Crossing Borders Becomes More of a Hassle (and Less of a Right) with New Passport Rules
from Examiner
A few years ago, when I rented a house in Mexico's Puerto Penasco, my friends and I crossed the border with nothing more than a flashed driver's license and answers to a couple of curt questions. Today, that same trip requires a show of official travel documents. It's the latest step in the century-long process of closing the world's borders. Travel to America's neighbors, until recently a casual matter, now requires the permission of the state. More

Mideast Airlines Reach for the Sky
from Associated Press
Arab sheikdoms eager for higher international profiles are ratcheting up their aviation race despite the global economic slump. The city-state Dubai plans to launch its second government-run airline — the third major carrier this decade to spring from the United Arab Emirates, a country of less than a million people. The new low-cost airline will cater to budget travelers in a region better known for opulence than bargains. More

IATA: Aviation Industry to Take Three More Years to Recover
from Business Standard
Airlines worldwide will continue to be in the "red" due to the global meltdown and may take more than three years to recover, an international aviation group said warning that the epicenter of the crisis is now in Asia. Noting that the passenger and cargo traffic is going down globally, International Air Transport Association is ready to announce its industry forecast for 2009 next week. More

Organizers Upbeat for this Month's Paris Show
from Aviation International News
Despite the current economic crisis and the absence of two major U.S. business jet manufacturers (Gulfstream and Cessna), organizers of the Paris Air Show have said that this year’s event will not be down significantly in size compared with years past, when the industry has been more buoyant. More

Families Seek Action on Regional Carriers' Safety
from The Greenville News
Congress will begin moving to examine the safety of regional airlines that provide the overwhelming majority of flights out of airports the size of Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport, S.C. The hearings that will be launched by a Senate subcommittee will investigate the safety issues brought to light by the public release of transcripts of cockpit conversations between the pilots of Continental Connection Flight 3407 that crashed near Buffalo earlier this year, killing 50 people. More

Maintained in the USA? Aviation's Scary Little Secret
from Aviation International News
Most people are surprised to learn that not all maintenance performed on U.S. airliners is done by mechanics subject to drug and alcohol testing and 10-year background checks. How can that be? If mechanic is considered to be a safety-sensitive position, how can maintenance performed on U.S. airliners not be done by employees subject to drug and alcohol testing and background checks? Where's the loophole big enough to taxi an A380 through? More

FAA Inspector Warned of Safety Problems at Colgan Air
from Associated Press
A federal safety inspector assigned to the airline involved in an air crash that killed 50 people in upstate New York in February warned of safety problems at the airline a year before the accident. An attorney for Federal Aviation Administration inspector Christopher Monteleon said he reported problems with the flight testing program at Colgan Air of Manassas, Va., for its newly acquired Bombardier Dash 8-Q400s in January 2008. That's the same type of plane that crashed Feb. 12 near Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Buffalo N.Y. More

Industry Seeks Input on TSA’s Onerous Airport Badge Rules
from Aviation International News
Five trade associations sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano asking her to withdraw a Transportation Security Administration directive that mandates identification badges to gain access to certain parts of airports that serve airlines–regardless of the number and frequency of flights. More

FAA Withdraws Repair Station Rule
from AVweb
The FAA has taken the unusual step of withdrawing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that, according to the Aircraft Electronics Association, was a well-intentioned attempt to modernize the standards and ratings that apply to repair stations. Trouble is, according to the more than 500 companies and individuals who commented on the rule, which was proposed three years ago, it would have driven most of them out of business. The FAA threw in the towel, saying it "determined the NPRM does not adequately address the current repair station environment and because of the significant issues commenters raised." More