Air traffic

December 19, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today asked the U.S. Senate to demand the nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) agree as a condition of his confirmation to junk new flight paths routing more airplanes over southwestern Connecticut.

A hearing will be held tomorrow on acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell's nomination to permanently head the agency.    » read more »

Provision included in spending bill would prevent scenarios similar to TWA-American Airline merger

December 17, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Less than a week after Lufthansa agreed to purchase 19% of Jet Blue, a struggling U.S. carrier, U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill and Kit Bond today secured a provision to the Senate’s omnibus spending bill to provide air carrier employees with a base level of protection during mergers.    » read more »

December 11, 2007 -- Rather than working with the airlines and the Port Authority to improve customer service by expanding capacity at JFK, the FAA has instead chosen to charge every passenger more without improving service.

The Administration's plan will not just hurt passengers, it will cut off millions of travelers who fly in and out of JFK, choking a critical engine in New York State's economy.    » read more »

Lautenberg, Oberstar, Costello release report, chide FAA

December 5, 2007 -- WASHINGTON—Three Congressional leaders on aviation safety today released a Government Accountability Office study showing that ground operations at the nation’s airports have not been improved in more than five years.    » read more »

December 05, 2007 -- LOS ANGELES — Calling aviation a “large and rapidly growing source” of greenhouse gas emissions, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today petitioned the United States Environmental Protection Agency to adopt global warming regulations for aircraft. The request comes on the heels of a landmark petition filed last month that asked the EPA to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions from ocean-going vessels.    » read more »

Des Moines, IA (November 21, 2007): A record number of airline passengers are expected to travel this Thanksgiving holiday. Many of these Americans are expected to face delays and other problems. During peak holiday times over the summer delays were the worst on record.

Sen. Joe Biden today promised to tackle the toughest air travel issues during his first year in office, in an effort to make flying easier, more convenient and safer. Passengers should be made aware of their rights and more information should be provided to them regarding customer service.    » read more »

19 November 2007 -- Australia's largest airline, Qantas, is going on a buying spree for new aircraft to fend off competition. The country's power stations, meanwhile, top a list of the world's worst greenhouse gas emitters.

Australia's largest airline Qantas Airways said it would buy up to 188 new planes from U.S. manufacturer Boeing and European plane maker Airbus. The airline said the purchase would help Qantas defend its 65 percent share of the Australian domestic market and expand further into Asia.    » read more »

November 15, 2007 -- MR. STANZEL: Good afternoon. We'll go ahead and get started here. Thank you all for being here. We're joined today for this on-the-record briefing, off-camera briefing by Secretary Mary Peters, Secretary of Transportation; also experts here from DOT and FAA. We have FAA Acting Vice President of Systems Operations Nancy Kalinowski and D.J. Gribbin, who is the DOT General Counsel, who can answer questions, as well, about regulatory process.

So with that I'll turn it over to the Secretary for a few comments and then we'll take your questions.    » read more »

November 15, 2007 -- THE PRESIDENT: Thanksgiving is a week from today, and Christmas will quickly follow. This is really a time of joy for our families. Unfortunately, this is also a season of dread for too many Americans. Holiday travelers faced with the prospect of long delayed and cancelled flights and lost baggage, and other problems have become all too often an occurrence. In other words, there's a lot of people that are worried about traveling because they've had unpleasant experiences when they've been flying around the country.    » read more »

Writes follow-up letter to CEO after meeting earlier this week

November 9, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today wrote to Douglas Parker, CEO of US Airways asking him to explain the exact terms of severance packages he referred to in the meeting to all displaced workers and how US Airways is going to increase communication with the public and with elected officials. The letter is a follow-up to the discussion held earlier this week in Washington DC.    » read more »

News report reveals that 73 flight have landed at Newark with minimum fuel over a six month period, 10 under emergency conditions

November 7, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – The amount of flights landing at Newark Liberty International Airport with dangerously low amounts of fuel has skyrocketed this year, spurring U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate the situation.    » read more »

November 1, 2007 -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Gov. M. Jodi Rell today announced the state has sued to block new Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) flight paths that route more large planes lower over southwestern Connecticut, damaging the region's environment.    » read more »

Agency Should Release Survey Results, Says Science Advocacy Group

Oct 30, 2007 -- Early last week the Associated Press (AP) reported that NASA is withholding the results of a nationwide survey of pilots on airline safety problems, fearing the findings would undermine public confidence and hurt airline profits. Tomorrow, October 31, the House Science and Technology Committee will hold a hearing to try to determine why the agency has been sitting on the survey results for more than a year.    » read more »

30 October 2007 -- Air France says its flight schedule is returning to normal Tuesday after flight staff called off their five-day strike over pay and working conditions.

Air France says it plans to operate all long-haul flights from Paris and 90 percent of its short and medium-haul routes. Labor unions representing cabin crews voted Monday to end the walkout.

Air France flight attendants began the work stoppage last Thursday on the eve of French school holidays. Hundreds of flights were canceled, stranding thousands of travelers.    » read more »

25 October 2007 -- American news media are reporting that a survey of pilots by the U.S. government found that safety problems involving air carriers happen more frequently than previously known. The reports say the space agency, NASA, conducted the survey, but did not publish the results over fears they could affect public confidence in air travel. Some lawmakers are accusing the government of trying to suppress the results because they might hurt airline profits -- a charge NASA firmly denies.    » read more »