New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport isn’t exactly renowned for on-time departures and things may get worse before they get better for passengers using the airport this spring.

Starting today (1st March 2010), JFK’s busiest runway will close for four months for reconstruction.

The $376 million project for Runway 13-31, known as the Bay Runway, will widen it from 150 to 200 feet and add taxiways, all in an effort to ease traffic congestion at the airport.

The Port Authority of NY & NJ states it is “tackling delays with the reconstruction of our Bay Runway at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Once completed, this project will reduce delays overall by an estimated 10,500 hours per year.”

The airport’s website has posted a Q&A with more detail:

What is the Bay Runway Project?
Beginning March 1, 2010 one of the four runways at JFK will be closed for construction for 120 days; however this project should not impact travel significantly. The Port Authority in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airlines began in 2006 we have worked closely minimize the impact on airport operations when the runway is closed.

Why is the Bay Runway Project necessary?
The Bay Runway project is an investment in the future, the new concrete runway has an anticipated life of more than 40 years, compared to an 8-year service life for asphalt.

The project will upgrade JFK’s airside infrastructure, widen and replaces nearly three miles of runway. A central component of the Bay Runway reconstruction is the widening of the runway from 150 to 200 feet to make way for new delay-reduction taxiways. The new taxiways will improve aircraft queuing and enable swifter departures; and easier access from taxiways to terminal gates, saving time on the ground for every passenger at JFK.

How many runways are at JFK?
There are four runways at JFK. During normal operations, two or three of the four runways are in use due to airspace limitations. During the 120-day closure of the Bay Runway, all three remaining runways will be utilized when possible.

How will flights be affected when the Bay Runway is closed?
The Port Authority in cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airlines, expect to minimize the impact on airport operations when the runway is closed. Airlines are operating on a normal winter schedule to mitigate delays.

The airport has three remaining runways that will be run to their full capabilities during the Bay Runway’s closure and officials are reducing the number of arrivals and departures at the airport from about 1,300 a day to 1,050, to ease potential congestion and delays.

About JFK:

The Bay Runway is more than 14,500 feet long, or almost 3 miles, one of the longest in the country. It handles more than half of all departures at JFK, according to The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The airport is run by he Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, under a lease with the city of New York since June 1, 1947. In 2004, the Port Authority and the city of New York concluded an agreement that ensures the Agency’s continued operation of JFK and LaGuardia airports through 2050.

Location: On Jamaica Bay in the southeastern section of Queens County, New York City. The airport is located 15 miles by highway from midtown Manhattan.

Size: JFK covers 4,930 acres, including 880 acres in the Central Terminal Area. The airport has more than 30 miles of roadway.

Investment: About $150 million was expended on original construction. The Port Authority has invested about $5.5 billion in the airport.

Boeing have been showing off the interior of the 787 Dreamliner. I’m using the words “showing off” in a loose sense  – after all this is just another tube with loads of seats crammed together in a confined space, right?

Source (of the video): Seattlepi

The Air New Zealand test flight is a joint initiative with partners Boeing, Rolls-Royce  and Honeywell’s UOP in commercial aviation’s drive for more sustainable air travel for future generations.

The Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400, powered one of its four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines with a biofuel blend derived from a second generation biofuel plant – Jatropha Curcas.

Jatropha is a plant that produces seeds that contain inedible lipid oil that is used to produce fuel. Each seed produces 30-40% of its mass in oil and jatropha can be grown in a range of difficult conditions, including arid and otherwise non-arable areas, leaving prime areas available for food crops.

Air New Zealand and its partners have been non-negotiable about the three criteria any environmentally sustainable fuel must meet for the test flight programme. These are social, technical and commercial.

Firstly, the fuel source must be environmentally sustainable and not compete with existing food resources. Secondly, the fuel must be a drop-in replacement for traditional jet fuel and technically be at least as good as the product used today. Finally, it should be cost competitive with existing fuel supplies and be readily available.

The criteria for sourcing the jatropha oil required that the land was neither forest land nor virgin grassland within the previous two decades. The quality of the soil and climate is such that the land is not suitable for the vast majority of food crops. Furthermore, the farms are rain-fed and not mechanically irrigated.

