Planes that received flight plan information via a new texting system at Los Angeles International Airport shaved six to 12 minutes off their departure times since the system went into place in March, authorities said Friday. Even though sixty to 100 of LAX’s nearly 1,950 daily flights make use of the new “Data Comm” system, that number should grow as more planes receive new technology and airline employees are trained to use the equipment, authorities said. Traditionally, pilots communicate with air traffic controllers over the radio, but that can be confusing and time-consuming, especially when pilots have to repeat lengthy takeoff and flight plan instructions to the tower, authorities said. Under the new system, pilots are texted flight plans and upload them into the airplane’s computer simply by touching a button, which will cut down the potential for human error, said Mike Foote, vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. “It eliminates a long-winded conversation,” he said.<br/>
general
Britain's vote to leave the EU could open a period of turbulence for the country's airline industry, which has soared under the EU's Single European Sky system over the last two decades. Among the mass of agreements that Britain will have to renegotiate with Brussels are those governing flights between Britain and the rest of the EU. "They are not long, the days of wine and roses," whether for airlines, airports or British air travellers, said Peter Morris, chief economist at Ascend Flightglobal Consultancy. The single sky system lifted trade restrictions on airlines controlled by EU member states or their nationals, and whose headquarters are located within the EU. Unless British negotiators manage to secure preferential conditions, British airlines will lose this status. This will mean they no longer enjoy rights including being able to freely set airfares, and to launch any route in Europe without getting authorisation in advance. In concrete terms, passengers leaving or arriving in the United Kingdom will face new taxes, while British airlines will be slower to develop new routes. On the frontline are Britain's two main actors, EasyJet and the International Airlines Group (IAG): their shares plummeted Friday on news of the shock Brexit vote, losing 14.35 and 22.54% respectively on the London market. Low-cost airline Ryanair, which campaigned vocally for Britain to remain in the EU, is a little less exposed because it is based in Ireland, even if it has a large presence in Britain. As soon as the referendum result became clear, EasyJet wrote to British and EU authorities pressing them to ensure that Britain remains in the Single European Sky.<br/>
The number of air passengers in the UK could drop by 3-5% by 2020 with an expected downturn in the economy and fall in sterling following Britain's EU exit vote, IATA said. "In other words, the outcome of yesterday's referendum could reduce air passenger growth by 1.0-1.5 percentage points each year over the near term," the industry group said in an analysis. Air freight will be affected by lower international trade in the longer term, it said. The regulatory impact on the aviation sector would depend on the nature of the exit terms and future arrangements between Britain and the EU. "In effect the choice comes down to a trade-off between two key issues -- access for UK airlines and customers to the European Single Aviation Market and policy freedom for the UK to set its own regulations," IATA added.<br/>
Bombardier said it is committed to its operations in Britain, but it is too early to speculate on the impact of the country's vote to leave the EU. "As always, we are committed to our businesses, all our employees and our customers in the UK, and we will continue to work with the Government and other industry stakeholders to create the necessary business environment to ensure our future success," said the company. The company has about 5,000 workers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where it manufactures and designs aircraft wings, fuselages and other parts, including wings for the CSeries aircraft, and services planes. Bombardier is also Britain's last train manufacturer, with a plant in Derby. In 2014, it signed a key contract to manufacture trains for Crossrail, a project to connect London's Heathrow Airport and Essex.<br/>
Since the days of India’s independence New Delhi has treated aviation as a luxury business that caters mainly to the rich and powerful, and has little relevance to the common man. But prime minister Narendra Modi’s government has this month revealed an aviation policy that treats flying as an important economic activity. This should be good news for airlines operating in India — whether it is domestic companies such as IndiGo, the budget carrier, or Air Asia India, an affiliate of Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes’s group. But the government’s new policy and a related initiative on reform of foreign ownership rules offer some protection for domestic carriers against overseas rivals that have entered the market in recent years. The declared aim of the aviation policy is to “take flying to the masses, by making it affordable and convenient”. The policy outlines a goal for India to have 300m domestic passenger trips a year by 2022, and 500m by 2027, up from 81m last year. “The fundamental reason why aviation has not gotten policy support earlier is that the government treated it as an elitist mode of transport,” says Amber Dubey of KPMG’s India unit. “The attempt now has been to deglamourise it and take it to the masses.” Yet in spite of the Modi government’s ambitious vision of enabling the common man to fly, some analysts are expressing dismay with its new aviation policy. They say it fails to grapple with the aviation sector’s most vexing problems — notably high taxes on jet fuel, overcrowding at big airports and a weak industry regulator. “It’s a clear missed opportunity and a significant disappointment,” says Kapil Kaul of the Centre for Aviation, a consultancy. The policy is “ambitious about growth, but has not focused on creating structures for managing growth”, he adds. Kaul also says the government has failed to strengthen the directorate-general of civil aviation, the industry regulator responsible for safety. Critics say the watchdog is understaffed, and accuse the government of failing to make plans to expand India’s urban airports.<br/>