Civil Aviation Authority

Advertising has lately become an indispensable way to promote new programs that are a product of stimulus dollars, including head start, weatherization and job training programs.

One advertising form that has taken off is bus advertising (including interior bus ads, which are posters displayed in front of bus riders). With its availability in many cities and low-income demographic viewership, community action agencies (CAAs) have adopted the bus ad medium as part of their marketing mix.

Blue Line Media provided the impetus for bus ads. As a nationwide outdoor advertising company, Blue Line Media periodically offers CAAs government and nonprofit discounted bus advertising rates as part of its pro bono efforts.

One of the earliest CAAs to take advantage of the bus sign advertising was the Albany Community Action Partnership, which promoted its Head Start program. Michelle Bowen, marketing director, confirmed the ads' success, stating "the bus ads made a quality impact in promoting Head Start to our residents."

CAAs also use bus displays to promote weatherization programs. The Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC), for example, advertised free programs to green the home. "The bus advertising proved to be a valuable tool in getting the word out about our weatherization programs to low income residents in our community," said Patricia L. Nickols, CAPSBC Chief Executive Officer.

State associations also use bus advertising to support their local CAAs. For example, the Massachusetts Association for Community Action recently placed ads that both promoted available programs and listed some of its local CAAs' phone numbers and locations. "Reaching the people we serve through advertising is difficult with a limited outreach budget," says Joe Diamond, the association's executive director. "Bus advertising is a great solution. If offers us a direct and effective way to bring low income and vulnerable people information about how they can take action and get help by contacting our agencies."

In the United Kingdom, one of the most important regulatory bodies in the aerospace industry is the Civilian Aviation Authority, or the CAA. The CAA was created in 1972 to act as a public organization to oversee all elements of British domestic aviation. The CAA was formally made the government’s aviation regulator with the Civil Aviation Act in 1982, which replaced the Department of Transport in this role. Aerospace professionals, from engineers to pilots, need to know about the CAA’s regulatory functions and jurisdiction in order to better understand the British aerospace industry.

Aerospace professionals should first understand the jurisdiction in which the CAA provides regulation and consultation. The Civilian Aviation Authority is the sole regulator for flights within the United Kingdom, from small charters to regularly scheduled airliners. However, the international nature of airline travel has required consultation and team work with European aviation organizations in order to facilitate safe and efficient travels. When international regulations come into effect, the CAA’s offices in London act as the local office for the European Aviation Safety Agency. CAA officials also act on regulatory boards of the EASA which determine regulations and enforcement policies.

The CAA has broad authority as the United Kingdom’s regulatory of aviation and aerospace activities, which should be understood by aerospace professionals. The function of the CAA that professionals will become most familiar with is the licensing of aviation and aerospace professionals. Flight crew, engineering, and air traffic controller licensing all run through the CAA and regular license upgrades and renewals are required. In a similar vein, the CAA monitors medical regulations and facilitates physicals for aviation personnel that are involved in regular flights.

Aerospace professionals may become intimately familiar with the professional licensing aspects of the CAA but there are a number of other functions that are equally important. The CAA regulates the United Kingdom register of aircraft, which is necessary to maintain an accurate record of all planes in the region. As well, the CAA regulates the licensing of airplanes and other aircraft in the United Kingdom. The CAA not only regulates individual aircrafts and professionals but leads the charge against unfair aerospace business practices. The CAA’s regulatory function allows it to manage public aviation organizations while regulating against private monopolies. In all, the CAA’s jurisdictional and regulatory functions allow it to deal with safety and economic issues in the UK’s aerospace industry. Aerospace professionals who understand the nuances of the CAA will function better in their jobs.

CPL or Commercial Pilot License is a course that needs to be completed by an individual in order to be qualified to work as pilot. Over the few years becoming a pilot has become an important career choice for students and a large number of aspirants train for CPL in India every year. In a matter of a decade there has been a major shift in the aviation academy chosen by students to pursue CPL. Earlier the trend was to go abroad to pursue CPL courses, however nowadays more and more students are considering Indian aviation academies for studying CPL. In the past few years a number of aviation academies have cropped up in India that train people for a number of aviation related courses including CPL and PPL or private pilot license.

