AIN Blogs

AIN Blog: TSA's New Knives Rule Riles Politicians
March 11, 2013 - 10:15am
Matt Thurber

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has changed the rules and as of April 25 will allow small blades and sports implements such as golf clubs and lacrosse sticks to be carried on board by airline passengers. The rules would allow passengers to carry knives with blades shorter than 2.36 inches and narrower than half an inch, as long as they don’t have lockable blades. The existing rules prohibit most sharp objects, with the exception of scissors that are four or fewer inches in length, and also sports equipment. The TSA wants the rule change to harmonize U.S. security practices with those of other countries, which would make security screening more efficient. I’m not so sure about that.
AIN Blog: Bizav and Obama: Time for a Reality Check
March 2, 2013 - 7:30am
Jeff Burger
President Obama has proposed eliminating a tax break for business jet buyers.

If I had to sum up the benefits of business jets in just one word, I might pick “convenience.” According to Wikipedia, “convenient procedures, products and services are those intended to increase ease in accessibility, save resources (such as time, effort and energy) and decrease frustration.”
AIN Blog: Behind the Scenes at Business Jet Traveler April/May 2013
March 1, 2013 - 7:45am
Jennifer Leach English
10 years of Business Jet Traveler

It’s already clear that this year will be a big one for Business Jet Traveler and I just want to keep everyone in the loop.
AIN Blog: Torqued: Emergency AD Inappropriate in Case of Boeing 787
March 1, 2013 - 12:10am
John Goglia

Since when is an Emergency AD used to ground an aircraft fleet, as it has been in the case of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner? First off, let me be clear that if anything good can be said of the Boeing Dreamliner nightmare it’s that no one had to die before the FAA would take definitive action to ground the 787 until its battery fire problems could be investigated properly.
AIN Blog: Bias Taints Even Informed Debate about Aircraft Markets
February 28, 2013 - 11:21am
Gregory Polek

It seems the news media now ranks among lawyers and terrorists as one of the groups anyone can castigate without any fear of repercussion from civil society’s language police.
AIN Blog: Other Voices: Gray Market Charter Flights, Again and Again and Again
February 16, 2013 - 3:10am
W. Patrick Gordon

“Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.” Whether Mark Twain or Dudley Warner said it remains debatable, but the point is that the same thing could be said about gray-market charters. I have been in corporate and VIP aviation for decades, and I have been hearing the legal charter operators complain about this issue for my entire career.
AIN Blog: Problematic Use of 'Drones' Attracts UN Scrutiny
February 8, 2013 - 11:36am
Bill Carey
UN special rapporteur Ben Emmerson

The problematic use of “drones” to prosecute the U.S. war on terror is very much in the news again. On February 7, during a hearing that was repeatedly interrupted by protesters, senators questioned John Brennan, President Obama’s CIA director-designate, about the administration’s heavy reliance on “targeted killings” by unmanned aircraft.
AIN Blog: LaHood Throws In the Towel
February 6, 2013 - 11:48am
Paul Lowe
Ray LaHood

When then President-elect Barack Obama named retiring Republican congressman Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) to become his first secretary of transportation on Dec. 19, 2008, it raised more than a few eyebrows on both sides of the legislative aisle. But political blood proved thicker than water.
AIN Blog: Schedulers & Dispatchers: A Fine Time in Alamo City
February 1, 2013 - 3:52pm
Curt Epstein

Having just returned from covering my second Schedulers & Dispatchers I’ve learned that I really like the show. While much smaller than NBAA’s annual meeting, it’s still large enough that you can’t talk to everybody you might want to during the course of the conference and, covering the FBO beat for AIN as I do, of course it’s right up my alley as the service providers use it to showcase their facilities.
AIN Blog: Battery Incidents Abound, But Not All Involve Lithium-ion
February 1, 2013 - 7:01am
Matt Thurber
Lithium-ion laptop battery

The subject of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries took on urgent new meaning following two thermal runaway incidents with lithium-ion batteries installed in Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner. A lot of information—and misinformation—surrounds lithium-ion technology, and experts from all over are weighing in with their opinions.

Pages