Aircraft inspection scandal in U.S.
The scandal over lax FAA enforcement of inspection requirements that let Southwest Airlines fly possibly as many as 117 B737 aircraft past mandatory inspection deadlines continues to grow. Rep. James Oberstar, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, reported evidence that Southwest Airlines, with the complicity of the FAA, allowed its aircraft to fly in violation of federal aviation regulations. Forty-seven of the Southwest Airlines aircraft were overdue for fuselage inspections and 70 were overdue for mandatory inspections of critical rudder control systems; those numbers may overlap. The planes in question flew at least 1,457 flights without any reported incidents. Southwest Airlines is facing a $10.2 million fine, which will be the largest ever assessed by the FAA. Today Southwest grounded 44 of its B737 planes and canceled four percent of its flights. In assessing the record fine, the FAA said Southwest operated nearly 60,000 flights in 2006 and 2007 using 46 planes that had missed inspections for possible fatigue-related cracking on the fuselage areas. Southwest has said it voluntarily disclosed its maintenance violations. Oberstar said the law requires that planes be grounded until they are in compliance and that the Southwest planes continued to fly with full knowledge of an FAA supervisor. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080308/ap_on_go_co/airline_safety
French prosecutor moves on 2000 Concorde crash
A French prosecutor has said U.S. airline Continental should face manslaughter changes and the former head of French civil aviation should face other charges over the fatal Concorde crash near Paris in July 2000. The crash killed 109 passengers and crew and four persons on the ground. Judges are to decide within six weeks whether to endorse the request from the prosecutor at Pointoise, the county town that covers Charles de Gaulle airport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7290000/newsid_7291100/7291179.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&nol_storyid=7291179&bbcws=1
EUROCONTROL and FSF partner for aviation safety in Europe
EUROCONTROL and the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) have announced a new partnership to reinforce aviation safety in Europe and globally and reduce aviation safety risk. Three key issues stand out in the joint work: mitigating the risk posed by the combination of growth in traffic and shortage of air traffic controllers and pilots; the need to create a ‘Just Culture’ in aviation; and the promotion of SKYbary, an online repository for safety-related information. The EUROCONTROL Agency will serve as Fellow for Aviation Safety in Europe, responsible for coordinating the promotion and implementation of the FSF safety initiatives and products on the continent, and FSF will promote EUROCONTROL safety initiatives and products globally. A particular emphasis will be given to supporting the development of a Just Culture and transparency in safety-related issues.
Europe currently has over 10 million flights a year, with peaks of over 4,000 flights an hour. With the number of flights growing by on average 5% a year, there is strong pressure on Europe’s 15,000 air traffic controllers to keep delays down. However Europe already has around 10% fewer controllers than is necessary, and their average age is increasing rapidly. In addition, the SESAR project, which aims to address the capacity gap through new technologies and automation requires controllers for validation. As a result, the shortage of controllers could reach 20% in the coming years.
EUROCONTROL has 38 Member States: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine, and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. For further information, please contact Kyla Evans, press@eurocontrol.int or visit www.eurocontrol.int.
For comparison to Europe, the air traffic figures for the U.S. are 10.8 million flights a year, with peaks of over 5,000 flights an hour and a growth rate of about 0.6% from 2006 to 2007. (http://www.bts.gov/xml/air_traffic/src/index.xml#TwelveMonthsSystem) At the end of 2007, the U.S. had 11,250 fully qualified air traffic controllers working at 314 FAA centers (http://www.aviation.com/safety/) and was facing many retirements, which would create a serious shortage. Air traffic delays are already being attributed to controller shortages, especially at the highest traffic airports. The U.S. equivalent of SESAR is NEXGEN, which faces the same validation staffing issues.
Countdown to U.S.-EU Open Skies implementation
March 30, 2008 is the date for implementation of the U.S.-European Union Open Skies Treaty, which will essentially deregulate transatlantic passenger service and allow nonstop service between city pairs in the EU and the U.S. U.S. flag carriers will also be allowed to carry passengers between EU airports, but EU carriers will not have this right in the U.S. New flights have begun to be announced, with most of the action involving established major airlines and London Heathrow. British Airways has established a new line called Open Skies to exploit the new agreement with proposed service from JFK to Paris and Brussels. EU low cost carriers are expected to jump into the action, with Ryanair exploring possible service to Baltimore and Providence using a new subsidiary, RyanAtlantic. Virgin Atlantic has announced plans for JFK to Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Amsterdam, and Zurich. Some airlines are already advertising new nonstop services to start almost immediately after March 30, 2008, but others may take until 2010. (Various sources)
The change is expected to have many effects, the most significant one may be reducing transatlantic airfares and perhaps reducing U.S. airlines main profit center, which is long-haul international flights. The EU has had its own within-Europe Open Skies-type deregulation for over ten years now, and it has apparently caused a proliferation of new routes, increased passenger totals, and lowered fares. Other factors that will affect implementation are security, immigration, and customs services at U.S. airports that have not had scheduled international traffic and landing and takeoff slots at the most attractive airports, particularly JFK and Heathrow.
The BBC wonders: What makes a good airport?
After 20 years and more than $8 billion, Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 will open Friday, prompting critics to question exactly what London is getting for its investment. Among the requirements for a "good airport," experts say, are intuitive signage, airy architecture, easy transportation links, short lines and discreet, desirable retail outlets. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7290432.stm This is a follow up to recent items here about new terminals at JFK and LAX.
A note of thanks
These aviation notes were suggested by Arthur Rabjohn, who serves as President of IAEM-Europa. I’m pleased to share with you that Arthur has just been named as R3 Manager Europe for WorleyParsons LLC. The R3 System is the short form name for the WorleyParsons Ready Response and Recovery System which is the company’s integrated Crisis, Emergency, Security and Business Continuity system. His new post will bring him the challenges faced by WorleyParsons in their operations in Kazakhstan, Russian, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and Romania; as well as their European Union locations. Aviation infrastructure is part of WorleyParsons’ focus. Congratulations, Arthur!
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