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FAA seeks to avoid Dreamliner repeat by tightening supply chain regulation
TransportU.S. regulators want to tighten oversight of aircraft-industry suppliers, such as the subcontractors that helped Boeing Co. design and build the 787’s batteries, to reflect lessons learned from the plane’s grounding. The Federal Aviation Administration also plans to seek outside reviews of its certification of new aircraft designs, Associate Administrator Margaret Gilligan said in testimony prepared [...]
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U.S. airlines’ on-time rate dropped below 80 percent this March
TransportThe government says that fewer flights arrived on time and more were canceled in March than a year ago, but fewer passengers lodged formal complaints against the airlines. The Transportation Department said Wednesday that 79.8 percent of flights arrived within 14 minutes of schedule in March. That’s down from 82.2 percent in March 2012. Hawaiian [...]
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Airline groups split on in-flight mobile use, not enough data on interference
TransportThe regional airliner was climbing past 9,000 feet when its compasses went haywire, leading pilots several miles off course until a flight attendant persuaded a passenger in row 9 to switch off an Apple Inc. iPhone. “The timing of the cellphone being turned off coincided with the moment where our heading problem was solved,” the [...]
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Air traffic control towers on FAA hit list to stay open for now
TransportTower(s) to the people. Some 149 air traffic control towers, initially slated to be shuttered in April because of sequester-manadated budget cuts, will remain open at least through the end of the year, the DOT announced. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that there is enough funding in the recently enacted Reducing Flight Delays Act of [...]
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Did the FAA get too cozy with US Airways in maintenance probe?
TransportDocuments and testimony produced in a case against two US Airways mechanics for allegedly falsifying maintenance documents involving inspections of Airbus A-319 aircraft indicate that FAA regulators may have crossed ethical lines in sharing enforcement information with USAirways in the course of a related, major investigation of its maintenance practices. According to the February 20, [...]
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American Airlines settles FAA safety claims for $24.9 million
TransportAmerican Airlines has agreed to pay $24.9 million to settle $162 million in potential fines that were proposed by U.S. safety regulators. American called the payment “a reasonable resolution” to the Federal Aviation Administration’s claims that it had violated safety regulations involving electrical wiring on planes and other issues. The airline’s parent company, AMR Corp., [...]
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Lots of people forget to turn off digital devices on flight says study
TransportMore and more flyers are taking their portable digital devices on flights, that much is obvious. If they own them, they will take them on the plane, of course. Now a new survey by Airline Passenger Experience Association and the Consumer Electronics Association puts some numbers behind the trend, and have discovered some interesting findings, [...]
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New airline ticket taxes: Who will pay, travelers or taxpayers?
TransportA $300 domestic airline ticket now includes about $60 in taxes — or 20 percent of the total fare — which pays for things like air traffic controllers, airport improvements, customs and immigration inspections and checkpoint screening. President Obama, in his 2014 budget request, has proposed increases in many of those taxes, a move that [...]
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FAA’s lax oversight of plane repair shops revealed in government audit
TransportOversight of aircraft repair stations by U.S. aviation regulators is marred by inspectors who haven’t been trained and a system that can’t identify the areas of highest risk, according to a government audit. Independent repair shops, used increasingly by airlines trying to cut costs, couldn’t account for tools, document the training of their mechanics and [...]
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Lawmakers surprised that FAA ends furloughs but still may close towers
TransportThe furor over the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) sequester budget cuts has receded from the fever pitch it reached during flight delays at the end of April, but the agency’s plan will continue to hit bumps as lawmakers turn their attention to air traffic control towers. Forty-one senators have written the FAA to push the [...]
