With the publication of benchmark values to be used for allocating CO2 emission allowances to more than 900 aircraft operators worldwide, the European Commission has made the aviation sector’s inclusion in the EU’s emissions trading system (EU ETS) official as of Jan. 1, 2012.

Carbon Emissions

From 2013 to 2020, an airline will receive (pdf) 0.6422 allowances per 1,000 tonne-kilometres, while in 2012 it will receive 0.6797 allowances.

About 1.6 billion metric tons of these “free” carbon allowances will be handed out to airlines, which works out to about $27 billion over nine years from 2012 to 2020.

“At current market prices these free allowances represent more than €20 billion over the decade,” said climate action commissioner Connie Hedegaard. “With these potential revenues, airlines could invest in modernizing their fleets, improving fuel efficiency and using non-fossil aviation fuel.”

European Commission director-general for climate Jos Delbeke went one step further and directly suggested that airlines should fund the purchase of new planes by passing the full cost of the carbon tax on to customers, while the airlines can skip paying $27 billion of the tax.

There’s something deeply flawed with an argument where a cut in a new tax yet to be implemented is considered extra revenue. But let’s skip over that for now because the aviation sector isn’t buying it anyway.

“IATA is not opposed to emissions trading,” said IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler. “We support the concept as a possible mechanism for the fourth pillar of our environment strategy. But the EU’s unilateral and regional approach to ETS could not be more misguided.”

U.S. carriers have taken the European Commission to court over its inclusion in EU ETS and the U.S. government is considering legislation to prohibit its carriers from participating.

But the EU isn’t just handing out memos and rulings. It coordinated the announcement with the leak of a report prepared by the World Bank and IMF that proposes global carbon taxes on aviation and ship fuels in developed economies.

The World Bank/IMF report suggests a global $25 per ton of CO2 charge on aviation and maritime bunker fuels, which would work out to $250 billion in taxes by 2020.

Also timed to coincide with the aviation ETS announcement was a report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center, which says that global CO2 emissions jumped 45 percent from 1990 to 2010.

Photo – said&done

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Feature 1: The Boeing Company finally puts some skin into the single-aisle game with the launch of the 737 MAX to fight for orders head to head with the Airbus A320neo.

Boeing 737

The new 737 family will be powered by CFM International LEAP-1B engines that claim to have the lowest operating costs in the single-aisle segment with a 7 percent advantage over the competition. The 737 MAX will have a fuel burn that is expected to be 16 percent lower than existing Airbus 320 planes and 4 percent lower than the new Airbus 320neo.

Boeing says it already has 496 orders for the new airplanes from five airlines.

Airbus has received more than 1,200 orders for the A320neo since its December 2010 launch, and it will be making the first deliveries in 2015. Boeing will start delivering the 737 MAX beginning in 2017.

Boeing launches 737 New Engine family – Boeing.com
Boeing bets on 737 MAX to win $1 trillion in jet orders – Blooomberg
Analysts recommend Boeing on engine announcement – Businessweek

Feature 2: What’s the best way to board a plane? Astrophysicist Jason H. Steffen has devised and tested a new algorithmic boarding method which is supposedly faster than the systems used by airlines today.

The testing was done (see video) in Studio City, California, on a mock single-aisle plane with 12 rows and six seats per row. The system is based on staggered seating, and alternating between both sides of the plane. The 72 test passengers were seated in three minutes and forty seconds flat.

In comparison, the next fastest boarding method used by United requires 4:21 minutes, while random boarding clocks in at 4:48.

Physicist claims to have found quickest way to board fliers – WSJ

Here’s the rest of the week’s interesting news:

How F1 is changing the future of air travel - Turnto23.com
I’ve seen the future of travel media - Wilhelmus.ca

E La Carte raises $4 million to bring tablets to restaurant tables – TechCrunch
TomTom introduces navigation device with travel apps – TomTom.com

Concur and Salesforce.com join forces to deliver Concurforce – Concur.com
TripIt launches company calendar – TripIt

AA, HRG explore direct connect distribution agreement - HRGWorldwide
American and Sabre extend agreement into 2012 – Travel Weekly

Chris Perkins appointed CTP CMO – CTP
9/11 Commission heads issue security-gap warning – CNN
TSA remembers 9/11: Stories from the workforce - TSA Blog

Automation in the air dulls pilot skill - AP
Robot planes get their own airport – msnbc.com

Facebook ending deals product after four-month test – Reuters
Travelocity puts a new spin on flash sales with “Dashing Deals” – Travelocity

TripAdvisor investigated by UK Advertising Standards Authority – Telegraph
Pending TripAdvisor spinoff seen as bonanza for Expedia shareholders - Forbes

Hotel industry consensus on methodology for calculating carbon footprints - WTTC
Hotels can go green in energy consumption under new UN scheme - UN.org

Vexing time outside Google’s net bubble – CNET
The AT&T merger and overseas travelers - Mother Jones

Photo: Boeing

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At 7:45 Pacific Time on Thursday, August 11, 2011, DARPA’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) began its quixotic test flight at 13,000 mph – an attempt to fly the fastest aircraft ever built, which would be able to get to any place on earth within 60 minutes.

