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FAA: Airspace Flow Program Will Save $900 Million Over Ten Years
The FAA says it has started phasing in its latest new program designed to reduce summer weather-caused delays, which it estimates will save $900 million over the next ten years for airlines and the flying public.

ATA: Air Traffic Modernization is Key to Future Fuel-Burn Reductions
The Air Transport Association (ATA) reiterated its view that air traffic control modernization is the key to further reductions in industry-wide fuel burn, which in turn will help the industry reduce its operating costs.

French and Swiss ANSPs Will Began Laying Foundation of a "Functional Airspace Block"
Skyguide and the Direction des Services de la Navigation Aérienne (DSNA), the air navigation service providers (ANSPs) for Switzerland and France respectively, have agreed to continue working to create a common "functional airspace block" (FAB) after finishing a feasibility study of the project.

Iridium: Customer Numbers More Than Doubled During Last 12 Months
Iridium Satellite says its aviation satellite communications customer base has more than doubled during the past 12 months as it expands into several new user categories, including civil helicopters and the military.  The range of its service offerings is increasing also.

Philippine Airlines Will Use ARINC's VHF Datalink Service
Philippine Airlines (PAL) will use ARINC's datalink service to extend its flight communications capability on portions of its route network, which includes 31 international and 20 domestic destinations.

AOPA Official: ADS-B "Spoofing" Not Big Issue in U.S.
Airservices Australia's recent announcement that it would delay implementing ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) in lower-level airspace has raised concerns about the technology's possible vulnerability to hackers.  But AOPA's chief technical expert says that problem is overblown, at least in the U.S.

Garmin Adds More Traffic Display Options to ADS-B Transceiver
Garmin International is offering options for its ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) UAT (universal access transceiver) that allows it to interface with more of its navigation units.

Jeppesen Helps Gary/Chicago Airport Create New RNP Procedures
Jeppesen says it has worked with Gary/Chicago International Airport staff and local FAA officials to create two public RNP (required navigation performance) procedures to Runway 12/30 there.

Sensis Surface Detection Equipment Operational at Atlanta and St. Louis
Sensis Corporation says its ASDE-X (airport surface detection equipment, model X) is now operational at St. Louis Lambert and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson.

Canada's New Porter Airlines Will Use Several ARINC Ops Services
Canada's new regional carrier, Porter Airlines, will use several ARINC operational services, including its VHF datalink communications, and its Web-enabled message management and flight following with weather updates.

British Airways Chooses WSI Hubcast
British Airways will use a weather decision support tool from Weather Services International (WSI) to help its planners deal with changing weather conditions that can adversely affect it hub operations.

Flight Explorer Making More Airspace Information Available
Flight Explorer (FE) has released a new version of its Professional Edition that includes real-time FAA traffic flow information.

Northwest Purchases PASSUR ETA Upgrades for all of its Hubs
Megadata Corporation says Northwest Airlines has purchased a subscription to its PASSUR ETA (estimated time of arrival) feed for each of its hubs.

Boeing Says No Paint on B-787 Nacelles Will Reduce Fuel Burn
Boeing has made a subtle but important change to the B-787's livery to enhance its performance by developing a method for maintaining a smooth flow of air - known as laminar flow - over a greater area of the aircraft's engine nacelle inlet.

Check Out Additional Fleet Changes

Boeing Projects $2.6 Trillion Market for New Commercial Airplanes
Boeing's newest market forecast projects a $2.6 trillion market for new commercial airplanes over the next 20 years to accommodate a 4.9 percent annual increase in passenger traffic, and a 6.1 percent annual increase in air cargo traffic.

Check Out Additional Industry Trends

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FAA: Airspace Flow Program Will Save $900 Million Over Ten Years

The FAA says it has started phasing in its latest new program designed to reduce summer weather-caused delays, which it estimates will save $900 million over the next ten years for airlines and the flying public.

The agency's Airspace Flow Program (AFP) (See "FAA Initiating New Airspace Flow-Control Program Over Parts of U.S.", 06-07-2006) will allow air traffic controllers to more specifically delay only those flights that are expected to actually encounter thunderstorms, and minimize delays for other flights.  Thousands of flights have been delayed, diverted or canceled, on severe weather days, and there are as many as 40 of these days each year, according to the FAA.

FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey said that using the program just 10 times in 2006 will result in cost benefits to the airlines and the flying public of approximately $20 million.  She added that over 10 years, the program is expected to save airlines and travelers a combined total of over $900 million.  07-14-2006.  (Top)

ATA: Air Traffic Modernization is Key to Future Fuel-Burn Reductions

The Air Transport Association (ATA) reiterated its view that air traffic control modernization is the key to further reductions in industry-wide fuel burn, which in turn will help the industry reduce its operating costs.

John Heimlich, an ATA vice president and its chief economist, said the federal government needs to "re-double its efforts to transform the technologies and procedures used to manage air traffic."

On July 5^th the benchmark price of crude oil surpassed $75 per barrel, after averaging $66.84 in the first half of 2006.  With higher crude prices driving up the cost of refined products, the price of U.S. jet fuel averaged $1.98 per gallon in the first half of 2006 - a 29 percent jump from the same period in 2005.  At these levels, airlines are not able to fully realize the expected financial boost from their aggressive conservation measures, the ATA asserts.

"There is no doubt that dramatic reductions in both fuel consumption and expenses can be better achieved through system modernization," Mr. Heimlich said. "There is only so much that the airlines can do internally, with respect to aircraft weight, fleet mix and operating procedures.  The next quantum leap in conservation, aside from future aircraft technology, will come from smarter use of our airspace.  A modernized system could save hundreds of millions of gallons of jet fuel, as well as billions of dollars annually."

The ATA's Website has additional information and analysis on airline fuel usage in its Economics section.  07-13-2006.  (Top)

French and Swiss ANSPs Will Began Laying Foundation of a "Functional Airspace Block"

Skyguide and the Direction des Services de la Navigation Aérienne (DSNA), the air navigation service providers (ANSPs) for Switzerland and France respectively, have agreed to continue working to create a common "functional airspace block" (FAB) after finishing a feasibility study of the project.

The results of the analysis indicate that a consolidation of operations and more collaboration between neighboring service providers can overcome some current limitations.  A preliminary cost/benefit analysis performed by outside consultants also confirmed that a joint Franco-Swiss FAB would be beneficial.

The creation of regional FABs is a cornerstone of the Single European Sky, which is intended to enhance Europe's ATM (air traffic management) network by eliminating national boundaries and reducing the present fragmentation of services.

The study's conclusions were presented to French and Swiss civil aviation authorities, as well as high-ranking representatives of the air forces of the two countries, on July 6^th.

Based on this outcome, skyguide and the DSNA say they will immediately began the foundations for establishing a Franco-Swiss FAB that conforms to the concept of a more unified European ATM system.

A summary of the study is available at www.skyguide.ch/en/Dossiers/DossierSingleEuropeanSky/.  07-09-2006.  (Top)

Iridium: Customer Numbers More Than Doubled During Last 12 Months

Iridium Satellite says its aviation satellite communications customer base has more than doubled during the past 12 months as it expands into several new user categories, including civil helicopters and the military.  The range of its service offerings is increasing also.

As of June 2006, the installed base of Iridium aeronautical terminals has grown to more than 7,500, with an average of more than 300 new units being commissioned each month, the company says.

"Much of our current growth is in helicopter fleets, especially air ambulance and rescue services," said Don Thoma, executive vice president of Iridium Satellite.  "We are also getting increasing interest from passenger carriers for operational and safety communications on long-distance, over-the-water routes, as well as passenger phone and email services."

"For example, at the beginning of this year, El Al Airlines announced the first Iridium-based passenger calling service using prepaid scratch cards on its Boeing 767 long-haul jets," said Thoma.

Helicopters

During the past six months, Iridium's service partners have reported an upsurge in installations for helicopter fleets. "This has been in part driven by the response to the communications breakdown on the U.S. Gulf Coast after last year's hurricane season, which devastated the region's landlines and cellular infrastructure, leaving satellite phones as the only reliable means of communicating," noted Mr. Thoma.

