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FAA Reauthorization Critical to Civil Challenges

ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Next Generation Air Transportation System is at the nexus of accomplishing two significant goals facing the U.S. civil aviation industry today—expanding our national airspace system and addressing growing environmental and energy concerns, said AIA President and CEO Marion C. Blakey in testimony today.
“Our industry has employed the people, developed the technology and manufactured the products that have helped make the U.S. air transportation system the world’s gold standard for more than half a century,” Blakey said at a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. “But to remain so, we need to bring our system into the 21st Century.”

One of the challenges to realizing the benefits of NextGen is establishing a sound business case for equipping aircraft with upgraded avionics systems. AIA recommends equipage-funding legislation that encourages private-sector investment capital and government-guaranteed loan arrangements, including outcome-based performance metrics to reduce investment risk. This will allow for innovative ways to incentivize retrofitting of commercial and general aviation aircraft with NextGen compatible equipment.

“Equipping aircraft is, as I’ve said before, the long pole in the tent,” said Blakey. “It’s an expensive undertaking, but it’s as much a part of the infrastructure as GPS satellites. Quite frankly, without equipage there is no NextGen.”

Blakey also recommended that the existing environmental review process—the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA process—be streamlined. The certification of thousands of new terminal area procedures are required for full NextGen implementation and including procedure development and certification in the Vision 100 Aviation Streamlining process will simplify that process.

Other areas addressed by Blakey in her testimony included establishing integration of unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace system, commercialization of sustainable fuels and foreign repair station oversight. T

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    FAA Issues Final Rule on Pilot Training


    As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance safety and put the best qualified and trained pilots in the flight decks of U.S. airplanes, the Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today issued a final rule that will significantly advance the way commercial air carrier pilots are trained.

    In addition, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta is inviting the nation’s commercial aviation safety leaders to Washington, D.C. on November 21, to discuss additional voluntary steps that can be taken to further boost safety during airline operations, including pilot training.

    “Today’s rule is a significant advancement for aviation safety and U.S. pilot training,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “One of my first meetings as Transportation Secretary was with the Colgan Flight 3407 families, and today, I am proud to announce that with their help, the FAA has now added improved pilot training to its many other efforts to strengthen aviation safety.”

    The final rule stems in part from the tragic crash of Colgan Air 3407 in February 2009, and addresses a Congressional mandate in the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 to ensure enhanced pilot training. Today’s rule is one of several rulemakings required by the Act, including the requirements to prevent pilot fatigue that were finalized in December 2011, and the increased qualification requirements for first officers who fly U.S. passenger and cargo planes that were issued in July 2013.

    The final rule requires:

    • ground and flight training that enables pilots to prevent and recover from aircraft stalls and upsets. These new training standards will impact future simulator standards as well;
    • air carriers to use data to track remedial training for pilots with performance deficiencies, such as failing a proficiency check or unsatisfactory performance during flight training;
    • training for more effective pilot monitoring;
    • enhanced runway safety procedures; and
    • expanded crosswind training, including training for wind gusts.

    “This pivotal rule will give our nation’s pilots the most advanced training available,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “While the rule marks a major step toward addressing the greatest known risk areas in pilot training, I’m also calling on the commercial aviation industry to continue to move forward with voluntary initiatives to make air carrier training programs as robust as possible.”

    The FAA is focusing on pilot training for events that, although rare, are often catastrophic. Focusing on these events will provide the greatest safety benefit to the flying public. The recent rule to boost pilot qualifications for first officers has raised the baseline knowledge and skill set of pilots entering air carrier operations. Many air carriers have also voluntarily begun developing safety management systems (SMS), which will help air carriers identify and mitigate risks unique to their own operating environments.

    The FAA proposed to revise the training rules for pilots in 2009, one month prior to the Colgan Flight 3407 accident. The FAA issued a supplemental proposal on May 20, 2011, to address many of the NTSB’s recommendations resulting from the accident, and incorporate congressional mandates for stick pusher, stall recovery and remedial training. A stick pusher is a safety system that applies downward elevator pressure to prevent an airplane from exceeding a predetermined angle of attack in order to avoid, identify, or assist in the recovery of a stall.

    On Aug. 6, 2012, the FAA issued Advisory Circular (AC) Stall and Stick Pusher Training to provide best practices and guidance for training, testing, and checking for pilots to ensure correct and consistent responses to unexpected stall events and stick pusher activations. A copy of the AC is available at online.

    Air carriers will have five years to comply with the rule’s new pilot training provisions, which will allow time for the necessary software updates to be made in flight simulation technology. The cost of the rule to the aviation industry is estimated to be $274.1 to $353.7 million. The estimated benefit is nearly double the cost at $689.2 million. The final rule is available online.

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    SkyWest Airlines Introduces Jeppesen Airside Service to Jet Fleet

    ST. GEORGE, Utah, Nov. 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — SkyWest Airlines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. , is pleased to announce the launch of Jeppesen Airside Service for flight crews onboard each of its 246 jet aircraft.

