JetBlog! Interactive

Airlines lower bar to fill pilot ranks

A world-wide shortage of pilots is putting less-experienced fliers at the controls of passenger jets and even forcing some airlines to cancel flights for a lack of crews.

In the U.S., the pilot squeeze is being felt mostly at regional airlines -- carriers that feed passengers to bigger airlines using planes with fewer than 100 seats. Most regional airlines have lowered their experience-level requirements for new hires, and some have struggled to find pilots with enough hours in their logbooks to serve as captains. Pilots still have to pass tests at each airline and meet proficiency standards, but some aviation experts are concerned that that less-experienced pilots may not perform as well in emergencies or may be more prone to mistakes.

IATA targets 60 airports for ground handling audits in 2008

IATA plans to launch a standardized audit for ground handing companies starting in mid-April 2008, reviewing ground operations at as many as 60 airports by year’s end.

Called the IATA safety audit for ground operations (ISAGO), the 2- to 3-day review will cover 11 categories, including airside management and safety, load control, passenger and baggage handling, aircraft fuelling, de-icing, anti-icing, and for the first time, a management review at each company’s headquarters.

Though airlines are already required to audit their ground handling companies, the efforts tend to overlap, each audit is different and there is no data-sharing between airlines or companies, says Mike O’Brien, IATA’s director of program implementation and auditing.“

Struggling airlines find a bright spot in lower insurance premiums

NEW YORK:(AP) One bright spot for airlines struggling with competition and high fuel prices is insurance premiums, which have fallen significantly this year and are unlikely to rebound much in 2008 despite a sharp jump in payouts.

Insurance broker Aon Corp. says airline insurance premiums dropped about 15 percent this year. At the same time, insurance payouts jumped 20 percent, meaning the average insurance policy will lose money this year for the first time since 2000.

While that means insurers will try to hold the line on rates or even raise premiums as policies come up for renewal next year, analysts say tight competition makes big rate hikes unlikely.

Damage Tolerance Data Must be Available

Companies that hold design approvals – like type certificate and supplemental type certificates (STCs) – will have to prepare and make available damage tolerance data for repairs and alterations to fatigue critical airplane structure.

The purpose of this new rule is to support compliance with the Aging Airplane Safety rules. The FAA adopted the Aging Airplane Safety rule in the February 2, 2005 edition of the Federal Register. That rule requires that maintenance programs belonging to airline operators include Damage Tolerance inspection programs. Air carriers’ programs must take into account the adverse effects that repairs, alterations, and modifications could have on fatigue cracking and the inspection of this airplane structure.

Aviation insurance to be unprofitable in 2007

LONDON, Dec. 18, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- The aviation insurance industry could see its first unprofitable year of underwriting since 2000, research from US broker Aon (NYSE:AOC) Corporation has shown.

This year to date, average aviation insurance prices have dropped 12 pct, the broker said. This has not been helped by the fact that total premium is likely to be below this year's claims, which currently stands at 1.53 bln usd, compared to 1.23 bln usd last year.

If the level of reduction for the remainder of the year keeps up, hull and liability premiums - the main indicator of rates in the airline insurance market - will total 1.46 bln usd, down from 1.69 bln usd in 2006 and 2.04 bln usd in 2005. Aon says that aviation insurance prices have fallen around 40 pct over the last two years.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-21738510.htm

Older Airbus Jets Get High-Tech Rudder Checks

The rudders of about 420 older Airbus jetliners are being subjected to repetitive ultrasonic and other enhanced inspections, the first time airlines and safety regulators have resorted to such recurring, high-tech procedures to determine the integrity of composite parts on airliners already in service.

The stepped-up inspection program, recommended by Airbus months ago and then reaffirmed by the European Aviation Safety Agency through a mandatory directive, calls for the first enhanced rudder checks to be completed within six months or 500 flights. Some inspections on certain planes must be repeated every 1,400 flights, a relatively short compliance schedule for checking structural integrity of primary flight structures.

American recalls maintenance employees

American Airlines says it plans to recall or hire 200-250 maintenance employees to meet staffing needs in 2008 for an anticipated increase in workloads. The latest recall follows plans American announced late last week to recall 247 flight attendants to meet projected attrition and staffing levels for next year as well.

The expansion of American’s maintenance workforce is set to start this month, and continue through the first quarter of next year. Staffing levels at line maintenance facilities and at the carrier’s three main overhaul bases in Tulsa, Okla., Fort Worth Texas and Kansas City, Mo will increase.

