Archive for February, 2010
February 22, 2010
Lufthansa pilots in Germany agreed to suspend for two weeks a strike that grounded about 900 flights on Monday, just as rival British Airways’ cabin crew voted to join the fray to protest harsh cost cuts.
Some 4,000 Lufthansa pilots took part in a stoppage on Monday that was meant to last for four days, leaving thousands of passengers around the world stranded, on concerns the company could try to cut staff costs by shifting jobs to foreign units.
In a hastily called court hearing, pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) agreed late on Monday to suspend the strike until March 8 to give the deadlocked parties a chance to resume talks.
“VC has said that it is prepared to resume talks, and we are sticking with that,” said VC negotiator Thomas von Sturm. Lufthansa said it welcomed the decision, though it will take a few days until its flight operations have normalised again.
Airlines are reeling from the aviation industry’s worst year ever, in which demand dropped faster than capacity was cut, but workers are becoming increasingly impatient with pressure from employers to tighten their belts.
Lufthansa aims to cut EUR€1 billion euros (USD$1.36 billion) of costs by 2011, to become more lean while expanding abroad.
Europe’s national flag carriers have been trying to cut their costs as they lose market share to low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet whose no-frills offers lure customers looking to cut their travel spending.
British Airways wants three-quarters of its crew to accept a pay freeze this year, along with other cost-cutting measures. BA cabin crew voted in favour of a strike to protest the cost cuts.
This is their second attempt at industrial action after a court forced the workers to abandon plans for a 12-day strike over Christmas that would have affected a million travellers.
Union Unite said on Monday that no dates for the work stoppage had been set but reiterated that crew would not strike over the Easter holiday at the start of April.
British Airways said the decision to strike was “completely unjustified” and vowed that it would “not allow Unite to ruin this company.”
MAKING DEMANDS
Adding to the upheaval, French air traffic controllers plan to go on strike for five days from Tuesday to protest Europe’s single sky policy, causing flight cancellations at Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports.
One of the concerns raised by Lufthansa employees has to do with pay. The pilots have offered to forego increases if in return they get some control over which routes or pilot jobs are transferred to other group airlines.
Last September, Lufthansa completed a shopping spree, adding Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and UK carrier bmi to its stable of airlines. It also started Lufthansa Italia.
Lufthansa has rejected that demand, saying it would require ceding control over parts of business strategy to its workers.
Lufthansa’s last major dispute with pilots in 2001, which resulted in a costly pay increase, had to be mediated by Germany’s former foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, as political pressure over strikes mounted.
The starting salary for a captain at Lufthansa is about EUR€115,000, more than for instance easyJet’s starting salary at just over GBP£80,000 pounds (USD$123,700), according to the companies’ recruiting websites. Media reports put the top end of Lufthansa pilots’ salaries at about EUR€325,000.
“As we have been saying last week, those pilots want to be treated like managers but are acting like underpaid bus drivers,” said a local trader.
(Reuters)
February 23, 2010
The US Air Force is due to issue final terms for a USD$35 billion aerial tanker competition this week, probably Wednesday, in a third attempt in nine years to replace its current 50-year-old planes.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday he expected the Air Force to release a final request for proposals soon, and reiterated his hope that both Boeing and Northrop Grumman would bid for the work.
“We are very hopeful that we will have two competitors and we think that it is a very fair RFP (request for proposals),” Gates said. “I expect it to be released pretty soon.”
The Air Force said last week it expected to issue final terms before the end of the month and was bracing for the possibility that only Boeing may submit a bid.
Northrop and Airbus parent EADS won the Air Force contract in the last competition, but the Pentagon cancelled the deal after government auditors upheld a Boeing protest.
Northrop has said the team will not bid this time around unless the Air Force makes significant changes to a draft request for proposals released in September.
Congressional sources said they expected Pentagon officials to brief lawmakers about the final terms on Wednesday, after releasing details to the companies.
Last September, when the Air Force released draft rules for the competition, Deputy Defence Secretary William Lynn and the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, Ashton Carter, met key lawmakers to explain the process. Then they held a joint news conference, together with Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.
Defence officials say they expect the Pentagon to handle the release of the final terms in a similar fashion.
Meanwhile, nine governors joined in a coalition to support Boeing’s bid, which is based on its 767 commercial airliner.
