Transportation Industry

Airport Business News - North America

AirGuide Business, Feb 18, 2008

Feb 18, 2008

Midway Airport's Southwest Side field. The city of Chicago said it will take the next step toward leasing Midway[sup.1]s Southwest Side field to a private operator. Five of the seven carriers operating at the airport have approved the plan for a long-term lease. Feb 14, 2008

House to vote on US FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) funding extension; layoff warning sent to 4,000 workers. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote today on another temporary extension to fund FAA, while thousands of agency employees have been warned that they may be out of a job at the end of the month. The latest House proposal would extend FAA's temporary funding through June 30. The agency's authorization officially expired on Sept. 30, 2007, and the current temporary extension is set to expire on Feb. 29. Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell said last week at a Senate hearing that 4,000 nonessential employees were sent an e-mail stating that money is not available to pay them beyond Feb. 29. He said an official follow-up letter warning of layoffs on that date will be sent soon. Feb 12, 2008

Airline delays expected to worsen, carriers push for satellite ATC system. Flight delays are likely to get worse in Wisconsin in 2008, airport officials say. A Northwest airlines spokesman said many of the delays start in Minneapolis and noted that carriers are asking the FAA to move to a satellite-based air traffic control system to ease delays. Feb 11, 2008

Boston Logan International

Massachusetts Port Authority announced a new financial incentive package called the International Air Service Incentive Program designed to help Boston Logan "compete more aggressively for international airline service." It will apply to new nonstop international flights to Asia, Central America, South America, Africa, the Middle East and Mexico City and is intended to "minimize the initial business risk of the air carrier." Massport said ASIP "is not designed to subsidize a service that is not likely to be self-sufficient." BOS currently offers flights to 32 international destinations. Feb 15, 2008

Chicago Midway airport

The Dominion Post newspaper quoted Canadian pension fund CPPIB's head of infrastructure, Graeme Bevans, as saying that the pension board also intended to make bids for Prague and Chicago Midway airports. Feb 17, 2008

Minneapolis/St Paul International

Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will have to build a $300,000 conveyor system to handle re-screened Canadian luggage, airport deputy operations director Tim Anderson said. Luggage arriving from all foreign countries is re-screened at U.S. airports before going on a domestic flight. But airports and airlines say eliminating re-screening of bags from Canada would save the most time. That's because Canadian airports have U.S. Customs stations that approve passengers for arrival. Travelers cleared by Customs in Montreal or Toronto walk directly to connecting flights at U.S. airports without going through screening. Airlines and airports want the luggage to go directly to connecting flights as well. Travelers coming from other countries can't avoid having their luggage re-screened because they must retrieve it when they arrive in a U.S. airport to go through Customs inspection. Feb 12, 2008

New Orleans

New Orleans airport traffic climbs 21% in 2007. Annual passenger traffic at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport rose almost 21% in 2007. That's about 75% of the number of travelers handled before Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005. "We expect the growth of passengers and flights to continue as the region continues to rebuild," said aviation director Sean Hunter. Feb 13, 2008

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