See also Airline industry — Flight MH370
What The Hell Do Those Three-Letter Airport Abbreviations Mean?
A simple, effectively designed new site helps you find out.
Thanks to a new site from simple and effective new site from designers Lynn Fisher and Nick Crohn we can finally know where these little acronyms are derived from.
Called International Air Transport Association (IATA) codes, the clean, visually appealing site lets you click on a number of different codes (laid over an image of the airport’s location), which delivers provides a simple, concise explanation of its origin.
The mysterious X is finally understood: it’s simply the letter that’s plugged in if the necessary letter is already taken by another airport. The site also points out that up until the 1930s, airports only used two letter codes. That’s how you get LAX for Los Angeles International Airport, which was previously just LA. The strange Newark code EWR is also revealed. After switching the three letter codes, the Navy reserved all codes beginning with N. Thus, Newark was forced to begin with their second letter.
Many more fun tidbits like these can be found in this very informational little site. Have fun.
Artificial Intelligence Could Have Prevented The Germanwings Crash
(Forbes) We are so concerned, it seems, about giving machines too much power that we appear to miss the fact that the largest existential threat to humans is other humans. Such seems to be the case with Germanwings 9525.
Through GPS data in Grok, [AI pioneer Jeff Hawkins] says, “We could track every plane in the sky automatically with no human intervention, and tell you anytime one of those planes is acting weirdly.… We can find patterns that humans can’t find, and we never get tired.”
Miles O’Brien: Is a 600-hour pilot too green to be safe?
(PBS Newshour) as we’ve seen so many times this year, we may be putting too much faith in the aviation hardware to save the day and not paying enough attention to the software…that is, the carbon-based sentient software strapped into the front seats.
Germanwings Flight 4U9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz ‘hid illness’ from employer
Prosecutors didn’t say what type of illness — mental or physical — Lubitz may have been suffering from. German media reported Friday that the 27-year-old had received prolonged treatment starting in 2008 for a “serious depressive episode.”
Co-pilot wanted to ‘destroy’ Germanwings Flight 9525: French prosecutor
The co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 was alone at the helm of the aircraft and “intentionally” sent the plane into the doomed descent, according to a French prosecutor.
During a press conference Thursday, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said the co-pilot, identified as Andreas Lubitz, a German national, appeared to have wanted to “destroy the plane.”
24 March
What happened to Germanwings flight 4U 9525?
Air accident investigation experts using information from aircraft-tracking sites rule out explosion or mid-air stall
The crash of Germanwings flight 4U9525 in the French Alps with the presumed loss of 150 lives occurred after an unexplained and relatively smooth eight-minute descent.
6 January
UN aviation body to propose 15-minute flight tracking standard
International Civil Aviation Organization says system wouldn’t require new technology on planes
The United Nations aviation agency will propose a new standard that requires commercial aircraft to report their position every 15 minutes as part of a global tracking initiative in the aftermath of the disappearance of a Malaysian jetliner.
The loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 last March sparked a global drive for a system that would make it possible to pinpoint the exact route and last location of an aircraft.
An International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) spokesman said on Tuesday that the standard, if adopted, could go into effect in the near term because it would not require new technology on planes. ICAO members are set to discuss the proposal at a major safety conference in Montreal next month.
2014
A Visualization of All the Airline Flights Operating Across the North Atlantic on a Typical Day
“North Atlantic Skies” is a data visualization of the airline flights across the North Atlantic between Canada, the United States, and Europe in August 2013. The visualization was created by NATS, a United Kingdom air traffic control service provider, and showcases a period of 24 hours with 2,524 flights total (26 June 2014)
9 August
Oversize Expectations for the Airbus A380
(NYT) Since it started flying commercially seven years ago, the A380 has caught the imagination of travelers. Its two full-length decks total 6,000 square feet, 50 percent more than the original jumbo jet, the Boeing 747. Its wingspan barely fits inside a football field. Its four engines take this 560-ton airplane to a cruising altitude of 39,000 feet in less than 15 minutes, a surprisingly smooth ascent for such a bulky plane. Passengers love it because it’s quiet and more reminiscent of a cruise ship than an airplane.