The coming up of numerous private airlines along with the growth of the aviation industry has provided the necessary impetus to aviation academies in India for expansion. All over the country a number of flying schools have come up that cater to cater to students for pilot training. Combining a world class infrastructure with industry veterans as flight instructors, aviation academies in India are offering great CPL courses. Not only is the CPL training that is offered at the pilot training schools in India world class and at par with the west but these courses are specially customized to be efficient as well as immensely cost effective. From in house state-of-the-art flight simulators to modern hangars and runways, the aviation academies in India today are at par with the world.

The disadvantages of going abroad for CPL training include –

• Extremely high course cost that could easily be around 50 to 60 Lakh INR
• Self arrangements to be made for food and lodging
• Lack of adequate infrastructure
• Separate cost for training on a plane that is given to students on a rental basis
• Non-recognition of CPL licenses issued by aviation schools abroad
• Conversion requirements of CPL holders in accordance with DGCA guidelines
• Recency troubles due to the fact that all the paper work has to be completed in a stipulated time
• Increased overall cost of CPL course due to all the above factors

The Advantages of pursuing a CPL course in India include –

• Cost-effective model for greater benefits
• Home ground advantage both in terms of distance and comfort
• Food and lodging costs included in the admission fees
• DGCA approved training
• Training for CPL provided on brand new aircrafts
• State-of-the-art flight simulators
• Ease in obtaining a CPL license
• Placement cells present in the aviation academies
• In-house inclusion offered to students for a Flight Instructor position
• Cost of CPL in India is 1/4th the cost of training abroad
• Constant support provided by the academy in all spheres of aviation education

Chimes Aviation Academy (CAA) located in Dhana, Madhya Pradesh offers all of these advantage along with the numerous other benefits. Set up quite recently, CAA is already making waves in the aviation industry and soon plans to launch courses for helicopter training as well. CAA along with other aviation academies offers a world of advantage and provides the best CPL training for becoming a pilot in India.

Is your network VoIP ready? A good provider will complete a network assessment to help you determine this.

Do you need to extend capabilities of your current infrastructure?

Does your business have compliance standards that must be adhered to? Are the issues with call recording, records retention, customer privacy, etc.?

Is your current environment spread out? Do you currently have branch offices or remote workers?

Do you plan to or have interest in moving to a premise-based solution in the future?



Once you have decided you are ready for a new communications system and determined CaaS is the way to go, the next step is choosing the right provider. There are typically four options, each with their own considerations to think about. The first option may be a traditional telephone carrier who provides your telephone lines. You may want to consider their experience in supporting telephone systems and especially complex applications. Second are the traditional hosting companies, also known as application service providers (ASP). ASPs usually do not own the software, so there can be a lack of control. Third is the start-up CaaS/SaaS provider. As a start-up, you would want to look into their financial resources, track record, or experience which may bring an element of risk. Finally, there is the communications software company. CaaS organizations have control over the applications since they developed the software and have a great deal of experience and best practices to draw from.



In choosing any hosting company, you want to make sure they are running the latest technology; provide redundancy for the hardware and carrier; allow you to make the necessary changes for your business; and do not host multiple companies on the same server.



In making a large technology decision, it is best to research, research, research. CaaS is a Deliberately Different solution for any type of business enterprise or contact center.

Cloud-based communications, also known as Communications as a Service (CaaS), is a hosted solution provided & managed as a service vs. the traditional premise-based systems. This concept has been around nearly forty years, since the inception of Centrex. Many industry experts, whom remember Centrex, understand the issues associated with it. Some of those included cost, limited deployment models, no applications, and basically did not meet the markets need. With the inception of new technology such as IP-based solutions, CaaS is becoming a more viable option.

With a full list of features and applications available, businesses are looking at CaaS to run their day to day operations instead of a premised-based solution. CaaS can reduce or eliminate capital expenditures, which in this economy is a welcome piece of news. With no system to support, your IT investment will be lowered since no education or labor costs would be needed for the communications system. In addition, CaaS is a good way to try and buy. If you are thinking about a premise-based system, you can start with a specific department on CaaS and deploy a premised-based system down the road.

