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Tag: air travel

Yagen makes $100M donation to Military Aviation Museum

Gerald “Jerry” Yagen, founder of the Aviation Institute of Maintenance and Centura College, has made a $100 million gift to Virginia Beach’s Military Aviation Museum, including his private collection of 70 vintage military aircraft, the museum announced last week.

In the 1990s, Yagen began collecting aircraft from the first 50 years of aviation history, from the Wright Brothers’ flight in 1903 to the Korean War in the early 1950s, planes that were originally stored in hangars in Suffolk. In 2008, he opened the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach, allowing the public to see the collection. Yagen’s gift includes the 130 acres where the museum sits, an airfield at 1341 Princess Anne Road, and $30 million to start an endowment for the museum. The gift was announced Oct. 5 at the museum’s annual Warbirds Over the Beach air show.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin thanked Yagen, his wife, Elaine, and their family for the gift in a statement. “It’s due to great Virginians like the Yagens that our commonwealth is the best place to live, work and raise your family.”

The museum, which now has about 250 volunteers, is run by Keegan Chetwynd, the museum’s director and CEO, who has shepherded it from a private collection to an independent nonprofit. About 85,000 visitors come to the museum annually, according to the announcement. Many of the aircraft are still flyable, and on Thursday, a World War II-era plane from the collection carried a load of baby formula, diapers and other necessities to western North Carolina to assist victims of Hurricane Helene, in partnership with the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

“In the beginning, I saw this as my personal challenge to preserve history and these beautiful warbirds,” Yagen said in a statement. “I just didn’t want to see them disappear to time. I never believed so many would volunteer so much to help Elaine and I do this. I realize it is no longer an individual challenge.”

Richmond airport sets new travel record

Just two months after shattering its monthly passenger record, Richmond International Airport has done it again.

The Capital Region Airport Commission on Wednesday announced that the airport counted 439,951 passengers for July, soaring past a record set in May when the airport counted 431,416 passengers.

By comparison, the airport counted 386,931 passengers in July 2019. A year later, as travel plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, that number dropped to 117,673, according to airport data.

“While we’re certainly pleased with the July results, we’re not surprised,” Capital Region Airport Commission President and CEO Perry J. Miller said in a statement. “The Richmond region has seen tremendous growth with in-migration, several significant economic development announcements and an array of attractive new route offerings and enhancements by airlines operating from RIC.”

According to the the airport commission, three airlines — Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines and Spirit Airlines — saw year-over-year traffic increases exceeding 25%. For the calendar year to date, passenger traffic has increased 19.2% over 2022. In addition, Breeze will also begin to offer new winter flights from Richmond to Fort Myers, Florida, beginning Nov. 15. The flights will operate twice a week and reconnect Richmond to Fort Meyers for the first time since 2005.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S airlines carried 71.4 million domestic passengers and 10.4 million international passengers on U.S. flights in May, an all-time high when not adjusting for seasonality, which takes into account number of weekend days, the timing of holidays and seasonal activity.

Richmond airport CEO to chair national board

Perry J. Miller, president and CEO of the Capital Region Airport Commission, which includes Richmond International Airport, has been elected 2023-24 chair of the American Association of Airport Executives, the world’s largest professional organization representing individuals who work at public-use commercial and general aviation airports.

Miller, who started his term Monday, succeeds Mark Gale, CEO and director of aviation at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Named Virginia Airport Manager of the Year in 2021 by the state aviation board, Miller previously served as vice chair of AAAE and president of its Southeast chapter.

Miller has led the Capital Region Airport Commission since 2019. In June, the airport reported April passenger traffic of 393,355, topping the previous April record of 372,025 set in 2019 and marking the second-highest passenger count ever at the airport. For the first 10 months of the fiscal year, passenger traffic increased 13.7%, year-over-year, a gain of more than 425,000 passengers.

Based in Alexandria, the AAAE represents 875 airports.

McLean startup raises $75M for air taxi network

Fritz Lang’s 1927 film “Metropolis” predicted cities with flying cars, while Hanna-Barbera followed that vision 35 years later with “The Jetsons” and its commuter “skyways.” Now, however, air taxis are close to becoming reality.

The industry could generate up to $16 billion in new business investments in Virginia and carry as many as 66 million passengers by 2045, according to a January report from the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp. and the state commerce and trade secretary.

But those taxis will require management so they don’t crash into other aircraft. That’s where McLean-based AURA Network Systems Inc. comes in.

AURA — which stands for Advanced Ultra Reliable Aviation — is developing a secure, regulatory-compliant network that can control unmanned, remotely piloted aircraft on extended flights beyond an operator’s visual line of sight. In November 2022, AURA raised $75 million in financing from investment companies including Fortress Investment Group LLC and Mudrick Capital Management LP.

