Airport Business News - North America

AirGuide Business, April 21, 2008

Apr 21, 2008

Although the Transportation Department is cracking down on airlines and the FAA, carriers will still be permitted to self-report compliance with FAA orders. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters also said a special committee of outside aviation and safety experts would review FAA oversight and recommend any changes. US Senator John Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee's subcommittee on aviation, said the measures announced by Peters were "long overdue recognition" of gaps in airline compliance and FAA oversight. Apr 19, 2008

The National Tour Association (NTA) applauded the recent actions taken by the Department of Transportation (DoT) to improve the air travel experience for consumers and again urged creation of an executive-level federal position to represent the travel industry. Travelers need consistency and predictability when they fly, the NTA said, citing a recent NTA survey of likely presidential primary voters in two key states. The survey showed that 85 percent of respondents said they believe it is important to develop and implement a newer air traffic control system. Some 70 percent of those surveyed think it is possible to reduce wait times and still maintain the same level of security at airports. Additionally, these respondents said they believe that igovernment could do far morei to improve the travel process. Visit www.ntaonline.org Apr 19, 2008

In the face of widespread public dissatisfaction with air travel, US Department of Transportation (DoT) Secretary Mary E. Peters announced a series of new aviation measures including doubling the compensation for passengers bumped on flights, slot allocations for New Yorkis LaGuardia Airport and new air corridors to ease congestion. Under the new rule, which goes into effect next month, fliers who are involuntarily bumped would receive up to $400 if they are rescheduled to reach their destination within two hours of their original arrival time, four hours for international flights, and up to $800 if they are not rerouted within that timeframe. Apr 17, 2008

US Department of Transportation (DoT) also announced new air traffic measures designed to help cut delays this summer. The first involves new and greater flexibility for aircraft to use alternative routes in the sky to avoid severe weather. The DOT also proposed two options as new ways to manage congestion at New Yorkis LaGuardia Airport. Included is the sure to be controversial auctioning of slots. Apr 17, 2008

Canada has been fined $95,000 by the federal government for repeated errors in the information it provided to pilots, air-traffic controllers and others in the aviation industry that were found over many years. Transport Canada, which levied the penalty, says safety was not jeopardized, but the misinformation included such things as incorrect frequencies for airport towers and wrong directions for approaching airports during landings. When Transport Canada inspectors saw several occurrences of the same type of error and no effort to correct them, "then we started to realize maybe there is more of a systemic problem here and we investigated further," Jennifer Taylor, the director of national operations for the federal department, said in an interview. Apr 14, 2008

NAV Can promised in August of that year to "take all steps" to respect the process it was required to follow. But that promise was followed by a series of meetings, detection notices, "oral counselling" and presentations related to non-compliance issues that stretched on to 2006. In April of 2006, Transport Canada slapped NAV Canada with a notice that it was being fined $195,000 for 27 violations of Canadian aviation regulations. NAV Canada admitted having made the mistakes but, by last year, had bargained the fine down to $95,000. The company has received three additional notices of fines in recent months. Those are under appeal and officials will not divulge what new errors have allegedly been committed. The company has also spent $9-million on improving the management of aeronautical information, the production of documents and the development of a production process for digital maps. Apr 14, 2008

Atlanta Hartsfield International

Atlanta airport officials said they will postpone plans for establishing the Registered Traveler program and instead add four more security lanes. General Manager Ben DeCosta said the airport will delay making a decision until it assesses its new security checkpoint configuration. Apr 14, 2008

Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines

A potential merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines could hurt US airports, Moody's said on Friday. A combined company would likely cut costs by reducing some flights, which would result in "significant route restructuring and a reduction in available seats." That, in turn, could hurt revenue growth at US airports, Moody's Investors Service's Assistant Vice President Kurt Krummenacker said in a statement. Most at risk for substantial service declines would be the secondary hub airports of each of the two carriers. Also affected would be airports at which both carriers have a significant presence, or those at which neither airline is dominant, Moody's said. Apr 19, 2008