The A380 was also Airbus’s answer to a problematic trend: More and more passengers meant more flights and increasingly congested tarmacs. Airbus figured that the future of air travel belonged to big planes flying between major hubs. “More than simply a big airplane,” one industry analyst wrote when the first A380 was delivered to Singapore Airlines in 2007, “the newest industry flagship will change forever the way the industry operates.”
The prediction hasn’t exactly come true.
Airbus has struggled to sell the planes. Orders have been slow, and not a single buyer has been found in the United States, South America, Africa or India. Only one airline in China has ordered it, and its only customer in Japan has canceled. Even existing customers are paring down orders.
8 August
Marinvent’s TASAR could change aviation as we know it
St-Bruno company is helping NASA test a program designed to offer optimized routes for aircraft, making travel more efficient
(Montreal Gazette) “It’s flying real airplanes and real airways with TASAR. Before we flew it, it was 3 — a good idea that was in the lab. At Marinvent, we’re very rapidly crossing what is universally known in the industry as the valley of death — the very difficult transition between a great idea and something you can actually put into effect. A lot of really good projects die there.”
“What our aircraft does — and it’s one of the very few in the world that will do this — is to allow you to take something that’s very low TRL [technology readiness level] and without cutting any holes in the airplane or running wires or putting in displays, we can immediately run that software — all we need to run TASAR is a USB stick. We just saved someone $1 million a year.”
Malaysia Airlines’ privatization paves way to ‘complete overhaul’
Malaysia’s state investment fund will pay 1.4 billion ringgit ($476.73-million Canadian) to take troubled Malaysian Airline System private, the airline said on Friday, paving the way for a “complete overhaul” of its loss-making operations following two devastating jetliner disasters this year
28 July
Emirates to stop flying over Iraq after MH17 disaster
(BBC) The airline told the BBC it was taking “precautionary measures” and “working on alternative routing plans for flights using Iraqi airspa
24 July
What will change after MH17
(Fortune) The missile attack that downed the Malaysian Airlines flight was a game-changer for aviation. What to expect: rerouted long-haul routes, “conflict” fuel surcharges, changes to insurance policies, and more.
In the wake of the latest disaster involving Malaysia Airlines, more and more questions are being asked about the financial viability of the airline, as well as the legal fallout and the rights of victims’ families.
Air crash toll raises questions despite improving safety overall
(FT) In the 21st century it is almost unthinkable that MH370 could disappear without trace, and governments and regulators are now considering what improvements can be made to track aircraft. Some in the airline industry are worried about the potential costs.
2014 plane crash fatalities already double those of 2013
(CTV News) Three passenger plane crashes in the last week may have caused nearly the same number of fatalities over a seven-day period as all aviation fatalities in 2013, according to an international aircraft accidents body.
The Geneva-based Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A) reports that 2013 saw 459 fatalities as a result of aircraft accidents.
Meanwhile, just more than halfway through this year, the organization is reporting 991 fatalities in 2014.
Last week Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by a missile over Ukraine, killing all 298 people onboard. On Wednesday, TransAsia Airways Flight GE 222 crashed while landing at Magong Airport in Taiwan during a storm, leaving 48 dead and injuring 10 others.
Then on Thursday, an Air Algérie plane vanished off the radar over northern Mali with 116 people aboard.
21 March
UN agency ‘ignored recommendations’ on aircraft communications
By Mark Odell in London
(Financial Times) The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines jet could have been avoided if governments had adopted proposals made in the wake of an Air France crash over the Atlantic almost five years ago, according to one of the world’s top air accident investigators.
French investigators made a number of recommendations in their final report into the crash of Air France flight 447, which went down in the middle of the South Atlantic in 2009.
These included a mandatory requirement for all commercial airliners to regularly “transmit basic flight parameters” such as position, altitude, speed and heading.
The 219-page report by the Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la Sécurité de l’Aviation civile (BEA), published in 2012, also proposed changes to the way black boxes, or flight data recorders, work on aircraft that operate over water.
These included the triggering of an automatic data transmission to help find the aircraft as soon as an emergency is detected and fitting the aircraft with black boxes that can be ejected before it crashes.
Could this radar spot Malaysia’s missing plane?
