Industry News

DOT OFFERS CONTROVERSIAL LGA PROPOSAL
U.S. Department of Transportation officials in March unveiled a proposal to reduce delays at New York’s heavily congested LaGuardia Airport by cutting flights and auctioning off the right for new competitors to fly there. LaGuardia becomes the third major airport serving New York City to have flights reduced in recent months as DOT looks to find a solution for gridlock that plagued the region last summer. The plan calls for reducing the number of landings and takeoffs at LaGuardia from 75 per hour to 74.
Perhaps the most controversial component of the proposal is that major airlines currently serving LaGuardia would lose up to 20 percent of their existing flights at LGA. The flights would be auctioned to the highest bidder, beginning as early as the end of the year, according to D.J. Gribbin, general counsel for DOT. The plan is to increase competition to ultimately bring airlines to attempt to keep costs down by flying larger planes into LGA, Gribbin says. Larger planes would allow more passengers to fly into LGA without adding delays.
The Air Transport Association calls the proposal “ridiculous” and says the government doesn’t have authority to impose the changes. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, which operates LaGuardia, also opposes the move. Says the authority, “Instead of modernizing a 1950s-era air traffic control system to meet passenger demand for more flights, the DOT and FAA are choosing to charge passengers more money via an auction without reducing delays and delivering relief. The right solutions are increasing capacity, rationalizing airline schedules, and improving customer service.”

DETROIT METRO EXPLORES SELLING NAMING RIGHTS
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport enters a management services agreement with the General Sports Companies, in partnership with McConnell Communications to plan, design, promote, sell, negotiate, and administer naming rights and sponsorship contracts on behalf of the Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA). As part of the agreement, the partners will develop a comprehensive sponsorship and marketing opportunity program for DTW that will feature naming rights sales and management for the airport’s new state-of-the-art, 26-gate North Terminal complex, scheduled to open later this year.

Briefings ...

AIR CANADA — launches new nonstop service between Richmond (VA) and Toronto.

airmall® — at Boston Logan Int’l Airport opens a Sunglass Hut and a Johnston & Murphy outlet in Terminal B, the latter offering high-quality apparel and crafted leather goods for men.

aci-na — Airports Council Int’l–North America commends the U.S. DOT for its announcement to amend the Part 250 compensation available to passengers who are involuntarily denied boarding, and for expanding measures to passengers flying on smaller aircraft.
• ACI-NA commends DOT’s recent proposal to amend the 1996 Policy Regarding Airport Rates and Charges to recognize airport proprietors’ role in managing congestion at their airports. For this same reason, however, ACI-NA does not support, in its current form, the Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM), to create slot auctions at LaGuardia airport.

asig® — of Orlando announces that American Airlines renews its agreement for aircraft fueling services at ten of its U.S. locations.

boston museum of science/aurora flight services — announces details of its new solar-powered airplane called Odysseus. Aurora and partners BAE Systems, Draper Laboratory, and Sierra Nevada were recently awarded a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for development of a new unmanned aircraft that can stay aloft for up to five years; www.aurora.aero.

chantilly air — of Manassas, VA opens a 36,000-sq. ft. hangar complex as it expands its FAA Part 145 maintenance capabilities, now servicing most major turbine OEMs, including Bombardier, Cessna, Gulfstream, and Hawker Beechcraft. The company also has repair agreements for Pratt and Whitney’s PT6, JT15D, and PW305 series engines.