On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, with little fanfare and hardly any press coverage, the Transportation Department issued a 197-page preliminary response to suggestions that were submitted to President Obama’s January call for suggestions on what “outmoded, ineffective, insufficient or excessively burdensome” regulations should be modified or repealed.

Last week the co-chairs of the New Democrat Coalition Task Force on Critical Infrastructure and Manufacturing released their agenda for economic growth and job creation during a meeting with the Chairman of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Their proposal focuses on ways to strengthen, modernize, protect and maintain the U.S. national infrastructure “in the sky, on the water, and in our cyber networks.”

McCarran International Airport is working to alter FAA policies so that it can offer incentives to those carriers flying larger or more frequent flights to Las Vegas. And, ACI-NA on Tuesday filed comments with the FAA encouraging greater flexibility in the implementation and review of air service incentive programs.

In long-drawn out litigation against the Massachusetts Port Authority stemming from the 9/11 terrorist attack, ACI-NA on Friday submitted a legal brief in a New York federal court in support of Massport.

An American Eagle ground handler, who was severely injured in a workplace accident at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, wants the airport to compensate him for his injuries.

The ACI-NA 20th Annual Conference and Exhibition will be held Oct. 16-19 in San Diego with pre-conference seminars on Oct. 15-16. If you are an airport leader, airport employee, government representative, industry service provider and partner, student or any professional interested in learning about aviation trends, you don’t want to miss top-quality educational sessions on topics of importance to the airport industry planned by ACI-NA members and staff professionals, featuring key industry speakers.

A proposed DOT rule would bring Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise regulations into conformance with those Part 26 amendments adopted in January.

Extra copies The Facts About Airports and the 2011 ACI-NA Membership Directory are available to any employee of a member airport or World Business Partner/Associates firm. Contact member services for a copy. An interactive, digital version of The Facts About Airports and the 2011 ACI-NA Membership Directory was e-mailed to all members last week. June 10 is the deadline to send minor corrections and send your correction item to publications@aci-na.org. Later this month, the corrected digital edition will be posted to a members-only area on the ACI-NA website.

Environmental Affairs Conference: Information Sharing Session
The 2011 ACI-NA Environmental Affairs Conference  which will held June 26-29 at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati in conjunction with the 2011 ACI-NA Small Airports Conference, which runs June 27-28. On the agenda, an Information Sharing Session allows participants to share the latest developments at their airports and solicit assistance from the committee.

Marketing & Communications and JumpStart: Airlines Roundtable 2.0 Session
The Marketing and Communications Conference will be held June 17-20 in Cleveland. On the agenda, an Airlines Roundtable 2.0 will get back to the basics and talk to some network carriers and LCCs. Representatives from Alaska Airlines, Allegiant, Spirit Airlines and Sun Country will participate in the discussion

The ACI-NA Environmental Affairs Committee and its nine working groups (Air Quality, CAEP/International Issues, Land Use Compatibility, Natural Resources, Noise, NEPA, Sustainability, Waste Management, and Water Quality) help develop ACI-NA’s environmental positions and priorities.  The committee also provides a forum for the exchange of information and best practices among airport environmental specialists.  Committee members work to influence environmental regulations, legislation, and policies that affect airports.

Issues that remain a top priority for the committee include EPA’s effluent regulations for airport deicing operations, for which a final rule is expected later this year; EPA and international efforts to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; the development of the alternative aviation fuel industry and ensuring compatibility with existing airport infrastructure; continued improvement to the NEPA process, including developing comprehensive training for NEPA professionals; airport sustainability guidance and metrics; and developments in aviation noise policy and research.  The committee continues to focus on implementation of ACI-NA’s environmental goals.

These priorities will be featured prominently at ACI-NA’s upcoming Environmental Affairs Conference in Cincinnati, to be held from June 26 - 29 in conjunction with the ACI-NA Small Airports Conference.   The conference will feature a joint session with the Small Airports Committee on June 27, where topics of mutual interest, such as wildlife management, Airport Cooperative Research Program reports, the Canadian greenhouse gas inventory tool for airports, and addressing leaded aviation gasoline will be discussed.

Other panels will feature updates from the recent Transportation Research Board’s Climate Change Adaptation Workshop, a legislative outlook, alternative aviation fuels discussion, NextGen and the environment, noise issues, and water quality issues discussions.

The Environmental Affairs Committee has also begun to plan for the seminar and joint session with ACI-NA’s Operations and Technical Affairs Committee prior to ACI-NA’s annual meeting in October in San Diego.

Contact ACI-NA’s Katherine Preston for more information.

