiet from the credit crunch have softened demand and hurt “an industry that is constantly on the verge of intensive care”, Bisignani said.
In December, IATA lowered its 2008 profit forecast to USD$5 billion. The Geneva-based industry body had initially predicted USD$7.8 billion profits for this year.
The latest outlook was based on an average annual price of USD$86 per barrel of Brent crude oil, which traded above USD$100/bbl on London markets on Tuesday.
At USD$86/bbl fuel accounts for 32 percent of airlines’ operating costs and a total bill of USD$156 billion for the industry, according to IATA.
“With fuel costs rising, the US market in recession and competition intensifying, the only way to limit the damage to profitability will be to take out capacity or squeeze out further efficiency gains,” it said.
The possibility of further oil price increases and other economic woes meant that risks to the USD$4.5 billion forecast were “clearly on the downside”, IATA said.
Airlines, which posted an estimated USD$5.6 billion profit last year, already run lean operations and have made improvements in areas including staff productivity. IATA said more efficiency gains would be “challenging, but nonetheless critical”.
US airlines, deemed most exposed to the current economic risks, could see profits of USD$1.8 billion, down from USD$2.8 billion in 2007, IATA said.
“This could easily turn into a net loss should the current economic environment deteriorate further,” it warned.
European and Asian airlines have seen the weak US dollar offset part of the rise in fuel prices, according to IATA.
Stronger economies in Asia should provide some support for revenues and profitability, but competition from new aircraft and services will intensify in both regions, it said.
Africa is the only region expected not to post profits in 2008.
IATA represents some 240 airlines accounting for 94 percent of all scheduled international air traffic.
(Reuters)
April 1, 2008
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a Miami maintenance firm it says shipped out substandard landing gear parts used on hundreds of Boeing’s wide-body jets, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The Journal said the FAA’s notice details more than 300 instances when an AAR unit shipped “unapproved” parts for use on Boeing aircraft in recent years.
The FAA also said the landing gear parts didn’t comply with maintenance manuals and one of its mandatory safety directives from 2001, the newspaper reported.
No accidents have been caused by the affected parts, but US Airways — an AAR customer — said it voluntarily removed several parts after one of its Boeing 757s suffered partial landing gear failure in October, according to the Journal.
The parts had enamel paint applied to certain structural components contrary to manuals and FAA rules, the newspaper said. A source familiar with the matter told the paper this practice makes it harder for mechanics to spot metal corrosion that could weaken a landing gear.
The FAA is urging all AAR customers that have a landing gear with affected parts to inspect their landing gears for safety problems, the Journal added.
(Reuters)