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United launches enhanced carbon offset program in celebration of Earth Day

United launches enhanced carbon offset program in celebration of Earth Day

United Continental Holdings, Inc. recently announced its enhanced carbon offset program in celebration of Earth Day, providing customers the opportunity to calculate and offset the carbon footprint associated with their air travel and cargo shipments. While United and Continental each had a similar initiative, this new program focuses on offset projects that go beyond climate change and provide social and economic benefits in communities United serves.

“We provide an incredibly efficient service to hundreds of thousands of customers every day and continue to focus on investments in the latest fuel-efficient aircraft, advancement of biofuels and operational improvements,” said Jimmy Samartzis, managing director of global environmental affairs and sustainability for United Airlines. “Our Eco-Skies commitment to the environment drives action today, and our redeveloped carbon offset program now enables customers to contribute to emission-reducing projects in communities we serve.”

After booking a trip with United, customers have the opportunity to visit United’s carbon offset program website (http://co2offsets.sustainabletravelinternational.org/ua/offsets

) to make a contribution to offset greenhouse gas emissions associated with the travel. While calculations are based on a comprehensive carbon footprint of the flight operations, the calculator only assigns the emissions associated with individual passenger travel. Through its partnership with Sustainable Travel International

 (STI), a non-profit organization, United offers customers a choice of three carbon reduction projects in communities it serves: forest conservation near San Francisco, wind power in Texas, biodiversity preservation in Belize:

Forest Conservation in California – The 23,780-acre Garcia River Forest, located in the Redwood region. The forestland was purchased by The Conservation Fund, a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting America’s most vital landscapes and waterways, and was established as California’s first non-profit working forest.

  * Renewable Energy in Texas – The Capricorn Ridge Wind farm is located in west central Texas and is comprised of more than 400 wind turbines that are capable of producing enough clean, renewable electricity to power approximately 220,000 homes annually.

  * Forest and Biodiversity Conservation in Belize – The Boden Creek Ecological Preserve, which environmentalists believe is one of the most-threatened tropical forests in Central America, is made up of 13,600 acres of lowland broadleaf forest. The preserve serves as a critical wildlife corridor that connects diverse inland terrestrial ecosystems with coastal marine ecosystems.

“Our enhanced carbon offset program allows our customers to join us in taking meaningful actions that reduce our impact on the environment,” said Samartzis. “Focusing on the environment is inextricably linked to our business and to our future growth as we continue to make progress in priority areas such as fuel-efficiency and commercialization of sustainable biofuels, and we’re excited to offer customers a way to contribute as well.”

Eco-Skies

United is committed to the environment through its Eco-Skies program, which is designed to make a positive impact on the environment – in the air, on the ground, at its facilities, with business partners and across communities.

Eco-Skies highlights include:

  * United operated the first U.S. passenger biofuel flight powered with a mixture of renewable algae-derived jet fuel and conventional jet fuel, and signed letters of intent to negotiate the purchase of more than 50 million gallons of sustainable biofuels.

  * The airline’s investments in modern, fuel-efficient aircraft and equipment have resulted in a 32 percent improvement in fuel efficiency.

  * More than 300 aircraft in United’s mainline operations are equipped with winglets that deliver up to a 5 percent reduction in emissions and noise.

  * More than 3,600 ground service equipment vehicles, or approximately 26 percent of these vehicles, are electric or alternatively fueled.

  * During the last five years, United recycled more than 20 million pounds of cans, paper and plastic items from waste generated inflight and at its facilities.

  * Eco-Teams, comprised of cross-divisional representatives, are at every hub and major maintenance facility.

United Airlines and United Express operate an average of 5,656 flights a day to 376 airports on six continents from our hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. In 2011, United carried more traffic than any other airline in the world, and operated more than two million flights carrying 142 million passengers.

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Abu Dhabi – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called upon all parts of the aviation value chain in the Gulf region to work together on issues critical to aviation’s ability to serve as a catalyst for economic growth.

