http://www.forbes.com/
Netflix And Virgin America Team Up For Free In-Flight Streaming In-flight WiFi tends to be somewhere between unusable and downright terrible, especially when it comes to streaming video. Most airlines, in fact, block streaming video altogether. The reasons why are fair: Airplanes rely on expensive and slow Internet-viasatellite connections that they then have to share to several dozen cranky, bored passengers. Streaming video takes far more bandwidth than, say, updating a Facebook post. It‘s a numbers game, and the services that hog the most data are the first to go. To that end Virgin America is outfitting all of its new planes with a new type of satellite-based Internet connectivity that it claims will alleviate the technical hurdles that prevent streaming video and other bandwidth-intensive services from being viable. In fact, Virgin explicitly states in its press release that the new tech can support streaming And that‘s where Netflix‘s new Virgin partnership comes in with an Some streaming video services, like Amazon Prime,have started offering limited downloads of their content to appease those that are often in lowconnectivity situations like cross-country flights.. This means that one could – in theory – download an entire season of Star Trek and be able to watch it within a certain amount of time without the need for a stable Internet connection. Netflix, however, has always maintained that it would never allow for this type of downloading, as it believes that given access to quality WiFi at all times it wouldn’t be required. Netflix is, of course, correct, WiFi that is both truly ubiquitous and high-quality would solve the video problem as well as many others, but we are nowhere near there yet. awesome offer: Free in-flight WiFi for subscribers.
Unless, of course, you‘re on one of Virgin‘s new ViaSat-equipped planes, and thus the offer. It‘s a way for Netflix to show off its streaming services in the air while also giving its users an added value for their subscriptions. It also lets Virgin show off its fancy new inflight WiFi. There are limits, though: The Netflix-sponsored WiFi only realy work for streaming its content – Hulu users, for example, won‘t be able to take advantage of the free connection. And it expires relatively soon, March 2nd of 2016, so those traveling soon will want to move fast to take advantage of the offer.
http://www.ainonline.com/
Airline CEOs Defend Industry's Profitability at Aviation Summit While finally earning profits that are in line with other large companies, U.S. airlines are facing unwarranted criticism for being profitable, airline industry executives said this week. Defending the industry‘s performance, they said new, passenger-focused regulations that have been proposed are unnecessary. Speaking on September 28 at the Airlines for America (A4A) Commercial Aviation Industry Summit in Washington, D.C., A4A president and CEO Nicholas Calio described the industry‘s progress since he joined the trade association in January 2011. ―In five years a lot has changed,‖ Calio said. ―Through a very painful series of restructurings, budget cuts, employee cuts, bankruptcy and consolidations, (airlines) got on the right foot and also changed the business model…We‘re now being attacked for being profitable by many people. Certain policy makers and other people in the public don‘t like the idea that airlines can be profitable…Profits are a good thing; they‘re usually considered very American.‖ During the first half of the year, the 10 publicly traded U.S. airlines the association tracks invested $8.5 billion in products and services, or $23 per enplaned passenger, Calio said. Yet the cost of an airline ticket has not kept pace with inflation.
In August, A4A reported that major U.S. airlines collectively had doubled their net profit in the first six months of the year compared to the prior-year period. The large carriers the association tracks reported $8.7 billion in net profit in the first half, up from $3.9 billion in first half of 2014. A 34-percent decrease in fuel expenses helped drive profitability. Meanwhile, in September, an advisory committee to the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) recommended that airlines be required to clearly disclose the cost of change and cancellation fees in selling tickets, as well as the size of an aircraft‘s seat. Already, the DOTissues a monthly ―Air Travel Consumer Report‖ that provides data on flight delays, mishandled baggage, oversales, consumer complaints and airline reports of the loss, injury or death of animals during transportation. According to Calio, a baggage handling ―performance mandate‖ has been proposed in legislation to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. Such rules ―have nothing to do with safety and nothing to do with things that any other business is subject to,‖ he complained. Airline CEOs appearing on a panel at the summit echoed Calio‘s remarks. Southwest AirlinesCEO Gary Kelly said lower airline fuel costs should not be linked with lower fares. ―I think people quickly forget the struggles that the industry has gone through to get to this point,‖ he said. ―What our customers want is stability. As a low-fare carrier, what we really disliked doing was having to chase fuel prices up and up and up over a long period of years with never ending fare increases…I think that air fares have not kept pace with inflation and it‘s because of competition, and lower fuel prices in terms of transportation is nothing but a great thing.‖
In the century since the airline industry started, it probably has ―negative retained earnings,‖ remarked Bradley Tilden, Alaska Airlines CEO. ―We‘re moving from that history to where we‘re starting to make a little bit of money and people are saying, ‗Oh my God, they‘re making excess profits.‘ I don‘t think the industry is,‖ Tilden said. ―I think we‘re making profits that are necessary to continue to grow and invest in service.‖ Commenting on the prospect of a baggage performance mandate, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes said such requirements, while well intentioned, often have unintended consequences. ―No one wants to get to a destination without their bags, so clearly we are incentivized to make that work,‖ Hayes said. ―Let us compete and offer the best quality service. It will be a far better outcome than the unintended consequences of selective mandates.‖ Kelly said Southwest‘s ―Bags Fly Free‖ policy that allows passengers to check one or two suitcases without being charged—a practice unmatched by other major carriers—gives his airline a competitive advantage. ―It‘s huge,‖ he said. ―Every company would love to have points of distinctiveness…It‘s astounding how many people hate bag fees, hate change fees. They just don‘t like being nickeled and dimed.”