Fortress Investment Group Managing Partner Drew McKnight, an AURA board member, says the company will be a “critical innovator” in the infant industry.

According to AURA CEO and co-founder Bill Tolpegin, the company’s proprietary technology could eventually shuttle people through cities.

AURA, he notes, has an exclusive license from the Federal Communications Commission to operate its network on the 450 MHz band, which is reserved for aviation purposes. AURA’s secure, private network “doesn’t touch the internet,” he says, enhancing flight safety and reducing signal latency.

Thomas Alberts, an aerospace engineering professor at Old Dominion University, notes that AURA’s network signal frequency lets it travel through “trees and obstacles and longer distances.”

AURA tested its network in Maryland in July 2022. Pilots flew a Cessna 208 Caravan while the network tested its ability to switch control of the plane from one ground station to the other.

The next step is to build a network for specific companies. At first, that will probably be cargo companies, which will use the network for delivery routes.

Lance Sherry, director for the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at George Mason University, says advances like autonomous cargo aircraft and air taxis will make communications systems like AURA’s “absolutely critical. … As we go into the future, the vehicles are going to be communicating more and more with each other to avoid collisions … [and] plan their routes so that they’re conflict-free.”  

Fed’s Fifth District economy expands slightly

The economy in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (a multistate region including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) has expanded slightly since October, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released Wednesday.

Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions gathered from the 12 Federal Reserve Banks. It is compiled from reports by bank and branch directors, as well as information gathered from business contacts, economists, market experts and other sources.

Here’s what the Nov. 30 Beige Book edition revealed about the direction the economy is taking:

Manufacturing activity in the Fifth District slowed mildly as new orders and backlogs declined but shipments stayed flat. Vendor lead times declined, indicating supply chain backlogs were easing.

Travel and tourism increased moderately, and air travel is expected to increase over the holidays. Retail spending increased modestly from October’s report. Residential and commercial real estate market activity slowed.

Respondents in the ports and transportation sector indicated that volumes were beginning to decline, with overall loaded freight shipments down at Fifth District ports. Loaded exports continued down while import volumes were flat or up slightly, led by furniture, sporting goods and heavy equipment.

Dwell times at the ports declined, reducing congestion and lowering storage fees. Spot rates from Asia to East Coast ports decreased 33% from last period but remained above the pre-pandemic rates, according to the Fed.

Trucking firms reported a slight decrease in freight volumes, in line with the normal seasonal slowdown. Industrial customers’ demand remained strong while retail volumes declined. Trucking respondents reported that they weren’t hiring drivers because their existing workforce could manage current volumes.

The cost of new equipment increased substantially, firms reported, and new truck tractors and trailers were still backordered by about a year.

Employment in the Fifth District increased modestly, and many firms reported unfilled positions. The majority said they were increasing wages for new and existing staff by more than they had in previous years. Companies reported difficulty finding skilled workers.

Prices grew robustly, with manufacturers and service sector companies reporting strong year-over-year price growth in both input and customer prices.

Retailers reported modest sales and revenue growth and increasing inventory. Used vehicle sales increased moderately as prices began to drop, but new vehicle sales stayed low due to low inventory levels, rising prices and higher borrowing costs.

Housing demand slowed as buyer traffic and listings declined. Days on the market and inventory increased but remained below normal levels. High interest rates and low inventory led to fewer pending and closed sales, according to respondents. Prices stayed consistent, but sellers reported offering concessions such as temporary rate buydowns or paying closing costs.

New home construction slowed and builders stopped buying new lots because of high building costs and economic uncertainty. New commercial real estate projects slowed due to rising interest rates and higher construction costs, as well as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages.

In the commercial real estate market, the retail, office and industrial sectors had higher vacancy rates this period, although Class A office space activity remained strong as companies sought to entice employees to return to the office.

Demand for commercial and residential loans decreased moderately in the face of rising interest rates. Higher input costs also weakened commercial loan demand. Deposit growth slowed as customers searched elsewhere for higher yields.

New hangars, terminal in Winchester airport’s sights

This month, the Winchester Regional Airport will open the first group of hangars for midsize private aircraft, a public-private project that could end with 32 new units, bringing the airport’s total number of hangars to 100.

The multiphase, potentially $20 million project is a partnership between the Winchester Regional Airport Authority and Purcellville-based TMG Construction Corp., a design-build firm. The first phase of the project involves the sale and construction of 11 hangars, six of which will open in November. Developers broke ground in December 2021.

“It’s all very exciting,” says Nick Sabo, executive director of the airport authority and the airport’s manager. “It’s cutting edge because there are not many models of this type to look at as far as a public airport like ours. The airport authority had to adopt a policy on how to handle the partnership, so we wrote the script.”