Aviation has been at the center of the economic transformation in the Gulf region over the past 25 years.  A study by Oxford Economics shows aviation in the Middle East supports 2.7 million jobs and $129 billion in GDP.  Aviation’s role is set to grow rapidly as international passenger numbers rise from 77.1 million in 2010 to 220 million in 2030.

“Aviation’s ability to play a leading role in GDP growth is not guaranteed.  It depends on having the right conditions in place to support competitive sustainable businesses. Many of these are beyond the direct control of airlines, and most require industry and government to work together with a common vision and purpose,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO in his address to the Global Aerospace Summit in Abu Dhabi.

Tyler identified a 4 point agenda for the region based on safety, security, infrastructure and the environment:

Safety: 2011 was the safest year in aviation history, with an accident rate of one Western-built jet hull loss for every 2.7 million flights, which is a 39% improvement on 2010.  In the Middle East and North Africa, there was one hull loss for every 500,000 flights. “If aviation is to continue to deliver on its immense promise, safety must continue to be addressed as a community, working in partnership with governments and based on global standards, such as the IATA Operational Safety Audit,” said Tyler.

Infrastructure:  The MENA region has invested more than $100 billion on airport projects. Tyler highlighted that this investment must be matched by similar commitments to efficient air traffic management (ATM) through harmonization and optimal routings. However Tyler warned that “Technology for technology’s sake and gold-plated solutions will not help us to reduce emissions, save fuel or increase airspace capacity. A better alternative is to work in close cooperation to develop operational procedures using existing and deployed technology that offer a sustainable business case for all,” said Tyler.

Environment:  Aviation’s ability to fulfill future global demand for connectivity is contingent upon sustainability. To address aviation’s 2% contribution to man-made global CO2 emissions, airlines, airports, ANSPs and manufacturers have committed to (1) improve aircraft fuel efficiency by 1.5% annually to 2020; (2) cap net CO2 emissions from 2020; and (3) cut net carbon emissions from air transport in half by 2050 compared to 2005.

Tyler recognized that Qatar Airways, Rolls-Royce and others have formed the Qatar Advanced Biofuel Platform consortium to develop the world’s first large scale algae bio-jet value chain.  “This is a positive development. To move from large scale use of sustainable biofuels for aviation we need governments around the world to initiate policies that will attract investment and de-risk the scaling-up of production,” said Tyler.

Security:  IATA is developing a Checkpoint of the Future that will differentiate screening using passenger information that is already being collected for immigration purposes. This will be combined with technology that allows passengers to walk through checkpoints without stopping, disrobing or unpacking.  “We have received support from major stakeholders, such as the European Commission, the Chinese government, the US Department of Homeland Security and Interpol.  Sixteen countries have also endorsed a statement of principles for the checkpoint.  I hope to see Middle East states signing up to the principles soon,” said Tyler.

Read Tony Tyler's full speech

For more information, please contact:

Corporate Communications

Tel: +41 22 770 2967

Email: corpcomms@iata.org

Notes for Editors:

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SITA Airport Management

AIRPORT MANAGEMENT

Airports are getting busier all the time. They need to continuously improve their business results while increasing their capacity and streamlining their activities by:

  * Proactively controlling their real-time operations

  * Implementing robust and efficient operational planning

  * Enabling systems integration and collaboration

  * Investing in flexible systems and agile solutions

SITA Airport Management Solution (AMS) can help.

AMS is a combination of products designed to optimize operations, reduce congestion and improve the airport experience for all.

AMS is used at more than 125 airports.Get the Flash Player

 or the JWPlayer

 to see this video.

 

  * Overview

  * Benefits

  * Features

SITA Airport Management Solution (AMS) enhances collaboration and provides easy-to-use modules foroperational planning, optimization of mobile resources and equipment, and proactive controlover operations, giving the airport the flexibilityneeded to plan and improve business results.

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Getting your IT on demand

GETTING YOUR IT ON DEMANDIn the new world of cloud computing, getting your IT on demand is becoming the intelligent way forward. Nowhere does it hold more promise than for the air transport industry.

For an industry constantly buffeted by fluctuating economic cycles, the tightest of margins, and the need to permanently scrutinize costs, air transport looks to IT to deliver big change. Cloud computing is set to deliver that change.