Era Helicopters, which serves the offshore oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico, recently equipped its fleet with Iridium terminals from Sky Connect.  And a number of medical transport and rescue helicopter fleets around the world have also started installing Iridium equipment, not only for voice communications but for automatic flight following and remote status reporting as well.  Iridium says some of its recent major sales include the German Air Rescue service, the Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Luxembourg Air Rescue and Washington, D.C.-based MedStar.

Military

The New York Air National Guard has installed Iridium terminals to provide voice and data communications with its fleet of C130 aircraft flying missions for research projects in Antarctica on behalf of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Operation Deep Freeze.  And Iridium terminals are also being installed on military helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft by several European defense forces.

General Aviation

Meanwhile, Iridium says its market base in the business jet sector continues to grow as well.  Many airframers are specifying Iridium as standard or optional OEM (original equipment manufacturer), and the aftermarket for Iridium retrofits remains strong, according to Mr. Thoma.

Bombardier Aerospace, for instance, recently announced that it will offer dual-channel Iridium satphone systems as standard equipment on its new Challenger 605 widebody business jets, which are due to enter service in late 2007. Bombardier also installs Iridium terminals on its other Challenger, Global 5000, Global Express and Learjet business jets.

Data Services

While voice telephony still represents a large percentage of Iridium's overall satellite traffic, data traffic is increasing at twice the rate of voice calls through the network, Mr. Thoma notes.  This year, Iridium started shipping its new lower-cost 9601 satellite modem to support the growing demand for short-burst data applications. "We expect to see dramatic growth in the use of Iridium for flight following, messaging, remote systems monitoring and out-off-on-in (OOOI) reporting," Thoma said.

Satellite ACARS Service

The International Communications Group (ICG), an Iridium value-added manufacturer, recently completed successful trials of the first Iridium-based ACARS (aircraft communication addressing and reporting system)-compliant messaging solution, in collaboration with ARINC.  ARINC's Iridium ACARS service will be commercially available in the third quarter of 2006, according to Iridium, and will thereby provide customers ACARS coverage in areas that can't be served by terrestrial-based, line-of-sight VHF ACARS systems.

ATC Communications Certification

Iridium says it has made significant progress in its bid to gain approval from ICAO to provide air traffic safety (air traffic control) communications.  In November, ICAO's Air Navigation Commission accepted a draft SARPS (standard and recommended practices) document covering the use of Iridium for AMS(R)S (aeronautical mobile satellite service), which should be approved by the ICAO Council in November 2007.  Being able to use Iridium for ATC purposes, of course, could substantially increase its utility.

Constellation Plans

This year, Iridium initiated an engineering study program to develop plans for the next-generation satellite system, despite its estimate that its current satellite constellation should last through 2014. The next step will be to look at the technology and products that will be needed to extend network life for the next two decades and beyond.

"We believe that Iridium is well positioned to continue its rapid market penetration in the aviation industry in the next few years.  We are now by far the largest provider of aeronautical mobile satellite services, and we project continued double-digit growth for the foreseeable future," Mr. Thoma said, while noting that Iridium will announce plans for new aeronautical service offerings in the next few months.  07-14-2006.  (Top)

Philippine Airlines Will Use ARINC's VHF Datalink Service

Philippine Airlines (PAL) will use ARINC's datalink service to extend its flight communications capability on portions of its route network, which includes 31 international and 20 domestic destinations.

Besides adding ARINC's GLOBALink/VHF capability on parts of its transpacific routes and at Bangkok, PAL plans to introduce new datalink applications to improve its operational support capability.  07-11-2006.  (Top)

AOPA Official: ADS-B "Spoofing" Not Big Issue in U.S.

Airservices Australia's recent announcement that it would delay implementing ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) in lower-level airspace has raised concerns about the technology's possible vulnerability to hackers.  But AOPA's chief technical expert says that problem is overblown, at least in the U.S.

In comments posted on AOPA's Website, Randy Kenagy, the Association's senior director of advanced technology, noted that, "Australia was planning on implementing their ADS-B system differently [than the U.S.]," which makes their ADS-B issues different.

