Blog Archives
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A Reminder About Terrorism
- Friday March 24, 2006Today's headlines bring home how it infiltrated an industry... His name is Moussaoui, and headlines of late center around his trial as the only person arrested in the U.S. alleged to be directly tied to the 9/11 killings. This week, the prosecution brought on a former FBI agent and FAA security official to testify what has become obvious - the warning signs were there for those who were looking. A couple of flight schools were; national commissions were (NCARC; The Gore Commission); but the American people, and thus governmental Washington, weren't. (Which, of course, is why no definitive domestic security initiatives were undertaken in the 1990s to address the threat.) The testimony this week about the role of U.S. flight schools led... -
If I Were Going to Design an Airline Terminal Today ...
- Wednesday March 15, 2006DFW AIRPORT - Sitting in a room in the DFW Grand Hyatt, looking out upon a sea of aviation and on toward the skyline of Dallas to the east, one turns to the thoughts of the day's events. This is a Peer Review Group meeting, a sort of 'lessons learned' from the folks at DFW to other interested parties about their $2.7 billion capital improvement program of the past seven years. It includes this hotel, which the DFW authority owns, and the new international/domestic Terminal D, as modern as a terminal gets. At such peer review meetings - hosted by Bill Fife of DMJM+Harris - attendees share their local projects, looking for input. The discussion turned to the concept of a mid-size commercial airport building a terminal from ground up... -
Chicago Begins a Privatization Debate
- Wednesday March 8, 2006Just a potential windfall, or a sign of things to come? - You have to give 'Da Mayor' of Chicago credit for looking outside the box on this one. While some - as in this space -- have questioned his O'Hare Modernization Plan and steadfast refusal to embrace the proposed new airport in nearby Peotone, his consideration of the privatization of Midway Airport may have merit. The concept of leasing airports to private entities is well accepted in international circles, but is an idea that has been rejected by most U.S. airport interests to date. There are exceptions: Stewart International Airport north of New York City is under a 99-year lease with British-owned National Express Group and JFK's Terminal 4 was built and is operated by a... -
Report from the FAA Forecast Conference
- Friday March 3, 2006WASHINGTON - The latest version of the FAA's ten-year prognosticating event, its annual Forecast Conference held here Feb. 28-Mar. 1, is back to predicting that the air carrier industry should see a billion passengers per year by the end of the forecast period. The two hottest items of interest at the conference include the entry this year of the new very light jets (VLJs) and a Congressional reauthorization funding debate that will be ongoing for the next 18 months. Regarding theVLJs, at this point no one can clearly predict their ultimate impact on the marketplace, but FAA - and the General Aviation Manufacturers Association - foresee some 100 units entering the market this year, with another 350-500 units coming off the assembly line... -
From the Road in Nevada ...
- Friday February 24, 2006RENO - TSA chief technology officer Chuck Burke, speaking with a quiet confidence about the state of the security agency, told airport consultants gathered here that the agency has sent its revised strategic plan to Congress for consideration and that the future implementation of security systems at U.S. airports relies heavily on close cooperation between airports and TSA. Burke was here to address the annual Airport Planning, Design, & Construction Symposium, which annually brings some 600 consultants, airports, and government officials together. According to Burke, 18 U.S. airports have fully integrated in-line explosives detection systems in place, while another 36 are "partially integrated." Says Burke, "We continue to support the... -
Airport Cooperative Research Program Update
- Wednesday February 15, 2006The upcoming March issue of AIRPORT BUSINESS magazine will feature an in-depth interview with Jim Crites, executive vice president at DFW International Airport and a person who has been one of the industry activists promoting the Airport Cooperative Research Program. The ACRP is operated under the auspices of the Transportation Research Board, which has years of experience in similar research programs for highways and transit. The ACRP has had its starts and stops, most notably when Congress voted to authorize the program but then withheld any funding to get it started. Today, however, the program has been awarded some $13 million for start-up and for the initial round of projects. It is expected to get another $10 million in FY07. In... -
Cutter Enters the FBO Contract Management Arena
- Wednesday February 8, 2006In the January 2006 issue of AIRPORT BUSINESS ("Inside the Industry"), we feature a discussion of the decision by Million Air to enter into a contract with the authority that operates Albany International Airport in which Million Air is taking over FBO and airline ground services. The significant aspect here is that it's solely a contract to provide services; it is not the assumption of a leasehold or the purchase of facilities. In the article, Million Air officials relate that they see the potential for more such opportunities in various markets in the U.S. Last fall, Memphis-based Wilson Air Center entered a similar contract with Charlotte Douglas International Airport to provide FBO services. According to the WAC, the fixed base... -
EPA and Sustainability
- Tuesday January 31, 2006The Environmental Protection Agency this week announced that it is joining the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration to establish a "set of guiding principles for designing, building, and operating federal facilities." It is part of the sustainability movement, around for some time but which just began working its way into the airport environment during the past several years. This week's announcement focuses primarily on making federally owned facilities more efficient and friendlier to the environment. EPA, via a program called Energy Star, also offers businesses and public facilities advice and tools for making existing facilities more efficient, etc. (Visit http://www.energystar.gov/buildings). The program is... -
Schedulers & Dispatchers
- Thursday January 26, 2006Initial estimates put the attendance at this year's Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, hosted by the National Business Aviation Association, at just over 2,000. It seems like at least twice that many. It's been said before and should be stated again: Any airport, fixed base operator, or other aviation business that wants to market to the business aviation sector needs to be here. Just as the National Airports Conference, put on by the American Association of Airport Executives, is successful first and foremost because of its intimate environment, so too with Schedulers. NBAA has always limited the booth presentation to one 10x10 booth (though through the years some have had side-by-side booths) and basically tabletop displays. The... -
Looking at the Future Airline Industry
- Thursday January 19, 2006The airline business, to say the least, is a study in contrasts. Recent reports from Boeing and Airbus would have an observer think, considering the record aircraft orders being placed, that the airline business is booming. Add FAA's projections for passenger forecasts and the rose is in full bloom. Except that the petals - the air carriers - seem to fall off the flower faster than it can reproduce. Delta, Northwest, and United remain in bankruptcy protection; overall, the airline industry loses money regularly. It would seem a non-sequitur. The Wall Street Journal took the DOT Secretary to task this week for "musing on the possibility" of a merger of Delta and Northwest; this at a time when DOT appears opposed to a full merger of the...
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