“Awarding the refuelling tanker contract to Boeing will provide work for 40,000 to 50,000 people all across the country at a time when the national economy is still struggling mightily,” Washington Governor Chris Gregoire said in a statement.
The coalition also includes the governors of Kansas, Iowa, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Oregon and Utah, other elected officials, unions and business organisations.
“With a lagging economy, we can’t afford to send thousands of jobs and billions of dollars overseas,” said Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, where Boeing has a large facility.
Northrop’s bid would create over 48,000 jobs across the country, including Alabama, where it had planned to assemble its tankers. Lawmakers from Alabama and neighbouring states have been strong advocates of the Northrop bid, arguing that the Air Force’s draft rules give an unfair advantage to Boeing.
A separate nonprofit group called American Jobs Now issued a statement urging the Pentagon and Congress to fund orders for both the Boeing and Northrop planes, saying such a plan would create twice as many jobs at a time of economic crisis.
The group, which says it has not received any funding from Northrop, Boeing or EADS, argues that buying both planes would help replace the current KC-135 tankers more quickly, while hedging against “the risk of cost-inflation that is always present when you are dealing with a single supplier.”
Aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia with the Virginia-based Teal Group, said the Pentagon had clearly shifted its approach from the “best value” competition it staged in 2008 to what Northrop officials have called a “price shootout.”
He said the chances of Congress directing the Pentagon to buy both planes had dimmed with the death of Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who headed the defence subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
Industry officials said they would need to review the final terms closely before issuing any substantive statements.
“The devil really is going to be in the details,” said one industry official who was not authorised to speak publicly. “I don’t think it’s predetermined.”
The official said it was apparent that Northrop was ready to walk away from the competition if it did not see changes that would allow the company to submit a competitive bid.
(Reuters)
Monday, 22/02/2010
Barbados will soon have a direct non-stop flight from South America. Starting Summer 2010, GOL, the second largest airline in Brazil, will operate a Boeing 737 from Sao Paulo to Bridgetown once a week on Saturdays, with same-plane connections to Buenos Aires, Argentina and connections to Rio de Janeiro at no additional cost.
This will be the second scheduled service from Sao Paulo in Barbados’ history. In the mid-nineties, BWIA operated a flight from Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago through Barbados to Sao Paulo.
The new service was born out of meetings which the Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA), aided by Hon. Consul to Brazil, Jorge Nemr, held with GOL in Sao Paulo and in Barbados in August and September last year. Since then the parties have been in constant contact via e-mail1313131313131313131313131313131313131313 and telephone. The flight will be promoted from March, 2010.
Brazil was chosen as a target market because it is an emerging market in a new global economy. It has great influence internationally in tourism and business. It has been out of the recession since the fourth quarter of 2009. Brazilians are very interested in travelling and although they speak Portuguese, they are reasonably comfortable dealing with a second language.
According to local tourism officials, Brazilians are looking for sea, sand and sun destinations but also a destination with a certain level of sophistication and the infrastructure to which they are accustomed. This is therefore a good fit for Barbados.
Despite a few major accidents in 2009, the year just passed has been one of the best in terms of safety performance, recording the second lowest accident rate in aviation history.
According to the latest report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) the 2009 accident rate was 0.71%, or one incident one accident for every 1.4 million flights.
Altogether there were 90 accidents in all aircraft types, compared to 109 in 2008, and of these 18 were fatal incidents, compared to 23 in 2008.
“Safety is the industry’s number one priority. Even in a decade during which airlines lost an average of US$5 billion per year, we still managed to improve our safety record. Last year, 2.3 billion people flew safely,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General and CEO.
“But every fatality is a human tragedy that reminds us of the ultimate goal of zero accidents and zero fatalities.”
In 2009 fatalities were higher recording 685 fatalities compared to 502 in 2008. North Asia carriers saw no accidents in Western-built aircraft this year, while North America passenger carriers recorded no fatal incidents as the only fatal incident involved a FedEx aircraft.
Source eTB
Photograph of Charles Kao available at: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dgsbbfz_2123ftv954g9
Photo credit: Margot Jordan
LOS ANGELES (February 22, 2010) – “American airline staff are doing an amazing and largely unheralded job in Haiti,” asserts a development expert close to the post earthquake relief efforts in the Caribbean nation.
