general

A coalition of transportation and tourism businesses on Monday (Aug 7) called on the US government to preserve aviation agreements with Gulf nations despite accusations of unfair trade by major US airlines. Businesses including courier service FedEx, budget air carrier JetBlue and hotel giant Wyndham, oppose calls from Delta, American Airlines and United to renegotiate the open skies agreements with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The three biggest US air carriers say Abu Dhabi and Doha pumped billions in unfair subsidies into their national airlines Etihad and Qatar Airways, and they are lobbying the Trump administration to step in. But, in a letter to members of Congress, a group of 28 businesses said Monday the three airlines were jeopardising millions of American jobs by seeking to restrict access to the US market for Etihad and Qatar Airways. "These airlines complain of unfair subsidies but have chosen not to use the DoT Procedures that Congress established to hear such claims," the letter said. The letter was also addressed to the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, among other officials. "We urge the Administration to protect Open Skies by insisting that these claims be assessed on the merits and in the proper forum," the letter said. In response to Monday's letter, the Partnership for Open & Fair Skies, a group linking the three US airlines as well as trade unions for pilots and flight attendants, accused the pro-Gulf coalition of risking US jobs to defend subsidised foreign air carriers.<br/>"The truth is that Open Skies agreements already provide a way to deal with rule breakers and anything else is just an attempt to delay and derail American jobs," Jill Zuckman, the group's spokesperson, said in a statement.<br/>

Airlines were waiving change fees Monday as fliers faced another day of weather-related headaches. The flexible rebooking policies covered a number of major airports in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, but travel trouble spots awaited fliers across the nation Monday. Aside from the rainy weather in the East, storms in the South and visibility concerns in the West also were affecting flights. Nationwide, about 430 flights had been canceled and a whopping 6,000 delayed as of 6:50 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Many of those came in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, where delays were growing at the airports serving New York City, Washington and Baltimore. But several airports outside the Northeast also were seeing problems, including Houston Bush Intercontinental, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Spawning Monday’s change-fee waivers in the Northeast was a system moving from the Ohio Valley into New England. Forecasts called for heavy rain and poor visibility, including at the delay-prone airports serving Philadelphia and the New York City area. Other parts of the region – including areas near the Washington and Baltimore metro areas – were under a flash flood watch Monday.<br/>

Consider all the reasons your summer flight could be delayed. First, the summer months are peak times for both vacations and thunderstorms. There’s also the chance that the temperatures will be so high, flights will be delayed or even canceled because the hotter, thinner air makes it more difficult for planes to get enough lift. And with more people taking to the skies in the summer, there are fewer empty seats on other flights to get travelers back on their way. “These tend to be a summer phenomenon, and that tends to be the busiest time,” said Dan McKone, a managing director and partner at L.E.K. Consulting. “When there’s a delay, there’s not a lot of slack in the system.” John Grant, a senior analyst at the aviation data provider OAG, agreed. “With more passengers,” he said, “when things start to fall apart, more people are inconvenienced.” Storms that move eastward from the Midwest, particularly between 3 and 7 p.m., tend to wreak the most havoc on flight schedules. “The issue is they move in lines, generally west to east, and they generally move right through the Ohio Valley, which is probably the routing of 40 percent of the east-west traffic in the U.S.,” said Robert W. Mann, an airline industry consultant. “As those lines of thunderstorms move, they basically block traffic,” he said. “They’re strong enough to go up to very high altitudes, sometimes up to 50,000 feet, and you’re not going to outfly that.” The hub-and-spoke systems used by the major air carriers can make the problem worse. Story has more details.<br/>

An Alaska volcano that has been erupting periodically for more than seven months sent up another ash cloud, prompting a warning to trans-continental aircraft. Bogoslof Volcano, in the Aleutian Islands about 1,400 km southwest of Anchorage, erupted at 10 a.m. Monday and spewed ash for three hours until about 1 p.m. Satellite data showed the eruption rising above clouds at 450m. A pilot later reported seeing the ash cloud at 9,750m. The volcano has erupted about 60 times since mid-December, said Dave Schneider, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist with the observatory, usually in spurts far less than three hours. Previous eruptions have been from vents under the sea. “We think this was still underwater today,” Schneider said. Satellite images in early afternoon showed a continuous ash cloud still attached to the volcano, according to the observatory. Winds pushed the cloud south. The observatory said seismic activity declined but remained above background levels and that emissions could intensify without warning.<br/>