Its well-known advantages include scalability, lower unit costs, pay-as-you-go models and on-demand IT. For airlines, the on-demand element promises to be a major enabler.IT at the 'flick of a switch'

As an airline's business grows, declines, moves, merges and swings in line with economic fortunes, being able to flick the IT switch on or off quickly and easily makes all the difference to business cost and effectiveness.

On-demand access to the latest hardware, software, applications and infrastructure offers a whole new way of working - an intelligent IT pathway for airlines in search of less cost, a superior service and minimum risk.Industry fit

For vertical industries, where businesses have similar goals, this pathway is set out by a community cloud. It captures the benefits of scale and higher utilization rates of public cloud services. But it retains the security and reliability of a private cloud.

It's a perfect fit for the way the air transport industry operates. Already extremely interconnected, the air transport industry has evolved as a community using shared information and communication technology.

Vast numbers of common processes are replicated by airlines and airports across the world to meet global compliance requirements in areas such as safety and security.

Competition exists, but so does a lot of collaboration among all air transport players.

A community cloud will link the industry ecosystem as never before, integrating network services with industry-specific applications.

Its on-demand nature means an airline and ground handler can work together to bring new routes to life quicker, for instance. Or Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) providers can work with their supply chain to bring efficiency gains to maintenance operations.Business change

In times of disruption, community cloud services can be invaluable. Being able to respond rapidly can make a huge difference to the customer experience, as well as to the bottom line of the airline, and of course the airport.

End-to-end business and IT on-demand solutions are precisely what SITA's Air Transport Industry (ATI) Cloud is about. What's more, it's adapted to the specific business needs and environment of the air transport industry.

It includes the introduction of a broad and integrated portfolio of Infrastructure, Platform, Desktop and Software-as-a-Service, much of it throughout 2012. A prime example is the already launched Desktop-as-a-Service. It enables the rapid provisioning of applications on a pay-per-use model to any end-users, wherever located, with the same level of consistency, compliance and performance.

That means an emergency call centre can be quickly set up by mobilizing agents with local language ability to work from their homes. When no longer required, it can be disconnected easily with no closure costs.Virtually unlimited

It's not just at times of disruption that the speed and flexibility of cloud services are important. Providing virtually unlimited access to IT resources on-demand means projects can be completed in less time and with less risk.

That speeds up product and services testing and development, and enables deployment of new products and services into the marketplace much more quickly. Think of the implications:

  * An airline will be able to provide crews with rosters, email and a number of corporate applications hosted in the cloud and accessible from any internet-enabled device instead of having to supply laptops or PCs with the programmes installed on each one

  * New check-in counters and even entire airports can be made operational at speeds not possible today. Staff can get fast access to the applications they need from any location or device with an Internet connectionReact fast and compete

Fast maturing cloud-enabled technologies, on-demand, provide a compelling value proposition for the air transport industry. Embracing a community cloud, the industry can finally divest itself of the legacy IT infrastructure that is dragging on its operational efficiency and ability to innovate.

By giving ready access to next generation IT resources and sophisticated solutions, at a fraction of the cost of building in-house operations, a community cloud enables air transport businesses to stretch their IT budgets, react fast, and compete far more effectively.The arrival of Cloud

SITA's ATI Cloud is founded on state-of-the-art cloud computing infrastructure. Implemented across five continents are six high-end regional cloud data centres - in Singapore, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Sydney and Johannesburg. Each can be complemented by local cloud computing centres at key airports in the world, as required.

Some key points about SITA's ATI Cloud:

  * On this global infrastructure, SITA already provides Desktop and Infrastructure-as-a-Service solutions. Building on this, 2012 will see Platform and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

  * As a self-orchestration platform, Platform-as-a-Service lets you manage and control IT resources dynamically and automate routine tasks

  * The approach means that an offering can be deployed to any airport, for any airline, rapidly and readily in many countries and locations, thanks to data centre and global network infrastructure capabilities

  * Performance and Quality of Service over SITA's network infrastructure will be superior to any competitor who needs to rely on a third-party infrastructure. SITA's business partnership with Orange ensures global coverage

