Legislation
Transportation bill includes higher fees for airline and cruise passengers -- The House on Thursday approved a 5-year, $305 billion bill that boosts highway and transit spending and assures states that federal help will be available for major projects. Senate approval was expected to follow later on Thursday. If the bill becomes law as expected, costs will rise for airline and cruise passengers. Customs fees will be indexed to inflation, and the money will be used to help offset the cost of highway and transit programs. Joan Lowy/AP Related: A4A denounces CBP offset in highway funding bill
Will Congress lead the way on airport reform? -- It's no secret that America's airports are decaying, crumbling and in the words of Donald Trump, resemble those of third world nations. According to the most recent report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers, on a letter scale of A to F conditions at America's airports received a grade of D. Congress can and should address this issue by eliminating the federal airline tax and allowing as well as municipalities to collect sufficient funds to modernize their airports. Christopher Versace/Forbes
Airports
Alaska to launch Los Angeles-Gunnison service, resume seasonal Steamboat Springs and Sun Valley flights -- Alaska Airlines announced a new route linking Los Angeles to Gunnison/Crested Butte, Colorado, as well as the resumption of seasonal flights to Steamboat Springs and Sun Valley. Passengers on these flights, which go to some of the Western United States' best ski destinations, will get free skiing by showing their boarding pass at ten resorts including Big Sky Resort, Mammoth Mountain Resort, Steamboat Ski & Resort, and Sun Valley Resort. Jesse Sokolow/Frequent Business Traveler
Editorial: Noise law at airport takes off on new path -- For a couple of decades now, the Airport Noise Compatibility Ordinance has been the Holy Grail for groups fighting to limit Long Beach Airport activity - in particular, anything that might mean more commercial flights. The ordinance was cited pretty much constantly in the long battle over how to modernize the airport terminal, and it was waved like a flag earlier this year when JetBlue made a request to consider allowing international flights in and out of Long Beach. "No more than 41 flights" was the cry. Long Beach Gazette 
SFO Airport director John L. Martin announces retirement after 20 years -- John L. Martin has served as the San Francisco International Airport Director for 20 years, but he's announced plans to retire this summer, according to airport officials. Martin was appointed by San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan in 1995, overseeing the construction of the International Terminal as part of a $3.5 billion capital plan that was at one point the largest public construction project in the nation. Bay City News Service
Philadelphia mayor-elect names leaders for airport and parks -- Mayor-elect Jim Kenney on Thursday named Rochelle L. "Chellie" Cameron CEO of Philadelphia International Airport and Kathryn Ott Lovell commissioner of Parks and Recreation. Cameron, who presently oversees the day-to-day operations at the airport as chief operating officer, will succeed Mark E. Gale, who announced on Monday that he will retire as CEO in January. "There are few in the aviation industry with more experience and expertise than Chellie Cameron," Kenney said in a statement. Tricia L. Nadolny & Linda Loyd/Philadelphia Inquirer
DFW Airport CEO given $127,462.50 bonus and 3 percent pay raise -- Dallas/Fort Worth Airport CEO Sean Donohue is getting a six-figure bonus in addition to a 3 percent pay raise for guiding the airport through a successful 2015 fiscal year. The DFW Airport board on Thursday approved the $127,462.50 payment - equal to 28.125 percent of his salary - that was part of an incentive compensation plan. Donohue and his executive team achieved six of the 10 goals set out for the last fiscal year, including increasing international seat capacity and improving customer survey scores. Andrea Ahles/Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Airlines
Virgin America: We love New York but here's why we can't use all our slots -- San Francisco-based Virgin America said it's constrained in New York because it holds just a handful of slots at the region's three major airports. Yet Virgin America "is not even using all the New York slots it already has," Delta Chief Legal Officer Peter Carter wrote recently in a letter to federal regulators. He generally urged retention of the existing slot policy, which "ensures that slots can continue to be allocated to their most efficient use through unrestricted market transactions." Ted Reed/The Street Related: Delta to rivals: Stop whining, we spent years acquiring our N.Y. slots
Spirit Airlines maintains its long standing business thesis as new competitive dynamics unfold --Despite encountering investor trepidation during 2015 for its rapidly declining unit revenues, Spirit Airlines continues to trumpet the resilience of its ultra low cost business model. The airline is stressing the ULCC concept has only touched the surface in the United States, and much runway remains to stimulate traffic with its low fares. Centre for Aviation Related: Growing Spirit Airlines now at 17 nonstop routes from Atlanta 
