Wage optimism yet to crystallize

Philadelphia is the latest airport to start looking at wage rates and remuneration for its staff.

Despite the fact that an executive order was signed some weeks ago by the town’s mayor, at the time of writing no tangible progress had been made in moving the statutory wage from US$7.50 an hour up to US$10.88.

The order actually applies to any bids or proposals issued after May 20, and starting January 1, all proposals and contracts will include a US$12 an hour minimum wage requirement. However, city officials have said that they cannot enforce current contractors and subcontractors to pay the minimum wage until new contracts are signed. In the interim, the service employees union, SEIU 32BJ, which represents the airport workers, is pressurizing City Hall and airlines to force subcontractors employing cabin cleaners and wheelchair attendants to comply with the order.

Mass cargo handling: cause for concern?

The coming Air Cargo Advance Screening Program has had a lengthy gestation but there are still those who are worried that testing has not been as thorough as it could be. In this respect the Airforwarders Association, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders’ Association, the Express Delivery and Logistics Association and The International Air Cargo Association have all contacted the TSA and the Customs and Border Protection to voice their fears.

The problem seems to revolve around the fact that whilst ACAS has been operating as a pilot program, it has only been with a very small number of forwarding companies, and working out of a limited number of locations.

There is, though, plenty of evidence to suggest that Congress is keen to see the ACAS concept adopted, despite the fact that further testing may be desirable.

Sao Paulo automation coming

Come August, travelers passing through São Paulo International in Guarulhos who are over the age of 18 and have an electronic passport will be able to take full control of their terminal experience. This will be made possible through the automated border control eGates that are being installed in terminals 2 and 3 at the airport. These work through the expedient of facial recognition and secure documents to provide passengers with an autonomous experience that is divorced from contact with the federal police.

The most trusted…?

We all know that carriers enjoy their catchphrases but once these take the form of statements of fact rather than aspirations, what then? Can an airline legally claim hold of something as intangible as a description, especially one that is open to conjecture? Delta certainly thinks so – which is why it is in the process of trying to trademark the epithet of “The world’s most trusted airline.”

Is it?

And if it is successful in its bid, will a traveler be more likely to opt for the Delta experience in the future?

Environmental progress for Air Transat

Air Transat has become the first US carrier to complete the initial stage of IATA’s Environmental Assessment (IEnvA) Program. The voluntary program is based on the core principles of compliance with environmental obligations and a commitment to continual environmental management improvement. Adopting the standard IEnvA procedures and recommended practises, says IATA, allows an airline to focus resources on improving its environmental performance rather than having to develop an Environmental Management System from scratch.

The actual program follows a two-stage implementation approach which involves a detailed assessment of flight operations, corporate and management activities that allows for early recognition of environmental management achievements. In this manner Air Transat joins the likes of Finnair, South African Airways, LAN, LAN Cargo, Malaysia Airlines and Kenya Airways as the only airlines so far to have achieved Stage 1 certification.

AA in agreement

American Airlines Group has said that it has reached a tentative agreement with mechanics and ground workers at its partner US Airways. The airline confirmed that the three-year contract agreements will be subject to member ratification and that they will cover 11,000 workers who are represented by the International Association of Machinists.

This union, it should be noted, was the only labor group at US Airways and American Airlines that did not publicly support the merger.

The Transport Workers Union represents both mechanics and ground workers at the pre-merger American Airlines. The machinists and the transport workers had previously agreed to represent the work groups jointly after the merger, and after the machinist groups had received a new contract.

On time ratings improve

The US’s largest carriers posted an on-time arrival rate of 79.6% in April. This represented an improvement on both the 77.3% on-time figure recorded in April 2013 and the 77.6% on-time rate posted in March 2014, says the latest US Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report. The reporting carriers canceled 1.1% of their scheduled domestic flights in April: this was down from both the 1.8% cancellation rate posted in April 2013 and the 1.9% rate declared in March 2014.

Two new beneficiaries from IAG

Global businesses are set to benefit as Montevideo in Uruguay and Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic are added to IAG Cargo’s worldwide network, which comprises more than 350 destinations in total. Flights to the two new cities will start on September 1 and will build on the strength of the IAG Cargo network in Latin America, which will grow to 16 destinations. The new routes will be served from IAG Cargo’s hub in Madrid by Iberia Airbus A330 and A340-300 aircraft. Each flight will deliver between 9.4 and 12.7 tonnes of capacity on the Madrid–Santo Domingo route, and between 6.5 and 11.7 tonnes of capacity on the Madrid–Montevideo route.

SMS at core of new standard

The National Air Transportation Association, along with the International Business Aviation Council, has announced the creation of the International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (known as IS-BAH).

This represents a set of global industry best practices for business aviation ground handlers, at the heart of which lies a safety management system. The IS-BAH follows the long-established structure of the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations Program and incorporates NATA’s Safety 1st Ground Audit Program. IS-BAH is set to provide standardization to handlers and operators around the world to meet the coming SMS requirements that have been mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

De-icer and distributor to form venture

Integrated De-icing Services and GTA Aviation have announced the formation of a strategic agreement to develop new business opportunities within Canada.

Both companies are industry innovators, with IDS widely considered as one of the most technologically advanced independent providers of de-icing/anti-icing services. The company is presently de-icing aircraft at 15 airports in the US and Europe. IDS also operates the largest fleet of forced-air de-icing trucks in the world and has twice earned a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest Growing Companies. GTA is a leading global distributor of high quality ground support equipment. The Canadian company offers a wide variety of new and refurbished ground handling equipment to airlines and airport authorities in dozens of countries.

Better boarding: time for change?

What’s the best way to board an aircraft?

It’s a thorny issue, and probably one that has dogged the sector’s logistics experts for many a year. A recent survey from the GO Group has found that the most favored method, at 55% of the vote, was that of boarding from the back. This was deemed most efficient of all, along with boarding from window seat to aisle seat, although there were other methods suggested.

Almost 300 people were sampled for the study, which was conducted in response to news some airlines have been testing boarding from back to front as well as outside in, with window passengers first, then middle seats then aisles.

Other suggestions included a desire that carry-ons be placed in bins above the owner, rather than being scattered around the cabin. Random boarding was also put forward as a method worthy of adoption, on the basis that everything is spread out and therefore bottlenecks would not occur.

The findings, though, don’t look as if they are going to change the status quo. After all, whether boarding is conducted from the back or front is immaterial provided that row numbers are clearly called out and, perhaps more importantly, travellers actually follow the boarding instructions in the first place…