2008 was a year flooded with events impacting the airline industry. Strikes, layoffs, cutbacks, high fuel prices, mergers - you name it - nearly every curve that could be thrown at an industry, was.

Although the year's picture looked bleak for most airlines and airliner manufacturers with frequent ups and downs, a sense of a new age of air travel seems to be emerging from the chaos, despite the continued global economic woes...

January

• A Midwest snowstorm that dumped several inches of snow led airlines to delay or scrap hundreds of flights, with over 500 flights cancelled at O'Hare alone...
• Boeing announced its 2007 sales, with a net order total of 1,413 -- smashing its previous record of 1,044 sales in 2006, and marking the third year in a row Boeing surpassed the 1,000-order mark...

• An airline passenger on an international flight was feared to have contaminated 44 fellow passengers with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis, after disregarding a diagnosis and flying anyway...
• Airlines around the globe raised fares in an attempt to keep pace with oil prices that surged over $100 per barrel on the futures market, with US domestic roundtrip fares bumped up $10 to $20...
• An Atlantic Southeast Airlines regional jet ignoreda hold-short order at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and crossed the runway in front of a Delta Air Lines 757 on its takeoff roll...
• Boeing said the first flight of its 787 had been moved to the second quarter 2008, with deliveries expected to begin in early 2009...

• Only minor injuries were reported following an accident at London Heathrow Airport, when a British Airways 777 touched down several hundred meters short of the runway, shearing off one of the main landing gear legs and severely damaging the port wing and engine nacelle...
• American installed the Aircell LLC wireless Internet system on a Boeing 767 for a test, with plans to similarly equip 15 planes in its fleet...
• Of the nation's 32 busiest airports, O'Hare ranked last in on-time performance and led the nation in cancelled flights, with nearly 4 of every 100 flights from O'Hare cancelled in 2007...

February

• Airbus became the first manufacturer to fly a commercial aircraft powered by an alternative fuel when an Airbus A380 made a successful three-hour flight from Filton, England to Toulouse, France powered by synthetic liquid fuel processed from natural gas...
• The Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights issued a challenge to each of the presidential candidates to make public their positions on the rights of airline passengers during lengthy tarmac delays...
• In an effort to cut costs and generate more revenue, United Airline changed its checked baggage policy, limiting travelers to one -- and only one -- free bag on United, Ted, and United Express flights, with a service fee of $25 placed on the second bag...

• The Defense Department announced charges were sworn against six detainees at Guantanamo Bay, seeking the death penalty for the men alleged to be responsible for the planning and execution of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States...
• Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced the United States and Australia concluded a landmark Open-Skies aviation agreement that will eliminate restrictions on US-Australia air services for the carriers of both countries...

• Delta Air Lines executive vice president of sales and customer service Lee Macenczak confirmed that Delta was in talks with Northwest about a possible merger...
• An American Airlines passenger died onboard a flight from Haiti to the US after being denied access to oxygen twice, and then finding the plane's onboard O2 tanks were empty...
• Veteran pilot Ian Wilkinson, while piloting a new Boeing 777-300ER from Paine Field, near Boeing's plant at Everett, Washington, to its new home in Hong Kong reportedly came around and made a very low pass was subsequently fired by the airline, reportedly for doing the stunt without company approval...
• Technology that warns pilots about potential runway safety hazards will be installed at Los Angeles International Airport under a partnership between the FAA and the City of Los Angeles, following a series of highly-publicized runway incursion incidents...

March

• New York Senator Chuck Schumer said the Transportation Security Administration isn't doing enough to ensure foreign students training at US flight schools are properly vetted and cleared -- an assertion TSA vehemently denied...
• Collision avoidance systems in the cockpits of two commercial airliners apparently came to the rescue, when an air traffic control trainee accidentally directed a regional jet into the path of a Delta Air Lines MD-88 at FL350...

