The gloves came off at the ATC Demand Management Forum in mid-February as D.J. Gribbin, General Counsel for the DOT fired back at critics of hourly caps. The general tenor of Gribbin’s thesis was that while hourly caps at New York Kennedy Airport (JFK) are not a preferred measure, they are a short-term remedy necessary to prevent a repeat of last summer. The caps are designed to push flights into times where there is unused capacity, said Gribbin. "This will allow 50 more flights per day than were offered last summer, but they will be spaced more efficiently," he explained. "As our planned operational and capacity improvements make more take off and landings possible, we will expand the number of operations."

Newark Liberty announced the inauguration of Eva Air service to Taipei, Taiwan from Terminal B. With a new Boeing 777- 300ER, EVA flies nonstop to Taipei, reducing flight time for its three weekly flights to 14 hours from approximately 18 hours. In 2007, the airport welcomed Jet Airways, which offers daily flights from Terminal B to Mumbai, India via Brussels using a Boeing 777-300ER. The airline provides world-class service featuring spacious new seats and beds in First Class. At JFK, Virgin America, which offers in-seat connectivity for portable electronic devices, has added flights to San Diego and will add flights to Seattle this month. The airline flies to San Francisco and Los Angeles from Terminal 4.

Representatives Steve Israel (D-NY), Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan joined air traffic controllers and representatives from Southwest Airlines to express their opposition to the proposed relocation of air traffic control equipment from Islip to New Jersey. Israel and Bishop released a letter they’re sending to FAA Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell that urges him to rethink agency plans to move vital departure spacing program (DSP) equipment from Islip to Morristown, New Jersey. The move could result in increased delays at Islip MacArthur Airport. "Just when air travelers thought it couldn’t get any worse, we receive the senseless news that the FAA will remove critical equipment that prevents delays and improves air traffic control from Islip airport and put it in New Jersey,” said Congressman Israel, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, which sets funding levels for federal offices and programs. “The FAA is telling Long Islanders that they're convenience is less of a priority than air travelers in New Jersey. The Administrator of the FAA has agreed to meet to try to resolve this issue next week. If that doesn't work, we will fight this in his budget."

Eight years after the 9-11 tragedy, a government lawyer was back at the complex, preparing a case, when the first plane struck on 9/11. This time she witnessed the carnage of another assault on the Trade Center. Months later, with renewed purpose, Bonn Powell left a new job with a private law firm and joined the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, the fledgling agency created by Congress to beef up lax security standards at the nation's airports. "I'm a two-time Trade Center survivor," said Bonn Powell, 43, named last month to the TSA's top security post at Newark Liberty International Airport after serving in an acting position since August. "There was, you know, survivor's guilt," she continued. "And so I wondered for a really long time why it was that I walked away -- not once, but twice. ... When I got the call to come to TSA, I thought this is something that I can do -- whatever small part -- to see that it doesn't happen again." Newark Liberty forever will be known as one of the three airports terrorists used to board flights on Sept. 11, 2001. United Flight 93, bound from Newark to San Francisco, later crashed into a Pennsylvania field as passengers tried to retake the hijacked plane. Soon after, private-contract screeners were replaced nationally by more than 40,000 federalized screeners, whose pay and training were significantly upgraded. Critics, however, contend their performance remains substandard. "I want these (TSA screeners) to be known for the good work that they do on a daily basis," said Bonn Powell. "My goal is to ensure that everybody has the skills they need to get the job done, so that things don't get through. So that people know ... Newark is a safe place to travel."

It’s not only pilots that are in short supply; try Air-traffic controllers. Controllers are leaving their jobs at the fastest rate since President Reagan fired more than 12,000 striking controllers 27 years ago, spurring a rancorous debate about the safety of commercial aviation. But for fliers, the turnover is more likely to affect when their flight arrives than whether it gets there safely. In recent months, fully certified controllers have been retiring in droves. Some of this was expected because many controllers hired after the 1981 air-traffic controller strike are becoming eligible to retire. But the retirement surge has accelerated beyond the Federal Aviation Administration's projections because of a bitter labor feud that has dragged on since 2006. In January, there were roughly 11,000 fully certified controllers, marking the lowest level in more than a decade. In September 2002, the FAA employed 12,801 fully certified controllers. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents the FAA's work force of roughly 15,000 fully and partially certified controllers, has declared staffing emergencies at high-intensity facilities in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York and Southern California. It calls the loss of so many veteran controllers a "growing crisis" amid surging traffic volumes and a big, hidden factor behind the persistent delays plaguing air travel.