“While this will be an ongoing process for the next few months, we are very pleased to welcome more people returning to work or starting a career with American,” says carrier senior VP of maintenance and engineering Carmine Romano. American predicts rising workloads in several different areas including landing gear overhaul on its Boeing 777s/737s, and landing gear overhauls on American Eagle’s Embraer ERJ fleet. The carrier also plans to start heavy checks on General Electric CFM56-7 engines that power its 737-800s. The carrier’s maintenance division is also handling the installation of new lie-flat seats and enhanced inflight entertainment in business class on 767-300s, and first and business class on 777-200s.

Recently American CFO Thomas Horton noted that the carrier’s maintenance, repair and overhaul operation (MRO) was under consideration for divestiture. In addition to handling American’s maintenance, the carrier’s MRO arm also has third-party customers including Allegiant Air. American performs C checks and certain component and landing gear overhauls on Allegiant’s MD-80s.

Earlier this year American’s parent company AMR Corporation said it would invest up to $100 million to grow its third-party maintenance business. The carrier is currently engaged in labor negotiations with mechanics represented by the Transport Workers Union (TWU). Previously, American management and the TWU set of goal of generating $175 million in third-party maintenance revenue by the end of 2007.
Lori Ranson, Washington DC
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news

The Need for Safety Management Systems

Dec 17, 2007 (Very Light Jets/Access Intelligence via COMTEX)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Air Transport Association (ATA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) held its 4th Annual International Aviation Safety Forum outside Washington, DC, Nov. 28-30, at which participants from around the world pledged to implement Safety Management Systems, a systematic approach to managing risks associated with commercial aviation. The session was covered by VLJ Report's sister publication Air Safety Week.

Acting Federal Aviation Administrator Robert Sturgell said: "the question for us in aviation is how to maintain the safety record that's the envy of all transportation. How are we going to raise the bar? The answer is SMS -- safety management systems. Aviation no longer is in the business of combing through ashes and wreckage to find answers. SMS will give us the intelligence we need before the problem reaches the headlines. When it comes to risks, the low- hanging fruit is long gone. SMS uses hard data to point us in the direction we need to go. We don't have to wait for something bad to happen.Ultimately, we don't want to just meet ICAO minimums. Ultimately, our goal is to raise the bar worldwide no matter where you go.

"At its most fundamental level, a safety management system helps organizations identify and manage risk," he continued. "It is based on hard data. Safety management systems help us manage risk far better than we have, because it's a disciplined and standardized approach to managing risk. At the very core of the SMS is the need to identify potential hazards and then analyze risk. After that, the next steps are to rank hazards and assess risk, and then identify mitigation options. It's a closed-loop process where identified risks are mitigated and the mitigations are monitored to provide continuous system safety."

He said the FAA's recent Call to Action for runway safety is an example of using SMS principles. A string of events pointed to a problem with U.S. runways. They involved a variety of factors - miscommunications, missed turns on taxiways, a snowplow, missed turns onto an active runway, signage.

"When we issued our Call to Action, we looked at 5.4 million records covering a 20-year period," he said. "We found 117 isolated instances of flight crew confusion here in the United States involving a variety of issues. Our Call to Action is addressing these issues as we speak. Short-term action such as enhancing runway markings and improving pilot training are already under way."
www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/922168/

EASA Part 66 Guidance

EASA publishes a list of specific aircraft types in the appendix to their mechanics’ certification rule. Under that rule (EASA Part 66), mechanics must be type-rated to work on any type of aircraft that is listed in the appendix to the rule.

EASA has proposed to add a number of new aircraft to the type rating list, and has also chosen to group together certain similar aircraft (so that the type rating for those similar aircraft will cover both). Certain other aircraft have been removed from the list of type ratings and redefined as annex II aircraft. These types are not subject to EASA regulation, although they are subject to regulation by national aviation authorities within Europe (for example, in the United Kingdom, Annex II aircraft may be maintained under a BCAR section L license).

The proposed rule is identified as NPA 2007-18. Comments may be sent by email to [email protected]. The comment period remains open until January 18, 2008.

Aircraft Certification Stops Printing ACs

The FAA has stopped printing certain advisory circulars. On October 25th, the FAA announced that as of October 1st (yes, three weeks before the announcement), Advisory Circulars published by the Aircraft Certification Service would only be available on-line.

In the past, the only way for the public to see advisory circulars issued by the Aircraft Certification Service was to receive a printed copy in the mail. Technology now allows the government to make advisory circulars available to the public via an easily-accessible Web site, the Regulatory and Guidance Library, . The FAA expects to save money (in the form of printing and distribution costs) by only offering these ACs through the internet.