United Airlines said that ExpressJet Airlines will begin in May operating 25 ERJ-145 aircraft under the United Express brand. The agreement replaces previous contracts by other United Express partner carriers. The deal is also consistent with United’s 2010 capacity outlook. Shares of ExpressJet parent ExpressJet Holdings shot up 15 percent in recent premarket action, to $2.95.

Alaska Airlines and Seattle native Apolo Ohno, US Olympic Speed skater unveiled a Boeing 737-800 adorned with a larger-thanlife image of the short-track speed skater and “Dancing With The Stars” winner. The design invites travelers to “Follow Apolo” at www.followapolo.com as he skates for gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. “It’s an honor to be featured alongside Alaska’s trademark Eskimo and have the support of my hometown airline for the most important race of my life,” Ohno said after seeing the plane for the first time, according to a news release. Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden said: “Apolo is one of the most decorated Olympians in history, and we’re thrilled to support him on his road to Vancouver. The ‘Follow Apolo’ jet will fly across our route system to build excitement for this great American athlete.”

Air Austral, based on the French island of Reunion off Madagascar, ordered two Airbus A380 aircraft that will seat around 840 passengers in a single-class configuration. The jets are the first orders of the A380 in an all-economy layout. The carrier plans to use the aircraft on the busy route between La Reunion and Paris, Air Austral said at the Dubai Air Show. The deal calls for manufacturer to deliver the aircraft in June of 2010.

What would you think of someone who jumped off the GW Bridge but did not expect to splash into the Hudson River - crazy; right? We have another leaper and it is the Irish Government. Irish Politicians who are raising airport fees, landing fees and passenger taxes to make up a shortfall in earnings even though a previous increase actually reduced total revenues. Economic Lesson number one; raising fees and taxes does not automatically increase gross revenues. There is a thing in economics called a “demand curve” and this is the way the market works. As surprisingly discovered by New York City’s Comptroller last year; raising taxes on high income earners may cause this segment of earners to respond by;
a. move to another location,
b. reduce the income earned in the jurisdiction that has raised the taxes or
c. reduce their net earnings to meet the lower standards.
When taxpayers react this way, they will cause a reduction of total revenues even with the tax increase. Although most politicians are very slow learners, this economic lesson had been already been experienced by the Irish Government once firsthand; and apparently, they want to give it a second try. The increase in taxes and fees has created a ‘vicious spiral’ says Association of European Airlines (AEA). Hot on the heels of the Irish air passenger tax, which has added about $20.00 to passenger journeys and contributed to a fall in passenger numbers at Irish airports of 15% this summer, comes the news that Ireland’s air navigation provider will increase the fees it charges its airline customers by 17% next year. In the case of Ireland the situation was exacerbated by the impact of the passenger tax introduced last April. “It doesn’t take a genius to work out what will happen when you put a $20.00 surcharge on airfares in the middle of the worst recession on record”, he said; “your traffic will go into free-fall. If this results in a massive hike in user fees, you have initiated a vicious spiral which, for the sake of the Irish economy and the travelling public, cannot be allowed to take hold”. Mr Schulte-Strathaus noted that EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani had written to EU Member States, urging them not to approve increases of levies imposed on airlines by airports and air navigation providers during the market crisis. “A few have reacted positively, and we applaud their efforts. Others continue to hide their inefficiencies behind the screen of cost-recovery”. He called on the Irish Government to scrap the ticket increase. Economic Lesson number two: When there is no risk or penalty for failure, governments will continue to make the same errors over and over again.

Boeing formally broke ground in November on its North Charleston, S.C., 787 Dreamliner assembly plant. “Today’s event marks the beginning of an expansion plan that will strengthen the 787 program and allow us to continue building on the footprint we have established in South Carolina with Boeing Charleston and Global Aeronautica,” Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said in a news release. “Locating the second line in North Charleston will allow Boeing to successfully compete in the aerospace market and grow for the long-term benefit of many stakeholders.” Boeing chose North Charleston over Everett, Wash., for its second 787 assembly site. The new plant also will be able to support the testing and delivery of airplanes. “We look forward to expanding our capability in South Carolina through our existing site, while maintaining our commitment to the Puget Sound region where Boeing Commercial Airplanes remains headquartered,” Albaugh said. “Puget Sound will continue to design and produce airplanes, including the 787.”

FAA says this is a not good policy
The US FAA is proposing formal rules that would prevent airlines and fractional ownership programs from hiring former air safety inspectors (ASIs) or their immediate managers to represent the carsriers or companies “in any matter before” the FAA for at least two years after leaving the agency. ASIs work in a variety of specialties for the FAA, including cabin safety, maintenance and operations. Meant to prevent what the FAA says is a “potential organizational conflicts of interest which could adversely affect aviation safety”, the proposed cooling off period has been the topic of several House and Senate bills, a review by the Department of Transportation’s inspector general (IG) and an internal investigation by the FAA. Initiating the action was a $10.2 million fine the FAA proposed to levy on Southwest Airlines on 5 March 2008 for operating 46 Boeing 737s. The agency said the carrier used the aircraft on 60,000 revenue flights over a period of nine months without performing mandatory airworthiness directive (AD) inspections for fuselage fatigue cracking. The IG later revealed that Southwest’s regulatory compliance manager was a former FAA ASI who joined Southwest two weeks after leaving the FAA, where he had reported directly to the principle maintenance inspector for low-fare carrier. The watchdog concluded that the FAA certificate management office overseeing Southwest “had developed an overly collaborative relationship with the airline.

A computer problem at the Federal Aviation Administration caused flight cancellations and delays at US airports on November 19th, but by mid-morning an FAA map showed slowdowns confined mainly to airports surrounding the cities of New York and Washington. It is the second time in 15 months that a glitch appeared in the system that collects airline flight plans, causing delays. “Systems that allow for the automated processing of flight plan information have been restored,” Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman in Atlanta, said by e-mail received by the Monitor at 10:30 a.m. She said the problem showed up shortly after 5 a.m., which caused air traffic controllers to have to manually input flight plans. Air Traffic Control radar coverage and com-