Iris Scanning, An Alternative for TSA?
Fox News, May 28, By John Brandon
The best security technology available that would give the TSA an alternative to controversial body scanners is already in use worldwide -- just not here in the U.S. Airports and security checkpoints could use the iris scanners, which take an instant picture of the eyeball from a few feet away and compare it against an internal database.

Illinois House Approves Bill Allowing Casino in Chicago
Reuters, May 31, By Mary Wisniewski
The bill will allow four additional casinos in Illinois and slot machines for racetracks and at Chicago's two airports.

Airline Fees Topped $21B in 2010
Triangle Business Journal, May 31, By Chris Baysden
Airlines around the world are making a pretty penny off of ancillary revenue, the practice of charging passengers for onboard food, checking bags and the like.

California Senate Encouraging Transfer of Ontario Airport
Daily Breeze, May 31, By Art Marroquin
The California Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that encourages transferring control of Ontario International Airport from Los Angeles to a regional authority based in the Inland Empire. State Senate Republican leader, Bob Dutton has said that transferring control of the facility back to Ontario would allow the city to attract airlines and passengers by slashing costs and increasing marketing.

Guidebook for Developing and Leasing Airport Property: The report explores issues associated with developing and leasing available airport land and summarizes best practices from the perspective of the airport sponsor. The guidebook includes a diverse set of case studies that show several approaches airports have taken to develop and lease property for both aeronautical uses and non-aeronautical uses. The project that developed the guidebook also produced two presentation templates designed to help airports in effective stakeholder communication regarding developing and leasing airport property. The templates, designed for a non-technical audience, provide content, examples, and definitions for a presentation to community stakeholders.  The templates, one for aeronautical use development presentations and the second for non-aeronautical use development presentations are available only online.

Florida Spaceports: An Analysis of the Regulatory Framework: The Florida Department of Transportation has released a report that explores international, federal, and state law related to commercial space travel in relation to rights and responsibilities that the Florida Department of Transportation may have for implementing new regulations or revising current state statutes. The report focuses on safety as it relates to licensing, liability, and security for airmen, airports, and commercial space operators.

Advance your career and improve your skills by enrolling in one of ACI’s online Certificate Programs.

Certificate in Airport Environmental Management
This certificate program provides airport staff with an understanding of the basic principles of sustainable development and environmental management at an airport.

Cost     $695. For more information, http://r.listpilot.net/c/acina/6a3kzes/2a292 or enrolments@olc.aero

Certificate in Concession Management
This certificate program provides staff with the knowledge and skills to be more proficient in the management of airport concessions.

Cost     $395 For more information, http://r.listpilot.net/c/acina/6a3kzes/2a292 or enrolments@olc.aero

Certificate in Project Management
This certificate program is designed for individuals, project team members and managers who are new to project management as a formal discipline.  The course is developed in line with the Project Management Body of Knowledge adopted by the Project Management Institute and by organizations throughout the world.

Cost     $950. For more information, http://r.listpilot.net/c/acina/6a3kzes/2a292 or enrolments@olc.aero

 

U.S. scheduled passenger airlines employed 4.9 percent more pilots and 1.1 percent more maintenance workers in 2010 than in 2009 while total industry jobs declined by 0.5 percent, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported last week.

The six large network carriers employed 1.3 percent fewer pilots and 2.3 percent more maintenance workers in 2010 than in 2009. A separate group of the seven largest low-cost carriers employed 11.2 percent more pilots and 1.5 percent more maintenance workers from 2009 to 2010. The group of regional airlines employed 4.9 percent more pilots and 3.3 percent fewer maintenance workers from 2009 to 2010.

Alaska Airlines had the largest decrease in maintenance employees for the network airlines at 6.7 percent.  US Airways had the largest decrease in pilot employees for the network airlines at 2.6 percent. Delta Air Lines’ employment increases reflect its merger with Northwest Airlines that became effective for reporting purposes in January 2010.

On the eve of Memorial Day weekend, with little fanfare and hardly any press coverage, the Transportation Department issued a 197-page preliminary response to suggestions that were submitted to President Obama’s January call for suggestions on what “outmoded, ineffective, insufficient or excessively burdensome” regulations should be modified or repealed.

In the DOT response, it specifically addressed four of the many issues ACI-NA raised in its April 1 filing. ACI-NA will be meeting with the FAA to discuss two of the topics.

