Crackberry President

Thank the lord for those wonderful security service personnel who have finally devised a crackberry fit for the PreZ.

Obama now can keep his 'berry in the White House, it was agreed on Thursday

And good for him. So for all those corporates who had to give up their preference for crackberry and even those who have iPhones (you are of course the devil incarnate), all of you can now rest assured that there is a way to come up with a secure phone.

For Obama - he is very happy.

"He believes it's a way of keeping in touch with folks, a way of doing it outside of getting stuck in a bubble," Gibbs said at his first White House press briefing.

So have hope.

We have a crackberry presidency, and we are all looking forward to that growing out to the rest of the world. Too bad it was a Canadian invention.

But if we can have the PED (personal electronic device) be from a Canadian company - can Air Force One from Airbus be that far behind?

Cheers

New US DoT Secretary

So the new broom is sweeping clean in a couple of places.

One of the early appointments is the Secretary of Transportation. Former Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., won unanimous Senate confirmation on Thursday to head President Barack Obama's Department of Transportation. The 63-year-old LaHood called the Cabinet post "the capstone of my public service career," and said "it shows the whole idea of bipartisanship and working with people across party lines was not just a political slogan." In his confirmation hearings, LaHood vowed openness and fairness in overseeing the flood of public money expected for transportation projects under the president's stimulus plan.

For Airlines this means a long awaited fix (we hope) to the ATC system. Of course this will require some money - this part of the "Stimulus" package. However with airlines cutting capacity and travelers staying away in droves - the Feds may need to look to new revenue sources for paying for this new system upgrade.

Lets wish LaHood well. He has a tough road ahead. Let's also hope that he recognizes the value of air transportation and allows the system to grow as it will need to do. During the down year of 2009 - if there is a swift implementation - we can see better performance within the system. It isn't just technology that will make this work but better processes and procedures. Challenge everything. We sure need to.

Cheers

Traffic Worldwide December 2008

More doom and gloom news I am afraid.

December's traffic worldwide was down. The only real bright spots were Latam and Africa.

LATEST DECEMBER INTERNATIONAL DATA
The December international actuals clearly point the way the market will move in 2009.
% change December


Asia/Pacific (28.5)
Europe (7.6)
Latin America 11.0
Total (11.4)

The Asia/Pacific data is biased by the results from Bangkok but elsewhere traffic volumes give great cause for concern.
The trend is now very strongly downward confirming the view that the 2009 forecasts will need further and substantial reduction.

"$5000 for your immediate needs" - US Airways

This is a bit of a humerous note here and I hope no one takes any offense.

But...

US Airways is paying all the passengers $5000 for their immediate needs.

Passengers on the US Airways jet Flight 1549 that landed in the Hudson River last week are receiving $5,000 each from the carrier. The money is meant to assist the passengers with their "immediate needs," according to a letter to the passengers. USA TODAY (1/21)

So next time an airline bumps you or gets your feet wet - you know what to ask for...

Cheers

Timothy

Great Biz Jet Market Story

So how bad is it if you have a Biz Jet... apparently not good at all. The market y/y is down with 62% more jets for sale than a year ago in November.

The Economist recently did a study on the state of the market. Interesting perspective and well worth a listen (its Audio).

Go here:

http://audiovideo.economist.com/

And search for "Suddenly Deeply Uncool"

Cheers