In Australia, there had been media reports that ADS-B could be "spoofed" - meaning someone with a laptop computer and the right transmitter could add hundreds of fake ADS-B targets to a controller's screen.

While a concern about unauthorized interference wasn't the official reason for delaying ADS-B in Australia, many observers were left wondering, if not downright skeptical.  Airservices said its decision was related to "a number of operational and policy issues that require resolution".

But Mr. Kenagy insists, spoofing isn't much of an issue in the U.S. both for technical and regulatory reasons.

The FAA plans to require ADS-B infrastructure to include a validation function, meaning the system must have an independent way to ensure that ADS-B targets are legitimate, according to Mr. Kenagy.  Validation is accomplished by looking at the GPS location report and seeing if that data makes sense compared with a position derived from calculating the time it takes for the signal to travel from the aircraft to the ground receiver.

The FAA chose UAT (universal access transceiver) as the ADS-B datalink for general aviation, which Mr. Kenagy says, can technically validate an ADS-B position report, and therefore is difficult to spoof.  Validation of the Mode S ADS-B system is possible as well, Kenagy says, but it's unclear to some in the industry as to how Australia was planning to ensure that an ADS-B position was legitimate, although they undoubtedly had considered the problem.

But is spoofing really that big of an issue?  Consider how easy it is today to spoof an air traffic controller: Someone with an inexpensive aviation radio could pretend to be a controller and issue bogus instructions.  It has happened once or twice, but it certainly isn't a widespread problem, and it didn't wreak havoc with the ATC system.  Radar returns and ILS signals, theoretically, also could be spoofed.  But in more than half a century of ATC experience, that hasn't been a problem either.

"It's easier said than done," said Kenagy, "and pilots and controllers are pretty good at recognizing a problem and working around it."

"However, the fact remains that recent articles in the media have generated enough discussion for AOPA [to check] to ensure that the FAA has their 'validation' strategy well in hand," said Kenagy. "From what we've seen, it appears they do." 07-12-2006.  (Top)

Garmin Adds More Traffic Display Options to ADS-B Transceiver

Garmin International is offering options for its ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) UAT (universal access transceiver) that allows it to interface with more of its navigation units.

With Garmin's new version 2.1 software, its GDL 90 UAT can now send ADS-B and TIS-B (traffic information-broadcast) files to Garmin's 400 and 500 series navigators - including the WAAS (wide area augmentation system)-approved GNS 480 and Garmin's GPSMAP 396.  The company's initial releases of GDL 90 software (versions 1.1 and 2.0) only worked with its MX 20 MFD (multi-function display).

Garmin GDL 90 UAT

Source: Garmin International

Jeppesen Helps Gary/Chicago Airport Create New RNP Procedures

Jeppesen says it has worked with Gary/Chicago International Airport staff and local FAA officials to create two public RNP (required navigation performance) procedures to Runway 12/30 there.

The Runway 30 SAAAR (special aircraft and aircrew authorization required) approach procedure is published and ready for use now; the Runway 12 procedure will be available this coming fall.

The Runway 12 RNP approach will be its first ever IFR procedure because its close proximity to Chicago Midway previously required it to be used only in visual conditions. Now because of the flexibility and accuracy of RNP procedures, a curved approach path to Runway 12 could be created that avoids Midway's airspace.

Gary/Chicago International Airport (KGYY) is located in Gary, Indiana, about 25 miles from downtown Chicago.  Besides these RNP procedures, airport officials are planning a number of other navigation upgrades and a runway extension to make the airport more attractive for business and commercial operators.

Jeppesen is a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, a unit of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.  07-11-2006.  (Top)

Sensis Surface Detection Equipment Operational at Atlanta and St. Louis

Sensis Corporation says its ASDE-X (airport surface detection equipment, model X) is now operational at St. Louis Lambert and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson.

The FAA is implementing ASDE-X at several large airports in the U.S. - primarily to help prevent ground collisions between aircraft, and aircraft with ground vehicles.  The risk of runway incursions, where aircraft or other vehicles inadvertently enter an active runway, has been on the National Transportation Safety Board's Most Wanted list since its inception in 1990.