  * The first key building blocks of SITA's self-service and automation approach for all cloud products and capabilities are in place

  * SITA is busy with its virtualization solution for Common-Use, with a Virtualized/Thin Client AirportConnect (CUTE) solution to be deployed in regional data centres around the world during 2012

  * SITA's own portfolio of applications are being made available on a SaaS model

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FAA-Approved Aircraft/Airline Flight Dispatcher Schools

Aircraft Flight Dispatcher Training Schools

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Three Moscow airports are to merge

Three Moscow airports are to mergeThe Airbus A380 plane in the Domodedovo airport, Moscow. Source: PhotoXPress

For the past several years, Moscow’s three biggest airports, Sheremyetevo, Domodedovo and Vnukovo, have been competing with each other for both passengers and airlines. Although this is common practice in many other countries, it has been a learning experience in the Russian capital. During the Soviet era, the three served different purposes: Sheremetyevo was the main international airport and the largest one in the country; Domodedovo was planned as a hub airport for long-haul flights to Siberia, the Far East and Central Asia, and it also served medium-haul flights to the Volga Region and Ural; Vnukovo traditionally served flights to Ukraine and Black Sea resorts.

 

Related: Airliner crash kills at least 31

But with the end of the Soviet Union, Sheremetyevo remained the property of the state, while 75 percent of Vnukovo was transferred to the Moscow City Government, and Domodedovo became a private enterprise managed by the East Line Group. In recent years, Domodedovo emerged as the leader in passenger traffic among Russian airports. In 2011, Domodedovo served 25.7 million passengers, Sheremetyevo – 22.6 million passengers and Vnukovo – 8.2 million passengers. Domodedovo now serves about 46 percent of Moscow passengers, Sheremetyevo – 40 percent and Vnukovo – 14 percent.

 

View the infographic. Click to enlarge. Three Moscow Airports Are to Merge. By Niyaz Karim

In 2010, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov floated the idea that the tough competition among the airports could prove detrimental to the development of Russian aviation and suggested merging the three airports and creating a single management company. His words were later echoed by Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina. In December 2010, a consortium led by Credit Suisse and Troika Dialog finished its preliminary appraisal of the assets of all the three airports and valued Vnukovo at between $500 million and $700 million, Sheremetyevo – $1.6-2.4 billion, and Domodedovo – $4.1-5.1 billion. The assessment meant that in a consolidated company, the state’s share could not exceed the amount of shares needed to block action, and that control over a unified airport company would belong to the private shareholders of Domodedovo. As this situation was not what state officials had in mind, in April 2011, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced the decision to merge the Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo airports first. “This step is aimed at creating a single complex, equipping it with the use of modern technologies and then introducing it in the market and privatizing for an appropriate market price,” Putin said. “We proceed from the need for synergy, which will create conditions for a substantial increase in the capacity of cargo and passenger traffics and will substantially reduce the burden on the federal budget.”

 

Related: Russians take to the skies

Meanwhile, the real goal of the airport merger began to trickle out as early as January 2011. Market experts are certain that the decision to merge the Moscow airports was brought about by the desire of government officials to sell state-owned assets to the highest bidder. According to Minister of Transport Igor Levitin, some foreign companies are already willing to negotiate on the subject with the Russian authorities. “We got offers from big European operators, from Southeast Asia, from an operator of an airport in Singapore and American operators as well,” Levitin said.

 

Long Way to Consolidation

 

Consolidating the airports’ assets turned out to be a difficult task, partially due to the fact that the ownership structure of each airport is extremely tangled. In May 2011, the shareholders of Sheremetyevo stated that they had eliminated all the disagreements in the appraisal of the airport complex and of the modern D terminal – which is under control of an Aeroflot subsidiary – thus removing all obstacles to the consolidation of shares.

 

Related: State Duma takes up transportation safety

Nevertheless, the consolidation was finished on April 2, 2012. After the Terminal Company’s accession, the government’s share in Sheremetyvo was decreased almost to 83 percent, Aeroflot got about 9 percent of assets and while two government banks - Vneshekonombank and VTB –  took approximately 4 percent of assets.