http://www.aviationtoday.co m/
FAA, EASA and TCCA Sign New Regulatory Cooperation Agreement Avionics Today 09-29-2015] On Sept. 15, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) signed agreements with two international regulatory partners, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Transport Canada (TCCA) that allow the agencies to rely on each other‘s regulatory systems. The agreements will eliminate duplicate processes, get safety enhancing equipment installed on aircraft more quickly, and save time and money for both industry and the regulatory authorities involved. Based on more than a decade of FAA cooperation with EASA and more than 15 years with TCCA, the new safety agreements allow reciprocal acceptance of the majority of Technical Standard Order (TSO)-approved articles. This change benefits U.S., Canadian, and European aerospace industries organizations by eliminating the need for applications, additional validation and administrative review by each party. The new agreement with EASA also facilitates acceptance of the classification for basic Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs). An audit process will ensure that technical classifications continue to meet established criteria, and make sure standards are met.
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/
Qatar Airways passenger sues airline after being bitten by venomous spider on flight A British barrister is suing Qatar Airways after he was bitten by a venomous spider on board one of its flights from Doha to South Africa. Jonathon Hogg, 40, told UK media how his leg ―burst open‖ after he was bitten by a deadly brown recluse spider. ―I was struggling to get comfortable during the journey and crossed my legs to get into a better position when I felt a small, sharp pain radiating in my left leg,‖ Hogg told the Daily Mail. ―I turned on the light and clearly saw a spider running across the floor before hearing two stewardesses screaming ‗spider‘, but I wasn't sure if I had been bitten as it really wasn't very painful.‖
http://www.bdlive.co.za/
Price war in the sky could hit start-up airline operators This caution follows the launch of three new airlines in SA over the past year. FlySafair made its debut in October last year and Skywise began flying earlier this year. Much of the intense competition is on the golden triangle routes — Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. Both airlines launched with similar ticket prices starting at about R499 per flight on major routes. Fly Blue Crane began operating this month. It has avoided the overtraded golden triangle by starting with services for Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Nelspruit. Earlier this year, Travelstart analysts reported that air ticket prices had fallen 39% on some routes with the entry of new airlines. The fall in airline fares is a throwback to last year when — following the demise of 1Time — Comair said air ticket prices had dropped 20%, with FlySafair saying this was closer to 40%. This month, Comair, the British Airways franchisee that operates kulula.com, reported a stagnation in its revenues and a 17% fall in profits due to having to compete with the prices of new airlines. Comair CEO Erik Venter said last month that air ticket prices either had to increase or one of the airlines in the industry would bow out. He said losses incurred by low-cost airlines were not sustainable. Transport economist and aviation expert Joachim Vermooten said on Monday that competition was a check for quality and price in a competitive market.
However, the market becomes distorted if state-owned airlines‘ costs are subsidised and they do not have to consider their costs when setting prices. "The dominant carriers like (South African Airways), Mango and (South African Express) are price leaders and distort the whole market if they don‘t operate on a commercial basis as other airlines set their pricing by reference to the price leaders," he said. Mango spokesman Hein Kaiser said the market had only grown 2% year on year while additional capacity had increased 7%, creating a 5% oversupply in the market at the moment. "Competition is certainly rife, but in terms of pricing, the perceived drop relates more to some of the unsustainable launch fares offered by the start-ups," he said. Skywise co-chair J Malik said "one or two" players in the market were "fighting personal issues" and the market was paying, but he would not identify the airlines. "There is a price war in the industry … the market will only grow if it is making money. The price wars have gone too far and too deep," said Mr Malik. He said customers had enjoyed low prices over the past six months but they had to increase over the summer. Ticket prices had dropped between 20% and 25% since Skywise entered the market and would increase 10%-15% during the holiday season, he said. The industry had to focus on stabilising prices, Mr Malik said. "The market needs to pay realistic prices or it is going to be unhealthy for the carriers as well. Carriers have price wars on consumers‘ pockets, and later on they will pay even more," he said. FlySafair vice-president of marketing Kirby Gordon said prices were low but it was difficult to determine what the fare "should be" as cost bases varied from airline to airline, depending on the type of aircraft operated, currency and oil hedging strategies, routes operated and suppliers. "Air ticket prices are at a very low level at the moment, and there is real question around the sustainability of this," said Mr Gordon.
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