oneworld Voted Leading Airline Alliance for Eighth Year Running

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    New FAA Center of Excellence for General Aviation

    Press Release – FAA Establishes New Center of Excellence for General Aviation

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has selected a team of universities to lead a new Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for general aviation. The COE will focus research and testing efforts on safety, accessibility and sustainability to enhance the future of general aviation.
    “The United States has the largest and most diverse general aviation community in the world, with more than 300,000 aircraft registered to fly through American skies,” said Secretary LaHood. “This innovative partnership with academia and industry will help us take general aviation safety to the next level.”

    The selected group is called the FAA Center of Excellence Partnership to Enhance General Aviation Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability (PEGASAS), and will be led by Purdue University, The Ohio State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The core team also will include the Florida Institute of Technology, Iowa State University and Texas A&M University. Affiliate members include: Arizona State University, Florida A&M, Hampton University, Kent State University, North Carolina A&T State University, Oklahoma State University, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale), Tufts University, Western Michigan University and University of Minnesota, Duluth.

    The FAA’s COE program is a cost-sharing research partnership between academia, industry and the federal government. Research and development efforts by PEGASAS will cover a broad spectrum of general aviation safety issues, including airport technology, propulsion and structures, airworthiness, flight safety, fire safety, human factors, system safety management and weather.
    The PEGASAS university members all have nationally recognized collegiate flight education programs, and three of the core members (Purdue, Ohio State and Texas A&M) also own and operate their own airports. Research projects will be performed through a partnership of principal investigators from the different universities. PEGASAS will engage both graduate-level and undergraduate students in its research activities.

    “The FAA continues its goal of working to reduce general aviation fatalities by 10 percent over a 10-year period, from 2009 to 2018,” said Acting FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “The Center of Excellence program is a valuable tool in providing the critical data we need to reduce those accidents.”

    PEGASAS industry and organizational partners are GE Aviation; Battelle Memorial Institute; NetJets Inc.; Cessna; Gulfstream; Piper; Raytheon; Rockwell Collins; Cirrus; Flight Safety Foundation; Guardian Mobility; Harris Corporation; Jet Aviva; NextGen AeroSciences; Nelson
    Consulting; Rolls-Royce; The Spectrum Group; Take Flight Solutions; Woolpert; the Flight Deck Display Research Laboratory at NASA Ames; Columbus Regional, South Bend and Fort Wayne Airports; Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Indiana Departments of Transportation; the National Business Aviation Association; the National Intercollegiate Flying Association; and Ohio Aerospace Institute. These non-federal affiliates will provide matching contributions to help offset the FAA’s investment in the COE’s general aviation research initiatives.

    The FAA established the first Center of Excellence for General Aviation in 2001 through a 10-year agreement to conduct general aviation research in airport and aircraft safety areas. The research topics included pilot training, human factors, weather, Automatic Dependent Surveillance/Broadcast (ADS-B), remote airport lighting systems and other matters.

    As the first Center of Excellence for General Aviation research concludes, the new team will continue critical research, testing and education efforts. The FAA intends to invest a minimum of $500,000 per year during the first five years of the new, 10-year agreement with PEGASAS.
    Congress authorized Air Transportation Centers of Excellence under the Federal Aviation Administration Research, Engineering and Development Authorization Act of 1990. This legislation enables the FAA to work with university partners and industry affiliates to conduct research in airspace and airport planning and design, environment and aviation safety, as well as to engage in other activities to assure a safe and efficient air transportation system.

    The FAA has established Centers of Excellence in eight other topic areas, focusing on commercial space transportation, airliner cabin environment and intermodal research, aircraft noise and aviation emissions mitigation, computational modeling of aircraft structures, advanced materials, airport pavement and airport technology, operations research and airworthiness assurance.

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    Taxi and Ground Movement

    NOTICE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
    FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION N JO
    Air Traffic Organization Policy
    Effective Date:
    June 30, 2010
    Cancellation Date:
    March 10, 2011
    SUBJ: Taxi and Ground Movement Operations
    1. Purpose of This Notice. This notice amends Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)Order JO 7110.65, Air Traffic Control, Paragraph 3-7-2, Taxi and Ground Movement Operations, by deleting the phraseology and procedure of issuing “taxi to” when authorizing an aircraft to taxi to an assigned takeoff runway, thus allowing an aircraft to cross all runways/taxiways which the taxi route intersects except the assigned runway.

    2. Audience. This notice applies to the Terminal Services organization and all associated air traffic control facilities.

    3. Where Can I Find This Notice? This notice is available on the MYFAA employee Web site at https://employees.faa.gov/tools_resources/orders_notices/ and on the air traffic publications Web site at http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications.

