Court Supports IATA in PaxIS Dispute

For more information, please contact:
Anthony Concil
Director Corporate Communications
http://www.iata.org/pressroom

Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) won a major court victory in a dispute with Travelport over PaxIS. On 1 October, the Amsterdam District Court denied an application by Travelport for an injunction to block IATA’s use of airline data stored in Travelport databases for PaxIS.

“IATA has won an important legal battle to preserve competition for airline data transaction products. The Dutch court decision vindicates the rights of airlines to earn profits from commercializing their data,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

PaxIS is an airline business intelligence product based in part on data that it collects through its billing and settlement plans (BSP), some of which is stored in third party databases.

In late August, Travelport sought a preliminary injunction against IATA’s use of BSP data in PaxIS. Travelport argued that the EC database directive gave it the right to control the use of data that it retrieves from its database and transmits to IATA’s BSP settlement systems on behalf of its airline clients.

The 1 October decision of the Amsterdam District Court (Netherlands), denied Travelport’s application, ruling in favor of IATA on almost every significant issue.

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    NTSB TO HOLD PUBLIC FORUM ON CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY IN AUTOMOBILES AND ON AIRPLANES

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 13, 2010
    SB-10-35

    Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board will address the safety of children traveling in airplanes or in cars when it holds a public forum on child passenger safety on Thursday, December 9, 2010.

    “American families are on the go, and children today are frequent travelers almost from the time they are born,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “Much more should be done to reduce fatalities and injuries of our smallest travelers, whether they are in a jumbo jet or their family’s car.”

    The forum will be geared to providing parents and care givers information they can use immediately to protect their children while traveling. The forum will explore current education and other safety advocacy efforts by non-profit groups and government, as well as the continuing problem of nonuse of child seats and seat belts by a significant portion of the traveling public.

    Safety experts from the transportation industry, trade associations, unions, advocacy groups, and federal government will be asked to discuss the best approaches for keeping children safe while flying and riding in cars, how to increase the use of child seats and seat belts, and the importance of government data collection on the issue of nonuse.

    The NTSB has issued 33 safety recommendations addressing child passenger safety; 12 of these safety recommendations have been or currently are on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.

    The forum, titled “Child Passenger Safety in the Air and in Automobiles”, will be held at the NTSB’s Board Room and Conference Center, located at 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. Parents, care givers, and others interested in child safety are encouraged to view the forum in person or by webcast on the NTSB’s website, www.ntsb.gov. Additional information about the forum can be found at www.ntsb.gov/children.

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    FAA Proposes $547,500 Civil Penalty Against Hawaiian Airlines

    The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is proposing a $547,500 Civil Penalty against Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. for operating a Boeing 767-300 that was not in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations.

    The FAA alleges Hawaiian operated the aircraft thousands of times when it was not in compliance with a July 2000 Airworthiness Directive (AD) that required inspections of certain engine thrust reverser components. The purpose of the AD was to prevent a portion of the thrust reverser from coming off in flight, which could cause a rapid decompression of the aircraft.

    The AD required initial and repetitive inspections of the components to detect damage and wear, and corrective actions if necessary. It required replacement of the components with new and improved parts within four years of the AD taking effect.

    During a July 2012 inspection, the FAA discovered that some of Hawaiian’s records erroneously showed the AD did not apply to one of its Boeing 767 aircraft. The FAA alleges Hawaiian operated the aircraft more than 5,000 times – mostly on passenger carrying flights – between July 2004 and July 2012 when it was out of compliance with the AD. The FAA further alleges Hawaiian operated the aircraft on 14 passenger flights after the agency alerted the carrier that some of its records erroneously indicated that the AD did not apply to the aircraft.

    Additionally, the FAA alleges Hawaiian failed to keep required records of the status of the AD for the aircraft in question.

    Hawaiian has requested an informal conference with the FAA to discuss the matter.

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    CASA: Pilots urged to keep Hay skies safe; Pilots urged to keep Griffith skies safe

    Hay pilots are being urged to attend an important air safety workshop next week.

    The workshop will give local pilots special training to improve their flying and safety skills.

    The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is holding the workshop to help make the skies over Hay even safer.

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    CASA’s Peter Gibson says the workshop is part of a national regional air safety campaign.

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    “All pilots receive comprehensive training but this workshop means they will be even better equipped to fly safely at all times and deal with emergencies.