The test flight partners engaged Terasol Energy, a leader in sustainable jatropha development projects, to independently source and certify that the jatropha-based fuel for the flight met all sustainability criteria.

Once received from Terasol Energy, the jatropha oil was refined through a collaborative effort between Air New Zealand, Boeing and leading refining technology developer UOP, utilising UOP technology to produce jet fuel from renewable sources that can serve as a direct replacement to traditional petroleum-based fuel.

Source: Air new Zealand press release

Qantas today launched the latest addition to qantas.com – Qantas Travel Insider.

Qantas Group General Manager Sales and Distribution, Mr Rob Gurney, said Qantas Travel Insider was a unique and comprehensive online resource that would help travellers plan the perfect trip.

“Qantas Travel Insider combines stories by respected travel writers from our popular award-winning inflight magazine Qantas The Australian Way, together with the opinions and insights of Qantas Frequent Flyers, Qantas Ambassadors and our most regular travellers – our pilots and cabin crew,” Mr Gurney said.

“In a first for Australia, we have developed a platform that allows Qantas Frequent Flyers to share their travel experiences with others and provide unique first-hand reviews of destinations, accommodation, restaurants and bars, entertainment, shopping and other activities, in a user-friendly, searchable format.”

Qantas Travel Insider launches with more than 500 quality articles. City Guides will also help travellers with all they need to know about a destination including addresses, phone numbers and websites to attractions, venues and restaurants.

Qantas Frequent Flyers have been given exclusive access to the site so they can submit their comments and reviews in time for the official launch to the general public later this month.

The site also has an RSS feed that customers can subscribe to.

“Qantas Travel Insider further reinforces qantas.com as a truly comprehensive one-stop travel site,” Mr Gurney said.

With the very best travel advice from Qantas Travel Insider, and easy online booking for flights, hotels, travel insurance, cars, activities and experiences, qantas.com enables travellers to plan and book every aspect of their trip with ease and confidence.

To celebrate the launch of Qantas Travel Insider, Qantas is giving travellers the chance to be a guest travel writer and win one of 12 unique weekends away for two people to write about an Australian destination. Further details on the competition are available at qantas.com/travelwriter

To introduce Travel Insider, a short promotional video is available at http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=4bMmfpOUn7A

Istanbul – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global international traffic results for September. Passenger traffic declined 2.9% while cargo traffic dropped 7.7% compared to the same month in 2007. International load factors tumbled by 4.4% percentage points from August to 74.8% in September.

“The deterioration in traffic is alarmingly fast-paced and widespread. We have not seen such a decline in passenger traffic since SARS in 2003,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “Even the good news that the oil price has fallen to half its July peak is not enough to offset the impact of the drop in demand. At this rate, losses may be even deeper than our forecast US$5.2 billion for this year,” said Bisignani.

Passenger

- This is the first time since the SARS crisis in 2003 that global passenger traffic has shrunk. Capacity cuts were not able to keep pace with the fall in demand. September load factors in all regions fell compared to August.

- For September, all major regions reported that passenger traffic shrank, with the exception of Latin American carriers which saw an increase of 1.7%. Even this is shockingly down from the 11.9% growth of the previous month.

Up to August, the drop in international passenger traffic was isolated to Asia Pacific carriers. The economies of the region’s two major growth markets – China and India – slowed and Japan saw industrial production drop 5% in August. The sharp downturn in world trade disproportionately impacted Asia-Pacific carriers with a 6.8% drop in traffic in September.

- The steady 5% international growth of North American carriers turned into a 0.9% contraction.

- European carriers saw traffic drop from last year (-0.5%) as the region’s economies head for recession.

- After years of double-digit growth, passenger traffic by Middle Eastern carriers turned to a negative 2.8%. While the region’s oil-based economy remains strong, the large portion of transit traffic exposes the region’s carriers to the global economic weakness.

- African carriers posted the largest decline in traffic (-7.8%), a continuation of the previous month’s trend.

“The industry crisis is deepening – along with the crisis in the global economy. Airlines, like all other businesses, are facing enormous challenges. But unlike other companies, they are denied some basic commercial freedoms – access to markets and to global capital – that could help them manage their business in this difficult time,” said Giovanni Bisignani.

