FAA Proposes $300,000 Fine Against American Air. --- Reuters, March 18, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed the second fine in a week against American Airlines for alleged maintenance violations. The FAA says American mechanics misdiagnosed a problem with the heater on an MD-82 air speed sensor in 2009 that should have restricted when the plane could fly; the work was deferred and the aircraft flew five regularly scheduled flights before the mistake was corrected.
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Los Angeles World Airports Executive Encourages Congress to Re-Examine Airport Funding Formulas. --- PR Newswire, March 18, 2010
Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey spoke before the Appropriations Committee of the House Sub-Committee for Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development on Thursday, March 18, 2010, and stressed the need for changes in how federal funds are allocated to U.S. airports. Ms. Lindsey said permanent exemption from the alternative minimum tax for public-use airport project financing, redistribution of federal airport improvement grants toward airports serving higher numbers of passengers, and increasing the cap on passenger facility charges will help airports keep the money they earn so they can reinvest in their facilities. She also said that increased funding for the state-of-the-art NextGen technology will help the Federal Aviation Administration “significantly improve” the efficiency and safety of the nation’s air traffic system.
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Survey Cites Anchorage Airport as Continent’s Second Best. --- Flight Source, March 20, 2010
A recent Air Cargo World magazine survey ranked Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska as North America’s second top aviation cargo facility, behind only Memphis, Tennessee. Performance, value, facilities, and operations were evaluated to determine the rankings. The airport has nearly completed a multi-year project that would allow it to handle the largest cargo aircraft in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration standards, and it recently modified many of its cargo parking spots to accommodate these larger aircraft, providing the utmost in convenience for the cargo carriers.
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Garfield County Airport Project Needs Another $1.5 Million. --- John Colson, Post Independent, March 22, 2010
Garfield County, Colorado officials are asking the Federal Aviation Administration for another $1.5 million for the Garfield County airport improvement project. An added blasting expense has come up, raising the cost of that phase of the project from $11.5 to $13 million. There is no certainty the money will be found, however, and local officials have decided to take some of the FAA funds meant for completing other phases of the project to pay for the blasting work. The officials said they will not worry about the funding gap unless the FAA is unable to come through with the $1.5 million.
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State Lawmakers Try to Resuscitate Airport Project. --- Mike Russo, Valley Independent Sentinel, March 22, 2010
Local officials in Oxford, Connecticut hope a revised law will restart a $33 million construction project at Waterbury-Oxford Airport, a project that has been delayed because the state’s Office of Policy and Management terminated the project on the grounds that the environmental report prepared for it did not come from the state’s Department of Transportation. State senators Rob Kane and David Labriola presented a bill to the state Transportation Committee earlier this month to consider altering the environmental law now delaying the project, with the purpose of the bill being to change the wording of the regulation to allow the state to accept the Oxford Airport project report and let the project move forward. Click here to read more
Whistleblower: FAA Allowed Southwest to Operate Unsafe Planes. --- Kris Alingod, All Headline News, March 22, 2010
The Office of Special Counsel, a government watchdog, says the Federal Aviation Administration allowed Southwest Airlines to operate dozens of unsafe planes that had not complied with federal airworthiness requirements, the second time the FAA has been found to have let the airline fly unsafe aircraft. The report stems from allegations by a whistleblower, an FAA safety inspector assigned to the Southwest Airlines Certificate Management Office in Irving, Texas.
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Senate Passes $34.5 Billion FAA Bill. --- Vicki Needham, The Hill, March 22, 2010
The Senate passed a $34.5 billion bill funding the Federal Aviation Administration through September 2011 on Monday, March 22, 2010. The measure will upgrade the nation’s aging air traffic control system, limit tarmac delays for passengers, and increase taxes on several areas within the aviation industry. An additional $276 million in revenue will be raised from the expansion of several taxes. The bill remains to be ironed out in a House-Senate conference.
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FAA Proposes $1.45 Million Civil Penalty Against Northwest Airlines. --- Federal Aviation Administration, March 23, 2010
The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a $1.45 million civil penalty against Northwest Airlines. The agency alleges that the carrier operated a number of its Boeing 757 aircraft without proper windshield wiring inspections, out of compliance with a 1990 FAA airworthiness directive on Boeing 757s required inspections for the presence of undersized wires in the heating system for both the captain’s and first officer’s windows.