The remains of a man killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11 have been identified nearly 16 years after the terror attacks, medical examiners said Monday. His name was withheld at his family’s request, the New York City medical examiner’s office said. The announcement marked the first new identification made since March 2015 in the painstaking, ongoing effort. The office uses DNA testing and other means to match bone fragments to the 2,753 people killed by the hijackers who crashed airplanes into the trade center’s twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Remains of 1,641 victims have been identified so far. That means 40 percent of those who died have yet to have any remains identified. New, more sensitive DNA technology was deployed earlier this year and helped make the latest identification after earlier testing produced no results, the medical examiner’s office said.<br/>

Australian government officials are considering implementing US-style airport security restrictions and procedures in the wake of the foiled terrorist plot to bring down an Etihad Airways flight originating from Sydney International Airport July 15. The Australian newspaper said that the country’s border protection, justice and transport ministers have met to discuss and prepare enhanced security measures for presentation to the Australian federal cabinet “within weeks.” New measures may include prohibitions on anyone passing through domestic security checkpoints without a valid boarding pass, reintroduction of liquid/gel limitations (which had been relaxed), implementation of biometric ID checks and full-body scans. The measures are being considered as the Australian Federal Police announced terrorism charges against two Australians Aug. 3, alleging the men were part of a plot to plant an IED-style device on an Etihad Airways jet. According to police, the device was disguised as a commercial meat mincer and was handed off to one of the suspect’s brothers, who was unaware the bag contained the explosive. At some point the bag was determined to be too heavy to take on board the aircraft, and the bag with the device was returned to the suspect who left the airport with it. Australian media and police reports indicate the device never reached a check-in counter. The device was apparently found in police raids conducted in Sydney July 29.<br/>

Airports of Thailand (AoT) has vowed to expedite efforts to solve overcrowding at Don Mueang airport after it received a torrent of abuse from irate netizens over the weekend, and said it would add eight additional immigration counters by next month. "The number of immigration counters at the departure zone will be increased to 11 to accommodate passengers in line with the airport's third-phase development plan," said Wg Cdr Suthirawat Suwanawat, general manager of the airport. The pledge was given after passengers took to social media to vent their anger and frustration over the long queues that occurred from late Friday night until early Saturday morning. Many claimed they had to endure waits of nearly five hours to have their passports stamped. AoT president Nitinai Sirisamatthakarn said Monday the company is waiting for the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) to approve its design plan to accommodate the extra arrival counters. The plan is likely to be approved late this month, he said. Work will be carried out next month to add the eight counters, which will almost double the passenger-handling capacity from 1,000 people per hour to 1,800 people, he said.<br/>

The aviation industry could save $35b a year by moving to pilotless planes, according to a new report from UBS. Just one problem: The same report warns that only 17% of travelers are willing to fly without a pilot. UBS said that the technology required to operate remote-controlled planes could appear by 2025. Further advances beyond 2030 might result in automated business jets and helicopters, and finally commercial aircraft without pilots. "The technologies in development today will enable the aircraft to assist and back up the pilot in all the flight phases, removing the pilot from manual control and systems operations in all types of situations," the report said. Commercial flights already land with the assistance of on-board computers, and pilots manually fly the aircraft for only a few minutes on average. However, contrary to popular belief, airliners do not fly themselves, even when they're on autopilot. Pilots are continually monitoring and adjusting aircraft navigation and systems, communicating with air traffic control and preparing for the next phase of the flight. The UBS analysts said the transition to pilotless planes is likely to happen over many years. Cargo planes would likely be first to incorporate the new technology, with commercial flights being the last to go pilotless. The number of pilots needed for each flight could be reduced along the way.<br/>