The web of 3,500 bilateral air service agreements that govern international air transport denies market access until specifically agreed. And the ownership clauses that are contained in these agreements preclude mergers across borders.

“Look at what the banking industry is doing. They are taking government handouts. They are accessing global capital. And we have seen mergers without anybody asking to see the investors’ passports. Airlines are not asking for handouts. But today’s crisis highlights the need for airlines to be able to run their businesses like normal global businesses,” said Bisignani from Istanbul on the eve of the Agenda for Freedom Summit.

IATA has taken the extra-ordinary step of facilitating a discussion among 15 progressive governments on the future regulatory structure of international air transport. IATA circulated a paper among these governments examining solutions within the bilateral system that could be quickly implemented to expand opportunities for access to markets and to global capital.

“I hope that the Agenda for Freedom Summit will conclude as a successful discussion that sparks a process of change by governments. We are not asking for anything other than the basic freedoms to do business that other industries take for granted,” said Bisignani.

Source: IATA Press release

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently announced a revised industry financial forecast that would see the global airline industry post losses of US$5.2 billion in 2008 based on an average crude oil price of US$113 per barrel (US$140 for jet fuel):

“The situation remains bleak. The toxic combination of high oil prices and falling demand continues to poison the industry’s profitability. We expect losses of US$5.2 billion this year,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Fuel

“While there has been some relief in the oil price in recent months, the year-to-date average is US$113 per barrel. That’s US$40 per barrel more than the US$73 per barrel average for 2007, pushing the industry fuel bill up by US$50 billion to an expected US$186 billion this year,” said Bisignani. Fuel is expected to rise to 36% of operating costs, up from 13% in 2002.

Demand

IATA also announced industry traffic data for July which showed a continued slowing of demand.

July year-on-year passenger demand growth fell to 1.9% – the lowest in five years. Capacity increased by double that – 3.8% – indicating that service cuts are not keeping pace with the fall in demand. This pushed the load factor for the month to 79.9%, a drop of more than 1% compared to July 2007. The surprise of July was a 0.5% drop in passenger demand by Asia-Pacific carriers partly attributable to a change in Chinese visa requirements but also showing that economic weakness is spreading to previously robust economies.

Cargo demand in July contracted by 1.9% compared to 2007. Asia-Pacific carriers – the largest players in the cargo market – were hit hard with a 6.5% drop in demand.

As a result of the weaker economic outlook IATA significantly revised downward its traffic forecast for domestic and international markets combined. Passenger traffic is now expected to grow on average by 3.2% (was 3.9%) and air freight volumes by just 1.8% (was 3.9%).  This is only half the pace of expansion seen in 2007 and is boosted by the stronger growth seen at the start of the year. Strong traffic growth allowed the industry to partly absorb the rise in fuel costs from 2003-2007.  This is no longer the case.

2009

IATA announced its initial outlook for 2009.  The difficult business environment is expected to continue.  Most economies are expected to deliver even weaker economic growth next year, which will negatively impact air travel and freight. With an expected oil price of US$110 per barrel (US$ 136 for jet fuel) and continued weak growth (2.9% tkp), industry losses are expected to continue at US$4.1 billion. The 2009 fuel bill is expected to rise, as hedging offers less protection, to US$223 billion comprising 40% of operating expenses.

Change

“While we expect the bottom line to improve by about US$1 billion next year, the industry will be US$4.1 billon in the red,” said Bisignani. “This crisis is re-shaping the industry in more severe ways than the demand shocks of SARS or 9.11. When fuel goes from 13% of your costs to 40% in 7 years with an increased cost implication of US$183 billion, you simply cannot continue to do business in the same way. Fundamental change is needed,” said Bisignani.

“Airlines have reduced non-fuel unit costs by 18% since 2001. Airports and air navigation service providers must join the effort. Efficiency gains are critical but cannot fully absorb the impact of skyrocketing fuel prices,” said Bisignani.