• In a scandal reminiscent of last year's expose of careless handling of security badges in Chicago, a Dallas, TX-based television station uncovered the loss of 122 FAA safety inspector badges over the last five years...
• At the 33rd Annual FAA Forecast Conference, US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced that airlines serving Newark Liberty Airport agreed to temporarily cap and spread flights for two years at a level that will allow 30 more flights per day than last summer...
• Airlines added an additional 1,038 pilots in February, bringing the year-to-date total 2,151 -- an increase of 393 pilots from that time last year...
• Southwest Airlines grounded 43 of its 737s due to concerns about problems requiring inspections of the fuselage skin above and below the cabin windows...

• Air traffic control tapes released by the FAA seem to point towards that possibility two pilots flying a go! Airlines CRJ200 from Honolulu to Hilo actually fell asleep on the job last month, as controllers attempted to contact the pilots 11 times over 17 minutes as their jet flew past its destination on and 15 miles out to sea at FL210...
• American Airlines canceled about 200 domestic flights so crews could inspect wire bundles on a number of the carrier's MD-82 and MD-83 aircraft...
• Aloha Airlines announced the shut down of its inter-island and transpacific passenger flight operations, ending a 61-year tradition of service to Hawaii...

April

• ATA Airlines suddenly announced it was shutting its doors, and abruptly cancelled all current and future scheduled flights The news came as a surprise to passengers and employees alike...

• The FAA investigated four carriers found lacking in their procedures to adhere to maintenance inspections. Two airlines were under FAA microscopes regarding wire bundle inspections; one had not submitted a compliance plan; and the fourth failed to complete mandatory scheduled inspections...
• Survey says: Airline performance slipped to the lowest levels ever recorded. Low-cost carriers AirTran, JetBlue and Southwest fared best in ratings...
• Boeing announced a revised plan for first flight and initial deliveries of the 787, that moving target dates for those milestones off by as much as six months beyond earlier expectations...
• Frontier Airlines shocked the industry with the sudden announcement it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection...the fourth US airline to do so in the past three weeks...
• Delta Air Lines reached a merger agreement with executives at Northwest Airlines, which will see the Northwest brand dissolve in the name of creating the world's largest airline.
• The US DOT's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported US scheduled passenger airlines employed 3.0 percent more workers in February 2008 than in February 2007, the 13th consecutive increase in full-time equivalent employee levels...

• A Boeing 757 which lost a four-by-five-foot composite wing panel somewhere over Maryland suffered failed fasteners which were installed as part of an FAA airworthiness directive in 1991...
• Mesa Airlines notified TSA that an employee reported a laptop -- containing ramp access codes for as many as 17 airports -- had been misplaced, lost or stolen from an overhead bin onboard a United Express flight from Birmingham, AL to Washington's Dulles International...

May

• Several airlines -- among them JetBlue, Southwest, and Northwest -- have started slowing their planes down in flight, in order to save precious fuel...

• Boeing and the Government of Iraq announced an order for 30 Boeing 737-800s, the first step in re-establishing the war-torn country's scheduled commercial aviation operations...
• Acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell admitted the FAA failed to perform more than 100 recommended safety reviews at major airlines, some of which were due as long as nine years ago...
• The US Department of Justice  announced the former highest-ranking Qantas Airways Limited cargo executive employed in the United States agreed to plead guilty, serve eight months in jail, and pay a criminal fine for participating in a conspiracy to fix rates for international air cargo shipments...
• An Austin, TX businessman failed to heed repeated warnings to shut off his cell phone on a Southwest Airlines flight from Austin to Dallas, and was charged with disorderly conduct -- a Class C misdemeanor -- that carries a fine up to $500...
• An in-flight fire onboard a Compass Airlines regional flight from Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan was the result of a young flight attendant's temper tantrum, who was upset the airline made him work that route...
• Under a new federal rule, airlines must report new and more complete data on the time passengers spend on the tarmac, a small but important victory for airline travelers who've found themselves stuck on the tarmac on a diverted or canceled flight...

• To cope with high fuel prices, American Airlines announced plans to slash its flight schedule and workforce, and to charge for ALL checked luggage: $15 for the first bag, and $25 for each additional bag...
• The Travel Industry Association released a survey showing deep frustration among air travelers, which caused them to avoid an estimated 41 million trips over the past 12 months, at a cost of more than $26 billion to the US economy...

