Author: Joseph Alba
Joseph Alba
Mr. Alba was previously Editor of the Airport Press for 12 years covering both local as well as global aviation news. Prior to this, Mr. Alba had Executive positions in Systems Engineering and Marketing with IBM World Trade, and had foreign assignments in the Far East and Latin America earning three Outstanding Achievement Awards. Mr. Alba also directed a new function dealing with Alternate Fuels for Public Service Electric & Gas company in New Jersey and founded a Natural Gas Vehicle Consortium consisting of car company executives and fleet owners, and NGV suppliers in New Jersey. Mr. Alba was a founding partner of ATA, an IT Consulting company which is still active in Central and South America. After leaving the armed forces, Mr. Alba’s initial employee was the U.S. Defense Department as an analyst.
Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ordered Transportation Security Administrator David Pekoske to align employees’ rights with those enjoyed by the vast majority of federal workers, including access to the General Schedule pay system. The change reflects the more labor-friendly approach of President Joe Biden, granting a long-standing goal of workers at an agency created to improve airport security after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The pay raise alone would not appear to cause any objections and that will easily earn passage, but the full endowment into Title 5 would guarantee collective bargaining and this may be a sticking point…
In a bulletin posted on social media, Donovan Richards, Borough President of Queens outlined why JetBlue should take a fresh look at its tentative decision to leave Queens. On June 14th, Richards sent a letter to Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Executive Director Rick Cotton, asking PANYNJ to extend JetBlue’s lease at John F. Kennedy International Airport. After visiting JetBlue’s current headquarters in Long Island City, Borough President Richards learned a lease extension at JFK Airport would discourage JetBlue from abandoning its plans to move its corporate headquarters to Florida. Donovan Richards, Borough President of Queens…
Liberty Aviation Museum’s 1928 Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-B flew its first flight on December 1, 1928. It was sold to Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT, the logo that graces the aircraft’s fuselage today) in January 1929 where it became NC9645 and was named City of Wichita. It inaugurated westbound transcontinental commercial air service on July 7, 1929, with sister ship City of Columbus. In April 1931, ownership of the aircraft was transferred to Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA). Here the aircraft helped in the development of TWA’s route system. Then, in July 1935, NC9645 was sold to G. Ruckstill and entered the fleet at…
By June 30, 2021, the ICAO requires all Member States ensure that 100% of international air cargo transported on commercial aircraft is either (1) screened to a level intended to identify and/or detect the presence of concealed explosive devices or (2) under appropriate security controls throughout the cargo supply chain to prevent the introduction of concealed explosive devices. There are two paths to U.S. compliance with this mandate; screen 100% of cargo before it is loaded onto a commercial aircraft, or establish a TSA-regulated program or framework that screens cargo and/or applies security controls throughout the supply chain. The U.S. Transportation…
The new theme will be reprised throughout Spirt Airlines system as Spirit Airlines signed a deal with Universal Orlando Resorts to promote the new movie “Spirit Untamed”. Movie goers will also get special access to the production; along with the possibility of getting an Orlando vacation. The opening performance of DreamWorks Animation’s new epic adventure hit theaters on June 4th, and Spirit Airlines partnered to promote the film. The movie is the story of a headstrong girl trying to find her place in the world. She moves to a small town on the frontier and befriends a wild horse with…
At the risk of offering a too simplistic view of airline passenger segmentation, I look at three kinds of travelers; the destination traveler who is going to a specific spot or traveling for a specific reason. A newly married couple off on their honeymoon for example; the second traveler is a family or close friend social visit and the last, but certainly not least is the business traveler. The trends for the first two looks like they will return to normal at a good pace. But the trend for business travel’s return to normal is more complex, and therefore difficult…
Allegiant Airlines plans to hire 184 pilots in the coming months, a nearly 19 percent increase to the company’s current roster of approximately 1,000 pilots. The new hires are part of the company’s growth strategy to meet increasing demand for air travel. The first group of pilots will begin training in July, with classes scheduled to run every few weeks through early 2022. As states have eased pandemic restrictions and the COVID-19 vaccine has rolled out across the country, demand for travel has rebounded. Allegiant, which focuses on linking travelers in small-to-medium cities to world-class leisure destinations, was the first…
United Airlines continues to move to a more sustainable future with the launch of the first-of-its-kind Eco-Skies Alliance SM program. Working with the airline, more than a dozen leading global corporations will collectively contribute towards the purchase of approximately 3.4 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) this year. With its nearly 80% emissions reductions on a lifecycle basis compared to conventional jet fuel, this is enough SAF to eliminate approximately 31,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or enough to fly passengers over 220 million miles. As inaugural participants, many companies are taking a lead within their respective industries,…
As New York City continues its recovery, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is welcoming visitors and workers back to the World Trade Center (WTC) campus this spring with a series of exciting new programs and cultural events. In addition to visiting the iconic WTC Oculus, which features a wide range of appealing retail and dining options, there are many outdoor activities rolling out this spring and summer to entertain visitors as the campus continues its march toward a return to normal after a year-plus of COVID-19. The campus also features colorful murals, seating at Liberty Park and…
The April 15th issue of Intelligent Aerospace indicates that Alaska Airlines and SkyNRG Americas announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) committing to increased investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The MOU builds on a long history of Alaska leadership advancing SAF and partners the airline with the global SAF pioneers at SkyNRG Americas. Under the agreement, SkyNRG Americas will initially focus on the development of dedicated SAF production facilities to supply Western U.S. airports. These facilities will use commercially available technologies that enable the use of municipal solid waste and other waste-based inputs as feedstocks, as well as incorporating green hydrogen…