The authority feels comfortable working with private industry, Sabo adds. “This was the only way we saw to bring new hangars to the region that was cost-effective and would offer a quick timeline.”

The development investment of up to $20 million will be spread over a six-year period. “We have land available, but what we lack is deep reserves to invest,” Sabo notes. “This means new tax revenues for the airport and Frederick County and new revenues for TMG.”

Hangar space in the region is at a premium, Sabo says.

The additional hangars also will help increase the airport’s and the Frederick County Economic Development Authority’s outreach “to companies with large government portfolios and direct government [and] private users with activity connected to Winchester Regional Airport,” says Patrick Barker, the EDA’s executive director. “This clearly shows that Frederick County has the assets to be attractive to aviation businesses.”

State funding — a $4.1 million grant from the Virginia Department of Aviation — is helping the airport replace its 33-year-old, 9,245-square-foot terminal with a 16,000-square-foot building that will include a community room and leasable office space. The airport is also approved for a $3 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the building project.

Sabo hopes to start construction of the terminal in March 2023, with completion in summer 2024, noting that all of the changes “add up to a historic time of development at this airport.” 

Breeze Airways takes off in Norfolk

Breeze Airways has been flying out of Norfolk International Airport less than six months, but the startup is steadily attracting passengers eager to satisfy their pent-up wanderlust.

Founded by aviation entrepreneur David Neeleman, the Salt Lake City-based airline began offering nonstop, low-cost flights out of 16 cities last spring. Service from Norfolk started June 10, with flights to Tampa, Florida, and Charleston, South Carolina. By August, the startup also had routes to Providence, Rhode Island; Hartford, Connecticut; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh; and New Orleans.

Targeting leisure travelers, Breeze flies out of Norfolk two to four times a week. More than 18,000 passengers traveled on Breeze flights into and out of Norfolk during summer 2021, including 2,457 passengers in June, 5,159 in July and 10,523 in August. Charles Braden, Norfolk International’s director of market development, credits the spike to increased name recognition.

Still, the August numbers represent only about 3% of the airport’s passengers. “Breeze is relatively small compared to other airlines,” Braden notes.

Launching a new airline amid a pandemic is not the norm, he acknowledges, but from Breeze’s perspective, he explains, “the pandemic is a greater reason to start because of their intention to bring low-fare service to the public.”

Breeze, which focuses on smaller, secondary airports with routes averaging fewer than two hours in the air, is on track to invest $5.2 million in an operations center in Norfolk, creating 116 jobs, says Gareth Edmondson-Jones, the airline’s director of corporate communications. “There’s lots of growth to come,” he adds. “We look at where there is opportunity and the most demand. Norfolk fits that bill.”

The 116 employees include flight crew and maintenance personnel, Braden notes.

Some of Breeze’s 80 new A220 Airbus planes serving routes longer than two hours’ flight time could land in Norfolk after they enter service in spring 2022. “It’s safe to say you will see the A220 flying into Virginia,” Edmondson-Jones says, adding that the airline also plans to add cities to its network in 2022. Currently, Breeze flies a larger version of regional jets.

Braden believes the airline will continue to attract more Norfolk passengers. He notes that Breeze is one of five airlines started by Neeleman, including JetBlue Airways. “That gave the industry, as well as our local community, great confidence. There’s strong financial backing and strong management behind the airline, and their future is bright.”  

Breeze Airways setting up base in Norfolk

Breeze Airways, a new low-cost airline, will invest $5.2 million to build an operations center in Norfolk, producing 116 jobs, the governor’s office announced Friday. The airline also will offer nonstop flights out of Richmond International Airport and Norfolk International Airport.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based startup company, which offers service to mid-size U.S. markets, will include Norfolk as one of its first four operations bases in the United States, and it also will offer flights out of Richmond International Airport, Gov. Ralph Northam said in a news release Friday. The airline started accepting flight reservations Friday morning.

“Aviation has long been ingrained in the Hampton Roads economy, and the arrival of Breeze Airways is another sign of this region’s growing position as a commercial flight hub,” Northam said in a statement. “The post-pandemic world will offer increasing opportunities for travel and tourism, and the addition of this new low-cost carrier at Norfolk International Airport will be a catalyst for economic growth, welcoming visitors to our commonwealth with convenient, nonstop service to often overlooked markets. We are honored that Breeze Airways has selected Virginia as one of its first domestic locations and look forward to building a strong and successful partnership with the company.”

David Neeleman, who founded JetBlue and other airlines, is behind Breeze, which will begin offering flights in June, mainly in markets not served by other low-cost carriers. All employees, including airline crew and maintenance workers, will remain local, the governor’s office said.