ACI-NA’s concerns with the federally mandated land transfer process for airports were addressed. “FAA acknowledges that release of land acquired with federal assistance for noise compatibility purposes may be a more cumbersome process. Airport sponsors are required to develop noise re-use plans and release land at fair market value no longer needed for noise compatibility purposes.  FAA developed these procedures as a result of an OIG (Office of Inspector General) audit. FAA is willing to consider revising these procedures subject to OIG concurrence. FAA will meet with ACI-NA to discuss their specific concerns.”

ACI-NA has scheduled a meeting with the FAA in early July to discuss this issue.

In response to ACI-NA’s request for changes in the PFC approval process, DOT states that “FAA will consider all of the comments as part of a comprehensive review of the PFC program over the next 18 months (pending availability of funding). We will seek industry input as part of that review before making a decision whether an update to the regulation is warranted and necessary.”

ACI-NA has scheduled a meeting with FAA staff to obtain additional information, offer industry expertise and assistance and to encourage that the update be commenced as soon as possible.

The response to ACI-NA’s concerns about FAA’s lack of harmonization of safety management systems among the agency’s various lines of business and implementation of the geographic information system and electronic airport layout plan program were disappointing, but not unexpected. ACI-NA will continue to raise these issues with FAA given their potential to increase airport costs with questionable benefits.

In its April filing, ACI-NA also emphasized that DOT’s review process should also extend to formal rules, but also to “proxy rules” that are incorporated via advisory circulars, internal agency orders, and program guidance letters. These documents are not subject to the same public notification and comment requirements as formal rulemaking processes, yet often impose significant additional requirements and standards on airport sponsors. Unfortunately, DOT offered no response to that issue.

Contact ACI-NA’s Debby McElroy for more information.

Last week the co-chairs of the New Democrat Coalition Task Force on Critical Infrastructure and Manufacturing released their agenda for economic growth and job creation during a meeting with the Chairman of the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Their proposal focuses on ways to strengthen, modernize, protect and maintain the U.S. national infrastructure “in the sky, on the water, and in our cyber networks.”

ACI-NA President Greg Principato has written to the co-chairs of the Task Force, Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), Rick Larson (D-Wash.) and Laura Richards (D-Calif.) to express ACI-NA’s interest in working with the task force to help push this important message forward.

The task force’s strong support for infrastructure investment as a way to encourage economic growth is clear given that one of their two proposals on aviation calls for allowing “airports the flexibility to collect the revenue necessary to improve our facilities, which will increase the efficiency of our air transportation system, reduce delays, and improve safety.” This is exactly what ACI-NA has been asking Congress to do, and Principato’s letter points out that the pending FAA reauthorization does not provide the flexibility the task force calls for as it does not include any changes to the Passenger Facility Charge.

After all, the PFC is a local fee, paid by passengers who use the airport.  The money raised is plowed back into the system to make critical safety and security improvements at the local airport, thereby not only addressing our infrastructure needs, but also creating local jobs.  If Congress would lift the ceiling, thereby allowing airports to work with their local community to set the PFC at a figure that ensures they are able to meet their outstanding infrastructure needs as well as to plan for future needs, airports’ need for federal assistance, particularly for those classified as large or medium hubs could lessen significantly.

Contact ACI-NA’s Jane Calderwood for more information.

McCarran International Airport is working to alter FAA policies so that it can offer incentives to those carriers flying larger or more frequent flights to Las Vegas. And, ACI-NA on Tuesday filed comments with the FAA encouraging greater flexibility in the implementation and review of air service incentive programs.

“ACI-NA believes that air service incentive programs play an important role in ensuring that commercial airports are able to attract domestic and international air service for their communities, and thus promote the development of a robust national air transportation system in which air travelers can find service options to travel throughout the United States, and indeed, throughout the world.”

According a February filing with the FAA Office for Airports, Las Vegas wants to provide up to a 100 percent credit for its landing fee to any airline that increases its landing weight over the same month of the prior year. After the airport suffered a 17 percent drop in services from 2007 to 2010, McCarran developed the program hoping to reverse the slide.

ACI-NA in the comments stressed that since the airport’s proposed incentive program does not reveal any inconsistency with federal obligations or requirements, the petition should be approved.

ACI-NA further pointed out that the fact that the program has been designed in a manner that is not addressed in the FAA’s 2010 Guidebook concerning Air Carrier Incentive Programs, should not be used as a reason to deny the request. “If the Guidebook is to serve a useful function in enabling airports to meet air service needs of their communities, it must provide greater flexibility for review and implementation of programs expeditiously and before air service offerings decline to threatening levels.”

