The week in brief 040310

Japan Airlines is launching a bit of a witch hunt , which may be a quid pro quo for the partial bailout it recently received. The airline is unleashing a Compliance Investigations Committee, "to examine past business practices of the JAL Group... to determine if there were any issues about compliancy and to identify problems in that aspect." The Committee is independent and includes some Japanese judicial luminaries. It seems likely that some heads will roll - but then again, shouldn't they?

Victorian businesses in the aviation sector that are exporting or looking at exporting can be part of Victorian Government international trade missions to India and Israel, June 2010. For more information: www.export.vic.gov.au

The potential to treat a long-haul flight as an escape from the real world has all but disappeared. This week an Oman Air A330 on the Muscat-Heathrow route made history by providing a full spectrum of mobile and WiFi Internet connectivity services based on Inmarsat SwiftBroadband. This meant that passengers on the flight had Internet access via laptops (wireless), as well as the ability via mobile phones and smart phones to make and receive calls, to send and receive text messages and emails. The package of services was provided by OnAir, a joint venture of SITA and Airbus.

Aviation doesn't have the future of travel all to itself, according to a report released this week by AMP Capital Investors. The report says that "... high-speed rail is emerging as a viable competitor to air travel, particularly for short to medium trip lengths (i.e. <3 hours). Its combination of higher on-time reliability, higher frequency, greater convenience and lower environmental impact, suggest (sic) that this mode of travel will continue to gain market share from air travel in high-density short-haul transport corridors...

"In France, the TGV network claims a market share of near 100% for stages less than 200km and >60% market share for stages up to 500km... As high-speed connections increase through France and Germany, passenger growth on Eurostar has approached 10% per annum.

"The future prospects for high-speed rail in medium-haul corridors, with high population densities seem very good, with China, Taiwan and the US developing new networks... in regions with high population densities, airports may lose the natural monopoly status that makes them prized infrastructure assets."

However most Australian airports are likely to be immune from this threat as they are not situated in such corridors. That could, however, change right down the east coast in time.

Meanwhile in the US, the FAA has suspended two personnel who allowed a child visiting the tower at JFK to talk to pilots on an air traffic control frequency.  The two employees, a supervisor and an air traffic controller, are on administrative leave pending the outcome of an official investigation into the incident. The FAA has also suspended "...all unofficial visits to FAA air traffic control operational areas, such as towers and radar rooms... during the investigation".  

We are a little surprised that, in this age of aviation terrorism, visits to such critical infrastructure are permitted in the US - at least up to now.