Industry News

kelowna int’l airport — in British Columbia extends its runway from 7300 feet to 8900 feet; increases vehicle parking and improves roadway access to the terminal; and expands food and beverage services with the addition of the WhiteSpot Restaurant, Tim Hortons, and the wine store relocated into the departure room. YLW was chosen in 2008 by Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) as the host site for a pilot project on an integrated checkpoint, making it a world’s first (in an airport) by integrating one machine using millimeter wave technology with current technology (X-ray and metal detection).

lexington (ky) blue Grass Airport — reports the resignation of executive director Michael A. Gobb and others amid ongoing investigations concerning their spending of airport money.

massport — Massachusetts Port Authority plans to cut $17 million, or 4.5 percent, from its budget following a 16 percent drop in commercial traffic compared with November 2007.

nbaa — National Business Aviation Assn. welcomes the decision by Congress to strike language from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) first passed by Congress last year, which would have required companies receiving TARP funds to divest of business aircraft.

nbta — National Business Travel Assn. joins ten other organizations from the commercial and general aviation community in submitting a letter to Congress requesting stimulus funding to jump-start NextGen, FAA’s plan to update the ground-based air traffic system, with a call to advance the schedule originally set to achieve investment return in 2025. The letter requests $4 billion of the $20 billion in required equipage costs to accelerate the program and its benefits.

nfpa — National Fire Protection Association, which develops building fire codes including requirements for aircraft hangars, proposes new technical changes that will affect aircraft hangar owners, reports NATA. For general aviation, NFPA 409 provides fire codes for all aircraft hangars in most jurisdictions throughout the U.S. NATA charges that NFPA 409 is incredibly complicated and is interpreted differently throughout the country, and that new technical changes will only add additional cost for small businesses; www.nata.aero.

odyssey aviation — reports that seven locations are launching under the Odyssey brand name through the formation of a co-branding partnership between Odyssey Aviation in Nassau, Bahamas, and the Cincinnati-based FBO group owned by Ken Allison. Allison’s seven Odyssey-branded FBOs, formerly operating as members of the Million Air FBO chain, are located at Asheville, N.C.; Charleston, S.C; Chicago Midway, Cincinnati Lunken; Columbus, OH; Lafayette, LA; and New Orleans Lakefront.

port authority of NY&NJ — plans to install bird-detecting radar at its three major airports following the emergency landing of a US Airways commercial jetliner in the Hudson River in January.

ray lahood — is approved by Congress as the next Secretary of Transportation, succeeding Mary Peters. LaHood signals that his first priorities include naming an administrator to run FAA, moving to settle a long-running labor dispute between the FAA and its 15,000 air-traffic controllers; and, rejecting the Bush Administration’s calls for slot auctions at New York’s commercial airports.

san jose int’l airport — faced with dramatic monthly drops in passenger traffic and in midst of a $1.35 billion modernization project reports significant budget cuts. In addition to deferring some maintenance and capital projects, refinancing debt, and increasing revenue from new concessions, officials are eliminating more than 100 jobs in the next 18 months to close a budget gap projected to be $35 million in 2010.

southwest airlines — notifies Nashville Int’l Airport that effective March 8 through May 8, 2009, Southwest is adding one additional flight each to five markets it currently serves from BNA, and beginning May 9 through June 26, 2009, is adding back nonstop service to Oakland and Seattle plus an additional flight each to four other markets.

sterling aviation — a business aircraft management and charter company headquartered at Milwaukee’s Mitchell Int’l Airport with a second full-service base under development at Naples, FL, adds a Citation Sovereign to its fleet.

tac air — a division of Truman Arnold Companies, begins services at its newest location at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, MO, following the purchase of the assets of JetDirect, bringing the FBO chain’s total locations to 13.