“Breeze is excited to be announcing two destinations in Virginia: Norfolk and Richmond,” Neeleman said in a statement. “Norfolk, particularly, is a strong inbound destination with a significant number of unserved markets that will provide Breeze with many years of growth opportunities. We’re looking forward to providing Virginians with low fares and nonstop service, getting them where they’re going in half the time, usually for about half the price.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the city of Norfolk, the Norfolk Airport Authority and other regional and state organizations to secure the project. Northam approved a $400,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the city, and the company is eligible to receive benefits from the major business facility job tax credit for new full-time jobs created.

 

Raytheon Intelligence & Space receives $318M TSA contract

Arlington-based Raytheon Intelligence & Space will expand its deployment of checked baggage screening equipment to all federally managed airports nationwide under a five-year, $318 million contract with the Transportation Security Administration.

A subsidiary of Massachusetts-based Raytheon Technologies Corp., Raytheon Intelligence & Space previously had a contract to install and/or upgrade checked baggage screening equipment in 155 airports in the Central U.S. region. This contract expands that reach to the entire network of roughly 430 airports.

“We have worked with the TSA since its inception to strengthen security at our airports,” said John DeSimone, vice president of cybersecurity, training and services for Raytheon Intelligence & Space, in a statement. “This nationwide expansion of our partnership allows us to continue to protect passengers from evolving security threats.”

Raytheon Intelligence & Space generated $15 billion in pro forma annual revenue in 2020 and has 37,000 employees worldwide. It is one of four businesses that comprise Raytheon Technologies.

Airport employees protest MWAA for paid sick days

About 40 people protested Thursday outside of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority headquarters in Arlington, calling for paid sick leave for workers at the state’s two Northern Virginia airports who have not received emergency sick days under federal coronavirus legislation.

MWAA governs the Reagan National Airport in Arlington and the Washington Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County.

A group of Dulles Airport workers, joined by a Fairfax County supervisor and community supporters, stood outside the MWAA office at noon Thursday, calling for paid sick days in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit the airline industry particularly hard. Most employees at the airlines do not have access to paid sick leave, according to union representatives. They added that many groups wanted to attend Thursday’s protest but that they limited the number to prevent spread of the virus.

In a June 10 letter to MWAA President and CEO John Potter and members of the authority’s board of directors, 22 state senators and delegates, all Democrats, called for the authority to adopt policies granting paid sick leave and recall from layoffs by seniority.

“As you know, when adopting the Airport Workers Wage Policy in 2017 and updating it in 2019, the MWAA board declined to mandate paid sick leave for contracted airport service workers,” the letter reads. “Furthermore, the Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act granted emergency sick days to many workers but excluded employers with more than 500 employees, which means the vast majority of airport and airline service workers at DCA and IAD have no access to paid sick days.”

The lawmakers advocated for MWAA to “act now to protect travelers and to help these vulnerable workers,” and also mandate that employers, including airlines, recall laid-off workers by seniority.

Since March, hundreds of employees at the two airports have been laid off or furloughed due to an extreme reduction in flights during the pandemic. Swissport laid off 479 people in June at Dulles, and United Airlines notified the Virginia Employment Commission last month that it may lay off more than 3,100 employees at the two airports by Oct. 1. According to MWAA, domestic commercial flights decreased by 82.1% in June at Reagan, compared to June 2019, and by 84.4% at Dulles. International travel at Dulles decreased by 95.8%, the authority reported.

The $2.2 trillion federal CARES Act allocated $32 billion in federal payroll support to airlines, but major airlines have begun to cut tens of thousands of jobs as the aid is expected to expire in October.

According to the Service Employees International Union’s Washington-Baltimore regional chapter, SEIU 32BJ, at least 70 Reagan National Airport workers were exposed to COVID-19 because of an outbreak at an Alexandria church in early August. “For weeks, workers with no sick days have [had] to make the choice between going without pay and showing up to work at the airport sick,” the union’s statement said.

The Alexandria Health Department issued a self-quarantine advisory last week for anyone who attended Kidane Mehret Church in the city between Aug. 14-17, saying that visitors to the Ethiopian Eastern Orthodox church on those dates could have been exposed to the virus and should quarantine themselves for two weeks.

MWAA, in response, issued a statement Thursday that “it is not currently aware of any of its employees who are self-quarantining due to a possible exposure at a place of worship in Alexandria. All badged airport employees are not permitted to come to work if they are experiencing COVID-related symptoms or if they are notified by the Department of Health of a potential exposure. In addition, badged employees are required to follow their employer’s own COVID policies.

“The Airports Authority Board of Directors is determining the best course of action within the bounds of Virginia and federal law regarding the request for sick leave and held a listening session with worker representatives earlier in August.”

The board is scheduled to meet next on Sept. 16.

 

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