June

• The International Air Transport Association, whose members account for 93 percent of international traffic, projects airlines may report losses totaling $6.1 billion for 2008, as they face soaring jet fuel prices...
• In a release to the airline's more than 45,000 employees, Continental Airlines CEO Larry Kellner and president Jeff Smisek announced the carrier plans to eliminate 3,000 jobs in the coming months, and will ground 67 aircraft from its mainline fleet...
• An airline industry pundit predicted a new era in US air travel -- the low-cost era - and
  said Legacy carriers may soon disappear as budget carriers reap benefits...

• The National Transportation Safety Board made recommendations to the FAA to address human fatigue within airline operations...
• New York Senator Chuck Schumer joined with the Air Transport Association and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey on Wednesday, mounting a united front against plans by the DOT to impose flight caps and slot auctions at three New York City-area airports...
• Continental Airlines and United Airlines announced a framework agreement to cooperate "extensively," linking their networks and services worldwide to the benefit of customers, and creating revenue opportunities and cost savings and other efficiencies...
• United plans to distribute some 1,450 furlough notices over the coming months, with the goal of 950 layoffs by the end of 2009...

• Following frenzied negotiations over seven days, pilots at Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines reached agreement on a joint contract as the two carriers merge operations under the Delta banner...
• Retired American Airlines Chairman Bob Crandall called for the US government to get involved in the current aviation industry crisis, but stopped short of calling for a return to full-on industry regulation...

July

• An All Nippon Airways Boeing 777-300ER bound for Japan was forced to make a single-engine return approach to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, while residents expressed concern about the environmental impact from the fuel the heavy airliner was forced to dump over Lake Michigan...
• The "F"-shaped axe has dropped for some 900 flight attendants at American Airlines, as the carrier confirmed it sent "WARN" notifications to its most junior FAs, telling them they are eligible for furloughs starting August 31...
• Amid accusations of insider trading at Airbus-parent EADS, former Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert was hauled in for questioning by French authorities...
• NATCA reported an 'ugly' incident in the skies over JFK, saying a 737 came within 100 feet of a 757 during a go-around...
• The DHS entertained the idea of identification bracelets for airline passengers, containing personal information and a GPS tracking chip to monitor their movements. And, oh yeah, one more thing: any flight crew member would be able to immobilize wearers by simply pointing a laser device in their general direction...
• Midwest Airlines, the latest carrier to drastically slash its workforce, announced plans to reduce employee ranks at Midwest and its Skyway subsidiary by about 1,200 jobs, or 40 percent of current staffing levels...

• American Airlines Flight 725 from Boston to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City after a disturbed passenger took off his clothes, put them back on, and attempted to open an emergency exit in flight. He was restrained and subdued by members of a Major League Soccer team...
• Helped by savings netted from its highly successful fuel hedging policy, Southwest Airlines posted second quarter earnings of $321 million, nearly setting an all-time record as most of its legacy competitors are bleeding red ink...
• A Boeing 747-400 operated by Qantas was enroute from Hong Kong to Melbourne when an oxygen bottle exploded, blowing a five-foot hole in the cargo area fuselage...

August

• US Airways announced it will start charging passengers $2 for soft drinks and $1 for coffee and hot tea. Flight attendants at US Airways and America West are adamantly opposed to this unprecedented decision, due to lack of proper planning and poor notification to passengers...