    “This is just one of the ways SkyWest Airlines continues to invest in our professional pilots,” said Chip Childs, SkyWest President and COO. “The new Airside Service will provide more efficiency, consistency and convenience for every SkyWest pilot – and underscores SkyWest’s role as an industry leader in safety, efficiency and progress.”
    Utilizing Jeppesen Airside Service for more than 1,300 daily CRJ departures eliminates the need for pilots to carry up to 35 pounds of operational manuals, standard operating procedures and navigational charts. With Airside, the most current information is preassembled by Jeppesen and placed onboard each aircraft.
    SkyWest has received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to implement the new program, which is expected to bring immediate benefits to the SkyWest operation, its crewmembers and passengers. The new service is proven to increase operational standardization and consistency, improve crew response time to irregular operations, increase environmental responsibility with fewer paper products, and even reduce injury. SkyWest continues to refine resources and processes for its pilot group, ensuring more time is focused solely on safely transporting passengers.
    The program will initially be used on SkyWest’s fleet of 246 Bombardier-manufactured Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ) aircraft and will expand to include its nearly 50 Embraer aircraft in the coming months.
    “We are pleased to continue to enhance our partnership in offering this product to SkyWest Airlines and its pilots,” said Capt. Brad Thomann, Jeppesen Chief Operating Officer. “Using Airside Service is a simple way to quickly improve efficiency.”

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    NTSB SENDING TEAM TO ASSIST GOVERNMENT OF LIBYA IN AVIATION ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION

    The National Transportation Safety Board is dispatching a team of investigators to assist the government of Libya in its investigation of an accident involving an Airbus A330-200, which was equipped with General Electric CF6-8E1
    engines. At approximately 6:00 am local time on May 12, 2010, the aircraft, operated by Afriqiyah Airways, crashed on approach to Tripoli airport in Tripoli, Libya. Of the 104 passengers and crew on board the airplane, there was one
    survivor. The airplane originated in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    As the State of design and manufacture for the engines, NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman has designated Senior Air Safety Investigator, Lorenda Ward, as the U.S. Accredited Representative. The U.S. team will also include an NTSB engines specialist as well as technical advisors from the Federal Aviation Administration, and General Electric. The team is expected to arrive tomorrow afternoon.

    The Bureau d’Enquete et d’Analyse (BEA) of France, representing the country of manufacture of the airplane, has also sent a team of investigators to Libya.

    The investigation is being conducted by the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority, which will release all information on the progress of the investigation.

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  • IATA Press Release: Fragile but Improving

    Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported international scheduled traffic results for September 2009. Passenger demand was essentially unchanged, increasing 0.3% compared to September 2008. Demand for international cargo was 5.4% below September 2008 levels. Load factors for passenger and cargo have returned to pre-crisis levels of 77.1% and 50.8%, respectively.

    The apparent year-over-year improvement in demand is misleading. It is largely due to comparisons with an exceptionally weak September 2008 when traffic fell sharply (-2.9% for passenger and -7.7% for cargo). Seasonally adjusted statistics show a 0.3% drop in passenger volumes and a 1.4% fall in cargo volumes for September 2009 compared with August 2009. This reflects the pause seen in the economic recovery in the US and elsewhere in the past few months.

    “It is far too early to call this a recovery. The worst may be over in terms of the fall in demand, but yields continue to be a disaster and costs are rising. The airline industry remains firmly in the red with a fragile business environment,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

    Airlines continue to carefully manage capacity. Seasonally adjusted passenger capacity has remained unchanged throughout the year while cargo capacity has edged up only slightly in the last two months. Load factors have risen to pre-crisis levels which should help to correct the precipitous fall in yields (-14% for economy, -18% for premium and –20% in cargo).

    Rising costs are a concern. As airlines adjust capacity to match demand, aircraft are flying fewer hours (-3% for some aircraft types). This is raising non-fuel unit costs. At the same time, oil prices have risen to above US$75 per barrel (Brent) considerably higher than the US$43 per barrel level at the start of the year.

    International Scheduled Passenger Demand

    Passenger demand is now 5% better than the low point reached in March 2009, but 6% below the peak recorded in early 2008.
    Asia-Pacific carriers recorded the most significant improvement, from -1.6% in August to +2.1% in September. Bucking the global trend, seasonally adjusted passenger volumes grew almost 1% from August to September. Three factors are influencing this relative strength. Government stimulus packages in the major economies are driving production increases, the region’s banking system is relatively strong and the region’s consumers are not as burdened by debt as those in Europe and the US.
    By contrast, European carriers saw a deterioration in demand from -2.8% in August to -4.2% in September. This partly reflects a loss of market share by network carriers on short-haul routes to low-cost carriers. More significantly, there has been a deterioration in demand on long-haul routes. For routes to Asia, this appears to be the influence of “home-carrier-bias” which has seen Asia-Pacific carriers reap the benefit of stronger regional economies. On routes to North America, lower demand in general is related to the dip in consumer and business confidence in economies on both sides of the North Atlantic.
    North American carriers saw demand largely unchanged (-2.4% in September compared to -2.5% in August). This flattening-out is related to a dip in consumer and business confidence.
    Middle Eastern carriers experienced an 18.2% year-on-year increase in September. This was distorted by the shifting of the Ramadan period, which started in August 2009, compared with September last year. Growth is driven primarily by market share gains on long-haul routes via Middle Eastern hubs. Weaker oil revenues continue to depress economic growth and travel within the region.
    Latin American carriers experienced a jump in demand from -2.3% in August to +3.4% in September based on relatively robust regional economies.
    African carriers also saw a marginal improvement from -4.9% in August to -4.2% in September. While African economies have been relatively resilient in the recession, the region’s carriers continue to struggle to maintain market share.
    International Scheduled Cargo Demand

