FAA head Marion C. Blakey, announced that the agency will propose to raise the mandatory retirement age for U.S. commercial pilots from 60 to 65. Speaking before pilots and aviation experts at the National Press Club, Blakey said that the agency plans to propose adopting the new International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard that allows one pilot to be up to age 65 provided the other pilot is under age 60. The FAA plans to issue a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) later this year and will publish a final rule after careful consideration of all public comments, as required by law.

The Bush Administration sent legislation to Congress that will reduce aviation congestion, improve passenger airline travel, and cut down on noise for communities near major airports, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Marion Blakey announced. The proposed legislation, called the Next Generation Air Transportation System Financing Reform Act of 2007, would replace the decades-old system of collecting ticket taxes with a cost-based, stable and reliable funding program that relies on a combination of user-fees, taxes and a federal government contribution to support the development of a new, satellite-based, air traffic control system, called NextGen. “This new proposal will make flying more convenient for millions of travelers,” said Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters. “Anyone who has experienced the frustration and inconvenience of a delayed flight should take a very close look at what we’re proposing.” The new, more precise, air traffic control system will take full advantage of the latest satellite-based technologies, allowing the FAA to handle more aircraft, maintain high levels of safety, reduce flight delays, and cut noise near airports, Administrator Blakey noted. The new system is essential if the agency is to keep pace with growing demand for passenger and cargo flights that will lead to between 2 and 3 times more air traffic by 2025, she added. The bill will eliminate the domestic passenger ticket tax and reduce the international arrival and departure tax by 50 percent, reducing the overall burden to both the airlines and the traveling public. It will generate revenues based on the costs that users impose on the air traffic system, whether they are commercial, business or general aviation users.

HondaJet to Be Produced at New Plant for Delivery to Customers in 2010 - Honda Aircraft Company, Inc., today announced plans to establish its world headquarters in Greensboro, North Carolina, with construction of a new 215,000 square foot headquarters facility and hangar at Piedmont Triad International (PTI) airport. The company also confirmed plans to manufacture its advanced light jet, Honda- Jet, at a new plant to be constructed adjacent to its new headquarters. Further details about the production facility, including the size, scope of operations and construction timetable, will be announced at a later date. Honda plans to begin delivery of HondaJet to customers in 2010. "For five years, Greensboro has served as the home of HondaJet, as we have worked to take our dream from the drawing board to the sky," said Michimasa Fujino, president & CEO of Honda Aircraft Company, Inc. "As we move steadily toward certification, production and delivery to our customers, I am excited that Greensboro will be home both to our company's world headquarters and the production of HondaJet." Honda's first-ever commercial aircraft lives up to the company's reputation for superior fuel efficiency, delivering 30-35 percent better cruising fuel efficiency than comparable jets, along with a classtopping cruise speed of 420 knots (450 mph) and a more spacious cabin with room for up to eight people. The customer base for HondaJet is composed of owner-pilots, corporate travel operators and air taxi companies. In November, Popular Science magazine selected HondaJet as the winner of the publication's 2006 "Best of What's New" award in the Aviation & Space category.

Market expansion bring hot competition Business jet makers from Boeing to Bombardier are winging their way to Asia, hoping to cash in on increasing wealth and economic growth in a region that still views private planes as needless excess. Executives at a business aviation show this week said they intended to hawk their high-priced wares -- anywhere from USD$9 million for a Learjet to almost USD$50 million for a larger Boeing version -- to government, corporations and Asia's growing ranks of billionaires -- especially in China. They hope Asia Inc. would catch on to some of the touted benefits of having a private jet -- still viewed as the province of the ultra-rich -- at their beck and call. Judging from the dark-suited executives, regulators and government types gawking at the flashy displays, they might be making progress. Bombardier -- which derives nearly half its aerospace revenue from business jets, a USD$4 billion - USD$5 billion business for them -- argues they help the corporate bottom line by letting executives work in the air and circumvent time-consuming airport check-in procedures and luggage restrictions.

Flight restrictions imposed around Manhattan after New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed his single-engine plane into an apartment tower will be made permanent, government documents indicate. The plan for the rule change was revealed as the National Transportation Safety Board released papers Monday detailing its investigation of the Oct. 11 crash that killed Lidle and his flight instructor. "The pilot and owner was New York Yankee player Cory Lidle, and a California based flight instructor was with him," the NTSB said, also identifying Tyler Stanger elsewhere as the "passenger/flight instructor." The NTSB's documents do not contain final conclusions about what caused the accident but lay out the facts and evidence gathered by investigators.

The plan to scrap passenger ticket taxes on commercial airlines, outlined in US President George W. Bush proposed federal budget for 2008, has received the support from the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). ASTA said the US president’s plan would “dramatically impact who pays for the nation’s air traffic system.” If approved, the burden will be passed on to business and private aircraft companies, ASTA added. “While the full details of President Bush’s proposed 2008 budget have not been released, it appears that business and leisure travelers will be the clear winners,” said ASTA president and CEO Cheryl Hudak. “ASTA has long said that consumers should not unfairly shoulder the burden of subsidizing the airline industry. We are pleased to see that when it comes to this issue, we have friends in high places.”

Boeing Co. announced a newly designed KC-767 as its proposed aircraft for a $40 billion Air Force contract competition to replace 179 refueling planes. The Chicago-based company said at a press conference that it tweaked the design of its long-range 767 freighter plane to improve fuel efficiency and allow it to take off and land on shorter runways, giving it greater flexibility in combat situations. Boeing is competing against Northrop Grumman Corp., which is expected to offer its KC-30, a modified Airbus A330, at a discounted price. "They can afford to make improvement to the aircraft - by putting in a couple of bells and whistles - and still be well below the price competition," said Paul Nisbet, analyst for JSA Research Inc.

Boeing will begin testing a prototype jet next month that introduces an experimental wing design that reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The aviation giant will test a scaled down version of the X-48B, which incorporates the fuselage into the wing, creating an aircraft that looks more like a manta ray than a conventional jet. The aviation industry is now among the fastest growing sources of carbon dioxide, accounting for 11 percent of transportation emissions in the United States and 2.7 percent of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (Greenwire, Jan. 17). Designers warn that this design is still a long ways off from being a practical and safe alternative to conventional jets.

Boeing said it was on track to deliver the first 787 Dreamliner planes next year and tipped a good year for new commercial orders as North American and Asian airlines buy new aircraft. The Chicago-based company, which outsold European rival Airbus last year, is dominating the lucrative market for widebody planes, led by the 787. "The 787 is on schedule for its rollout mid-summer (northern hemisphere), with first flight in late summer and delivery in the latter part of H1 of 2008," Randy Baseler, Boeing's Vice President of Marketing, told reporters in Sydney.

Still trying to repair it’s tarnished image by delay after delay with the A380 launch, Airbus announced a free ride for journalists last month. The German engineer hailed as the "father of the A380" deplored the huge airliner's recent problems, but backed his brainchild's future as Airbus took media aloft for the first time on Wednesday. Juergen Thomas, who steered Europe's superjumbo from the drawing board to industrial launch in 2000, said last year's wiring installation problems would soon be forgotten in the 50 year lifespan of the world's largest airliner. "It is a big disaster to me that we have had all these problems," Thomas said aboard the 555-seat A380. "For me it is terrible. They under-estimated the problems and they did not correct them early enough," he added. Problems with wiring installation and software glitches have delayed the entry into service of Europe's superjumbo until late 2007 from early 2006. They have also cost parent EADS some EUR5 billion euros (USD$xxxx billion) in lost or deferred profits.