Category Archives: Transportation Industry

Dubai International Airport Largest in World

Transportation Industry,
Photo courtesy of Raihan S.R. Bakhsh from Kuwait

Beating out the world’s second-largest airport by over 6 million passengers, Dubai International Airport says it welcomed 86.4 million travelers during 2019. The world’s next in line is London’s Heathrow.

The middle east’s star airport was able to maintain its position despite closing one of its runways for repairs and the additional problem of Boeing’s 737 Max, further reducing the number of flights and people on them.

Dubai airport had fewer passengers overall in 2019, by 3% from 2018, accommodating a total of 89.1 million passengers. The decline in airport use is attributed to the three following issues: one of its runways was closed for about 6 weeks; India’s Jet Airways filed for bankruptcy; and the ban on flights of the Boeing 737 Max.

Last year marked the 6th year in which Dubai International Airport was ranked first for the number of international passengers flying through. The world’s busiest airport overall, however, is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Delta Announces Best Year Ever

Transportation Industry
Photo courtesy of TJDarmstadt

Things really took off for Delta Airlines in 2019. The fourth quarter of last year was one of record earnings, surpassing expectations. They also flew by their competitors to become the world’s biggest airline.


One component of Delta’s success was the unfortunate story of the grounded Boeing 737 Max fleets, which only affected Delta’s competitors, American, United and Southwest, never having purchased those suspicious airplanes. As a result, Delta could grab 7.5% revenue growth, partially due to better efficiency. One important airline metric, revenue per available seat mile (RASM) was up by 2.4%.


When Delta is high, so are its employees. The company is going to pay its 90,000 workers their highest ever profit-sharing bonus: $1.6 billion. That comes out to about 16.66% of each employee’s yearly salary, or about 2 months’ worth of pay.


“2019 was the best year in our history,” CEO Ed Bastian said. “These results simply would not be possible without the incredible work of our Delta team.”


The company was smart as well as lucky in 2019. Avoiding the Boing 737 Max could have been a combination of luck and smarts; while avoiding angry labor disputes was certainly smart. Having good weather at their hubs, of course, is simple luck.

Harley-Davidson Considering Entrance into e-Scooter Market

Transportation Industry, , ,
LiveWire: H-D’s Flagship Electric Motorcycle

Some recent moves made my Harley-Davidson points in the direction of the company’s embrace of electric vehicles of the two-wheel variety. LiveWire and some other concepts indicate the iconic motorcycle company wants a piece of where the future lies in electric transportation.


Included in the future is the growing consumer appetite for renting their transportation rather than owning. H-D vice-president of product portfolio, Marc McAllister spoke on CNN business about the e-bike rental platform. McAllister said that the fast-growing e-bike platform is more of a commodity market place and H-D is exploring how it could offer its brand to customers in this type of platform.


The thought of Harley-Davidson, so well-known as the bike of choice for serious bikers, is considering a life in the world of cute little electric scooters, is a bit mind-bending. But the company has faced enormous pressure over the past few years in what has become a frighteningly competitive market for big bikes.


So, it’s not so surprising that the company has plans to introduce a naked motorcycle, an adventure tourer, and even a small-cap bike for consumers in places like India.
The company is now working on launching a full-electric ecosystem for its LiveWire. It is likely that entrance into the e-scooter space will bring more riders to the bond with Harley.

Google’s Project Wing Taking Off

Transportation Industry, , ,

Drone Fox-C8 XT. Photo courtesy of ZullyC3P.

The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy announced that Google’s drone delivery service, Project Wing, will begin testing in the United States. The step is part of a White House initiative to encourage research into safety measures and other issues connected to unmanned flight.

Tuesday’s email announcement stated that the National Science Foundation has budgeted $35 million over five years on research into unmanned flight, while the Department of the Interior is planning on increasing its use of drones.

The White House is following up on the Federal Aviation Administration’s June finalization of introductory regulations controlling drone flight, especially creating guidelines for acquiring unmanned pilot licenses and rules for commercial unmanned flights.

“Honestly, the way I think about these issues, I don’t think about the problems,” said Dave Vos, the head of Project Wing. “I think about the solutions that we can bring to bear.”

Vos was speaking at a White House event promoting drone technology.

Norfolk Southern Railroad to Remain Independent as Canadian Pacific Gives Up on Bid

Transportation Industry, ,

Canadian Pacific Railroad, which operates rail service in Canada and segments of the Midwest and Southern United States, announced it will end its efforts to purchase its rival Norfolk Southern.

Norfolk Southern responded negatively to the almost $30 billion purchase, saying it did not think regulators would approve of the deal. Ownership of Norfolk would have expanded Canadian Pacific’s rail-reach to the East Coast, the Midwest and the South. Norfolk Southern is based out of Norfolk, Virginia.

Norfolk Southern Corporations stock price dipped almost 2 percent in trading before the opening bell on Monday. Canadian Pacific Shares were not affected by the announcement.