A processor within Sensis' ASDE-X fuses together a combination of surface movement radar, multilateration and ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast) to provide a comprehensive surveillance picture of the airport surface, along with aircraft identification information.  It also has an integrated display for controllers and what it describes as the world's most advanced runway incursion safety alerting system, called Safety Logic.

In addition to Atlanta and St. Louis, ASDE-X is now deployed at nine U.S. airports and is operational and commissioned at six.  The FAA is in the process of deploying the ASDE-X system at 35 of America's busiest airports.  07-11-2006.  (Top)

Canada's New Porter Airlines Will Use Several ARINC Ops Services

Canada's new regional carrier, Porter Airlines, will use several ARINC operational services, including its VHF datalink communications, and its Web-enabled message management and flight following with weather updates.

Besides ARINC's GLOBALink VHF datalink service for operational communications, Porter will use ARINC's OpCenter to manage its air-and-ground messages via the Web, and automatically deliver PDCs (pre-departure clearances) as well as pertinent airport conditions and weather information directly to the cockpit.

Porter has also chosen ARINC's WebASD that combines aircraft positioning information and en route graphical weather depictions to its operational managers, also via the Web.  In addition, ARINC's AviNet global ground network will carry Porter's traffic messages to Porter's industry and air traffic partners with IBM MQ message assurance.  07-13-2006.  (Top)

British Airways Chooses WSI Hubcast

British Airways will use a weather decision support tool from Weather Services International (WSI) to help its planners deal with changing weather conditions that can adversely affect it hub operations.

WSI Hubcast - which was developed in conjunction with the FAA - provides precise hour-by-hour forecasts of terminal weather conditions.  Besides forecasting selected weather elements that cause airport disruptions such as fog, snow/ice, strong winds and thunderstorms, it has customizable alert thresholds to inform operators of deteriorating conditions, when they need to know it.

BA will use the system internally to monitor London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.  07-12-2006.  (Top)

Flight Explorer Making More Airspace Information Available

Flight Explorer (FE) has released a new version of its Professional Edition that includes real-time FAA traffic flow information.

The latest version (Edition 6.1a) of FE's Profession Edition adds the FAA's Airspace Flow Program (AFP), which is a new TFM (traffic flow management) initiative that the agency introduced in June to replace ground delay programs at multiple airports and to better address delays associated with severe weather airspace constraints.

The AFP is meant to avoid unneeded delays on flights that are not planning to fly through the affected airspace and to more equitably allocate delays among flights that need to fly into the airspace that is constrained.

More information about the FAA's AFP program can be found on the National Business Aircraft Association's Website at http://www.nbaa.org/afp.

Flight Explorer has also added real-time graphical displays of FCAs (flow constrained areas) and FEAs (flow evaluation areas) to Edition 6.1a, to give customers real-time access to this information, so they can make proactive re-routing decisions.  This means 6.1a users can obtain specific details about the floor, ceiling, speed, direction, start and end times, of each area and its purpose, along with average delay time and the reason for the delay.

In addition to these features, FE Professional Edition 6.1a has added enhancements that include new My Fleet Status List functionality, Route Check capabilities and 56-day aviation database updates.

Flight Explorer says it is the only commercial ASD (aircraft situational display) vendor that provides AFP information fully integrated with its flight tracking and management system.  07-11-2006.  (Top)

Northwest Purchases PASSUR ETA Upgrades for all of its Hubs

Megadata Corporation says Northwest Airlines has purchased a subscription to its PASSUR ETA (estimated time of arrival) feed for each of its hubs.

Northwest already uses PASSUR's real-time flight status and airspace visualization application, called FlightPerform, at its hubs and its systems operations center at Minneapolis-St. Paul.

To calculate its ETA, PASSUR uses real-time information from multiple data sources, including flight position information from its own network of radar systems that track the target flight along with other nearby aircraft, and adjust their arrival estimates for current and historic airspace conditions.

Jeffrey D. Hart, Northwest's director of customer service, said the airline was able to demonstrate with quantifiable data that PASSUR ETA improved several key Northwest operational and customer metrics, and that the PASSUR method of ETA calculation was "significantly" better than the method the airline had been using previously.