• The DOT announced the auction of one slot for a daily round trip flight serving Newark Liberty Airport. The lease will have a five-year term; DOT promises the revenue will be spent on measures to reduce delays and enhance capacity at New York-area airports...
• Continental flight attendant Sharon Brown sued Victoria Osteen, co-pastor of the Lakewood Church in Houston, TX, claiming Ms. Osteen became enraged over a spill on the armrest of her first-class seat on a flight from Houston to Vail in December 2005. Brown maintains Ms. Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast...
• Alaska Airlines announced Monday it cancelled flights to and from Adak, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan and Sitka as a safety precaution related to the pattern of ash at altitude created by the eruption of Kasatochi volcano in the Aleutians Islands...
• AIR Inc. noted a steep dropoff in airline pilot hires, as airlines that report to the survey group hired a total of 287 pilots in July, 56% fewer than in the previous month...
• American Airlines announced a joint business agreement with British Airways and Iberia on flights between North America and Europe, later filing for worldwide trust immunity with the US DOT and declaring its intent to include fellow "oneworld" alliance members Finnair and Royal Jordanian in the immunity agreement...
• 153 passengers onboard a Spanair airliner were lost when the plane departed the runway on takeoff from Madrid...
• A bumbling inspector with the Transportation Safety Administration damaged nine American Eagle regional jets in an attempt to gain access to the parked aircraft by climbing up the fuselage, using the Total Air Temperature probes mounted to the planes' noses as handholds...

• Qantas will take delivery of it first of 20 A380 aircraft from Airbus in Toulouse, France on September 19, and expects to operate its first passenger flight, between Melbourne and Los Angeles, on October 20...

September

• Three major cable news networks offered breathless coverage of an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 that made a thoroughly routine emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport, after blowing out one of its left main gear tires on takeoff...
• By an overwhelming majority, employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers have rejected the "best and final" contract offer from Boeing, and voted to strike immediately...

• Senior officials at American Airlines placed a Los Angeles-based pilot on 15-day suspension, after management accused the pilot of deliberately taxiing too slow at Dallas/Fort Worth International...
• Kate Hanni, founder of the Coalition for an Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights, commended the Canadian government on its efforts in enacting a "Flight Rights" program...

• A number of airlines with a significant presence in Houston, TX plan to resume operations from that city's two commercial airports, after the area recently got slammed by Hurricane Ike...
• Passengers on an Air Berlin flight from Nuremburg to Portugal came close to mutiny, demanding that the airline replace the Boeing 737-800 scheduled to operate their flight after pilots aborted two attempts to takeoff...
• Actor Jack O'Halloran and former Sony and EMI executive Jay Samit partnered together to purchase a huge empty hangar on the northeast corner of the Long Beach, CA airport. Built in the 1940s by Douglas Aircraft for the construction of airliners, but vacant since 2006, the duo has plans to turn the hangar into a gigantic movie-making studio...
• After meeting with Boeing's negotiating team, Executive Director Ray Goforth of SPEEA said, "Things are looking worse. These negotiations will end up in the same train wreck as they did with the machinists if they don't change how they're approaching us..."
• Three baggage handlers for American Airlines face criminal charges, after hatching a plan to steal a suitcase laden with expensive jewelry at San Francisco International. Adding to the trio's woes is the fact their counterparts across the country, at New York's Kennedy International Airport, seemingly beat them to the punch...

October

• The Government Accountability Office issued a ruling saying the FAA does not have a legal right to impose its slot auction plan at New York-area airports..

• A female traveler described a creepy encounter with a male Flight Attendant on a JetBlue Flight. The FA admitted to making the sexual advances...and no longer works for JetBlue..
• Transportation Security Administration Chief Kip Hawley announced that an eventual reduction of restrictions on liquids carried aboard airliners may become a reality within a year...
• The DOT plans to go ahead with caps on the number of takeoff and landing operations at certain times of the day and slot auctions, against the GAO's ruling. The DOT said both steps are intended to cap New York-area commercial airline traffic to realistic levels...
• Despite continued optimism from Boeing officials and a record $275 million backlog of orders, experts expressed doubts relating to forecast 787 Dreamliner deliveries, saying the flight test program is unlikely to be completed prior to early 2010...
• Airlines that report to AIR, Inc. hired a total of 429 pilots in September, which is an increase of approximately 99% more pilots than in August, which saw only 215 new pilot hires...
• "Sad and incomprehensible." That's how one pilot for American Airlines summarized the loss of ASAP, a 14-year voluntary pilot safety program, the apparent victim of ever-present squabbling between pilots and management...

