Friday, December 31, 2010

What’s in store for 2011

  1. Airbus A380 returns to LAX
    1. After working out engine problems, Qantas will announce resumption of A380 service from LAX to Sydney and Melbourne in January 2011.
    2. Singapore Airlines will replace a Boeing 747-400 with an A380 on the LAX-Tokyo Narita-Singapore route effective May 27, 2011. This may not pressure ANA or Japan Airlines to buy A380’s as ANA is adding non-stop service to Tokyo-Haneda service. Delta is also adding a Haneda service with a Boeing 747-400 on February 19, 2011.

  1. More international flights
    1. Turkish Airlines to LAX-Istanbul, Turkey, March 3, 2011.
    2. American Airlines (April 5) and United Airlines (May 20) to Shanghai, China
    3. Iberia to add LAX-Madrid, Spain service in April 20, 2011. Iberia returns to LAX after serving LAX from 1984 to 1997. The addition of this service is due to the US anti-trust approval of the trans-Atlantic joint venture of American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia Airlines.
    4. Mexicana may return to LAX if revived by late January 2011.
    5. Note that none of these new flights are due to a subsidy from the City of Los Angeles to the airlines (This is a common practice used by other US airports to lure British Airways and Lufthansa to add international flights).

  1. LAX Master Plan Yellow Light Projects. Now on its third Mayor and fourth Executive Director, the LAX Master Plan is again mired in controversy with proposals to move the north runway 400 feet closer to the Westchester/Playa del Rey community. These proposals again will delay completion of “modernizing” LAX because of LAX’s failure to work with the community to come up with win-win solutions. There are ways to make LAX safe and efficient without moving runways, noise, traffic and pollution closer to residential areas. If the downtown LA business community is smart, then they will stop pushing the same lies that LAX is losing flights to other airports and that the LAX north airfield is unsafe. Instead, they should work with Westchester/Playa del Rey in coming up with the win-win solutions that do not move runways north. Joe Czyzyk, are you reading this? If the business community does not understand that quality of life is important to have an attractive business climate, then they are heartless.

  1. Ontario International Airport. More movement will be seen to put ONT back in the operational control of the City of Ontario.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

More posts coming soon!

This blog has been neglected awhile due to certain life events, but more posts will be coming soon!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Emirates to add flight to LAX

Emirates Airline, the fast growing Middle East airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, plans to begin non-stop service from Dubai to LAX using Boeing 777-200 LR (long range) equipment beginning September 1, 2008.

According to Aviation Week, the new route will help connect the movie industries in Hollywood and Dubai.

Link to Aviation Week story:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/EMIRA03138.xml&headline=Emirates%20Chooses%20LAX%20As%20Third%20U.S.%20Gateway&channel=comm

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Kim Day may head DIA

Kim Day, former LAWA Executive Director, has been selected by the Mayor of Denver to run Denver International Airport.

Day is expected to lead an expansion effort for DIA and also attract service to Asia.

Note to L.A. Chamber of Commerce- If Denver adds a non-stop to Tokyo, that does not mean that LAX loses a flight. What is does mean is that the international commercial aviation market is growing. Whatever airline adds that service is bringing in another airplane, not taking one away from LAX. LAX will actually gain seats to Tokyo with a Denver-Tokyo flight because there won't be Denver passengers transferring via LAX to Tokyo and spending $3 at Starbucks in Terminal 2, 4, 6 or the Tom Bradley International Terminal.

Links:
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_8002559
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/17/l-airport-veteran-frontrunner-lead-dia/

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Nov. 28: A380 return visit to LAX

According to the Daily Breeze, the A380 will make a return visit to LAX at 2:00pm on November 28. The A380 will land on the new 200 foot wide Runway 25 Left and make a gate compatability check at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The A380 will fly to Australia on November 30th.

Qantas will be the first airline to fly the A380 to LAX with a flight from Melbourne, Australia in October 2006 (now a two month push back on the date). Qantas currently operates the Boeing 747-400 Extended Range on the LAX-Melbourne route. The 747-400ER gives Qantas the ability to fly non-stop in both directions on the route. It is likely that Qantas will replace all of the 747's on its LAX routes with A380's. Qantas flies from LAX to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in Australia; Auckland, New Zealand and to New York's JFK Airport. The LAX-JFK flight is open only to Qantas passengers flying to and from Sydney.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/10859026.html

Thursday, September 27, 2007

The British are coming with the A380

Not to be left behind in the frenzy for new aircraft orders, today British Airways ordered $8.2 billion (at list prices, airlines always get discounts) of new aircraft: 12 orders and 7 options for the Airbus A380 and 24 orders and 18 options for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Rolls Royce engines will power both aircraft. These aircraft will replace some of BA's 57 Boeing 747-400's and all of BA's 20 Boeing 767's. BA Chairman Willie Walsh and TV news reports indicate that British Airways will operate the A380 from London-Heathrow to LAX. Other high-density British Airways routes from London likely to see service with the A380 include New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong and Johannesburg. According to the BA press release, the 787 Dreamliner "will be used to start new routes and increase frequencies in existing markets." Deliveries of the new aircraft are expected between 2010 and 2014.

British Airways will now be at parity with Virgin Atlantic that has ordered 6 A380’s and 23 787's. British Airways competes with Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, American Airlines and United Airlines on the LAX-London Heathrow route. Virgin Atlantic will begin A380 flights in 2013.