Charles Kao, chairman of the Innovation for Sustainable Development Centre (ISDC), pointed to the work of Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) (www.airlineambassadors.org) which he said had organized and “paid out of their own pockets for 17 airplanes full of aid and trained medical professionals.”
“Over 600 medical personnel and some two million pounds of food, water, and other relief supplies,” Kao noted, “had not only been transported by Airline Ambassadors but their people on the ground in Haiti were able to land and distribute the aid quickly.”
“It’s not too surprising as Airline Ambassadors International brings together people from all sectors of the US carriers, from cabin to ground staff, logistics, catering, planning, construction and health – all skills much in demand,” said Kao who is also chairman of Green Globe International.
“The travel and tourism industry, through their sterling work in the wake of the earthquake, deserve to be heard when serious talks are underway for international assistance to help Haiti recover from this devastation,” urged Kao.
Formed 18 years ago by American Airlines cabin attendant, Nancy Rivard, Airline Ambassadors draws staffers from several US-based carriers. In addition to American Airlines and United Airlines, Airline Ambassadors is also supported by JetBlue Airways, individuals and foundations.
The Caribbean Media Exchange, in partnership with Canadian-based Pacific Island community organizer Maria Noa Habchi, will support AAI’s humanitarian efforts for Haiti at a “Haitian Carnival” cultural event this Sunday, February 28 at Toronto’s Lula Lounge at 7 p.m. (1585 Dundas St. West).
The Caribbean Media Exchange provides a neutral platform for the continuing discussion of the key linkages between media, government, private sector and civil society in ensuring tourism enhances the health, environment, education, culture, and wealth of destinations in a climate friendly fashion.
February 22, 2010
Air freight at European airports grew by 16.8 percent year-on-year in December, industry data showed, as a fragile economic recovery provided support.
Passenger numbers rose 2.2 percent, airports body ACI Europe said, but it remained cautious about the prospects for 2010.
Overall, air freight was down 13.1 percent year-on-year in 2009, while passenger numbers fell 5.9 percent.
“This means 2.8 years of growth lost, with passenger traffic getting back slightly above 2006 levels,” ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said in a statement.
“The downturn for freight was even worse, with four years of growth lost,” he added. “While the year-end showed some signs of confidence returning, particularly for freight, the pace of recovery for passenger traffic is still very slow.”
Freight showed a year-on-year recovery of 5.6 percent in November, but was in negative territory until October.
(Reuters)
February 22, 2010
Amsterdam airport operator Schiphol Group said it expected a flat 2010 profit, as it reported a 29 percent drop in 2009 profits on a decline in passenger traffic and freight transport.
Schiphol Group, whose Amsterdam hub is the fifth-largest passenger airport in Europe, said on Monday it made a net profit of EUR€132 million euros (USD$178.1 million) in the past year, well ahead of a forecast it gave in August of net profit between EUR€40 million and EUR€50 million.
“In the end, the effect of the decline in traffic on our results was less negative than expected at the half-year stage,” chief executive Jos Nijhuis said in a statement.
Schiphol Group, which also owns the airports at Rotterdam and Eindhoven and which has been cutting jobs to cope with the global economic slowdown, said had it cut more costs than anticipated, adding the net result was also boosted by non-recurring tax income.
Excluding a EUR€33 million tax gain, Schiphol Group would have achieved a net profit of EUR€99 million, still above its guidance but well below the EUR€187 million it earned in 2008.
The group, which is owned by the Dutch state along with the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam as well as Aeroports de Paris, said it expects a net result in 2010 in line with 2009 as it keeps a tight rein on costs.
It added that given the fragility of the economic recovery, it expects 2010 traffic and transport will show only slight growth.
Total passenger numbers fell 7.7 percent in 2009, showing an improvement from the first half when passenger numbers fell 11 percent.
Schiphol Group also has a 40 percent stake in the consortium that operates a terminal at New York’s JFK Airport and an 18.7 percent interest in the operator of Brisbane Airport.
(Reuters)
February 22, 2010
Air France-KLM denied a French newspaper report on Monday that it was in talks to form a joint venture with Japan Airlines to co-operate more closely on flights between the two countries.
La Tribune had said the partnership would see Air France and JAL, which filed for bankruptcy last month, share costs and revenues on a shared price and fare schedule.
Air France and Delta Air Lines work together in a similar arrangement on transatlantic flights.