(BBC) As the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight intensifies, a new advanced radar system has been unveiled by scientists. But could it spot the plane?
The world’s first photonic radar was tested at Pisa Airport in Italy and achieved “world-class” performance, according to an independent expert.
It uses lasers to produce high fidelity signals that pinpoint planes precisely.
But there are doubts over its range, say researchers in Nature journal.
17 March
Gwynne Dyer: Pan Am Flight 103 and the framing of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi
They lied, they’re still lying, and they’ll go on lying until Libya calms down enough to allow a thorough search of its archives. That’s what intelligence agencies do, and being angry at them for lying is like being angry at a scorpion for stinging. But we now know that they lied about the Libyans planting the bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988. …
20 months after Pan Am Flight 103 went down, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait. The U.S. was mobilizing a coalition of Western and Arab armies to liberate Kuwait, and it wanted Syria to be part of it. But Syria was Iran’s closest ally in the Arab world, so this was not the right time to get into a confrontation with Iran.
Nevertheless, somebody had to be punished or the intelligence services would look incompetent. The people who carried out the bombing for Iran had made some rudimentary attempts to put the blame on Libya, and the security services now started using that evidence to frame Megrahi. The evidence was full of holes, but the Libyan’s defence team did a poor job of exposing them, and he was convicted anyway.
The reason his defence team did so badly may have been that the Libyan dictator, Moammar Gadhafi, had made a deal: in order to be released from a crippling trade embargo, he would admit the blame for the Pan Am bombing and pay compensation to the families of the victims. For that deal to stand, Megrahi had to go down. A few threats to his family back in Libya would have persuaded him to sabotage his own defence.
New Lockerbie report says Libyan was framed to conceal the real bombers
(The Independent) … after a quarter of a century which saw a ground-breaking trial in 2001, the conviction of the Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a £1.7bn compensation payment to the victims’ families approved by the former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, and a controversial deal in 2009 to allow Megrahi to drop his latest appeal and return to Libya to die, the PFLP-GC, once again, has been identified as the group who planned and carried out the deadliest single terror attack on European soil.
A three-year investigation by Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera has effectively returned the entire Lockerbie inquiry back to its initial suspects. (11 March)
12 March
Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: What we know and don’t know
(CNN) As the search for a missing Malaysia Airlines jet entered a fifth day Wednesday, investigators remained uncertain about its whereabouts.
Here’s a summary of what we know and what we don’t know about Flight 370, which was carrying 239 people when it disappeared from radar screens over Southeast Asia.
(AP via CBC) Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 search marked by ‘confusion’ — Search for missing Boeing 777 widened to an area near the Andaman Sea
The $100,000 Device That Could Have Solved Missing Plane Mystery
Only once the wreckage is found, and the black box flight recorders are recovered, will we know what happened to Flight MH370. But there’s no good reason why this information has to be locked into boxes that go down with the plane. Indeed, the technology needed to stream crucial flight data to the ground is already on the market. It’s made by a Canadian company called FLYHT, and can be fitted to an airliner for less than $100,000. [CBC 14 March Malaysian Airlines: Is it time to improve the black box on airplanes?]
11 March
Mystery of flight MH370 raises fears of passport fraud
(BBC) The vulnerability of travel documents has been exposed by the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, two of whose passengers boarded using stolen passports.
Although there is so far nothing to link them to the fate of the plane, the international police organisation Interpol is keen to highlight what it believes is a serious security loophole.
The Malaysian authorities have confirmed that the two passengers bought their tickets at the same time using travel documents that had been stolen in Thailand, one belonging to an Italian man and the other to an Austrian.
2013
IATA
Airport World online
(Montreal Economic Institute/ November 2006) HOW TO MAKE THE CANADIAN AIRLINE INDUSTRY MORE COMPETITIVE : The airline industry has gone through plenty of turbulence over the last few years. Following a period of crisis caused by an economic slowdown in the United States …
30 September
Airlines introduce fees you might actually want to pay
(Globe & Mail) Unlike the first generation of charges, which dinged fliers for once-free services such as checking a bag, these new fees promise a taste of the good life, or at least a more civil flight.
