Tag Archives for FAA.
The American plane, a 22 year old Boeing 777-200 (registration N754AN) crossed in front of the Delta jet that was in its takeoff roll. Air traffic control saw this happening and at almost the last possible moment called out to Delta to abort takeoff, out of fear the two planes would collide (“Shit! Delta 1943 cancel takeoff clearance!”).
We know a little bit more than was immediately available when this incident was first disclosed.
The FAA’s NOTAM system, which alerts about procedures and risks in flight, went down and the failure has led to hours-long delays and possible flight cancellations even as the air travel delay begins.
Several hundred delays have already been logged domestically before 6 a.m. Eastern. The FAA reports that “Technicians are currently working to restore the system,” but had no further comment beyond what was listed on their website.
Politics is like professional wresting. What you see is rarely real. Take, for instance, six Democratic Senators urging the FAA to bar airlines from further reducing legroom and seat width. These Senators aren’t calling for more passenger space. They are calling for passengers to not have less space. In other words, they demand the status quo!
The American Airlines electronic submission was on letterhead that did not include the carrier’s mailing address at 1 Skyview Dr, Fort Worth, Texas. It also did not list.. a fax number.
As the government explains, 14 CFR § 11.81 requires listing “[y]our name and mailing address, and, if you wish, other contact information such as a fax number, telephone number, or email address.” Since the FAA doesn’t know where to find American Airlines, and didn’t think to ask the agency’s own American Airlines Certificate Management Office, they declined to consider the request to place doors on business class seats.
President Biden’s nominee to head the FAA, Phil Washington, had a warrant served this morning in the criminal case involving his previous role at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority.
A consumer group, Flyers Rights, is seeking to have the courts compel the FAA to impose minimum seat size standards. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit heard this argument today.
The only effect it could have is to outlaw the Frontier Airlines-Spirit Airlines business model and reduce price competition against American, United, Delta and Southwest.
Newly certified aircraft have to have upgraded alert systems for pilots. Issues with the Boeing 737 MAX MAX that led to the Lion Air and Ethiopian crashes are, in part, addressed by mandatory new alerts for pilots that will apply to all newly-certified aircraft types. But unless the FAA agrees to exempt the Boeing 737 MAX 10 from this requirement, which they can only do by the end of 2022, Boeing’s CEO says they’ll walk away from the plane project and all of the orders it represents.
The U.S. takes longer to build projects, and spends more to build similar projects, than other countries. A new example from the FAA is a great illustration of why. Here’s what the FAA has required from SpaceX to move forward with its Starship rocket program – and the government is actually bragging about it in a press release.
It’s all either a trumped up non-issue, or an aviation apocalypse, depending on whom you ask. The worry is that C-band 5G at the power and frequency that will be used in the U.S. could send confusing signals to radio altimeters in aircraft, leading to confusion over the altitude at which the plane is flying, and problems for other systems in some aircraft like Boeing 777s as well. What’s going on here?
At an internal company meeting, American Airlines CEO described airlines’ ‘hair on fire’ resulting from the FAA’s plan to impose flight restrictions as a result of the FCC allowing 5G C-band rollout.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