    4. Explanation of Policy Change. This change establishes the requirement that an explicit runway crossing clearance be issued for each runway (active/inactive or closed) crossing and requires an aircraft/vehicle to have crossed the previous runway before another runway crossing clearance may be issued. At airports where the taxi route between runway centerlines is less than 1,000 feet apart, multiple runway crossings may be issued after receiving approval by the Terminal Services Director of Operations.

    5. Procedures. Change FAA Order JO 7110.65, paragraph 3-7-2, to read as follows:
    3-7-2. TAXI AND GROUND MOVEMENT OPERATIONS Issue the route for the aircraft/vehicle to follow on the movement area in concise and easy to understand terms. The taxi clearance must include the specific route to follow. When a taxi clearance to a runway is issued to an aircraft, confirm the aircraft has the correct runway assignment.
    NOTE-
    1. A pilot’s read back of taxi instructions with the runway assignment can be considered confirmation of runway assignment.
    2. Movement of aircraft/vehicles on nonmovement areas is the responsibility of the pilot, the aircraft operator, or the airport management.
    a. When authorizing an aircraft/vehicle to proceed on the movement area, or to any point other than assigned takeoff runway, specify the route/taxi instructions. If it is the intent to hold the aircraft/vehicle short
    of any given point along the taxi route, issue the route and then state the holding instructions.
    NOTE-
    1. The absence of holding instructions authorizes an aircraft/vehicle to cross all taxiways that intersect the taxi route.
    2. Movement of aircraft/vehicles on nonmovement areas is the responsibility of the pilot, the aircraft operator, or the
    airport management.
    Phraseology, no change.
    06/30/10 N JO 7110.528
    2
    EXAMPLE-
    “Cross Runway Two Eight Left, hold short of Runway Two Eight Right.”
    “Taxi/continue taxiing/proceed to the hangar.”
    “Taxi/continue taxiing/proceed straight ahead then via ramp to the hangar.”
    “Taxi/continue taxiing/proceed on Taxiway Charlie, hold short of Runway Two Seven.”
    or
    “Taxi/continue taxing/proceed on Charlie, hold short of Runway Two Seven.”
    b. When authorizing an aircraft to taxi to an assigned takeoff runway, state the departure runway
    followed by the specific taxi route. Issue hold short restrictions when an aircraft will be required to hold short
    of a runway or other points along the taxi route.
    PHRASEOLOGY-
    “Runway (number) taxi via (route as necessary).”
    or
    “Runway (number) taxi via (route as necessary)(hold short instructions as necessary).”
    EXAMPLE-
    “Runway Three Six Left, taxi via taxiway Alpha, hold short of taxiway Charlie.”
    or
    “Runway Three Six Left, taxi via Alpha, hold short of Charlie.”
    or
    “Runway Three Six Left, taxi via taxiway Alpha, hold short of Runway Two Seven Right.”
    or
    “Runway Three Six Left, taxi via Charlie, cross Runway Two Seven Left, hold short of Runway Two Seven Right.”
    or
    “Runway Three Six Left, taxi via Alpha, Charlie, cross Runway One Zero.”
    c. Aircraft/vehicles must receive a runway crossing clearance for each runway that their taxi route
    crosses. An aircraft/vehicle must have crossed a previous runway before another runway crossing clearance
    may be issued.
    NOTEA
    runway crossing clearance is required to cross or operate on any active/inactive or closed runway.
    EXAMPLE-
    “Cross Runway One Six Left, hold short of Runway One Six Right.”
    06/30/10 N JO 7110.528
    3
    d. When an aircraft/vehicle is instructed to “follow” traffic and requires a runway crossing, issue a
    runway crossing clearance in addition to the follow instructions and/or hold short instructions, as applicable.
    EXAMPLE-
    “Follow (traffic), cross Runway Two Seven Right.”
    or
    “Follow (traffic), cross Runway Two Seven Right, hold short Runway Two Seven Left.”
    e. At those airports where the taxi distance between runway centerlines is less than 1,000 feet, multiple
    runway crossings may be issued with a single clearance. The air traffic manager must submit a request to the
    appropriate Terminal Services Director of Operations for approval before authorizing multiple runway
    crossings.
    REFERENCEFAAO
    JO 7210.3, Para 10-3-10 MULTIPLE RUNWAY CROSSINGS
    Renumber subparagraphs d thru f as f thru h.
    6. Distribution. This notice is distributed to the following Air Traffic Organization (ATO) service
    units: Terminal, En Route and Oceanic, and System Operations Services; the ATO Office of Safety;
    Office of the Service Center; the Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service; the William J. Hughes Technical
    Center; and the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center.
    7. Background. The FAA Runway Safety Call to Action Committee issued several recommendations
    to address improving runway safety across the NAS. In response to the Committee’s recommendations,
    the ATO convened a Safety Risk Management Panel to evaluate the safety of the Committee
    recommendations. These are two of the recommended changes from the Call to Action Committee.
    Changes will also be made to the AIM and AIP. Title14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 91.129(i),
    will be changed after the completion of the rulemaking period.

