Quick Takes

The Teamsters have been successful in a National Mediation Board-supervised pilot elections at GoJet. While the Teamsters was the only union authorized to be on the ballot, the pilots unanimously selected Teamsters Local 618 as their bargaining representative.
In the last four representation elections in the airline industry, the Teamsters won while ALPA lost.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a final rule that delays imposing new restrictions on flights over the Grand Canyon. While the current rules had required a new set of restrictions to be adopted and in place by 2008, this new rule delays the deadline until Feb. 20, 2011. The FAA and the National Park Service are engaged in a series of community meetings to reach a compromise on fixed-wing and helicopter sightseeing flights over both the east and west ends of the park. A working group comprised of environmentalists, Native American tribes, tour companies and government agencies is trying to reach a consensus as to how to obtain the restoration of natural quiet.

The DOT recently awarded three sizeable grants to partially fund airport improvements. The agency pledged $200 million to build a fourth runway at Washington Dulles International Airport. The $4 billion project is expected to be completed in 2008. The agency has also committed $43 million to be spent over the next eight years to build a new terminal at Myrtle Beach International Airport. The new terminal is designed to better handle smaller commercial aircraft as well as general aviation aircraft. DOT will give Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport $26 million to improve its taxiway. When the project is completed, the airport's safety will be enhanced so that arriving planes do not cross the path of departing aircraft.

Aviation Today