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Tags: Flight Delays / Airline News / FAA / → All Tags
FAA Glitch Delays Flights Across USA This Morning
Flying this morning? If you're reading this from a US airport, then you may have already noticed some flights showing up red with delays on the departure screens. The reason is an "FAA glitch" where their computer systems are having issues with processing flight plans, causing the FAA to process flight plans manually and significantly slowing down the system, since we rely on computer so much for this sort of high-volume, fast-paced work.
Although the back-up during the outage is being quickly dealt with and air traffic control is not affected, delays to departing flights are to be expected throughout this morning, especially at Atlanta-Hartsfied Jackson Airport, where the issue was first noticed.
Tags: FAA / United / US Airways / American Airliens / Southwest / Airline News / . Airlines / → All Tags
FAA Launches Campaign Of Penalties And Fines Against US Airlines
The Federal Aviation Administration has reached back to the beginning of 2008, contemplated the record, and decided to fine United and US Airways over $9 million dollars for safety lapses. The government agency is letting it be known that these penalties are just the beginning and that the entire industry is now on notice. Larger fines and penalties against American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are probably pending:
Tags: JetAmerica / New Routes / New Airlines / LCCs / Delays / FAA / → All Tags
The Battle Rages: JetAmerica Versus The FAA
And the JetAmerica drama continues, as more details about their issues with the FAA emerge, and the struggle for landing slots continues. An article published yesterday in the Toledo Blade not only names the dates when JetAmerica's web began to unravel, but also quotes the Port Authority as being "not that optimistic" about the carrier.
So remember back when JetAmerica boasted of selling 20,000 tickets in their first 48 hours of having their website active? It turns that this publicity, and their May 27 press release even announcing their ticket sales, were the straws that broke the camel's back; they caused the FAA to contact JetAmerica and inquire about exactly what their plans were for landing slots, since they now needed them as an obviously regularly-scheduled carrier.
Tags: Flight Paths / Flight Tracking / Art / Aaron Koblin / FAA / Wired / Geek Travel / → All Tags
Aaron Koblin's Haunting Flight Paths Project
This is a screencap from an interactive Google Map created by artist Aaron Koblin, representing the 205,000 aircrafts the FAA tracked on August 12, 2008. In this case, we've filtered the air traffic by model, so each color represents a different one of the 573 aircrafts that flew that day. The flight paths are darker as the planes maintain their altitude and brighter the closer they are to the ground.
The work emerges as part of a collaboration between Koblin, Wired, and flight tracker FlightView. Koblin took images from his larger Flight Paths project and layered them, creating the interactive map.
You can go to the main project page and play around with the real version. You can choose your own filters, zooming in and out of your favorite city, and even look at the paths of specific aircraft.
Tags: Airlines / Airline News / Airline Travel / FAA / → All Tags
Pilots Say Parsimonious Airline Fuel Allotments Getting Out of Hand
Oil prices may have eased somewhat in the past couple of weeks, but they're still pretty lofty, causing airlines to do everything they can to keep costs down. Some airline pilots, however, feel that their bosses are going too far, forcing them to fly with less fuel than they'd like to, and possibly compromising customer safety
As the AP points out in a recent news item, pilots are increasingly complaining to government authorities about management scrimping on fuel on certain flights, causing a few white knuckles in the cockpit as the needle drifts perilously near the red. In February, for example, a 747 captain reported burning extra fuel over the Atlantic on his way to JFK due to headwinds, but being rebuffed by his airline overlords when he discussed a refueling stop. The flight landed safely at JFK, but the captain said it was just too close for comfort.
The airlines say that flights always have sufficient fuel, and U.S. authorities are reluctant to get involved. But our own pilot friends have complained of this exact phenomena numerous times: "I didn't have enough fuel to wait in the pattern at JFK so I had to reroute to Philly," or "They're flying smaller jets on transatlantic routes now to save money, and they sometimes have to declare fuel emergencies on approach because they can't afford to wait in line to land."
We're content to leave this to the experts to work out, but would certainly hope our next flight has a few extra gallons to burn, just in case.
Related Stories:
· Whiney Pilots Complain that Stingy Airlines are Forcing Them to Fly Uncomfortably Low on Fuel [Consumerist]
· Pilots Forced to Fly Low on Fuel Worry About Safety [AP via Newsday]
· Airline News [Jaunted]
[Photo: Modern Mechanix]
Tags: Air Traffic Control / Bobby Sturgell / FAA / Videos / → All Tags
Not Breaking: FAA Takes Recruiting to YouTube
While everyone's suddenly talking about the fact that the FAA is recruiting high schoolers to work as air traffic controllers, the truth is that the agency's been at it for some time. Just check The YouTube, where this low-budget ad has been knocking around for more than a year.
CNN just caught wind of it and invited Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell to comment:
We're targeting a new generation, and we're trying to connect with them where they are ... 18-year-olds today can go off to war and serve this country, so we will train the folks we hire, and we will make sure they're fully certified.
If these are the best ads the FAA can put together, it's no wonder they have to offer six-figure signing bonuses to recruit youngins.
Related Stories:
· Teen Air Traffic Controllers? [CNN, via]
· Senator Sez: NYC's Airports Still a Mess [Jaunted]
· Secretary Mary Peters Wants to Touch That Paper [Jaunted]
