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Tag: air travel

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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Va. airports saw drastic decline in passengers for April

Airports across the state saw significant drops in passenger numbers during March and April, while most people sheltered in place and canceled travel plans during the pandemic.

On Tuesday, Norfolk International Airport reported a 94.2% decrease in passenger activity for April. In April 2019, the airport had more than 17 times the amount of passengers — 324,638. March 2020 passenger traffic was down 49.4% compared to March 2019.

Airlines also scheduled approximately 70% fewer departures for May 2020 as compared to May 2019, said Steve Sterling, Norfolk International Airport deputy executive director for administration and operations. 

“Most of our revenues are directly impacted by the reduction of passenger traffic and aircraft operations,” he said. “On the expense side, we have greatly reduced expenses. We have a voluntary furlough program in effect with high participation. All of our employees understand the challenges the airport is facing.” Voluntary furloughs allow employees the option to give up working hours.

Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport hasn’t posted statistics from 2020 and didn’t respond to information requests by Virginia Business. But Delta Air Lines Inc. announced last week that it would be suspending service from that airport, along with nine other U.S. airports, citing an 85% reduction in its second quarter schedule.

“The safety of our employees and customers remains our primary focus as we navigate these challenges together,” Sandy Gordon, Delta senior vice president for domestic airport operations, said in a statement. “By consolidating operations while customer traffic is low, we can allow more of our people to stay home in accordance with local health guidelines.”

Richmond International Airport April statistics are expected to be released on May 26, said Troy M. Bell, Capital Region Airport Commission director of marketing and air service development/PIO. 

“As far as April, we won’t have final data until mid-May, but we anticipate a passenger drop in the neighborhood of 90% to 95% versus April 2019,” he said in mid-April. “People have been instructed to stay home because of the COVID-19 pandemic and there is little demand for air travel in the U.S. at this time.”

However, “from early receipts, the traffic drop in April appears to meet our expectations,” he confirmed Wednesday. In March, the airport saw a 50.45% decrease in passengers as compared to March 2019. 

Similarly, in Northern Virginia, Washington Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport both saw more than a 50% decrease in the number of passengers in March, compared to the same month in 2019.

Reagan saw a 56.4% decrease in domestic commercial passenger activity, compared to March 2019, and Dulles saw a 50.9% decrease. Despite the hit to business, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which oversees both airports, hasn’t made layoffs.

“At this time, there has been no personnel actions taken by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that impact our staff,” MWAA spokesperson Micah Lillard said. 

Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional airport saw a 97% decline in April, seeing only 1,823 passengers, compared to the same month in 2019, according to Bradley Boettcher, Roanoke Regional Airport Commission director of marketing and air service development. “With our traffic off 97%, our revenue is off as well,” Boettcher said. The Roanoke airport saw a 50.7% decrease in March 2020, compared to the year before.

In mid-April, the Virginia Department of Aviation announced that approximately $310 million in federal funding would be shared by 47 of Virginia’s public-use airports through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Of the 47 funded airports, Reagan, Dulles, Richmond International and Norfolk International were among the top recipients in funding. 

Dulles received more than $143 million, while Reagan received more than $85 million, Richmond International received more than $18 million and Norfolk International received more than $19 million. In total, $10 billion was allocated to U.S. airports through the CARES Act.

“These funds will support airport capital expenditures, airport operating expenses such as payroll and utilities, and airport debt payments,” Mark Flynn, director of the Virginia Department of Aviation, said in a statement. “Tens of thousands of Virginians will benefit from this funding as airports will be able to pay not only their employees but contractors, construction workers and others who work on or around these 47 airports.”

For Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional, the CARES Act funding will allow the airport to avoid employee furloughs and cover any operating shortfalls, Boettcher said. “We are in the process of identifying strategic projects that we can use the funding for while keeping an ample amount of reserves to cover operating losses since we don’t know how long the downturn in traffic will be,” he said.

Richmond International plans to use the CARES Act funds in a similar fashion.

“The Capital Region Airport Commission plans to use CARES Act funds for the primary purposes of debt service payments at Richmond International Airport and operating expenses including Airport Commission employee wages, salaries, and benefits to meet the act’s requirement of maintaining 90% of employment as of March 27 until Dec. 31,” Capital Regional Airport Commission President and CEO Perry J. Miller said in a statement.

 

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