    Cargo traffic is 12% above the December 2008 low point, but remains 17% below the early 2008 peak.
    Middle Eastern carriers showed the strongest performance of any region with a 3.6% year-on-year improvement.
    Latin American carriers also reported growth of 1.8%, but this was a decline from the previous month’s growth of 3.9%.
    Carriers in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America recorded improvements over August performance, but remained in negative territory at -3.1%, -13% and -5.0% respectively. Improvements were broadly in line with improved economic activity in each region.
    African carriers’ cargo operations declined further into negative territory from -5.1% in August to -6.9% in September.
    The UK Air Passenger Duty hike is the wrong response to the industry trauma. “The policies of some governments in light of the industry’s trauma are disappointing. The UK is a case in point of a government detached from reality. The global economic crisis makes cost reduction a matter of survival. And the upcoming Copenhagen meeting on climate change demands attention on measures to reduce emissions. What is the UK government doing? From 1 November it is increasing its Air Passenger Duty (APD) to collect GBP 2.5 billion annually from air travelers in the name of the environment. They have it all wrong. Taxes won’t reduce emissions. And making travel more expensive will not stimulate the economy,” said Bisignani.

    The GBP 2.5 billion APD is completely disproportionate to the GBP572 million that it would cost to offset the entire carbon footprint of UK aviation. “Charging travelers over four times for their emissions makes absolutely no sense. Instead of raising taxes, the UK government should get behind the aviation industry’s ambitious targets to fight climate change, namely (1) improving fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5% annually to 2020, (2) stabilizing emissions from 2020 with carbon neutral growth and (3) cutting net emissions in half by 2050 compared to 2005 levels,” said Bisignani.

    View full September traffic results

    For more information, please contact:

    Anthony Concil
    Director Corporate Communications
    Tel: +41 22 770 2967
    Email: corpcomms@iata.org

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    Press Release – FAA Celebrates Recovery Act Funded First Responder Facility

    For Immediate Release
    January 24, 2011

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today celebrated the completion of an Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting building at St. Louis Downtown Airport, East St. Louis, Ill., paid for with $4.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.

    “This new facility in East St. Louis is one of the many Recovery Act projects that are helping make important safety improvements at airports around the country,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

    Recovery Act funds paid the full cost of building the structure, which will house employees and a fire and rescue vehicle. FAA regulations require airports with unscheduled passenger-carrying aircraft of at least 31 passenger seats to have a fire and rescue facility on airport property. St. Louis Downtown Airport now receives charter operations by unscheduled air carriers and commuter service about three times per week and was required to build this facility.

    “Airports need to be prepared for any emergency, and this facility will help ensure the safety of passengers and flight crews,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt.

    The St. Louis Downtown Airport is the third-busiest Illinois airport in number of operations, behind only Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway Airport. In fiscal year 2010, the airport had more than 111,000 takeoffs and landings.

    Nationwide, $1.3 billion in Recovery Act money has been made available for both airport improvement projects and air traffic control facility and system upgrades. Because of low construction bids for projects, more Recovery Act dollars were available for additional facilities and equipment as well as airport projects. These Recovery Act grants have been distributed to airports that serve commercial passengers, cargo and general aviation.

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  • Press Release: FAA Awards Contracts to Accelerate Environmentally Friendly Technology

    June 24, 2010

    WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today announced $125 million in contracts to develop and demonstrate technologies that will reduce commercial jet fuel consumption, emissions and noise. The contracts are part of the FAA’s Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and Noise (CLEEN) program — to speed the introduction of “green” technology into aviation.

    “The FAA is working with the aviation community to aggressively meet critical environmental and energy goals,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “The CLEEN program is a central piece of the Next Generation air traffic modernization environmental strategy.”

    The FAA is contracting with Boeing, General Electric, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce-North America.

    The five companies will research and demonstrate a variety of technologies, including: sustainable alternative aviation fuels; lighter and more efficient gas turbine engine components; noise-reducing engine nozzles; advanced wing trailing edges; optimized flight trajectories using onboard flight management systems; and open rotor and geared turbofan engines.

    The five contracts are expected to total $125 million over the five-year span of the program. Under this “cost sharing” arrangement the companies will match or exceed the FAA’s contribution, bringing the overall value of the program to more than $250 million.

    The CLEEN program helps develop environmentally friendly and energy efficient aircraft and engine technology that could be introduced into the commercial aircraft fleet beginning in 2015.

    The goals of these research and demonstration efforts include: a reduction in fuel burn by 33 percent; a reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions by 60 percent; and a reduction in cumulative aircraft noise levels by 32 decibels.

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