The BA A380 order could mean that there will be up to 14 daily A380 flights into LAX by 2014.


Press:
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/bapress/public/en_gb
http://www.airbus.com/en/presscentre/pressreleases/pressreleases_items/07_09_27_british_airways_12_a380.html
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q3/070927b_nr.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7015621.stm
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Sep27/0,4670,BritainBritishAirways,00.html

Video:
http://www.bloomberg.com

Monday, August 20, 2007

Slipperly glideslope to LAX expansion?

I am back online after moving. Fortunately, no flying was involved with delayed flights, overflowing toilets or lost luggage. I have backlogged articles to post.

This Daily News editorial is one definitely worth reading. The D-N hits the nail on the head that last week’s runway incursion is being used as another excuse to expand Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_6659781

While LAX needs to be safe and secure, it does not need to be expanded. The whole idea behind regionalism is to allow people to use their local airports for flights instead of clogging up the freeways to go to LAX. We need expansion at Ontario to provide Orange County and Inland Empire residents with an international gateway. We need expansion at Palmdale to give Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Victor Valley, North San Fernando Valley and Ventura County residents an easily accessible airport. This is why groups such as the Alliance for a Regional Solution for Airport Congestion (ARSAC) http://www.regionalsolution.org/ were formed and the Southern California Regional Airport Authority (SCRAA) was revived. http://www.scraa.org/

LAX expansion supporters are not some much concerned about runway safety or passenger convenience as they are about getting multi-billion dollar construction contracts. This is why in October 2004 when the LAX Master Plan was up for a vote at the L.A. City Council that we had seen then-L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman George Kieffer standing arm-in-arm with then-L.A. County Federation Secretary-Treasurer Miguel Contreras. It was a disgusting sight of business arm-in-arm with labor ready to feed at the public trough. Had LAX Master Plan Alternative D been implemented, it would have been the largest public works project (by dollar value) in the United States. The original cost estimate of $9.6 billion ballooned to $11.3 billion by the time the LAX Master Plan reached the Los Angeles City Council by October 2004. Today, that cost is probably more than double due to the rising demand for concrete and steel in China. Considering these costs, the public’s money is better spent in creating additional regional airport capacity at Ontario and Palmdale than throwing money down the drain to remodel dirty restrooms at LAX. LAX restrooms should be cleaned daily as a course of regular business. It should not take a J.D. Power & Associates survey to tell LAX to clean up its restrooms.

Getting back to runway safety. There is no need to move the north runway further north or to install a centerline taxiway. A centerline taxiway will not resolve the two recurring safety problems at LAX: 1) aircraft entering runway areas without permission and 2) controllers allowing aircraft to land on the inboard runways which are supposed to be used for take-offs only.

Aircraft entering runways at LAX without permission is a solvable problem. Since 1998, there have been 16 runway incursions on the north runway complex. None of these incursions were fatal or caused damaged to aircraft or other property. Out of these 16, 10 have been problems where aircraft have crossed the hold bars to runway entrances, but not actually entered the runway. The solution to this problem is something called Runway Status Lights (RWSL). RWSL are red lights installed at all runway entrances. When the red lights are turned on, this indicates to the pilot that the runway is not safe to enter. Had RWSL been installed on the south runway complex during the recent Runway 25 Left rebuild, then two runway incursions on the remaining operational Runway 24 Right may have been prevented. In those two incursions, aircraft actually did enter or cross south inboard Runway 25 Right without permission.

RWSL is a proven technology having been tested and installed at Boston (BOS), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and San Diego (SAN) airports. RWSL is a commercial-off-the-shelf technology with no less than three manufacturers offering this product. RWSL can be installed in about one year. This is a simple and cost-effective fix that can resolve LAX’s biggest incursion problem. To protect the flying public, the FAA and LAX should install RWSL immediately on all LAX runways.

The second biggest and the most deadly incursion problem at LAX is controllers allowing aircraft to land on the inboard runways. LAX has a Preferential Runway Use Policy of utilizing inboard runways for take-offs and outboard runways for landings. When controllers do not follow the Preferential Runway Use Policy, it can have fatal consequences. On February 1, 1991, a controller cleared a USAir Boeing 737 jet to land the north inboard Runway 24 Left after a controller had already given a SkyWest Metroliner turboprop clearance for a mid-field take-off on the same runway. Thirty-four people were killed when the USAir jet slammed into the SkyWest turboprop.
http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/910201_B737Crash/020191_B737Crash.htm
This was the second deadly accident to occur at LAX. The other one was in 1978 when a Continental Airlines DC-10 suffered a tire blow out and left landing gear collapse. Two people died in that incident. Runway geometry was a not a factor in these incidents.

Since 1998, there have been 3 incidents where controllers gave permission to aircraft to land on the inboard runway where another aircraft had already been given permission to take-off. None of these incidents were fatal. One incident in 2004 almost had an Asiana Boeing 747-400 land on top of a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737. Fortunately, the Asiana pilot aborted the landing. The solution to this second most prevalent incursion problem is the easiest, fastest and cheapest to fix- controllers need to strictly adhere to the Preferential Runway Use Policy of using inboard runways for take-offs and outboard runways for landings. To protect the flying public, the FAA should make the Preferential Runway Use Policy their official policy for LAX tower operations today.

More on centerline taxiways later.