Recently in Aviation Category

A remarkable memorial flypast was organised four days after the loss of the First Air Boeing 737-200 at Resolute Bay. Not wholly surprising in a part of the world that is truly aviation country, but a terrific job all the same. Best seen in full-screen HD with audio.

An interesting question. These are the folk who really think about this issue because, the world being the way it is, their whole business is based on understanding it.

Right now they're doubtless thinking about it harder than ever because they're having a pretty horrible year, not that anybody else is likely to lose much sleep over that I suppose. One of the biggest players - Aon - says claims in the first half of 2009 alone are already about 11% higher than the average for a whole year.

In fact, if the rest of the year hits only the 13-year average then this will be the worst ever year in terms of claims apart from the special circumstances of 2001. Aon says the figure would come in at $2.2 billion, which is a hefty 60% up on the average $1.4 billion. Unsurprisingly, renewal premiums are now running at about 25% higher than last year.

But to go back to the question I came in with. Here's the answer. This document shows the questions that the International Union of Aerospace Insurers recommends that its members use as best practice.

Some of it obviously relates to the size of the risk, but most of it is explicitly safety-related. And section 2 is really educational.

Today marks the final publication day of the Hearst-owned Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper. It's continuing on the web, but it's already decided that it can do without an aviation correspondent among other things and so the greatly respected James Wallace is out of a job. (A Seattle publisher without a heavyweight aviation correspondent - interesting concept huh?)

This is going to happen to quite a few newspapers, starting in the US but also in the UK and Europe. There are some intensely irritating media-folk, whose vanity I won't indulge by naming, stuffing their conceited opinions about this down everyone's throat. I loathe them, and I'm sick of hearing their poisonous views, whether they're right or wrong. They know who they are.

If you're in publishing these days you know the score, and most of us are labouring to re-invent our world accordingly. The P-I didn't quite get the print/electronic mixture right, and you could see that. But we don't need these assholes dancing on newspapers' graves.

Anyway, back to Jim Wallace. I barely know him - but I like his stuff. He is in that magic space where he knows as much as most of us in the pure aviation publishing world, but is sufficiently removed to be able to make sense of it for a newspaper audience. That's a good bit harder than writing for a professional aviation audience.

Jim's planning to blog at http://wallaceonaerospace.com/ - which doesn't provide a feed yet, but at least bookmark it to remind yourself to keep in touch when it's up and running. And he's looking for work: jawallace.wallace@gmail.com

Best of luck Jim.

A contact in the US who moves in aviation union circles just bet me five pounds that the new FAA administrator will be one-time US ALPA president Randy Babbitt. He's apparently seen as a compromise candidate who's more acceptable to backers of rival candidates than another former ALPA president Duane Woerth. Woerth is the favoured candidate of the AFL-CIO union umbrella group but carries a lot of baggage, not all of it helpful.

Watch this space. (I didn't accept the bet.)

The New Republic magazine in the US has a thought-provoking article running entitled The End of Aviation. It's subtitled What will happen when America can't afford to fly? It's about America obviously, but most of the arguments are applicable elsewhere. A couple of years ago I would have considered them plausible, but now I'm more optimistic about aviation. Here's why...

Today I've been putting together a podcast with my colleague David Field, who's Airline Business US Editor based in Washington DC, and Addison Schonland of IAG who's created quite a few of these now and is producing some very slick material. I'm asking them about what's happening (or not happening) with US airline consolidation and what on earth's going on at Southwest Airlines; they're asking me about Airbus and EADS' financial results that I reported on from Paris. We're going to do this for the next few weeks at least - take a listen and tell us what you think.