Flyte Systems, a provider of airport flight information displays and digital signage content, has announced that it has installed its FlyteBoard real-time airline information display screens at the Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport and the Hilton Seattle Airport Hotel and Conference Center. Real-time Flight Information Flyte- Board, developed by Flyte Systems, is a wall, floor or ceiling mounted high-definition, flat panel screen that the properties installed in their lobbies to provide guests with flight information. The system posts accurate real-time airline flight arrival and departure information, rather than FAA-regulated scheduled departure times that do not list delays caused by: Air Traffic Control; aircraft maintenance; crew availability; and weather.

Crocs slapped with $7M lawsuit; Child 'permanently' injured in escalator incident, suit claims What would seem as a common sense decision by a parent ended up in a lawsuit against a shoe company. A New York parent is suing Crocs for $7 million, claiming his 3-year-old daughter was "severely and permanently injured" when one of her pink, holed shoes was sucked into an airport escalator last year. The complaint,

filed this week by Jeffrey Hochberg in the U.S. District Court in New York, claims that Emma Hochberg was injured on Nov. 14, 2007, after her right shoe was caught in an escalator at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. "The skin was peeled off her toe," Andrew Laskin, the attorney representing the Hochberg family, told the New York Daily News earlier this week. "It's a pretty horrifying injury. And it's also horrible for a parent to witness your child injured in this way and suffering." Speaking to the press, Laskin said he would not go into additional detail about the accident or Emma's injuries, adding that she is still in treatment under a doctor's care and "continues to suffer from the effects of the injury." Laskin lambasted Niwot-based Crocs for selling what he considers to be shoes worn for the outdoors as "everyday footwear." "It's not everyday footwear. It's especially dangerous on escalators, and this is something (Crocs has) known about for quite some time," Laskin said. "And they just don't seem to be doing anything about it."

Major US airlines racked up more than 7.4 million flights last year, a record high, with late arrivals also hitting their peak at 1.8 million, the US government said. The biggest airlines packed their schedules at major airports, squeezing in more passengers at busy times in a bid to maximize revenues from premium paying business passengers. There were more late arrivals than in any year since the US Transportation Department began keeping records in 1995, and the percent of ontime arrivals, 73.4, was the second-worst yearly performance. The worst was 72.5 percent in 2000. On-time performance was highest, over 80 percent, during the years early in the decade when airlines scaled back operations to cope with the industry's severe financial downturn. As demand has picked up so have flight delays, growing each year since 2004 when the number of flights annually topped 7 million for the first time. Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, the main hub for Delta Air Lines, was the busiest US airport for flights by major airlines with more than 827,600. Chicago O'Hare, home of United Airlines, was second at 751,500. Dallas/Ft Worth, home to American Airlines was third at just under 600,000.

The world’s busiest international airport is evaluating RFID technology to improve baggage tracking, using Motorola, radio frequency identification (RFID) readers as part of a joint project between BAA and Emirates Airlines. In an important trial of RFID tracking technology, BAA, owner and operator of Heathrow Airport, and Emirates Airlines will deploy RFID readers at key points along the journey of luggage belonging to passengers travelling the Emirates Airlines route from Heathrow to Dubai – from check-in desk to carousel. As part of the trial, Motorola XR480 Fixed RFID readers have been installed in Heathrow Terminal 3 to read tags on luggage entering and leaving the airport. This trial will be an important demonstration of the interoperability of diverse RFID solutions as it will showcase how the Motorola RFID solution integrates with a variety of components from other vendors that have been incorporated into the system outside of the UK. BAA staff will also offer customers an additional value-added service as a result of the RFID deployment. Departing passengers will be invited by BAA staff to voluntarily register their mobile telephone details, which will allow them to receive a text message alert on arrival at Heathrow with details of their baggage reclaim belt.

Passenger traffic drops, construction more than two years behind schedule
Funding issues and airline trends are creating turbulence at Bradley International Airport, pushing construction behind schedule and reducing passenger counts, respectively. While funding issues pushed the final phase of Bradley International Airport’s $200 million construction project more than two years behind schedule, the airport has also been taking a hit from the airline industry, which is moving its longer flights from regional airports to larger hubs. Airport officials blame a significant drop in passenger traffic over the past two years to the fact that regional airports have fallen out of favor with some airlines, not its construction delay. Nearly 900,000 fewer passengers traveled through Bradley over the past two years, dropping its record of 7.4 million in 2005 to 6.5 million in 2007. The airport’s turbulence is continuing. Bradley’s latest casualty is Frontier Airlines, which announced last week that it would eliminate its daily nonstop flight to Denver in September. The news comes less than a year from when Frontier announced its debut at Bradley with much fanfare. The reason, according to Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas, is the price of fuel. “It’s really driven primarily by fuel concerns” he said. “All long-haul flights are being scrutinized now because of the expense of fuel.” Bradley’s pain is being shared by other northeast airports. T.F. Green Airport in Providence is also experiencing a similar reduction in passengers due to airlines repositioning their aircraft to larger airports, said Bradley spokesman John Wallace.