Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, one of Obama’s token cabinet Republicans, isn’t going to rock the policy boat. According to National Journal, he’ll take his cues from the White House on emissions:
Addressing the role that the department will play as Congress and the administration move forward on climate change legislation this year, LaHood said he would [...]
Archive for February, 2009
LaHood’s DOT: second-fiddle and proud of it
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes on February 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Fatal crash in Buffalo
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes on February 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
News reports indicate that a fifty-seat Dash 8 operated by Colgan Air for Continental Airlines, traveling from Newark to Buffalo, crashed shortly before landing a little after ten, killing all forty-four passengers, four five crew members, and a person on the ground.
This is the first fatal commercial aviation accident in the United States since Comair [...]
In the Middle East, which comes first: growth or airports?
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes, tagged airports, middle east/africa on February 12, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A new paper from the Center for International Private Enterprise at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce examines the development of the aviation sector in the Middle East and North Africa. (Thanks to colleague Mitch Boersma for passing this along.) Jawad Rachami points out that the region’s “share of global passenger traffic is expected to hover [...]
You know, there’s an easier way. . . .
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes on February 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
I saw this item earlier today, but it was linked on Drudge tonight, so I figure it’s going viral and thus worth a notice. Gordon Brown’s top climate change adviser, Adair Turner, testified to the Environmental Audit Select Committee that “We will have to constrain demand in an absolute sense with people not allowed to [...]
A sneak attack on airline alliances
Posted in Evan's Commentary on February 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
By now, you’ve probably read about House Transportation Committee chairman Jim Oberstar’s bill calling into question granting antitrust immunity to international airline alliances. The text of the legislation (HR 831, introduced on February 3) is pretty straightforward, but its intent is masked by a more innocuous prescription.
First, it calls for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) [...]
What’s in the stimulus for aviation?
Posted in Evan's News and Quick Takes on February 3, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Let’s take a look at the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” passed by the House on January 28 and now under review (with some amendments) by the Senate. In these line items, aviation is currently set to get somewhere in the area of $2.5 billion.
For the TSA:
For an additional amount for ‘Aviation Security’, [...]
From Malaysia to Minneapolis, and more
Posted in Daily Departures on February 2, 2009 | Comments Off
A few items for your attention today:
In an interesting test case for private airport development, the Malaysian government has blocked the construction of an airport to compete with Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Fascinating story. [WSJ]
The Conservative Party took a blow on the expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport. Well-deserved. [FT]
Adrian Schofield at Aviation Week has been [...]
TSA contracting out: how’s it going?
Posted in Evan's Commentary on February 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
There’s a new GAO report out today that’s very, very meta: it’s an evaluation of the Transportation Security Administration’s own report on a study of the effectiveness of the Screening Partnership Program (SPP), which allows airports to contract airport security out to TSA-approved security firms.
The TSA study examined security at Greater Rochester International Airport in [...]
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