 

For its part, Vnukovo’s ownership structure is no less complex. A part of the airport’s property belongs to companies whose main shareholder is a group of private investors headed by businessman Vitaly Vantsev. He does not insist on the state buying out his share, and is willing to exchange it for shares of the consolidated company. But the state would prefer to have Vantsev out of the way and plans to introduce some amendments to the law in order to eliminate the need to buy him out.

 

A Difficult Partner

 

The final stage of the Moscow air hub consolidation should be the takeover of the largest airport – Domodedovo, as Shuvalov announced in 2010. State officials have never explained how the state plans to take control over the airport, but the airport’s owner, the East Line group, is already willing to sell. In May 2011 Domodedovo attempted to launch an IPO, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Last fall, East Line began searching for buyers for the entire airport, but was unable to find anyone willing to pay the reported $5 billion price tag.

 

However in March the Summa investment company started negotiating with stated-owned Sberbank (Russia’s largest bank) about the $ 2 billion loan to buy the airport. Meanwhile, in early April another investment company A1 – the department of the Alfa-group consortium – submitted application for a loan from Vneshekonombank to buy the airport. Both of A1 and Summa are ready to pay $ 3 billion dollars for Domodedovo.  

 

Read more about Domodedovo bombing

The airport price could decrease due to the terrorism attack that took place at Domodedovo in January 2011, which resulted in the deaths of 37 people. The attack forced the state to take a closer look at Domodedovo’s management, and the airport’s owners were severely criticized for its insufficient safety measures as well as their company’s registration outside Russia in a well-known tax haven.

 

In addition, the Ministry of Transport limited the airport’s development plans, including the construction of a third runway. At the same time a decision was made to reconstruct one of the two strips which are currently in operation by the end of 2014 at the latest.

 

As a result, Moscow’s largest airport will temporarily have only one strip and may not be able to efficiently handle its passenger traffic. This could lead to airlines departing for Vnukovo, where a new terminal has recently opened, or Sheremetyevo, where a third landing strip is already being constructed. In February, Sheremetyevo topped Domodedovo in terms of passenger traffic.  

 

Synergy vs. Market

 

Analysts and experts have identified a couple of possible scenarios for the future. One is that, when transferred to new owners, Domodedovo will continue to develop independently and compete with a consolidated Sheremetyevo/Vnukovo. Another is that the new owners who have expressed interest in buying Domodedovo will do so and prove a more willing negotiator with the government, at which point the merger will go through.

 

Alexei Komarov, chairman of the editorial council of "Aviatransportnoye Obozreniye" ("The Air-trasport Review"), believes that preserving competition at the Moscow air hub would be good for civil aviation. “The transfer of all the airports into a single ownership is fraught with serious risks. If the management turns out to be inefficient, it will affect all the three airports at once, but at that time it will already be impossible to turn the situation back,” Komarov said. He also notes that this is not the first time the government has attempted to consolidate state assets in aviation, and all the previous ones have ended with a failure. The most notorious of these was the Rosavia project, in which the government tried to create a competitor to Aeroflot by merging six state carriers. Corporate procedures took so long and the airlines’ performance worsened so dramatically, that the only salvation for them was to transfer the assets to Aeroflot.

 

Kirill Slepynin and  Aleksey Ekimovsky are the authors for market guide “Russian Transport”.

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Tornado Here!

Tornado Here!

Posted by Lee Ann Tegtmeier

 at 4/3/2012 2:06 PM CDT

If you're following the weather or Twitter right now, you'll know that tornadoes have been spotted here in the Dallas area. Well, that means all of the MRO exhibitors and conference attendees are down on the lower level of the convention center. Yep, your closest 8,000 MRO friends!

This exercise is proving how social the MRO crowd is--it's like a big reception with everybody mingling--but no food or beverage other than water. It's kind of like a college reunion with people catching up with old pals.

People always appreciate the coffee breaks during our MRO Conferences, and well, this is some unscheduled extra time. 

Our industry tries to minimize unscheduled maintenance events, but, like the airlines, we cannot control the weather--so--go meet some new people while we're all down here.Comments (0)

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