“We deny the report in La Tribune about a joint venture with Japan Airlines,” said a spokesman for Air France.
JAL decided two weeks ago to remain in the Oneworld Alliance, instead of joining the rival SkyTeam group of which Air France is a member.
(Reuters)
Heli-Expo attendees receive advance preview of new immersive simulator experience which will be available for civil helicopter training this summer
Houston, Texas, USA – (NYSE: CAE; TSX: CAE) – CAE announced at the Helicopter Association International (HAI) Heli-Expo conference that the company is launching a family of new, affordable helicopter mission simulators for the previously underserved civil helicopter market. The first CAE 3000 Series simulator will be available for training by the summer of 2010.
CAE is demonstrating a fixed-based version of the new CAE 3000 Series at Heli-Expo (booth #2045).
“This new CAE simulation capability offers unprecedented realism for helicopter-specific mission training, including offshore, emergency medical services, law enforcement, long line, high-altitude, corporate, and other operations,” said Jeff Roberts, CAE’s Group President, Civil Simulation Products, Training and Services. “The CAE 3000 Series solution is designed for a market which currently conducts most training in the aircraft and has been seeking new ways to improve safety and efficiency. We have developed the product family with extensive input from our Helicopter Advisory Board, which includes pilots, operators, manufacturers, and insurers.”
The CAE 3000 Series is designed to address emerging global standards for helicopter flight simulation training devices (FSTD) in development by an international working group sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The new CAE helicopter mission simulators will meet or exceed current regulatory requirements, including U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) Level D or other levels according to customer training needs. The CAE 3000 Series simulators are part of a comprehensive suite of simulation-based training solutions for the civil helicopter market. The portfolio includes full-flight simulators, flight training devices, integrated procedures trainers, desktop virtual flight and maintenance trainers, and self-paced computer-based training and e-learning courses.
The CAE 3000 Series features CAE’s industry-leading three-degree-of-freedom vibration platform, as well as a CAE Tropos-6000 visual system with direct projection dome, high-definition commercial off-the-shelf projectors, and up to a 220-degree horizontal by 80-degree vertical field of view display system with chin window coverage.
CAE is the first to incorporate artificially intelligent human form and moving vehicle dynamic simulation for civil helicopter training tasks and mission scenarios.
List prices for the CAE 3000 Series will depend on the helicopter configuration and customer training requirements and will range from less than US$4 million to approximately $10 million.
For more information on the CAE 3000 Series helicopter mission simulators, visit cae.com/3000. For high resolution downloadable photos of the new simulator, visit www.cae.com/photos.
CAE is a world leader in providing simulation and modelling technologies and integrated training solutions for the civil aviation industry and defence forces around the globe. With annual revenues exceeding C$1.6 billion, CAE employs more than 6,500 people at more than 90 sites and training locations in 20 countries. We have the largest installed base of civil and military full-flight simulators and training devices. Through our global network of 29 civil aviation and military training centres, we train more than 75,000 crewmembers yearly. We also offer modelling and simulation software to various market segments and, through CAE’s professional services division, we assist customers with a wide range of simulation-based needs. www.cae.com
ANTONOV An-12 aircraft have been banned from the UAE’s airspace by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).
The move, which will be effective from 1st March 2010, is aimed at raising safety standards in the country’s civil aviation sector and was made after the GCAA set up a special technical committee to determine the airworthiness of foreign aircraft flying to the UAE airports.
The technical committee conducted a technical audit on ANTONOV Design Bureau, the design organisation in Ukraine for An–12 aircraft and also assessed the civil aviation administration system in Ukraine. The audit showed that the aircraft does not meet all of the international safety standards.
Ismail1313131313131313131313131313131313131313 Mohammed Al Balooshi, director of safety at GCAA, announced during a press conference that at the beginning of last year, GCAA started applying an advanced program which particularly allows the assessment of aircraft registered in foreign countries in order to ensure their safety and airworthiness.
“There were numerous incidents that involved ANTONOV aircraft in year 2008, including three minor incidents at Sharjah International Airport and one crash in Iraq,” he added. “That is why GCAA made an initial decision to temporarily ban this aircraft model which posed a threat to air safety, pending the results of the assessment by the technical committee regarding the airworthiness of ANTONOV An-12. The assessment showed that this aircraft can not be operated safely.”
Source ASC