Domestic airline delays in 2007 were the second worst on record, the Transportation Department said Tuesday.Flights in the U.S. were late more than 26 percent of the time last year, a slightly better performance than in 2000, when airlines were tardy 27.4 percent of the time. The federal government began collecting airlines on-time data in 1995.
source: SignOnSanDiego.com
Shares in Scandinavian airline SAS dived on Wednesday after it posted a fourth-quarter loss on problems with its Dash 8 Q400 planes and said it faced delays in turnaround plans and a worsening economic situation.
The airline, half of which is owned by Sweden, Norway and Denmark, added that replacing its fleet of Dash 8 Q400’s, permanently grounded after landing gear issues caused three emergency landings last autumn, would add to costs in 2008.
SAS shares were down 10.6 percent at 55 crowns by 1302 GMT, having hit 53.50 crowns — its lowest for more than three years.
source: Guardian Unlimited
An Airbus A380, the world’s largest airliner, became the first commercial jet aircraft to use alternative fuel on Friday, marking a milestone on the road to biofuels.
The double-decker A380 needed no modification to use the gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel, which was designed to be mixed with regular jet fuel so “‘the airplane does not know the difference,'” Airbus said.
Airbus hopes the plane, hit by production delays, will become the centerpiece of efforts to develop the next generation of cleaner fuel at a time when the aviation industry is under pressure over the impact of emissions on the climate.
source: Reuters
A plane carrying more than 150 people crash-landed in a bog in eastern Bolivia on Friday after fierce storms turned it away from its destination and it tried to reach another airport hundreds of miles away, according to officials and news reports. All on board survived.
Storms forced the plane to turn away from its destination in the northern city of Cobija. It then headed some 370 miles south to the eastern lowland city of Trinidad and was three miles short of the runway when the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing.
source: GoErie.com
A German travel agent has come up with the ultimate in no-frills flying – a charter flight for passengers who want to fly naked. Naturist holidays are particularly popular among east Germans, who like nothing better than to stretch out on a beach in the nude. “‘The flight can be enjoyed as God intended,'” said OssiUrlaub, a company specialising in selling to holidaymakers from the former east. “‘For the first time, passengers in Germany can fly completely in the nude.'”
source: Guardian Unlimited
Ryanair and easyJet were accused by budget hotel chain Travelodge of driving an £18bn “‘tourism deficit'” by drawing British holidaymakers away from the UK with low fares that are underpinned by state tax breaks.
In a hearing at the House of Commons select committee into tourism, Travelodge said inward tourism spending had declined by 16% between 1995 and 2002 while spending by British tourists abroad had climbed by nearly 50%. Greg Dawson, Travelodge director of communications, said no-frills carriers were “t’he single biggest cause of decline in traditional tourism resorts and we urge the inquiry and Government to investigate the airline’s unfair grip on holidaymakers that is squeezing the life out of British tourism.'”
source: Guardian Unlimited
Pilots’ union leaders at Continental Airlines say they’re taking steps to look out for workers’ interest in case the carrier merges with another airline.
Tom Donaldson, chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association at Continental, said Friday that his members would be happy if the Houston-based airline remains as it is, but can’t ignore speculation about mergers.
“‘We will not stand idly by and allow a change in the airline landscape without taking steps to protect the interests of our pilots,'” Donaldson said. “‘We’ve made huge concessions over the past number of years.'”
Donaldson said his union expected management to cooperate with it in any merger decisions.
source: USA Today
Some 13,434 O’Hare departures were canceled through the first 11 months of last year, according to data provided by the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
The O’Hare cancellations far exceed the number at any other airport. In fact, they represent more than double the flights that were scrubbed at the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which racked up 6,196 flight cancellations during the same period. O’Hare placed second, behind Hartsfield, for total flights last year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Only 1,172 flights were canceled at Midway from January through November last year, according to the transportation bureau. One percent of Midway departures were canceled.
source: Chicago Tribune
Low cost airline Atlas Blue is introducing a carbon offsetting programme so environmentally conscious passengers can pay to offset their emissions.
Atlas Blue, which offers flights from Gatwick to Marrakech in Morocco, is the first airline in Africa and the second in Europe to offer carbon offsetting to passengers as part of its booking platform.
source: Holidayextras
That’s the choice air passengers are likely to have later this year as progress in both systems was announced this week.
Southwest Airlines on Wednesday said it is testing satellite-based service developed by Row 44. Southwest said it hopes to begin testing Internet service on four of its aircraft this summer.
Meanwhile, American Airlines on Tuesday reported that it has installed Aircell’s Internet broadband on one of its 15 Boeing 767-200 aircraft. The air-to-ground technology utilizes a network of 92 cell towers scattered across the continental U.S.
Both technologies are expected to deliver Wi-Fi service — likely for a fee — to passengers. While users will be able to surf the Web and access their e-mail accounts, they will be blocked from using cell phones and VoIP.
source: Information Week