    “Hay has a good air safety record but accidents do happen and everyone in aviation must work hard to keep local skies safe.”

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    Pilots urged to keep Griffith skies safe

    Griffith pilots are being urged to attend an important air safety workshop next week.

    The workshop will give local pilots special training to improve their flying and safety skills.

    The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is holding the workshop to help make the skies over Griffith even safer.

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    CASA’s Peter Gibson says the workshop is part of a national regional air safety campaign.

    “Giving pilots from Griffith extra training will lift their safety skills to even higher levels,” Mr Gibson says.

    “All pilots receive comprehensive training but this workshop means they will be even better equipped to fly safely at all times and deal with emergencies.

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    The workshop is being held at the Griffith Aero Club on Tuesday 22 February 2011, starting at 6:00pm.

    CASA is providing free refreshments for everyone on the night.

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    This Months Bad News: Trans States Holdings Inc

    This month’s poster child for how not to run your commuter airline:

    Trans States Holdings Inc.

    After two incidents in the last four months, there’s now a $2.5 million civil penalty in the offing for Trans States Holdings Inc. from the FAA. But more crucial than the last two incidents, the problem really comes down to hundreds of safety violations on 320 flights over the past two years, all related to maintenance, after repeated warnings and reoccurring violations.

    What is it I always say?

    Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance.

    See Below:

    FAA Proposes $2.5 Million in Civil Penalties Against Trans States, GoJet

    WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration is proposing $2,476,075 in civil penalties against Trans States Airlines and GoJet Airlines of Bridgeton, Mo., for violation of various maintenance procedures and operating nine jets on 320 revenue passenger flights when the aircraft were not in compliance with Federal Aviation Regulations.

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    Respond now to NTSB ISSUING FINAL RULE IN RESPONSE TO PILOT’S BILL OF RIGHTS

    The National Transportation Safety Board announced today that it has issued a Final Rule to implement several changes to its Rules of Practice applicable to aviation certificate enforcement appeals. This final rule responds to public comments received by the NTSB as a result of an interim final rule (IFR) it issued last October. The NTSB issued the IFR after the enactment of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights legislation and it became effective upon its publication in the Federal Register on October 16, 2012.

    Under the Pilot’s Bill of Rights: (1) the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) must disclose its enforcement investigative report (EIR) to the FAA certificate holder in an aviation certificate enforcement case; (2) NTSB administrative law judges must apply the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence in enforcement cases; and (3) litigants now have the option of appealing the NTSB’s final orders to either a Federal district court or a Federal court of appeals. The IFR implemented these Pilot’s Bill of Rights requirements. Under the IFR, an FAA certificate holder is permitted to submit a motion to dismiss an FAA complaint if the FAA fails to disclose releasable portions of its EIR. The NTSB received 10 comments in response to the IFR. The Final Rule describes these comments in detail, as most of the comments provided substantive feedback and suggestions.

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    See the bill below

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    DOT Press Release: Travel Agency Fined

    Office of Public Affairs

    DOT 178-09
    Thursday, November 12, 2009
    Contact: Bill Mosley
    Tel.: (202) 366-4570

    DOT Administrative Law Judge Approves Ultimate Fares Settlement

    The internet travel agency Ultimate Fares has been fined $600,000 and its owner $30,000 for violations of advertising regulations under a settlement approved by a U.S. Department of Transportation Administrative Law Judge (ALJ).

    The fine, which would be the largest ever assessed for advertising violations, will become final in 30 days unless the Department decides to review the action or a petition for review is filed.

    An investigation by the Department’s Aviation Enforcement Office found that Ultimate Fares failed to include the federal excise tax and the service fee it charged to consumers in fares published on its website between March 2008 and September 2009. This violated the Department’s requirement that published airfares must state the full price to be paid including service fees and any ad valorem tax, such as the Federal excise tax, which is assessed as a percentage of the fare. Ultimate Fares continued to omit the tax from its stated fares even after the Enforcement Office began its investigation, according to the consent order issued by ALJ Richard C. Goodwin. Ultimate Fares also failed to disclose which flights were being operated on a code-share basis as required by the Department’s rules.

    In addition to the $30,000 penalty assessed against Ultimate Fares’ owner Roni Herskovitz, he also will be barred from any involvement in the online air travel agency business for 12 months.

    The consent order and other documents in the case are available on the Internet at www.regulations.gov, docket DOT-OST-2009-0002.

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