Traveling Public At Risk -- Be Part of the Solution

--- AAG <aag@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: "AAG" <aag@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Colleen Turner" <colleenturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Traveling Public At Risk -- Be Part of the
> Solution
> Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 10:40:33 -0500
> 
> 
> For Immediate Release...
> 
> Daily Briefing...
> 
> 
> Traveling Public At Risk -- Be Part of The Solution
> 
> February 9, 2004… Sources say a potentially lethal
> mix of ill-trained and
> poorly paid workers, limited equipment maintenance
> and in some cases,
> management malaise, have made the airport ramp area
> a hazard. Industry
> executives say the safety situation on many airport
> ramp areas is
> deplorable, deteriorating in recent years from what
> was already a bad
> situation. But while the industry focuses on
> passenger and cargo security,
> some say a different but potentially explosive
> situation continues to unfold
> on airport ramp areas. Because of the importance of
> this story, go to
> www.armbrustaviation.com for a free copy of JFR with
> our complements. Some
> excerpts are below:
> 
> Ramp Operator loses employees to McDonald's... "When
> it gets to a point when
> McDonald's is paying enough money to attract away
> refueling operators that
> are driving $400,000 refueling trucks around $200
> million aircraft, there is
> something wrong with the formula."
> 
> Traveling Public at Risk... "You've got a $50
> million-$200 million airplane,
> you've got 200-300 souls on board, you've got pilots
> and cargo, at least
> $200,000 worth of refueler truck and its being
> driven by a guy who literally
> would make more money if he cleaned the toilets in
> the terminal. Incidents
> are happening all the time because drivers don't
> know what they're doing and
> companies can't pay enough to attract good people,"
> says one industry
> source. "There have always been problems but it has
> gotten a lot worse, and
> I'm afraid its going to take a really major incident
> before anything will
> change."
> 
> Accidents cost airlines... "Right now as I look at
> it, ramp incidents are
> costing the aviation industry over $5 billion
> annually (globally). It's
> absolutely beyond your imagination," notes one
> industry executive, pointing
> to various problems and safety issues on the ramp.
> Another called the
> current situation "an absolute, positive disgrace.
> The people who are in
> charge of putting fuel into the aircraft are under
> tremendous pressure to do
> it as inexpensively as possible," he says. "The
> result is that safety and
> oversight and training all wind up being minimized."
> 
> Financial pressures mount on operators... "The
> airlines are not reasonable
> in their demands," one into-plane company cut driver
> salaries in half, to
> just $7 per hour, to win a contract and keep the
> airline happy. Needless to
> say, the quality of new hires left something to be
> desired. "Most training
> videos are in English and it's not uncommon to have
> half of the trainees
> unable to understand or speak English," offered a
> source.
> 
> Please see attached issue of the World Jet Fuel
> Report for full story on
> this serious situation and also make plans to attend
> the National
> Transportation Safety Board special session on
> "Safety in Airport
> operations." Concerned about detrimental changes
> involving the safety of
> airport operations, the National Transportation
> Safety Board (NTSB) will
> host an industry discussion at a March conference in
> Miami. Citing an
> increase in incidents, reports of failures to follow
> established procedures,
> shoddy maintenance, poor training, high turnover,
> and fuel quality problems
> the NTSB will examine whether increased financial
> pressures on airport
> operators to lower costs has put the traveling
> public at risk.
> 
> The Special NTSB Session is filling up fast.
> Register now by linking to
> www.armbrustaviation.com. Or, reply to this e-mail
> and let us know you are
> interested in attending and we will contact you to
> register by telephone.
> 
> The discussion will take place concurrently with the
> 6th annual
> International Jet Fuel/Airport Operations Conference
> & Exhibition, March 8th
> and March 9th, 2004 at the Intercontinental Hotel,
> Miami, Florida. The
> opening special NTSB Academy session convenes
> Monday, March 8th at 1000 -
> 1700 and ends Tuesday, March 9th 0900 -1300. For
> questions on registration
> contact Barb Moreno at 561.659.6818 ext 104 or
> e-mail at
> bmoreno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> 
> In Today's News…
> 
> BA Posts Strong Q3 Profit As Cost-Cutting Yields
> Results … British Airways
> posting a pre-tax profit of 125 million pounds
> ($232.5 million) for the
> third quarter to December 31, a five-fold profit
> increase from the same
> quarter a year ago. Operating profit for the quarter
> was 138 million pounds,
> compared to 53 million pounds in Q3 2002. The
> company said that cost
> reductions have benefited the bottom line, and under
> the company's "future
> size and shape program" manpower reductions stand at
> 12,652 against a 13,000
> goal to be achieved by March 2004. Overall, BA has
> taken about 1.7 billion
> pounds in costs out of the business, the company
> said, with annualized cost
> savings of 795 pounds, manpower cost savings of 460
> million pounds, and
> various other cost-cutting measures. Despite the
> strong performance,
> security continues to be a major concern. The
> company said security issues
> are impacting forward bookings. BA canceled flights
> from London to
> Washington DC in December and January in reaction to
> US government
> intelligence regarding potential threats to those
> flights. BA said long-haul
> premium volumes remain above last year's levels but
> short-haul premium
> demand remains weak. Non-premium traffic volumes
> remain very sensitive to
> yield, the company said.