DARPA Falcon HTV-2

For this test, the plane piggybacked a ride into space on a ballistic missile, and was then supposed to come back down on its own. It was supposed to launch on Wednesday, but was delayed to an early Thursday launch due to bad weather.

The first half of the way up went fine. But after the aircraft transitioned to a Mach 20 aerodynamic flight, DARPA lost contact with the unmanned aircraft nine minutes into the flight, which is now assumed to have impacted somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

“Here’s what we know,” said Air Force major Chris Schulz, DARPA HTV-2 program manager and PhD in aerospace engineering. “We know how to boost the aircraft to near space. We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It’s vexing; I’m confident there is a solution. We have to find it.”

DARPA hypersonic vehicle advances technical knowledge – DARPA.mil
At Mach 20, no one can hear you scream – Herald Sun

Here’s the rest of the week’s interesting news:

VisitBritain pulls ‘You’re Invited’ marketing video – The Guardian
Pranksters make faux British tourism ad – AOL

AA and Hogg Robinson to explore direct connection – Travel Weekly
American to seek injunction against Sabre – Travelweekly UK

Emirates eyes EU carbon tax of $1 billion over 10 years – Reuters
TravelSheikh.com launches first Middle East-based travel booking engine – AMEinfo.com

One billion shakes later, Urbanspoon goes after OpenTable – TechCrunch
Foodspotting hits a million downloads, celebrates by upping gluttony – TechCrunch
Restaurant websites: Why are they so awful? – Slate

Travelzoo sells one millionth local deal - Travelzoo.com
Gilt City sells 3,300 Virgin America flight packages in 24 hours – AllThingsD

Wall Street plunge could cut consumer spending by $140 billion – USATODAY
Faulty scales can mean higher luggage costs at airports – ABC News
TSA chief sketches out the future of airline passenger screening – GovExec.com

Orbitz and StarCite Launch Orbitz for Business Meetings - Orbitz
TripAdvisor unveils resource platform for businesses – TripAdvisor.com

Kickstarter project wants to create tourism website for Washington State – Gadling
Washington State’s new approach to tourism – News Tribune

Study: Who is today’s premium air traveler? - GBTA.org
Study: 2011 cruise market profile reports positive outlook for cruise vacations - CLIA

Photo – public domain (source)

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Congressional dysfunction could soon burden passengers and airlines with $18 billion in new airport fees.

Congress debt negotiation plan

As part of the ongoing negotiations on raising the U.S. debt limit before an August 2 deadline, Congress has been mulling over a plan to double the airport security fee for passengers, and add a $25 departure fee per flight.

The airport security fee of $2.50 per enplanement (maximum of $10 per round trip) for passengers was put in place at U.S. airports after 9/11, to partially pay for Homeland Security operations. Congress now wants to double this fee, which will raise an additional $15 billion over a 10-year period.

Congress also wants to extract another $25 as a departure fee from every commercial and private plane taking off from any airport. This fee, charged directly to the airlines, will raise another $3 billion in new revenue.

Milking the aviation sector and Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for $27 billion was apparently a component of the deficit-reduction plan discussed by Vice President Joe Biden and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). The image above is part of a set of slides outlining the full plan.

The aviation industry’s lobbying machine has swung into high gear to stop Congress from imposing the fees, even though the proposal is just one among several on the table and up for discussion. Congress hasn’t as yet reached an agreement on any revenue hikes.

“This is absolutely unacceptable; we should advance a tax policy that encourages air service to grow, not contract,” said Air Transport Association (ATA) President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio. “Airlines are critical to the nation’s economic health.”

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) set up a free legislative action hotline, (877) 727-5074, for citizens to call their representatives to oppose user fees in any debt-ceiling legislation.

Several  aviation organizations also jointly sent a letter (pdf) to all members of the U.S. House and Senate, urging them to abandon the $25 departure fee.

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) President and CEO Craig L. Fuller: ”Bad ideas, like bad pennies, have a habit of turning up again and again in Washington. User fees are a bad idea that hurts an entire industry, the economy, and the nation. They simply make no sense.”

General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) President and CEO Pete Bunce: “User fees have crippled general aviation in Europe and the last thing we want to see in the U.S. is user fees growing the federal bureaucracy.”

These same organizations are also worried about a tax hike for corporate jet users, which would raise another $3 billion by extending the depreciation schedule for private jets to seven years, instead of the current five years.

Put together with a doubling of the airline security fee and the new departure fee per flight, it amounts to a $21 billion tax hike on the aviation industry and its consumers. If enacted, it will trigger fare hikes, a drop in air travel and lower plane sales.

Slide: Public Domain

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