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    OAG Reports Air Travel Growth, Over 285 Million Seats Offered Worldwide

    WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — OAG (www.oag.com), the global leader in aviation intelligence reports that worldwide scheduled airline capacity increased 5% in February, year-on-year, to a total of 285.7 million seats. The number of flights increased 4%, to 2.3 million departures worldwide during the month.

    In its monthly Frequency and Capacity Trend Statistics (FACTS) report, OAG finds all regional markets recorded year-on-year growth in February, with the exception of capacity to and from Central and South America. This region lost 3% of its seat capacity, when compared to the same month last year, feeling the impact again this month of the loss of Mexicana services.

    Although capacity fell in Central and South America, overall; within Lower South America, scheduled capacity increased 12% year-on-year. The Brazilian market is showing the strongest growth in the region, with a 14% increase in domestic capacity in February compared to the same time last year.
    “The current expansion in some South American markets may be at the height of a growth period. The impending rationalization of carriers in the region, and the development of larger alliances such as that proposed by the LAN Group and TAM, could lead to capacity consolidation as network rationalization occurs,” said Peter von Moltke, Chief Executive Officer, UBM Aviation.

    Year-on-year, the two fastest growing markets in the world are those to and from the Middle East, and to and from Asia Pacific, in terms of frequency of service. The total number of flights offered to and from the Middle East grew 13% to a total of 49,014; flights to and from Asia Pacific increased 13% to a total of 55,965.

    Scheduled frequency and capacity to and from Europe was the second fastest growing region among the largest markets with scheduled capacity increasing by 11%, to a total of 21.3 million seats; frequencies increased 10%, to a total of 93,558. Growth within Europe, however, increased a modest 2% in both seat capacity and the total number of flights to a total of 59.5 million seats and 493,150 flights.

    “Medium to long haul carriers continue to build their presence in European markets, with the objective of securing greater shares of the longer haul markets, which traditionally deliver higher yields,” continued von Moltke. “Carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways will continue to increase flights and open new markets as their development progresses, and increased frequencies to a number of European destinations are expected by these airlines throughout the year.”

    The number of scheduled services both within and to and from North America remained constant year-on-year, although a slight increase in average capacity per flight resulted in more seats being offered. Total capacity to and from this region increased 3%, to a total of 15.5 million.

    This data comes from the February 2011 edition of OAG FACTS (Frequency And Capacity Trend Statistics), a monthly report with interactive graphs to display performance trends of specific airports, routes, countries or regions, sourced from OAG’s consolidated database of global airline schedules. A more detailed review of this month’s OAG FACTS statistics – including information about specific regions, routes and airports – is available to download at: (http://www.oagaviation.com/OAG-FACTS-February-2011-EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY

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    Dassault Falcon Focuses on the Growing Market in India as the Company Strengthens its Position in Emerging Markets Worldwide

    BANGALORE, India, February 4, 2011 — Dassault Falcon is presenting its Falcon fleet of large cabin, long range business jets at Aero India 2011, starting on February 9th in Bangalore. The Falcon range of aircraft will be on display alongside the Dassault Rafale fighter, which will perform in the air display. Dassault Falcon’s share of the Indian market is strong and growing as the benefits of business aviation are recognized by an increasing number of Indian companies and private owners. Private investment in India’s aviation infrastructure and support by the Indian authorities are making this dynamic market even more attractive.

    Dassault Falcon currently has over 60% share of the Indian market for large cabin/long range aircraft and is rapidly consolidating its position with an increase in local customer support and parts services. An Authorized Service Center is also under consideration, in addition to the existing Dassault liaison office in New Delhi which serves both the Indian military and Falcon operators.
    More than 20 Falcon aircraft are currently operating from airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Another 15 aircraft are on order for delivery to Indian customers within the next two years. Almost half of the new aircraft orders are for the Dassault flagship Falcon 7X, the first business jet certified with a fully-digital flight control system.

    In 2010, Dassault Falcon reinforced its position in key markets such as India and South America – where the company has the largest market share in its segments – and Asia, specifically China, where aircraft sales are growing quickly. In India, Dassault built its reputation for advanced technology and efficient aircraft from its first military sales. Today, the Indian military operates 50 Mirage fighters. In the business aviation sector, Dassault Falcon’s success has been driven by new models with exceptional performance, comfort and fuel economy such as the Falcon 2000LX and the Falcon 7X.