Extra legroom, early boarding and access to quiet lounges were just the beginning. Airlines are now renting iPads preloaded with movies, selling hot first-class meals in coach and letting passengers pay to have an empty seat next to them. Once on the ground, they can skip baggage claim, having their luggage delivered directly to their home or office.
22 June
Changing face of air travel
Introduction of Westjet’s Encore and Air Canada’s Rouge should result in travellers seeing lower fares, better service and more point-to-point flying.
The air travel business has always been perilous in Canada, traditionally consisting of a few heavily travelled corridors, with the rest being long or short thin routes and uncertain service to remote locations.
In fact, this vast, sparsely populated country has been the graveyard of a plethora of carriers just in the last couple of decades (see related link Memories of carries gone bust).
Still, two new airlines are about to launch within a week of each other — WestJet Airlines Ltd.’s Encore on Monday, Fête nationale, and Air Canada’s Rouge on Canada Day.
Unlike past casualties, the betting this time is that these offshoots of Canada’s two largest airlines are on more solid footing — and face a kinder future. … Encore will deploy the first few of 20 Q400 76-seat turboprops it ordered from Bombardier Inc. in western Canada on Monday, and expects to roll out its service to eastern and central Canada about a year from now.
4 June
They lost out on ICAO, but this is something of a consolation prize
Qatar Airways to Host 70th IATA AGM
Air Transport Leaders to Converge in Doha in June 2014
(IATA Press Release) The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Qatar Airways will host the 70th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit. The event will draw the top leadership of the air transport industry to Doha in the State of Qatar from 1–3 June 2014.
30 May
Singapore Airlines to order $17 billion aircraft from Airbus, Boeing
(Reuters) – Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIAL.SI) agreed to spend $17 billion to buy 30 Airbus and 30 Boeing Co. aircraft, underscoring the airline’s bet on a pick-up in the struggling premium class market.
The significant orders announced on Thursday make Singapore Airlines (SIA) the long-awaited launch customer for a proposed stretched version of the 787 Dreamliner, boosting Boeing’s plans to offer a 320-seat aircraft designed in large part for crowded intra-Asian routes.
The move comes as SIA attempts a big strategy overhaul, pushing into the budget airlines segment and expanding its regional network.
22 March
Fast lane for Saudi air travelers?
(Israeli Homeland Security) Israeli security experts say that the u.s decision to allow Saudis to enter the country using a “fast lane” raises many questions. According to Fox news the Department of Homeland Security program intended to give “trusted traveler” status to low-risk airline passengers soon will be extended to Saudi travelers, opening the program to criticism for accommodating the country that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. … Only an exclusive handful of countries enjoy inclusion in the Global Entry program — Canada, Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands. According to the IPT, some officials are questioning why Saudi Arabia gets to reap the benefits of the program, when key U.S. allies like Germany and France are not enrolled; Israel has reached a deal with the U.S., but that partnership has not yet been implemented.
17 January
How Bad Are the Dreamliner’s Problems?
(The Atlantic) … repeated battery fires in the 787, and the subsequent grounding of the fleet by the FAA and other airlines and authorities around the world, are obviously terrible news for Boeing. But so far the defect appears to be specific and correctable — a problem with the lithium-ion batteries Boeing has chosen for the plane — rather than some mysterious, unbounded threat that could undo the 787 project as a whole. …
In addition to the carbon-fiber issue, the other “fundamental” question about the Dreamliner has been whether Boeing erred in outsourcing so much of the plane’s manufacturing and design. Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times went into this in depth in a celebrated article two years ago; I also address it in China Airborne. Even Boeing officials now concede that the company farmed out too much of the crucial work of making the plane. Thus it exposed itself to unexpected delays, problems in matching up parts and systems produced by different suppliers, design decisions that were out of its immediate control, and other challenges
Global regulators ground Dreamliners
(Financial Times) Boeing risks losing public confidence in 787 after spate of incidents raised questions about jet’s safety and reliability of electrical power system
2012
28 December
Hobbits take to the air in Air New Zealand safety video — Air New Zealand has set out to take passengers on a flight of fantasy in its latest in-flight safety video, enlisting hobbits, orcs and elves to urge passengers to fasten their seatbelts. Great branding!