• Qantas became the first airline to operate commercial A380 flights between Australia and the west coast of the United States when its inaugural A380 service arrived at Los Angeles International Airport...
• Boeing detailed its 2008 Current Market Outlook for the China region, forecasting a market for 3,710 new airplanes worth about $390 billion over the next 20 years, predicting China will continue to be the fastest-growing aviation center in the world...
   

November

• The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced that its members voted to ratify a new 4-year contract with Boeing by 74 percent... bringing an end to a 57-day walkout that idled facilities in Washington, Oregon, Kansas, and California...
• 'Enhanced' inspections have been proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration on approximately 500 Boeing 737 jets operated by US airlines, hoping to detect slip-ups in the manufacturing process that at worst could result in an in-flight separation of engines from the wings of the aircraft...
•  Boeing acknowledged the first test flight of its long-delayed 787 jetliner has been pushed off into next year, due to the 57-day strike of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers...
• An unruly woman, facing charges of resisting arrest and interfering with the operations of a flight crew, was restrained by crewmembers who taped her to her seat with duct tape, perhaps one of the most versatile and indispensable tools ever invented...
• A sting operation conducted by the Los Angeles Police Department at Los Angeles International Airport resulted in the arrest of two baggage handlers, and the recovery over $10,000 in cash and 272 stolen items, including dozens of purses, cameras, computers, designer sunglasses, and currency from more than a dozen countries...
• Boeing announced a delay in the delivery of its 737 airliners to replace fasteners that were manufactured without a required anti-corrosive cadmium coating, and is making plans to inspect 394 of the 737s already in service with the defective parts...

• The DOT issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement the recommendations of its "Tarmac Task Force." At first glance, the NPRM looks promising, but CAPBOR's Kate Hanni notes the language in the report is filled with the same vague terms which make airline contracts of carriage essentially meaningless and unenforceable...
• In a ruling handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada, the court determined obese people are entitled to two seats for the price of one on Canadian domestic flights...
• A witness to the downing of an Air New Zealand A320 said he saw the plane dive abruptly into the Mediterranean Sea as it approached to land at Perpignan, France. "It was flying straight, then it turned brutally towards the ground..."

December

• Engineering and technical employees r epresented by SPEEA ratified four-year collective bargaining agreements, covering nearly 21,000 Boeing employees in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah...
• The ailing global economy and a resulting softening of the market for commercial airliners led enginemaker Pratt & Whitney to lay off 350 salaried workers nationwide...
• State inspectors removed over a dozen scales used by two airlines from service this week at Tucson International Airport, after the discovery the devices gave false readings...
• It came down to the wire, but a US appeals court blocked the federal government's controversial plan to auction off operations slots at New York's LaGuardia and JFK International Airports, and at nearby Newark International...

• Delta Air Lines says it needs fewer people to run the company in 2009, after planned cuts of six-to-eight percent take effect; the company says it will offer most of its 75,000 employees voluntary separation packages...
• On a British Flybe airliner flight from Cardiff to Charles de Gaulle Airport in France, just minutes before landing in Paris, the pilot got on the PA and told astonished passengers that he was not qualified to land the airplane in fog, and was turning back...
• PC Konk -- aka Dave Vaughan, 60 -- has been a children's entertainer for 25 years. "I just couldn't believe it when they told me to get undressed so they could search me and my belongings," he said. "I showed them my police clown identity card, which had my picture next to my credentials as a member of the Criminal Insane Department, but I don't think that really helped..."

• About a thousand travelers were stranded at Maui's Kahului Airport on Christmas Eve when an electrical short disabled the lights on the airport's longest runway. All outbound domestic and international flights were cancelled due to the blackout, and inbound flights were diverted to Honolulu...
• On-time statistics during the recent holiday travel season were truly awful, with nearly 8,800 flights canceled at major US airports between Friday, December 19th and Sunday, December 28, seriously disrupting holiday travel for over 1 million passengers...

FMI: www.aero-news.net