“This crisis is highlighting the need for greater commercial freedom. Airlines are facing enormous challenges. To be successful and continue providing jobs to 32 million people and supporting US$3.5 trillion in economic activity, airlines must be able to do business like any other business,” said Bisignani.
IATA states in a recent presss release

“More airlines have gone bust in 2008 than in the aftermath of 9.11. To cure the structural sickness of the industry, made all the more obvious by the high price of oil, we need a strong dose of liberalisation. The US-EU talks later this month are one opportunity to address ownership restrictions in an important market. And IATA is taking the unusual step of facilitating a global dialogue on an Agenda for Freedom next month in Istanbul. Simply weathering the current storm is not an option. We must take the opportunity of these extraordinary times to facilitate extraordinary change to strengthen the industry with normal commercial freedoms,” said Bisignani.

…before completing his list.

It is rather ironic that the travel writer Dave Freeman, co-writer (with Neil Teplica) of The 100 Things To Do Before You Die who started a publishing phenomenon died Aug. 17 from a head injury caused by a fall in his Venice, Ca. home.

He was only 47.

Freeman was originally an advertising executive who travelled alone to fit more adventures into his schedule but only visited half the places recommended in the best-selling 1999 book. His marketing skills prompted a miriad of literature designed to stimulate readers’ sense of their own mortality and the constraints of time.

British Airways has been running a campaign to prove that their new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London is working:

A reportage style will be adopted for the campaign, which signals a move away from the airline’s traditional approach. The 24-hour turn-around production times will also be a first for British Airways and unusual in the advertising world.

The campaign focuses on the customer experience. It will demonstrate how the terminal is working through indicators such as the length of time it takes customers to get through security, flight punctuality, baggage arrival times or simply how quickly a person can get from the plane to the arrivals hall. These details will be illustrated through photography of real customers during their journey through Terminal 5 captured the day before the ads appear in print.

The overarching aim of the campaign is to produce an accurate portrayal of how Terminal 5 is performing, demonstrating that it is now working effectively and helping to dispel any remaining negative perceptions.[...]

Katherine Whitton, British Airways’ general manager for marketing communications, said: “This campaign isn’t about making big promises. The terminal has now been open for 131 days, more than six million people have travelled through it and it has been performing very well for some time. We are letting it speak for itself and reflecting genuine customer experiences on the aspects of the journey that research tells us are most important to them.

“The aim of the campaign is to communicate to the travelling public in an open and factual way that Terminal 5 is now working well. The campaign will show that Terminal 5 is a fantastic building that provides a high-quality travel experience and will encourage travellers to try it for themselves.”[...]

Source: British Airways Press Release, dated 4th August 2008

I happened to walk past one of BA’s billboard adverts earlier today and was rather surprised to read that “Terminal 5 is working”, which prompted me to a Google search and submit this post. I don’t fly much these days but I had assumed, like most people, that most if not all of the initial problems had been resolved since the media had stopped reporting any.

In addition, some rather complimentary posts have recently been made on the Professional Pilots Rumour Network (www.pprune.org) among other sites.

So it is a little bizarre that BA felt that they should initiate this rather unusual marketing campaign for a service which after all should by default be “working”. I can’t quite envisage or recall any other quality airlines, such as Virgin Atlantic, advertising something which should be, really, de facto.

What did go wrong with at Terminal 5?, BBC News, 30th March 2008

Bags of Terminal 5 embarrassment for BA, Times Online, April 1st 2008

Imagine boarding a train in London and riding it all the way to New York!

This theoretical rail route would involve a magnetically levitated train travelling from 300 to 5,000 mph (500 to 8,000 km/h) in an airless tunnel floating above the seabed in just under an hour.

No surprisingly, plans for such a tunnel have not progressed beyond the conceptual stage, and no one is actively pursuing such a project. The main barriers to constructing such a tunnel are costs—as much as $12 trillion— and the current scientific and technological limits. Moreover, existing major tunnels, such as the Channel Tunnel and Seikan Tunnel, despite using less expensive technology than proposed for the Transatlantic tunnel, struggle financially. It has been estimated that a Transatlantic Tunnel would be 215 times longer than the longest current tunnel and would cost perhaps 3000 times as much!

Back in 2003, the Discovery Channel’s show Extreme Engineering aired a program entitled “Transatlantic Tunnel” which discusses the proposed tunnel concept in detail. The following video is an adaptation of that documentary:

A 1960s proposal had a 3,100-mile (5,000-km) long near-vacuum tube with vactrains, a theoretical type of maglev train, that could travel at speeds up to 5,000 mph (8,000 km/h). At this speed, the travel time between New York and London would be less than one hour. Another modern variation intended to reduce cost is a submerged tunnel floating about fifteen stories below the ocean surface to avoid ships, bad weather, and high pressure. It would consist of 54,000 prefabricated sections held in place by 100,000 tethering cables. Each section would consist of a layer of foam sandwiched between steel. It too would have reduced air pressure.

