Stresses of air travel means more are staying home for the holidays
San Francisco Budget Travel Examiner
A recent survey by Airfarewatchdog, which asked 1,300 people whether they are planning to drive, fly or stay put this holiday season, indicates that 40 percent stated they are staying home this year, 16 percent said they are driving longer than usual to avoid flying and 9 percent simply responded that they plan to drive.More

Air travel tax could have negative impact on small cities
CNN
It's the holiday season, and that means air travelers across the United States have shelled out good money to spend time with their families. With record fuel prices squeezing airline margins, travelers may have paid more than they expected this year. And if the government has its way, you might be paying even more next year for less frequent flights, especially to small cities. A proposed government financial plan includes two tax changes for air travel. One would increase the security fee from $2.50 per segment to a flat $5 each way. With proposed yearly increases, this fee will hit $7.50 each way by 2017. The other tax would add a $100 fee on every single airline departure which could have a negative impact on small cities that are already hurting for service.More

CAE signs pact with Qatar Airways subsidiary
Avionics Magazine
CAE, of Montreal, entered into a long-term agreement with Qatar Executive, Qatar Airways' corporate jet subsidiary, for pilot training services on the Bombardier Global Express XRS and the Bombardier Challenger 605. The training will be conducted at Emirates-CAE Flight Training in Dubai, UAE. CAE said Qatar Executive pilots will be the first to train on the new Challenger 605 full-flight simulator when it is qualified by regulators in early 2012. Training on the Bombardier Global Express XRS will begin this month. Training will include initial and recurrent courses for both aircraft as well as a range of CAE e-Learning general operating subjects.More

US still grappling with screening all air cargo
Federal Times
More than a year after the deadline Congress set for screening all air cargo on passenger planes, the Transportation Security Administration still isn't checking all the cargo arriving aboard international flights. The gap in screening increasingly alarms lawmakers because bombs have been smuggled aboard planes, including explosives found a year ago in printer cartridges heading for Chicago synagogues in two air shipments from Yemen. More

American contract talks with mechanics postponed until December
Bloomberg Businessweek
AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and the union for 11,000 mechanics and aircraft technicians agreed to delay the resumption of contract talks until December. Bargaining had been set to restart Nov. 21 between the carrier and the Transport Workers Union, which last met on Oct. 7, according to American's labor website. Jamie Horwitz, a TWU spokesman, confirmed the postponement in an e-mail without giving a new date.More

Centurion Air Cargo to expand, create 200 jobs
South Florida Business Journal
Centurion Air Cargo is expanding its cargo center at Miami International Airport. The new 800,000-square-foot cargo center will house the new Centurion headquarters, an international shipping and receiving hub and an exclusive ramp with space to park up to eight wide-body aircraft. The new cargo center, slated to open in 2012, brings $123 million in capital investment to South Florida and will add about 200 jobs.More

Gulfstream G650 on track for 2012 deliveries
AV Web
Gulfstream Aerospace has received a provisional type certificate for its new Gulfstream G650 from the FAA, the company announced recently. The approval keeps the company on track to start completing the interiors and deliver the first jets to customers in the second quarter of next year. The $65 million jet will be the fastest in the civilian fleet with speeds up to Mach .925.More

Weak dollar, rising oil prices to hit air cargo industry hard
Economic Times
Weak U.S. dollar and high oil prices are expected to hit the worldwide air cargo industry hard, according to a leading cargo mover in the air. Speaking on the sidelines of Dubai Air Show, Ram Menen, cargo chief and vice president of Emirates SkyCargo, said that his company will stay out of the red with a flat performance for the whole of 2011. "Right now, flat is good, purely because the world air cargo industry, and the shipping industry, is very down," he said.More

Lawmakers discuss compromise on FAA bill
Aviation Week
Discussions are under way that could significantly change the prospects for passing the first FAA reauthorization bill since the last one expired in 2007. Lawmakers may remove a toxic labor provision from the FAA bill and offer an amended version as a standalone bill, confirms Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., ranking Democrat of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's aviation subcommittee.More

Minnesota development corporation plan aims to land regional air carrier
St. Cloud Times
The Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation in Minnesota recently unveiled a plan to attract commercial regional air service to St. Cloud Regional Airport. It includes a drive for pledge commitments from area business, working with the Federal Aviation Administration to acquire a gate at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and developing and pitching a business case to prospective airlines. "We will have air service, to Chicago probably, in the first quarter of 2013," said Bob White, chairman of Microbiologics and board chair for the development corporation. More

10 years later, TSA screening still frustrates air travelers
Los Angeles Times
Ten years since the Transportation Security Administration was launched, the airport screening process remains among the top frustrations for most air travelers, a new survey found. When asked to list their top five frustrations with air travel, a majority of air travelers who were surveyed listed four gripes related to the TSA's security checkpoints. The findings came from an online survey by the U.S. Travel Assn., the nation's largest travel trade group.More