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.
JetBlue Airways Corp. is eliminating an unspecified number of jobs in the latest phase of its campaign to cut as much as $300 million from operating costs by 2020. The reductions follow a reorganization of certain teams within the airline to streamline operations, the carrier said in a statement. JetBlue declined to say how much it will save with the changes while calling it a “meaningful step toward our corporate structural cost goal.” Most of the job cuts announced to employees this week are at the airline’s New York headquarters. “We need to make these difficult decisions to ensure we…
Embraer and Boeing signed a memorandum of understanding on July 5, 2018, on the long-awaited joint venture between the two manufacturers. Boeing is to hold an 80 percent ownership stake in the joint venture and Embraer will own the remaining 20 percent. The joint venture is to be led by a Brazilian management team, President and Chief Executive Officer. Meanwhile, Boeing will have operational and management control of the new company. Embraer’s commercial plane production was valued at $4.75 billion. Boeing’s 80 percent ownership stake in the joint venture is estimated at around $3.8 billion. It was expected that Boeing…
When does a flight service provided by airlines and airports to traveling passengers end? Many might say when their flight lands and the passengers have reached their destination. But it ignores the fact that baggage retrieval is yet to happen and that is one of the key items listed in customer complaints about airlines and airports. Baggage misplacement problems always are in the top three of consumer complaints and a recent survey by Boston.com showed lost baggage a close #2 behind flight delays and cancellations.* The multitude of baggage problems experienced during the January Cyclone snowstorm shed light on this…
On June 8th, Patient Airlift Services (PALS) held its annual Above & Beyond Long Island event. The goals of the event are to recognize and thank the volunteer aviation community and on-the-road drivers who donate their time and resources. Without their unstinting support, there would be no PALS and no free PALS flights. The Talon Air Hangar located at the Republic Jet Center in Farmingdale, which was donated to PALS was decked out for the party, and what started out as an empty airplane hangar turned into a beautiful gala complete with cocktails, dinner and dancing. PALS had special guests…
There’s usually nothing noteworthy about sleeping in an airport hotel. The TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport will certainly change that. Those who yearn for the Golden Age of Aviation now complain about dirty terminals, crowded TSA lines and being crammed into economy’s cattle class. What happened to the time when traveling was romantic? Although that age may now be gone, those passing through JFK will soon have the opportunity to enjoy what was once the crown jewel of the early days of aviation, the iconic Saarinen TWA terminal built in 1962. The TWA Hotel held a preview on April…
Newly selected NYC Department of Education Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza rounded out his tour of NYC public schools during the week of April 9 visiting schools in one borough each day. On Friday, April 13 Chancellor Carranza picked Aviation High School as his first tour of a Queens High School and he was amazed to see all the work the high school students were completing as they worked on earning their airframe and/or powerplant licenses, as well as a New York State Regents Diploma. Chancellor Carranza stated, “These students know math in a very deep and profound way. We…
It’s a roadway, not an airport, but does the argument about how the project should be initiated and executed be a preview of what could be in store for us when infrastructure fixes of JFK and LaGuardia’s roadways and access bridges need to happen? State Sen. Brian Kavanagh and Assemblywoman Joanne Simon hosted a rally in Brooklyn Heights in support of state legislation that would allow the city to combine engineering and construction work on a major roadway rehabilitation into a single contract. The city would like Albany to grant it that authority for all projects, but for now it…
More than 100 employees from JetBlue, United, Spirit attended the funeral for Gina Rose Montalto — who was killed in the recent mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, and whose father is a pilot for United — according to Dan Petrovich, a United pilot who was in attendance and spoke to Business Insider. Montalto’s parents set up a GoFundMe to raise money for a scholarship fund in her name focused on secondary education. The GoFundMe had raised over $280,000 of its $300,000 goal as of Wednesday afternoon. “Gina will be missed not only by her family, but by everyone whose life…
In a remarkable joint venture, nine commercial airlines have donated $28 million to the National Air and Space Museum to support the remaking of an exhibition that traces the history of commercial aviation, the museum announced. The rare collaborative gifts from competitors in a cutthroat industry will fund the renovation of “America by Air,” one of the Smithsonian museum’s main attractions. The exhibition features artifacts that trace the evolution of flying, from uniforms and models to Douglas DC-3 and DC-7 planes and the nose of a Boeing 747 that visitors can enter. The donations are among the first major private…
A midwestern airport that once handled 800 thousand tons of cargo a year only 10 years ago is now almost equal to the total cargo volumes of JFK Airport (1.28 m tons). That airport is Indianapolis Airport and it is investing hundreds of millions to improve both airside and cargo handling infrastructure. When you add the growth of Indianapolis to the similar strong growth of Akron-Canton and Cincinatti/Kentucky Airports, the picture gets even more worrisome. This is especially true when you look at how JFK Cargo figures have decreased in ten years. (1.6 m tons in 2007) down 320 hundred…