Mr. Hart said Northwest did its own analysis of over 13,000 flights at Minneapolis airport, with 7718 flights measured before PASSUR implementation, and 6063 flights measured after implementation. The study found that:

• Before PASSUR, 25% of estimates (1930 flights) were off by 5+ minutes; after PASSUR, only 1% of estimates (61 flights) had the same variance.

• Before PASSUR, 5% of estimates (386 flights) were off by 10+ minutes; after PASSUR less than 1% of estimates were off by 10+ minutes.

• PASSUR is most helpful during irregular operations, and doesn't suffer a degradation of ETA accuracy, as was the case with other methods during the same conditions.

• During one day of irregular operations, 64% of flights would have shown a better ETA with PASSUR than with the old method and only 1% would have been worse off with PASSUR.

07-09-2006.  (Top)

Boeing Says No Paint on B-787 Nacelles Will Reduce Fuel Burn

Boeing has made a subtle but important change to the B-787's livery to enhance its performance by developing a method for maintaining a smooth flow of air - known as laminar flow - over a greater area of the aircraft's engine nacelle inlet.

The purpose is to reduce aircraft drag and fuel consumption.

Ron Hinderberger, the 787 program's propulsion leader, says that 787 nacelle has a tightly controlled smooth surface to preserve laminar flow over a greater distance than that on a standard design, and adds: "Aircraft drag is reduced because laminar flow has much lower skin friction drag than turbulent flow."

To achieve laminar flow over the inlet it is necessary to maintain a very smooth, continuous surface without paint edges, which can occur when paint transitions from one color to another, or as paint details are added.  The design parameter for the nacelles is based on thickness of the paint formulation for a single color; Boeing has chosen gray to complement the metallic appearance of the nacelle's inlet.

According to Mr. Hinderberger, interrupting laminar flow by adding paint layers, which has been common with airline liveries, can increase fuel burn by 30,000 gallons per year per airplane.  07-11-2006.  (Top)

Mexicana leased a new CFM56-5B4/P-powered A320-200 from ILFC that will be delivered in May 2007.  07-15-2006.

TWC Aviation added two Premier Is and a King Air B200 to its FAA air carrier certificate.  All will be based in Phoenix.  07-15-2006.

ANA sold six of its 23 B-747-400s to Avion Aircraft Trading of Iceland.  The Japanese carrier has been replacing the 400s with B-777-300s.  ANA also plans to retire two 747-400s per year starting next year.  07-15-2006.

Kenya Airways took delivery of a leased B-767-300, making it the seventh of the type in its fleet.  07-15-2006.

Kuwait's Jazeera Airways took delivery of its third and fourth A320s, out of an order for ten.  The airline also has options for an additional six.  07-15-2006.

Taiwan's Mandarin Airlines will lease three Embraer 190s and five 195s from GECAS with deliveries scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2007.  They will replace Mandarin's existing fleet of F100s and F50s.  07-15-2006.

Ryanair ordered another 10 B-737NGs with deliveries to begin in 2008.  The aircraft will be fitted with blended winglets.  07-15-2006.

Toronto-based, charter carrier Sunwing Airlines took delivery of its third B-737-800.  07-15-2006.

Viva Macau will lease a B-767-200ER and a B-767-300 from AWAS.  Viva Macau plans to launch a low-fare, long-haul service later this year.  07-15-2006.

China Southern Airlines confirmed it will get 50 A320s as its allocation from the Chinese government's previous order of 150 A320 family aircraft.  Deliveries will occur in 2009 and 2010.  07-15-2006.

Primaris Airlines has postponed plans to order the 20 B-787-8s and 20 B-737-800s it had originally committed to in October 2004.  07-15-2006.  (Top)

Boeing Projects $2.6 Trillion Market for New Commercial Airplanes

Boeing's newest market forecast projects a $2.6 trillion market for new commercial airplanes over the next 20 years to accommodate a 4.9 percent annual increase in passenger traffic, and a 6.1 percent annual increase in air cargo traffic.

The Boeing Company's 2006 Current Market Outlook estimates a need for approximately 27,200 new commercial airplanes (passenger and freighter), doubling the world fleet by 2025.  The vast majority of these new airplanes will be in the single-aisle (100-240 seats) and twin-aisle (200-400 seats) categories.