An alternative route suggests a tunnel north from Newfoundland over the ice sheet of Greenland and across Iceland to the Faroe Islands and then Scotland. This route is cheaper to build, not least because it can have multiple tunnel heads, but more difficult due to adverse weather conditions in Greenland and the difficulty of maintaining the system near the ice sheet, though lessons learned from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System might mitigate such difficulties.

There are also some issues with what the purpose of such a tunnel would be. If was intended for passengers, then the journey might be too slow to make it competitive with aircraft. If it was intended for freight, then a Bering Strait bridge or tunnel could present fewer problems.

Currently, the longest undersea tunnel is under construction in Norway, Called Atlanterhavstunnelen (Norwegian name) or the Atlantic Ocean tunnel, this is a road tunnel located southwest of Kristiansund in Møre og Romsdal county, and it will be 5 735 meters long and 250 meters deep, one of the deepest undersea tunnels in the world. The construction was started in 2006 and it will be opened in late 2008 or early 2009. The name comes from the fact that it will connect two islands located directly at the open sea, and that it will extend the Atlanterhavsveien road, a popular tourist attraction. The Atlanterhavsveien road goes over small islands with both an open sea view, fjord view, and a view of the mountains.

Source: Wikipedia

Air Atlantique, who operate a number of historic aircraft out of Coventry Airport, have announced the premature retirement of their fleet of Douglas DC-3 Dakota aircraft due to the prohibitive expenses needed to make them compliant with new EU legislation.

Their website states:

On July 15th 2008, our faithful Dakotas will end their long and flawless passenger carrying duties. But this isn’t the comfortable retirement of respected old ladies; we know they have it in them to outlive us all – as anyone who’s flown in them will confirm.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, it’s spiralling regulations that have achieved what time couldn’t. European legislation has decreed that all passenger-carrying aircraft must comply with certain criteria – whatever their age. Some of these modifications would be prohibitively expensive; some are actually impossible to carry out on the DC-3.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been immensely supportive and helpful, and we’re grateful for the help they’ve given us. But time is passing, and it looks ever more certain that 16th July – the implementation date for the EU-OPS legislation – will see our Daks no longer allowed to carry passengers.

Dakotas have been synonymous with the Air Atlantique for a fair few years now, and hundreds of people have heard those Pratt & Whitneys making their unique music outside. We want to give as many people as possible this last chance to fly in the greatest airliner in history – the airliner that made flying profitable for the airlines, and safe and dependable for passengers.

The tour will see us bringing the Daks to airports throughout Britain. We’ll be asking you to join us for a commemorative flight, to hear the thunder of those great engines for what could be the last time.

It’s worth stressing at this point that we’re fully committed to anything that makes flying safer – as our safety record demonstrates. The EU-OPS legislation is well-intentioned, but it lays down requirements that are impossible or impractical for vintage aircraft.

Fitting oxygen masks to an aircraft that never flies high enough to use them, or equipping it with chutes to deliver passengers to the ground four feet below the exit door would be prohibitively expensive – even if the items were available.

Sadly, from July 15th, we have to withdraw the Daks from passenger flying

The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Because of its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II, it is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made.

The DC-3 was engineered by a team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond, and first flew on December 17, 1935 (the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk). The aircraft was the result of a marathon phone call from American Airlines CEO Cyrus Smith to Donald Douglas requesting the design of an improved successor to the DC-2. The amenities of the DC-3 (including sleeping berths on early “DST” — Douglas Sleeper Transport — models and an in-flight kitchen) popularized air travel in the United States. With only three refueling stops, eastbound transcontinental flights across the US taking approximately 15 hours became possible. Westbound trips took 17 hours 30 minutes due to typical prevailing headwinds – still a significant improvement over the competing Boeing 247. Before the arrival of the DC-3, such a trip would entail short hops in commuter aircraft, during the day, coupled with train travel overnight.