Thanksgiving flight delays; laser alerts in D.C. restricted airspace

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Political Winds are Shifting, Bringing Up the Pilot Retirement Age…Again

Led by Senator Marsha Blackburn in a letter to Congress, the debate over increasing the retirement age for commercial pilots from 65 has resurfaced again; the Commerce Committee voted against the action by one vote early in 2024. Senator Blackburn states the data supports raising the retirement age and that “experienced pilots have fewer accidents than junior pilots.” Argentina also made news this week by lifting all age restrictions for commercial pilots.

AI Cameras and Lasers are being installed in D.C. area to keep pilots from entering restricted airspace

After 9/11, cameras were installed across the nation’s capital to prevent aviation-related terror attacks; 20 years later, these systems are getting significant upgrades with AI technology to alert the authorities and the pilot who violates the airspace. Called “sparkling”, a laser-based warning system associated with the camera network can illuminate the cockpit of an aircraft that enters restricted airspace. The warning lasers do not cause eye damage.

New lawsuit between corporate flight attendants’ overtime pay and family office

Former co-founder of Home Depot, Arthur Blank’s family office, is being sued by two flight attendants for overtime pay issues and falsification of time records. “The women say in the lawsuit that they worked more than 40 hours ‘nearly every workweek’ and sometimes as much as 90 hours….The lawsuit says that on their days off, the two women were ‘bombarded’ by calls and texts about travel planning from Blank's family office,” according to Business Insider.

Jeppesen and ForeFlight might be worth $8 billion

To pair down their business to core functions, aircraft manufacturer Boeing may be spinning off Jeppesen and ForeFlight, potentially worth $7 billion and $1 billion, respectively. According to Jefferies, “Boeing bought Jeppesen for $1.5 billion in 2000 and ForeFlight for $275 million in 2019,” and they generated the highest margins (30%) for the Boeing Global services entities.

Be prepared for Thanksgiving Delays

Tuesday, one of the busiest travel days during the holiday, was relatively quiet despite warnings of understaffing at the TSA and Air Traffic Control. FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker, said they will be implementing Traffic Flow Management this week and will be “working diligently to make sure these initiatives can operate as efficiently as possible.”

“The FAA said it projects over 50,000 flights will take off on Tuesday, marking the busiest day during the seven-day holiday travel period. Over 49,000 flights are projected to take off on Wednesday and Sunday this week…Thanksgiving Day itself is expected to be the least busy day this week, with almost 26,000 flights in the air.” (KSBY)