Air Transport Association, the airline industry’s main trade group, forecasts that a record number of airline passengers would fly during the Memorial Day holiday weekend and throughout the summer. To minimize the weather-related delays, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is planning to expand the use of an air control strategy. Airspace flow program introduced last year in seven high-traffic, air-travel regions in the Northeast allows the airlines to choose between flying longer routes to avoid stormy weather or accepting delays that are aggravating for fliers and costly for the industry. There have been many delays and cancellations of flights due to winter storms that blasted Midwest and Northeast this February. Delays and cancellations caused million of dollars of losses and there was an overflow of customer dissatisfaction from the annoyed travelers that were kept on Jet Blue planes in New York for as long as 11 hours. For the pragmatic approach to maintain high safety standards, FAA has been credited by Sid McGuirk, an associate professor of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla. But the National Air Traffic Controllers Association says that the summer delays are inevitable as there is a shortage of air traffic controllers. The association predicts that for the 10-day period around Memorial Day, 21.4 million passengers worldwide will travel on U.S. airlines and from June to August, 209 million passengers will travel which means up 3 percent from last year. Including the parts of the South and Midwest, Airspace flow program will be used in 18 regions this summer. This program is expected to minimize the delays and save up-to $100 million per year in reduced costs for airlines. Source: MSNBC

Then get yourself and friends booked to any for its 14 destinations to avail the discounts of a big bonanza. Low-cost carrier SpiceJet, as part of the celebrations for completing two years of operations, is planning to offer two lakh seats @ 99 paise. This is likely to be offered for two or more persons traveling together from today till June 6 on all its non-stop flights covering 14 destinations. The airline is likely to break-even in the April-June quarter this fiscal, according to a statement by the company issued today. Were this to happen, it would be the first of the new entrants in the domestic civil aviation space to achieve the feat two years after it started operations. It is definitely going by its mission is to become India’s preferred low-cost airline, delivering the lowest air fares with the highest consumer value. The carrier has also tied-up with Tata AIG to offer domestic travel insurance for Rs 129.Currently the airline has 11 Boeing 737s in its fleet and is planning to add eight more aircraft by March next year. Image credit Source: Business Standard

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines has bought a stake of up to 26 % in the country’s first domestic budget carrier, Air Deccan, at 155 Indian rupees per share( a total of 5.5 billion rupees) The loss-making discount carrier Air Deccan’s chief Gopinath had been trying to raise capital to keep it in the skies. Air Deccan, will remain an independent entity and pursue its low-cost business model. Its board unanimously approved the sale of up to 35.2 mln new preferred shares. At board level, Gopinath will be the executive chairman of Air Deccan and Vijay Mallya the vice-chairman. Air Deccan chief financial officer Ramki Sundaram will assume the additional post of interim chief executive with immediate effect. There is to be no merger, nor will the shareholders’ equity will be diluted. The combined market share for Kingfisher and Air Deccan is expected to be about 32-34 %. Kingfisher will probably become the largest airline in terms of market share in India. The deal is a further example of the consolidation trend in India’s expanding aviation market, coming shortly after the acquisition of Air Sahara by Jet Airways for 340 million dollars in April. This low-cost carrier segment, can accommodate only three or four players on an all-India level. Image credit Source: Lanka Business

Northwest Airlines is no longer operating under federal bankruptcy protection.The nation’s fifth-largest carrier’s, Michigan’s largest air carrier emergence from Chapter Eleven caps a 20-month reorganization aimed at making it competitive for years to come. Northwest is a now definitely a leaner and more efficient airline. The carrier shaved $2.2 billion in annual operating costs with the help of bankruptcy court. That belt-tightening will make the airline one of the most profitable in North America, industry officials predicted. Northwest had lost nearly $4 billion when the carrier filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 14, 2005. The losses were attributed to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Asia, rising fuel costs and low-cost carriers forcing Northwest to lower its ticket prices to retain customers. One advantage Northwest will have is that its new labor contracts lock workers into lower pay rates and more company-friendly work rules through the end of 2011, longer than any of its U.S. competitors. Most major airlines have trimmed unprofitable routes and fly fuller planes on the routes that are left. Workers took pay cuts at the bankrupt carriers as well as American Airlines, which narrowly avoided bankruptcy in 2003. Image credit Source: The independant

The world’s largest passenger airline, Airbus A380 landed for the first time at Paris’ leading Charles de Gaulle airport on Friday, 1st June, 2007. To greet the A380′s arrival, people who spotted the plane bedecked with cameras and lined the telescopes on the roads near the airport. As the plane taxied on at the airport, two giant water cannons sprayed it. Aboard the plane were the VIP passengers, six Parisian schoolchildren and their teacher from Airbus’ headquarters in the southwestern city of Toulouse. The plane will remain at the airport for two days of tests before heading to Japan, Australia and Taiwan. By this summer, Charles de Gaulle airport’s new lounge, designed to handle up to six passenger loads of A380s at the same time, will be operational. There will be three jet ways for speedier boarding on the planes. The airport has already strengthened its runways and widened taxiways. In October, the first deliveries of the A380 are slated to be made to Singapore Airlines Ltd. Air France-KLM, the first European carrier to fly the plane, will take its first delivery in April 2009. A380 is known to be the quieter airplane with better fuel efficiency and lower emissions of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide per passenger. Airbus has received 156 orders for the new plane, which is priced at about $319 million. It has received its orders on its website. There are no U.S. carriers as customers. If the airport enters commercial service, it is expected to be the first U.S. destination for the A380. More than $120 million are being spent on projects to prepare Los Angeles International and nearby Ontario International airports for the new jets. The world’s busiest passenger airport, Atlanta’s Hartsfield International is the only airport that has said it will not adapt the super jumbo because it mainly serves domestic passengers. The airports in San Francisco, London, Sydney, Singapore and Frankfurt, Germany are also ready to receive the 555-seat plane and have spent millions for the preparations. Source: USA Today