On a delivery-dollar basis, Boeing sees the Asia-Pacific region being the largest market, with 36 percent of the $2.6 trillion total.  North America will make up 28 percent of the delivery dollars and Europe will make up 24 percent.  Latin America, the Middle East and Africa will represent a total of 12 percent of the delivery dollars between 2006 and 2025.

The Market Outlook projects that single-aisle and twin-aisle airplanes in the 100 to 400-seat categories will account for almost all of the growth in air travel during this period.

Over the next 20 years, according to Boeing forecasters, airlines will take delivery of approximately:

• 3,450 regional jets (90 seats and below).

• 16,540 single-aisle airplanes (100-240 seats, dual class).

• 6,230 twin-aisle airplanes (200-400 seats, tri-class).

• 990 airplanes 747-size or larger (more than 400 seats, tri-class).

Combined with the retained fleet, these new deliveries will result in a world commercial airplanes fleet of nearly 36,000 airplanes by 2025.  07-15-2006.  (Top)

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) say that its reporting airlines carried 238.9 million system passengers during the January to April period of 2006, up from the 237.8 million carried during the same period in 2005.  The passengers were carried on 3.41 million flights, down 4.8% from the 3.58 million flights operated in the first four months of 2005.

U.S. airlines carried 62.8 million system passengers during April 2006, up from the 62.2 million carried during April 2005.  The passengers were carried on 856,700 flights, down 7.0 percent from the 921,300 flights operated in April 2005.

Other total system comparisons from the first four months of 2005 to the first four months of 2006 and from April 2005 to April 2006 are as follows:

• RPMs (revenue passenger miles), a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 2.1% in the first four months.  In April, RPMs were up 3.6 percent.

• ASMs (available seat-miles), a measure of airline capacity using the number of seats and the distance flown, were down 1.4% in the first four months.  In April, ASMs were down 1.5 percent.

• Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 2.5 load factor points to 77.7% in the first four months.  In April, load factor was up 4.0 load factor points to 80.8%.

• Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 3.1% in the first four months.  In April, flight stage length was up 4.5%.

• Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 1.6% in the first four months.  In April, passenger trip length was up  2.8%.

U.S. Domestic System

U.S. airlines carried 210.4 million domestic passengers during the first four months of 2006, up from the 210.0 million carried during the same period in 2005.  The passengers were carried on 3.13 million flights, down 5.3% from the 3.30 million flights operated in the first four months of 2005.

In April 2006, the airlines carried 55.4 million domestic passengers, up from the 55.3 million carried during April 2005.  The passengers were carried on 783,900 flights, down 7.7% from the 849,200 flights operated in April 2005.

The following are other domestic comparisons from the first four months of 2005 to the first four months of 2006 and from April 2005 to April 2006. (Comparisons for April may be affected by the Easter holiday, which was in March in 2005 but in April in 2006.)

• Domestic RPMs were up 1.6% in the first four months.  In April, domestic RPMs were up 2.5%.

• ASMs were down 2.8% in the first four months.  In April, domestic ASMs were down 3.4%.

• Domestic passenger load factor was up 3.4 load factor points to 78.0% in the first four months.  In April, domestic load factor was up 4.7 load factor points to 81.4%.

• Domestic flight stage length was up 2.6% in the first four months.  In April, domestic flight stage length was up 3.7%.

• Domestic passenger trip length was up 1.4% in the first four months.  In April, domestic passenger trip length was up 2.4%.

Additional BTS traffic numbers are available at http://www.transtats.bts.gov/.  07-15-2007.

Airbus had 12 orders for four A319s, six A320s and two A318s in June for a total of 12, up from a total of six in May and nine in April. The company's total first-half sales were 117, comprised of 96 narrowbodies and 21 widebodies.

Boeing made the following major program deliveries in 2006, including those under operating lease (which are identified by parenthesis):

Source: Boeing

07-15-2006.

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) says the 20 carriers reporting on-time performance  recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 78.3% in May, down from both May 2005's 83.7% on-time record and April 2006's 78.4 percent.

Causes of Flight Delays

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