The Dutch “green tax” on aviation, which I’ve blogged about here and here, is already negatively affecting Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, according to a report:
Some 50,000 fewer passengers are expected to use Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest, this summer on account of a Dutch environmental tax on flights, it was reported Saturday.
“We’re expected zero [...]
Archive for June, 2008
What’s Dutch for “told you so”?
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes, tagged airports, environment, europe, klm, tax, travel on June 29, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Bad-apple FAA manager “retires,” and more
Posted in Daily Departures on June 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Douglas Gawadzinski, one of the apparent problem personnel in the FAA office overseeing Southwest Airlines — and designated FAA fall guy — has “retired,” FAA official said. [Dallas Morning News] See more on this.
Benevolent megalomaniac Richard Branson says that airlines should willingly pay taxes on carbon emissions: “If you run a dirty business — an [...]
Will aviation biofuels mitigate net climate change?
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged environment, regulation, travel on June 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
As I see it, one of the problems of responding to climate change is the need for a response coordinated across industries and countries. Lots of industries like to trumpet what they are doing on their own to reduce their carbon footprints, but what if these reductions simply shift the climate change contribution onto another [...]
Who says airlines can’t make a profit?
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes, tagged business, history, regulation on June 18, 2008 | 4 Comments »
One of the most-voiced complaints about deregulation is that airlines have been consistently unprofitable since deregulation. That’s not true, according to this handy chart from a 2006 Government Accountability Office report [PDF].
As you can see, airlines were only narrowly profitable in the era of regulation. After regulation, they became exposed to economic forces, making them [...]
Doing something, anything
Posted in Daily Departures on June 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The airline lobby is urging Congress to “do something” about the price of oil — namely, to interfere in commodity futures markets. “If Congress does not act soon, this country will not have a viable airline industry,” says Jim May of the Air Transport Association. Watch out for ill effects if Congress acts on the [...]
Taiwan thaw, Heathrow hell, ailing Alitalia, and more
Posted in Daily Departures on June 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In one of the first signs of the slightly warming relationship of China and Taiwan under new Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou, Beijing and Taipei have reached a bilateral aviation agreement to take effect July 4. Passengers who take one of the newly offered flights will be able to save up to five hours in travel [...]
Chortling all the way to the tank
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes, tagged aerospace, congress, humor, military on June 16, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
The Government Accountability Office is expected to rule by Thursday on Boeing’s protest over the Air Force’s decision to go with the Northrop Grumman/EADS tanker. Boeing is desperate for the $40 billion contract, but the Air Force insists that the Northrop Grumman proposal is superior.
But Congressman Norm Dicks had the best line of the day: [...]
Should airlines be regulated like a public utility?
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged american, business, history, labor, regulation, travel on June 12, 2008 | 8 Comments »
Yesterday, several outlets reported on former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall’s speech at the Wings Club (full text here). Crandall, who ran AA during the process of deregulation and made it an industry leader in the post-deregulation era, opposed deregulation in the late 1970s, and his opinions haven’t changed: “We have failed to confront the [...]
Air traffic control facility staffing: liveblogging the hearing
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged air traffic control, congress, dot, faa, labor, safety on June 11, 2008 | 4 Comments »
The House aviation subcommittee is holding a hearing today on air traffic control facility staffing, “including concerns about staffing alignment and training at such facilities.” Here is the subcommittee’s background paper. Here’s what happened today:
Panel I
Hank Krakowski, the COO of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization (ATO) is the first witness. He first emphasizes the agency’s [...]
Climate change and transportation subjects of today’s Senate hearing
Posted in Evan's Commentary, tagged congress, dot, environment on June 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Lots of interesting testimony at today’s Senate Commerce Committee hearing on climate change and transportation. Discussion subjects ranged widely, from surface transportation to the possibility of shipping in the Arctic. “The transportation sector accounts for approximately one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions,” announced committee chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). He added that GHG emissions from transportation [...]
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