> 
> Lufthansa Unions Reject Work Proposal… Lufthansa’s
> air crews have rejected a
> proposal by the carrier that would have had them
> working longer hours for
> the same salary. The German newspaper Tagesspiegel
> quoted union leader Mirco
> Vorwerk as saying, "More work is only possible for
> more pay." Lufthansa
> management has said it needs to reduce overall costs
> and suggested more work
> for the same pay would be one option discussed with
> employees. But Vorwerk
> told the newspaper he did not believe the workers
> would benefit in better
> times if they agreed to cuts now. Lufthansa said
> last month it had reached
> its goal of break even operations in 2003, but said
> earlier it needed to
> reduced costs by $1.5 billion in the next two years.
> 
> Alitalia Pilots Strike Forces Cancellations…
> State-owned Alitalia was forced
> to cancel 159 flights after pilots staged a one-day
> walkout to protest the
> carrier’s plan to freeze pay and lay off up 2,700
> workers. Alitalia has
> cancelled more than 1,000 flights since employees
> began a series of one-day
> strikes to protest the restructuring plan and could
> face another walkout
> from air traffic controllers later this month.
> 
> OPEC Output Rose in January… While it never formally
> announced an increase,
> the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is
> apparently exceeding
> its public ceiling of 24.5 million barrels daily,
> Platts reported. Platts
> said OPEC’s January output was 28.1 million barrels
> daily, up 350,000
> barrels fro the December average of 27.75 million
> barrels each day. The
> survey estimated Iraqi production at 1.95 million
> barrels daily, up 50,000
> barrels over its December output. John Kingston,
> global director of oil at
> Platts, suggested the cartel has turned a blind eye
> to over production over
> the short term. "OPEC is not expected to change its
> official ceiling and
> quotas at the upcoming Feb. 10 meeting in Algiers,"
> Kingston said.
> "But—especially now that the basket appears to be
> moving back down towards
> the $22-$28/bbl target range---could well stress the
> importance of quota
> compliance." Kingston added OPEC remains concerned
> about projected lower
> demand this spring.
> 
> Singapore’s Airport To Get $1 Billion Facelift…
> Singapore’s government
> announced plans to spend more than US $1 billion to
> expand and modernize
> Changi Airport so it will remain the Asia-Pacific’s
> region’s key hub. "If
> Changi does not take steps to continue upgrading
> itself and keeping pace
> with the competition, we’re going to be left
> behind," said Transport
> Minister Yeo Cheow Tong. "So we have no choice but
> to continue making sure
> our facilities are tip-top, our services are tip-top
> so that passengers will
> choose to fly to Changi even if they have a choice
> of other airports."
> Included in the upgrade will be the airport’s new
> state-of-the-art Terminal
> 3, set to open in 2008, which will able to
> accommodate the upcoming 550-seat
> Airbus 380. Singapore also plans a new terminal for
> the booming low-fare
> industry and well as complete upgrades at Changi’s
> Terminal 1 and Terminal 2
> facilities.
> 
> Chicago Officials Tighten Airport Bond Requirements…
> As a result of United
> Airlines defaulting on bonds when in filed for
> bankruptcy protection,
> Chicago city officials said they will no longer used
> special facility
> revenue bonds backed by an airline to finance
> airport improvements. Unlike
> general airport bonds, which are secured by a
> variety of revenue, special
> facility bonds are either unsecured debt, promised
> to repaid by carriers, or
> secured by lease agreements between airlines and
> airports, Reuters reported.
> Chicago officials are currently looking at a new
> 20-year improvement master
> plan at O’Hare Airport that would cost about $14.8
> billion. Most of that
> money will be generated by tapping federal
> improvement funds, passenger
> facility charges and general airport revenue bonds.
> Carriers using O’Hare
> have already agreed to an initial $2.9 billion plane
> to extend the runways
> at one of world busiest airports.
> 
> Quote of the Day: "When it gets to a point when
> McDonald's is paying enough
> money to attract away refueling operators that are
> driving $400,000
> refueling trucks around $200 million aircraft, there
> is something wrong with
> the formula." -- industry source, on the state of
> ramp area conditions, in
> the current issue of Jet Fuel Report.
> 
>         319 Clematis Street, West Palm Beach,
> Florida 33401 – Tel:
> 561.659.6818 – Fax:                    
> 561.659.0091– Email:
> info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx - Web site:
> ww.armbrustaviation.com
> 

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