United: cutbacks continue

United Airlines is to effect 66 redundancies at Jacksonville International as of May. This comes following an announcement in January that it was considering cutting up to 2,000 jobs at 28 airports in total, with the intention of outsourcing the positions. The decision will mostly affect baggage handlers or gate and customer service agents.

Additionally United has announced 69 redundancies at Palm Beach International and a further 115 at Miami International. United says that staff were told of the decision earlier in the year, and the hope is that they will have the opportunity to transfer to other stations in due course.

Servisair accused of violating drug testing policy

The Federal Aviation Administration has proposed fining Servisair (Las Vegas) US$105,500 for alleged violations of drug and alcohol testing regulations. The FAA believes that the handler failed to administer drug and alcohol tests to the minimum required number of employees during 2013. It is also believed that, following the completion of their training, five employees were excluded from the company’s random testing pool for a length of time. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that Servisair failed to distribute its drug use policy, and to display and distribute educational material, along with an employee assistance helpline, after moving to a new terminal.

FAA plans alterations to drone restrictions

The US Federal Aviation Administration plans to facilitate the commercial use of drone aircraft for specific business operations. Generally, drones of this nature are banned in the States, except in a small number of cases where the FAA has granted an exemption. More than 750 requests for exemptions to the ban have been received but up till now only 48 have been awarded.

However, the FAA now intends to simplify the process by removing the need for companies with exemptions to acquire new authorisation for each new use of a drone. The policy change could benefit a host of companies that are pushing for a removal of bans on commercial uses of automated aircraft, and boost business operations for manufacturers and service providers built around drone technology. Also in line to benefit are companies that already have exemptions from the commercial drone ban, such as Chevron, Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF Railway Company, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and a number of film and media companies. All stand to gain more flexibility in the use of pilotless aircraft for rail and pipeline inspections, crop surveys and aerial photography for commercials or movies.

Currently awaiting exemptions are Amazon and Yamaha Motor Company.