Southwest Air lets couple use jet for birth announcement -- Rejection has never really worried Jay Patel. "I just like taking chances," he said. Five years ago, Patel convinced a hot air balloon pilot in Longview to take him up so he could propose to his girlfriend, Payal. "I kind of became a celebrity in Longview," he said. "Everyone was like, 'I saw you in the paper!'" So when Payal got pregnant recently, the Patels had an idea for a birth announcement. "It was kind of both of our ideas, of wanting to do a travel theme announcement," he said. Jason Whitely/WFAA
Alaska Airlines will give you a new seating option in 2016: Premium Class -- Alaska Airlines will offer a new seating option next year between coach and first class. It's calling the seating category premium class. In a conference call Thursday, Alaska Air Group Executive Vice President Andrew Harrison said that the new class will offer more legroom and benefits for passengers beyond what's offered in coach, and could add $85 million to Alaska's bottom line by 2018. Steve Wilhelm/Puget Sound Business Journal
Brazil's airline dreams burst as deep recession cripples travel -- The new terminal at Viracopos airport outside Sao Paulo cost $800 million in an effort to create Latin America's largest hub -- bigger than London's Heathrow by 2042. But its vast, gleaming corridors, planned at the peak of Brazil's bull years, are virtually empty except for staff as the country slogs through its worst recession in a quarter century. Unemployment reached 7.9 percent in October, and the economy isn't expected to turn around until 2017 at the earliest. Fabiola Moura/Bloomberg Business
Shanghai Disneyland could send China's airline shares into lift-off mode, says Citi -- It may be time to jump aboard Chinese airline stocks. Analysts at Citi are forecasting better conditions ahead for the sector, citing the debut of Shanghai Disneyland, plummeting fuel prices and the awakening of the travel bug among millions of newly -affluent Chinese as positive factors that are beginning to line up in its favour. The rosier outlook, however, contrasts with what's been for much of its recent history a hazardous flight path for the sector. Jessie Lau/South China Morning Post
American Airlines COO talks integration progress and what's next -- American Airlines chief operating officer Robert Isom said the airline has made "incredible" progress in its integration a week before the second annual anniversary of its merger with US Airways merger. As an example, he said "operationally, we had our best Thanksgiving holiday I think in the combined company's history and in the predecessor companies as well." Sheryl Jean/Dallas Morning News
Top secret airline is looking for a pilot to make daily flights to Area 51 -- The X-Files will be back on television in January for a six-episode run and, just in case you needed another reason to channel your inner Fox Mulder, America's only top-secret airline may be hiring again, too. Janet Airlines, which flies from from Las Vegas to a number of government sites, is reportedly looking for a pilot for its Boeing 737 aircraft. Jelisa Castrodale/Road Warrior Voices
FAA
FAA worried Christmas Day drone operators won't know rules -- An army of small drones are heading for the national airspace this holiday season - many of them hiding in closets and gift-wrapped boxes under Christmas trees. The flood of new aircraft - and new pilots - is expected as federal officials are preparing to tighten their grip on drone fliers. The Federal Aviation Administration said in October it would require registration of drones and a task force made recommendations for the registration system for small drones in November. Kellie Mejdrich/Govtech.com
Visa Travel
Amid terror attacks and threats, will US visa waiver program reforms improve domestic security or stop tourism economy? -- Smartphone and souvenir bag in hand, Rob Dockerty stood on Wall Street in New York City's lower Manhattan Wednesday, facing south under light rain. "We arrived Sunday," the 23-year-old English tourist said as he snapped a photo of the New York Stock Exchange and the nearby towering Christmas tree, with his mom and dad in tow. "We've been everywhere: The Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center, the 9/11 memorial." Clark Mindock/International Business Times
San Bernardino shooting prompts calls for visa restrictions -- The woman who helped kill 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino on Wednesday arrived in the United States last year on a special visa reserved for the fianc�s of U.S. citizens. The attack has brought new attention to the previously obscure K1 visa program, with some advocates for stricter immigration enforcement calling for investigations into the nation's visa screening process and calling for the U.S. to halt its Syrian refugee program. Kate Linthicum & Cindy Carcamo/Los Angeles Times
Aviation Data & Analysis
World Airline Passenger Demand Up 7.5% October 2015
Courtesy Oliver Wyman PlaneStats
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