Virgin Atlantic celebrates ‘gifted’ employees in glamorous new advert
To celebrate the launch of flights within the UK, Virgin Atlantic has released a new advert celebrating its employees that ‘fly in the face of ordinary’. Terrific send-up of adventure movie trailers!
24 December
Grant Bishop: Canada’s unfriendly skies: Why our airlines need competition
(Globe & Mail) We need more competition to discipline our airlines and their unions. Canadians should reflect on their experiences on our airlines whenever we hear our politicians argue that we need to protect our “national champions”. The shakedown that Canadian travellers face today is too high a price for maple leaves on tailfins.
6 December
The best news for IATA employees since the departure of Giovanni
Comment: can IATA move on following departure of its head of human capital?
(The Loadstar) IATA members and staff could finally see change sweep through the inscrutable organisation following the resignation of one of the old guard, Guido Gianasso, the head of ‘human capital’ and training.
Mr Gianasso, who worked closely with former chief executive Giovanni Bisignani, has been heavily criticised for creating a culture of fear in the airline association – an image not improved when he attempted to unmask and sue an employee who had savaged him anonymously on the whistle-blowing website, Glassdoor.com.
Reportedly responsible for sacking huge numbers of staff during his career, he is moving on to seek new opportunities in Asia.
The move marks the end of the ‘Italian era’ and ‘reign of terror’ at IATA, and will leave members hoping that the winds of change, promised when ex-Cathay boss Tony Tyler took over as CEO in mid-2011, will finally allow the association to modernise – and deliver value. … Under Mr Bisignani, the chief executive approval rating from staff was a stunning 0%. This has now risen to 57%, but change has not come fast enough, say staff. See also Il a supprimé 1000 emplois et craint pour sa « réputation »
27 October
Why Canadian airports are so expensive and inefficient
(Financial Post) Government taxes and fees have long carried the blame for the noncompetitive nature of Canadian airports and for the bleed of nearly 5 million passengers a year in search of cheaper flights south of the border.
But not everyone agrees taxes and fees are the primary source of what ails the air travel industry in Canada. Howard Eng, chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, which oversees the country’s busiest airport, Pearson International, is one of them.
Mr. Eng argues that while reducing various government fees — such as airport rents, security charges, and fuel excise taxes, will certainly help — the federal government would be better served focusing on a national strategy to increase the number of passengers flying to the country. This would include the elimination of red tape for passengers transferring onto other destinations, streamlining the customs process, and making the country a focal point for travel in emerging markets like India and China.
27 August
FEATURE-Congo’s new airlines brave riskiest African skies
* African infrastructure has not kept pace with growth
* Two new airlines set out to prove Congo market viable
* One of world’s worst safety records
* Booming mining sector offers business potential
By Jonny Hogg
KINSHASA, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Its tarmac littered with dozens of dilapidated planes, the airport in Congo’s capital Kinshasa makes clear the dire state of aviation even by Africa’s generally low standards.
The planes have been abandoned either as mechanical failures or by companies that went bust in a sector where a lack of proper infrastructure means pilots sometimes navigate with the help of Google Maps and sat-nav devices like those found in cars.
“Crazy things happen here. We have to stop those crazy things happening,” says Frenchman Jean-Marc Pajot, who with his new FlyCongo airline is setting out to prove there is a market for those determined to make it work.
15 August
Inside The Airline Industry
(aeronautx.net) There is no doubt that the airline industry has suffered from the economic woes of the country. That almost goes without saying; the more important question to begin examining is what will be the long-term impact of the recession of air travel? There are several factors at play that are going beyond just the cost of a barrel of crude oil and disposable income levels of travelers. There are some actual cultural changes that may wind up breaking the industry or, forcing it to reimagine the future of airline travel.
Who survived?
Over the past decade, many old school commercial airlines have disappeared. The rising price of crude oil and the fall in demand for air travel led to many traditional regional routes being cancelled. This means that many smaller airports have ceased accommodating commercial airlines and more travelers are now splitting their trips between air and auto. “Puddle jumping” has become a thing of the past for most business travelers as the cost of short flights is now equal to or exceeds bicoastal travel. For commercial airlines, it was simply no longer cost-effective to maintain these routes as on top of all of the economic pressures, the air fleets are all aging.
