The International Air Transport Association announced an organizational restructuring that it said will allow the group to better address the needs of its 240 member airlines. As part of the reorganization, which will take effect July 1, IATA’s seven regional groups will be consolidated into five by creating combined Americas and Africa and Middle East operations. The reorganization will also create a new division, “Airports, Passenger and Cargo Services,” that will combine IATA’s main activities with respect to airports, security, passenger and cargo services. The new division will be led by Thomas Windmuller, currently Senior Vice President -- Member and Government Relations. The renamed “Member and External Relations” division will be led by newly-promoted Paul Steel, currently Director of Aviation Environment, IATA said.
Notice of Agreements Filed (here)
The number of commercial truck crossings into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico grew 3.6 percent in 2012 to 10.7 million, said the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That followed a 1.7 percent rise from 2010 to 2011, after four years of decline from 2005 to 2009, it said. The overall database (here) also includes numbers of incoming trains, buses, containers, personal vehicles, and pedestrians entering the U.S. through land ports and ferry crossings.
A suit to block FAA plans to close 149 contract air traffic control towers April 7 was filed by the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and its affiliate organization the U.S. Contract Tower Association (USCTA). The suit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The groups had sent a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta April 2 asking the FAA to reconsider its closure decision. The groups said "the decision to shutter these critical air traffic control facilities on such an unprecedented and wide-scale basis raises serious concerns about safety -- both at the local level and throughout the aviation system."
President Barack Obama designated Mario Cordero as chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), said an April 2 FMC press release. Cordero has been a commissioner since June 2011. Prior to his appointment, he was an attorney in private practice and served eight years on the Board of Harbor Commissioners for the Port of Long Beach. Cordero said he looks forward to continued work on fostering a “fair, efficient and reliable international ocean transportation system” and protecting the public from unfair and deceptive practices.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has received the following applications for certificates of public convenience and necessity and foreign air carrier permits under Subpart B (formerly Subpart Q) of DOT Procedural Regulations (14 CFR 301.201 et seq.), according to a Federal Register notice for publication April 4:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced receipt of petitions for decisions that nonconforming 2012 Porsche GT3RS, 2010 BMW Z4 and 2007 Ford Escape Multi-Purpose passenger cars that were not originally manufactured to comply with all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are eligible for import in the U.S. because: (1) they are substantially similar to vehicles that were originally manufactured for sale in the U.S. and that were certified by their manufacturer as complying with the safety standards, and (2) they are capable of being readily altered to conform to the standards. Comments are due May 4.
The Federal Maritime Commission said the following have filed applications for a license as a Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier (NVO) and/or Ocean Freight Forwarder (OFF)-Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI) pursuant to section 19 of the Shipping Act of 1984. The FMC also gave notice of the filing of applications to amend an existing OTI license or the qualifying individual for a license. Interested persons may contact the Office of Transportation Intermediaries, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, D.C. 20573, at 202-523-5843 or at OTI@fmc.gov.
The Agricultural Marketing Service released the Ocean Shipping Container Availability Report (OSCAR) for the week of March 27 - April 2. The weekly report contains data on container availability for westbound transpacific traffic at 18 intermodal locations in the U.S.1 from the eight member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA).2 Although the report is compiled by AMS, it covers container availability for all merchandise, not just agricultural products.
The Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics will include data for air and sea cargo in its monthly trans-border statistical releases, it said in a March 27 press release. The releases previously included categories for truck, rail, pipeline, other and unknown modes. The category for other and unknown modes will now be grouped with surface transportation, said BTS.