    “We have been encouraged about the potential for long term growth in business aviation in India,” said John Rosanvallon, President and CEO of Dassault Falcon. “Business jets are now seen in the region as a powerful tool to enable quick and convenient access to customers within the country, and worldwide. The dramatic growth of the economy and the experience of travelling on commercial airlines have all contributed to the expansion of the market over the last few years. The worldwide crisis did not impact our regional sales as severely, and the second half of 2010 was much active for us.”

    The performance of the Falcon fleet is especially valued in India, where short airfields, elevated runways and high temperatures are common. The Falcon aircraft are also more economical to operate and more environmentally responsible than any other large cabin aircraft. Their efficient design and technological optimization means less weight, 20-60% less fuel consumption and lower emissions than other airplanes in their class.

    Dassault Falcon aircraft are very well suited to the Indian customer, offering long range – the Falcon 7X can connect Mumbai to Cape Town, Bangalore to the challenging London City Airport in the heart of the City and is the only jet in its category to meet the demanding performance requirements of the airport with its steep approach and noise restrictions.

    “With their exceptional performance and fuel efficiency, I have no doubt that the Falcon fleet is positioned for long term success in the region and that we will maintain a high level of market share, ” concluded John Rosanvallon.

    To support its growing fleet in India and the increased number of transient airplanes, Falcon Customer Service has based a Customer Service Manager and opened a spares distribution center with DHL in Mumbai. Dassault Falcon has already authorized service centers nearby in Dubai, Jeddah and Singapore.

    About Dassault Falcon
    Dassault Falcon is responsible for selling and supporting Falcon business jets throughout the world. It is part of Dassault Aviation, a leading aerospace company with a presence in over 70 countries across five continents. Dassault Aviation produces the Rafale fighter jet as well as the complete line of Falcon business jets. The company has assembly and production plants in both France and the United States and service facilities on multiple continents. It employs a total workforce of over 12,000. Since the rollout of the first Falcon 20 in 1963, 2,000 Falcon jets have been delivered to 67 countries worldwide. The family of Falcon jets currently in production includes the tri-jets-the Falcon 900EX, 900LX, and the 7X-as well as the twin-engine 2000LX.

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    Blue Grass Airport Awarded Federal Aviation Administration Airport Safety Mark of Distinction Award

    LEXINGTON, Ky., Jan. 26, 2011 — Blue Grass Airport has been presented with the Airport Safety Mark of Distinction Award by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Awarded at the FAA Southern Region 2011 Airport Safety and Certification Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on January 24, the airport received this honor for construction of its new general aviation runway and associated taxiways and for the development of an airport operations department.

    The FAA developed this award to promote safety among the FAA Southern Region certificated airports and to recognize actions and efforts involving an airport that deserves praise for its demonstrated effect on the advancement of safety.

    “It is a tremendous honor for our airport to receive such a distinguished award,” said Eric Frankl, executive director at Blue Grass Airport. “I am proud of our operations and public safety staff as well as our maintenance staff for all of their hard work in making a number of changes over the past year. Providing a safe airfield environment for our airlines and passengers is our first priority.”

    In August 2010, the airport hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new general aviation runway, Runway 9-27. This 4,000 foot runway is used by private and corporate general aviation aircraft and enhances safety during crosswind conditions. General aviation activity accounts for approximately 65% of the total operations at Blue Grass Airport.

    In addition to the new runway, Blue Grass Airport has created a strong operations team over the past year that coordinates all safety and operational activities with external agencies. This includes working with the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, airlines, general aviation, tenants and other organizations.

    “We are thankful for the partnership we have with the FAA, and we will continue to work together to ensure we are providing a safe and convenient airport,” Frankl added.

    Blue Grass Airport, located in Lexington, Kentucky, is served by seven major airlines providing convenient non-stop service to 15 major hub cities and connecting service to hundreds of destinations worldwide.

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    EASA proposes a new set of harmonised European rules to avoid crew fatigue

    EASA published today a Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA 2010-14) on flight and duty time limitations and rest requirements (FTL) for commercial air transport by aeroplanes. FTL rules aim at avoiding crew fatigue by introducing limitations to the way crews can be scheduled by airlines. This NPA proposes a number of safety improvements and areas for European harmonisation.

    The European Parliament and the European Commission requested EASA to conduct a scientific and medical evaluation of the current regulation which allows national provisions in areas such as augmented flight crew, split duty, time zone crossing, reduced rest and standby, and to propose a set of fully harmonised rules. The new proposal is the result of the work of a rulemaking group that includes National Aviation Authorities, Airlines and Flight and Cabin Crew representatives.

    This proposal is the first step in a fully transparent public consultation process. Comments will be reviewed and a Comment Response Document (CRD) will be available for public consultation. At the end of the consultation process, EASA will present a final Opinion to the European Commission that will then launch the final process for adoption by the European Parliament and European Council in April 2012.

    http://easa.europa.eu/rulemaking/docs/npa/NPA%202010-14.pdf

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