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Air Traffic Control at Boise Airport Will Not be Moved Hundreds of Miles Away. --- 670 KBOI, March 23, 2010
The Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) will stay in Boise, Idaho, as the recently passed Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act contains language that prevents the agency from moving Boise’s TRACON to Salt Lake City in Utah. The FAA said the move would save $24 million, but Boise city officials and Idaho’s congressional delegation said it would compromise passenger safety.
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U.S. Set to Expand Role in Protecting Air Travelers. --- Susan Stellin, The New York Times, March 22, 2010
A new rule allowing travelers to get off a plane stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours along with others adopted by the Transportation Department demonstrate the government’s increased effort to protect passenger rights. These rules--the Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections--will go into effect April 29, 2010. Other polies include requiring more disclosure about airline delays before a ticket is purchased and requiring airlines to publish plans outlining how they will deal with long tarmac delays.
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Senate Acts to Halt Crater Lake Tourist Flights. --- Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian, March 22, 2010
Under an amendment attached to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, officials at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon will be allowed to ban air tours over the park. The current law dictates that the FAA and the National Park Service are supposed to work on joint air tour management plans for national parks, but Senator Ron Wyden, one of the sponsors of the amendment, said that this process has not worked. The amendment would allow the park service to simply ban such flights under its own authority.
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2 Airlines Reach Deal to Give Up Flight Slots. --- Jad Mouawad, The New York Times, March 22, 2010
Delta Airlines and US Airways have agreed to give up 20 pairs of takeoff and landing rights at LaGuardia Airport in New York and Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., to gain federal approval for a larger exchange of those rights between the two airlines, but it falls short of what the Federal Aviation Administration has requested. The airlines are pressing for approval of a deal in which Delta would give 42 pairs of slots, daily landing or takeoff rights, at Reagan National to US Airways in exchange for 125 pairs at LaGuardia. In comments about the deal the FAA said the competitive environment would become significantly more concentrated if the airlines did not give up any slots, and Southwest Airlines has also said the slot trade represents a “division of markets that is designed to eliminate existing competition.”
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Aviation Organizations Applaud Senate on Passage of FAA Reauthorization Bill. --- Aircraft Maintenance Technology, March 23, 2010
The National Air Transport Association and National Business Aviation Association have both praised the Senate for passing legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration and continue transformation to a Next Generation Air Traffic Control.
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Oakland Airport Not For Sale. --- Cecily Burt and Kelly Rayburn, Oakland Tribune, March 24, 2010
Port of Oakland officials say Oakland Airport in California is not for sale never has been for sale. A local television channel had reported that the port had considered selling off its airport division to help solve a $1.5 billion budget deficit, but while port staff did consider last year whether it made sense to privatize the airport by leasing it to an outside company, the port never had any intention to sell it. Port staff and directors are crafting a five-year strategic plan to reduce the deficit and streamline passenger operations portwide, but selling the airport is not part of the plan and a long-term lease agreement is also not an option.
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FAA Issues Safety Warning for Homemade Planes. --- Joan Lowy, Associated Press, March 25, 2010
Federal Aviation Administration officials warned pilots on Thursday, March 25, that high-performance homemade planes are likely to stall at higher speeds and have been involved in a disproportionately large number of fatal accidents. A Lancair plane, which is built from kits, killed a beach jogger last week in South Carolina.
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Editorial: Airlines’ Requests for Tarmac-Waiting Exemptions Are Extremely Off-Course. --- The Voice of Aurora, The Aurora Sentinel, March 25, 2010
A growing list of airlines are asking the Federal Aviation Administration for an exemption to new laws limiting how long airlines can keep passengers hostage on parked planes because of weather or traffic. These exemptions should not be granted for any reason, as incidents of keeping passengers on planes for lengthy amounts of time are inhumane and inexcusable. FAA officials have dismissed any and all airline requests for exemptions thus far, as well they should.
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Senate Completes FAA Extension. --- Vicki Needham, The Hill, March 25, 2010
The Senate completed work on a three-month extension of the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, pushing the expiration date to July 3, 2010. The temporary measure provides funds for the Airport Improvement Program, FAA operations, facilities and equipment programs, and research, engineering, and development programs. The House and Senate are expected to meet in the next few months to reconcile differences on a longer-term FAA reauthorization.
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