The flexibility is essential, ACI-NA noted “especially during a time when airports are struggling to meet their revenue needs without the benefit of increased federal support through PFC increases, and without long-term AIP funding at necessary levels, it is critical that creative approaches to attract air travel service be applauded rather than impeded by processes that delay FAA’s substantive decision.” 

Finally, ACI-NA recommended that FAA streamline the process for review of such proposals in the future, pointing out that public comment on every air service incentive proposal submitted to the FAA would unduly delay a quick review and quick implementation of an incentive program. Las Vegas had hoped to begin its proposed program this month.

Contact ACI-NA’s Monica Hargrove for additional information.

In its brief, ACI-NA opposed the claim asserted by plaintiff Mary Bavis that Logan International Airport had a duty to oversee the passenger screening operations provided at that time by the airlines.

Massport had earlier filed a motion with the court seeking to have the case dismissed without proceeding to trial based on well-established law that made the responsibility for aviation security the rest with the airline operators at that time.

Scott Lewis, Melissa Allison, and Mina Makarious of ACI-NA associate law firm Anderson & Kreiger, submitted the brief on behalf of ACI-NA.  It was coordinated with Massport.

A hearing in the action is expected later this summer, and a ruling on the merits should be issued before the fall.

Contact ACI-NA’s Monica Hargrove for additional information.

ACI-NA will join a coalition of Washington state business groups in support of the airport’s position if the case is heard by the Washington Supreme Court. The court is considering the airport’s request to hear the case and that decision is expected by July 12.

A state trial court ruled against the plaintiff, but the decision was reversed on appeal by a state appellate court. The state’s supreme court now has the case.

In the case, the plaintiff, now a paraplegic, claims that the since the Port of Seattle, the airport operator, provides a license to American Eagle to handle ground operations for American Airlines, this license was in essence an employment contract with the plaintiff. The airport maintains that the license agreement was not an employment contract and that American Eagle retained control over its workers, including the plaintiff. Thus, the airport does not owe a duty of care to American Eagle employees.

Several state business organizations, including the Association of Washington Business, the Washington Retail Association, the Washington Public Ports Association, and the city of Kent decided to seek permission of the court to file supporting briefs.

ACI-NA joined the effort because of the importance and implications of these issues to member airports. ACI-NA believes the court needs to understand how and why airports establish and use minimum standards for commercial activities and license the various commercial operators at airports -- including the federal regulatory context for such standards. 

Peter Kirsch and Eric Pilsk of ACI-NA associate law firm Kaplan Kirsch and Rockwell assisted ACI-NA with this filing.

Contact ACI-NA’s Monica Hargrove for additional information.

The ACI-NA 20th Annual Conference and Exhibition will be held Oct. 16-19 in San Diego with pre-conference seminars on Oct. 15-16. If you are an airport leader, airport employee, government representative, industry service provider and partner, student or any professional interested in learning about aviation trends, you don’t want to miss top-quality educational sessions on topics of importance to the airport industry planned by ACI-NA members and staff professionals, featuring key industry speakers.

Registration for ACI-NA 20th Annual Conference and Exhibition is now open. The ACI-NA member registration rates are again frozen at 2009 rates.

The 1,360-room San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina is the host hotel and is adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center. The ACI-NA discount rate for the event is $269.  Online room reservation is also now available.

A proposed DOT rule would bring Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise regulations into conformance with those Part 26 amendments adopted in January.

According to Friday’s notice, many of the provisions from the Part 26 rule changes will apply automatically to the airport concession regulations.  However, some provisions of the Part 26 rule either do not apply, or will not apply in the same way, and those provisions led to the department’s decision to seek comments on some of those provisions.

Among the issues on which the Department is seeking comment are:

• A proposed adjustment to the personal net worth cap for inflation to $1.32 million, which is the same number as currently exists in Part 26, as well as questions regarding the $3 million exemption for recourse loans.
• Incorporation of the recent revisions to the Part 26 rule describing the process of interstate certification for airport concession firms.
• The addition of new monitoring and accountability provisions.

Comments are due by July 26.  ACI-NA’s Business Diversity and Legal Affairs Committees will be reviewing the proposal and ACI-NA will be filing comments.

Contact ACI-NA’s Monica Hargrove for more information.

Extra copies The Facts About Airports and the 2011 ACI-NA Membership Directory are available to any employee of a member airport or World Business Partner/Associates firm. Contact member services for a copy. An interactive, digital version of The Facts About Airports and the 2011 ACI-NA Membership Directory was e-mailed to all members last week. June 10 is the deadline to send minor corrections and send your correction item to publications@aci-na.org. Later this month, the corrected digital edition will be posted to a members-only area on the ACI-NA website.