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As per J.D. Power and Associates’ customer-satisfaction rankings of North American airlines, JetBlue Airways Corp. and Continental Airlines Inc. have topped once again. Image credit Continental finished first among traditional network carriers for the second straight year. Despite severe delays and flight cancellations caused by weather and computer malfunctions in the past year, JetBlue remained the top-ranked U.S. low-cost airline carrier. JetBlue Airways ranked highest overall for the third consecutive year, earning the highest ranking for low-cost carriers defined as airlines that operate single-cabin aircraft with typically low fares in 2006 and 2007. The overall customer satisfaction based on performance in seven measures, including cost and fees, flight crew, in-flight services, aircraft, boarding/deplaning/baggage, check-in and reservation. However six of the eight carriers saw their scores fall from 2006. That decline was largely limited to the eight network airlines rated. Their average score was 667 out of a possible 1,000 points, down eight points from the 2006 survey. The worst low-fare carrier, AirTran Airways, with 721 points scored higher than the best network carrier did, Continental, with 704 points. Northwest Airlines scored the worst in customer satisfaction amongst the eight major airlines. Even as the skies are getting crowded, competition between airlines is getting tighter. At the end of the day it is customer satisfaction that’s going to get more passengers on board. Source: Dallas News

Vijay Mallya seems to be on a total high after having acquired 26 per cent stake in Air Deccan and is now planning to buy at least five wide-bodied Airbus aircraft at an estimated value of $1 billion for its international operations. The airlines might even opt for the world’s longest commercial passenger aircraft in operation, the Airbus A340-600, which has a seating capacity between 380 and 419 seats. Besides five A380s, Kingfisher Airlines had placed orders for five A350-800s, five A340-500s and five A330s. The announcements for the same are likely to be made at the International Paris Air Show scheduled to be held between June 18 and 21. Kingfisher Airlines, which just completed two years of operation, is expecting a go-ahead from the Ministry of Civil Aviation for launching international services.

Airplanes eased accessibility to just about anywhere in the world, but it is the foul pollution that they cause which has made them the target of environmentalists. Noise pollution and the carbon emissions they produce cause grave environmental damage. Airlines have cut noise pollution by 75 percent over the past 30 years and improved fuel efficiency by 70 percent in the past four decades, with new aircraft expected to improve that efficiency by another 25 percent by 2020.However, not all can afford to adopt new technology or buy new planes. The industry is also worried in terms of offsetting the carbon emissions with carbon trading. The process however seems rather unclear since there seem to be no set guidelines to measure the carbon offset While reducing emissions may be the industry’s new priority, newer technologies will take longer to build. With globalization of business activities, there will only be an increase in air traffic. While governments give top priority to security concerns and safety concerns, the environment takes a backseat. Planes will carry on adding to the greenhouse effect by emitting heat-trapping nitrous oxides at high altitudes. The carbon footprint of the civil aviation industry is only growing as a portion of global emissions. Image credit Source: Turkish daily News

In the face of the likelihood of more terrorist attacks on airlines, security is being stepped up with plans on collecting biometric data through fingerprinting. This would mean longer waits at airport terminals for you. Passengers traveling from the US will have to present their fingers as well as their passports at check-in from the end of next year. Michael Jackson, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the procedure would apply to all passengers and airlines flying out of the U.S. as the country accumulates information on every foreign national travelling through America. The arrangement is a source of tension, amid anger that American authorities are also seeking access to credit card details and email accounts. European flights have also been forced to turn around mid-air after U.S. authorities barred certain passengers from entering the country, including Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the singer Cat Stevens. Amidst claims that queues, will not be long and electronic fingerprinting kit will be given to airlines in the initial phase the idea is likely to raise uproar. I wonder if traveling by air is coming to the point where it only tests passenger patience. Image credit Source: Guardian

Jet Airways Wednesday said it would operate five flights a day from India to the Belgian capital and provide seamless connections for onward journey to the US and Canada. It aims to cater to Indian traffic to Europe, Africa and America .Jet Airways is going places with this large opening. Earlier it bought Air Sahara and introduced Jet lite and gave stiff competition to Kingfisher in the domestic sector. Currently it operates 340 flights across 44 destination such as Malasyia, Maldives, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal etc. It has got a lot of space and capacity, which we will be using. Since (Belgian carrier) Sabena closed down, the airport was being operated only by the Brussels Airlines and some American carriers. We are the only Indian carrier to be creating such a hub on foreign soil," Jet Airways Chief Naresh Goyal told PTI in an interview here. " Our vision is to make Jet Airways match larger carriers like Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Through this hub, we will be participating in the European market as well," he said, revealing for the first time the airline’s plans about the Brussels operations.