3 August
Why Nigeria’s aviation industry needs urgent rescue
The Guardian, Nigeria) The more one wants to refrain from discussing the issue, the more tempting it has become to write about the allegations, denial of threat to one of Nigeria’s respected aviation professionals.
Captain Dele Ore stunned stakeholders in the aviation industry with an allegation of threat to his life by the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah-Ogiewonyi in a telephone chat last week Friday.
This article is not to apportion blames, but one that could help to bring sanity to a sector that is in dire need of rescue.
26 July
Indian aviation in crisis: IATA
(Times of India) IATA is sounding the alarm bells for Indian aviation. IATA director general Tony Tyler said on Wednesday that “India’s aviation is in a multi-faceted crisis,” severely impacted by high costs and exorbitant taxes.
He also lamented the fact that in such a situation, the government had allowed the Delhi airport to hike charges by 346%. Indian carriers’ collective losses-cum-debt was Rs 1.32 lakh crore as of March 31, 2012.
“The financial situation of Kingfisher is dire and Air India is on government life support,” Tyler said, adding that the global aviation is concerned over the situation in India. He warned that though the country may be considering allowing foreign airlines to pick up stake in Indian carriers, “if critical domestic problems are not addressed, foreign investors will not be lining up to put their cash in Indian airlines… Under current circumstances, investors cannot see how they could ever see a return.”
5 July
Air France Flight 447: Pilot error, faulty equipment caused 2009 crash, investigators say
(AP via Toronto Star) A combination of faulty sensors and mistakes by inadequately trained pilots caused an Air France jet to plunge into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing all 228 people aboard in the airline’s deadliest ever crash, French investigators said Thursday.
Investigators are urging better instruction for pilots on flying manually at high altitudes and stricter plane certification rules as a result of a three-year investigation into what happened to Flight 447.
Airbus, manufacturer of the A330 plane, said in a statement that it is working to improve speed sensors known as pitot tubes and making other efforts to avoid future such accidents. Air France stressed the equipment troubles and insisted the pilots “acted in line with the information provided by the cockpit instruments and systems. …. The reading of the various data did not enable them to apply the appropriate action.”
But the Bureau for Investigations and Analysis’ findings raised broader concerns about training for pilots worldwide flying high-tech planes when confronted with a high-altitude crisis.
12 June
China ready to impound EU planes in CO2 dispute
(Reuters) – China will take swift counter-measures that could include impounding European aircraft if the EU punishes Chinese airlines for not complying with its scheme to curb carbon emissions, the China Air Transport Association said on Tuesday.
10 June
High oil prices and Eurozone crisis, key topics at World Air Transport Summit
BEIJING: High oil prices and the unresolved European debt crisis hitting the financial bottomline of the global aviation industry would be the major focus of debate at the World Air Transport Summit beginning here tomorrow.
The mega event, being organised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on its 68th IATA Annual General Meeting, has brought together some 650 leaders of the global aviation industry, including airlines, aircraft makers and other service providers, for two days of intense discussions on the industry’s most important issues.
23 April
Hussein Dabbas Appointed IATA RVP for MENA
Amman – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has appointed Hussein Dabbas as Regional Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), based in Amman, Jordan with effect from 1 June 2012.
Dabbas has served as President and CEO of Royal Jordanian Airlines since 2009. That was the culmination of a career at the carrier that spanned over three decades during which Dabbas held various positions in the airline’s commercial departments. Dabbas takes over from Dr. Majdi Sabri who will retire from IATA after the leading the association in the MENA region since 2001.
10 February
Video: Canada’s changing airline industry landscape
BNN talks to Robert Deluce, CEO, Porter Airlines, about the changing Canadian airline industry landscape.
18 January
WestJet Regional Airline May Be Reality As Early As 2013
WestJet is considering launching a new short-haul regional airline — a move observers says would intensify competition with its chief rival, Air Canada and benefit travellers.
Few details were available on the proposed regional operation, other than that the Calgary-based company is thinking about launching it as early as 2013 using a fleet of approximately 40 smaller, turboprop aircraft.
“It’s going to represent or extra competition in many communities across the country where Air Canada’s the only game in town,” Robert Kokonis, president of AirTrav Inc., said Monday.