Source: US DOT The U.S. Department of Transportation today released its September 2021 Air Travel Consumer Report (ATCR) on airline operational data compiled for the month of July 2021. The ATCR is designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of services provided by airlines. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in significant changes to airline schedules and operations in July 2021 although airlines scheduled and operated more flights in July 2021 than any month since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. The total number of flights operated in July 2021 reached 86% of pre-pandemic levels with 605,508 flights operated in July 2021 compared with 702,876 flights operated in July 2019. Flights operated in July 2021 were 65% more [...]

Source: NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board launched a redesigned website Friday featuring a modern user experience, improved navigation with easier-to-find-content and a mobile-friendly design. This is the first major overhaul of NTSB.gov in 10 years. As part of the redesign process, analytics data and visitor feedback were analyzed to understand how people use the site. Website visitors will find new main navigation topics like Data and Safety Research and quick links to top actions such as searching for investigations or safety recommendations. “The NTSB website is one of the agency’s most important tools for communicating to the public about our investigations and safety recommendations to prevent future tragedies and save lives,” said NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy. “This new website [...]

Source: Chair of the House Committee on Transportation The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Aviation Rick Larsen (D-WA) during today’s hearing titled, “Disruption in the Skies: The Surge in Air Rage and its Effects on Workers, Airlines, and Airports.” Videos of DeFazio and Larsen’s opening statements are here and here. More information on the hearing can be found here. Chair DeFazio: Thank you, Chair Larsen, for calling today’s hearing on the spike in air rage cases. Even as we continue to fight a pandemic, the amount of disruption and violent behavior on planes has reached epidemic proportions. Today, [...]

Source: ICAO For its official contribution to today’s White House Global COVID-19 Summit on the theme of Ending the Pandemic and Building Back Better, the following written statement was submitted on behalf of ICAO Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is strongly committed to supporting the recovery of international air transport, so heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to enhancing the cooperation among States. Recognizing that passengers should benefit from fair and equitable treatment and the ability to travel, and that vaccination should not be a precondition for travel, it is highly desirable that vaccination be used to safely facilitate mobility. To this aim, vaccines should be made available and accessible to all passengers to [...]

Source: US FAA The rate of unruly passenger incidents on commercial flights has dropped sharply since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched its Zero Tolerance campaign but the rate remains too high, according to new data released today. “Our work is having an impact and the trend is moving in the right direction. But we need the progress to continue. This remains a serious safety threat, and one incident is one too many,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson. “The FAA will continue its Zero Tolerance policy, keep its public awareness campaign going, and keep pushing and partnering with everyone in the aviation system to do more. We appreciate the tremendous work of all our partners in the airline, airport, labor, [...]

Source: Council of the EU Chile becomes the second country in South America after Uruguay, to join a list of 14 nations Infographic - COVID-19: travel from third countries into the EU See full infographic Following a review under the recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU, the Council updated the list of countries, special administrative regions and other entities and territorial authorities for which travel restrictions should be lifted. In particular, Chile, Kuwait and Rwanda were added to the list and Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Moldova were removed from the list. Non-essential travel to the EU from countries or entities not listed in Annex I is subject to [...]

Source: IATA The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the program and speakers for the World Air Transport Summit (WATS), which is being held in conjunction with the IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Boston, USA, 3-5 October. "I'm very excited that the World Air Transport Summit will again take place as a live event for the first time since June 2019. Virtual forums are no substitute to the value created when people meet face to face. As we plan for the industry recovery from COVID-19 and address critical climate change issues, the in-person discussions and debates among the industry's top leaders and stakeholders will be particularly significant," said Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General. Session topics include addressing the challenge [...]

Source: US Department Justice The U.S. Department of Justice, together with Attorneys General in six states and the District of Columbia, sued today in the District of Massachusetts to block an unprecedented series of agreements between American Airlines and JetBlue through which the two airlines will consolidate their operations in Boston and New York City. The civil antitrust complaint alleges that this extensive combination, which they call the “Northeast Alliance,” will not only eliminate important competition in these cities, but will also harm air travelers across the country by significantly diminishing JetBlue’s incentive to compete with American elsewhere, further consolidating an already highly concentrated industry. “Millions of consumers across America rely on air travel every day for work, to visit family, [...]

Source: US DOT Streak of Year-Over-Year Growth Extends to 15th Consecutive Month U.S. Airlines Carried 4% more cargo by weight in July 2021 (preliminary) than in July 2020.  The rise was fueled by gains of 1% in domestic cargo and 13% in international cargo, according to data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) by 15 of the leading U.S. cargo airlines.   The preliminary data are based on data submitted by15 airlines that carry 95% of the total cargo by weight transported on U.S. airlines. Cargo data consists of freight and mail carried within the U.S. and between the U.S. and foreign points.   July 2021 (preliminary) air cargo numbers for 15 U.S. cargo carriers: Total: 1,709 thousand [...]