The CaaS model features a long list of solutions that include IP-based systems; robust applications which can be turned off or on quickly; flexible deployment; remote administration & supervisory tools; and remote agent/employee capabilities. Another critical feature in a CaaS solution is the ability to scale your needs up or down depending on your business needs. For example, if you own a catalog company, you may need to scale up during certain holiday seasons. When the season is over, you can easily scale back down again.

For businesses requiring remote agent/employee capability and a disaster recovery plan, CaaS is ideal. The contact center is leading the way in the remote workplace. With the ability to have agents all over the world, using a secure internet connection, companies are able to keep productivity high which helps their bottom line. Gartner is forecasting remote agents will grow by 25% between 2008 and 2013. A disaster recovery plan, a.k.a. business continuity, is becoming an essential part of your operating procedures. Natural disasters are more expensive to recover from and human intervention such as worms and viruses are more prevalent with each passing week. With a disaster recovery plan, where the server is hosted off-site (such as with a CaaS solution), your business is protected from unforeseen circumstances. Also the ability to have remote agents insures that in the event of an unplanned emergency, your agents can still function just as if they were at the office.

Charles Myrick the President of ACIRX announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project of where arrangements have been made to donate over 20 million ACIRX discount prescription cards throughout the country. One of the main locations in the Rainsville, Alabama area that received an initial donation of 20,000 ACIRX free prescription cards,is that of the Community Action of Alabama to be donated to anyone in need of help. Please contact Susie Jackson for additional information at 256-638-4430 and a free card .

Due to the rising costs, unstable economics, and the mounting cost of prescriptions, American Consultants Rx Inc. (ACRX) a.k.a (ACIRX) an Atlanta based company was born in 2004. The ACRX discount prescription card program was created and over 3 million discount prescription cards were donated to the community across the country free of charge between 2004-2005.

The ACRX cards will offer discounts of name brand drugs of up to 40% off and up to 60% off of generic drugs. They also possess no eligibility requirements, no forms to fill out, or expiration date as well .One card will take care of a whole family. Also note that the ACRX cards will come to your organization already pre-activated .The cards are good at over 50k stores from Walgreen, Wal mart, Eckerd's, Kmart, Kroger, Publix, and many more. Any one can use these cards but we are focusing on those who are uninsured, underinsured, or on Medicare.

ACRX made arrangements online for the ACRX card to be available at ACIRX where it can be downloaded as well. This arrangement has been made to allow organizations an avenue to continue assisting their clients in the community until they receive their orders of the ACRX cards. ACRX made it possible for future request to be made from online as well. ACRX also developed a unique marketplace at 2Spendless where you can also click on the ACIRX blue banner and download your free discount prescription card as well as find other key discounts.

With a backorder of over 40 million cards ACRX is working diligently to assist as many people and organizations as possible. ACRX will be working over the next few months to fulfill as many backorders as possible. It should be noted that while many other organizations and companies place a cost on their money saving cards, ACRX does not believe a cost should be applied, just to assist our fellow Americans. ACRX states that it will continue to strive to assist those in need.

China Automotive Systems, Inc., a leading power steering components and systems supplier in China, announced that its subsidiary Jingzhou Henglong Automotive Parts Co. has entered into an agreement with FAW Volkswagen to supply sophisticated power steering systems.

The agreement, with a term of one year and an option to extend for a further two years, will start without delay. The power steering systems will be installed in VW's Jetta and Audi vehicles in China. The first commercial shipment will be delivered by China Automotive Systems on May 21st 2007. Other terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The VW Jetta, produced since 1980 and has spanned five generations, is a sedan version of Golf. Its name came from the Jet stream, following the automaker’s long tradition of naming cars for various winds. The Jetta has proven to be a clever move for VW. This is because the car became the best-selling European car in Canada and the United States. To gauge its salability, as of 2005, the European automaker sold over 6.6 million Jettas around the globe. In the United States alone, VW sold over 2.2 million units.

Over the years, the Jetta has been offered in two and four-door sedan and five-door station wagon variants. Since its original version, the Jetta has expanded in both size and influence. As a fact, it has etched a milestone in the automotive global arena same with its sibling Beetle.

The VW Type, popularly known as the Beetle, was introduced to the market in 1938. The car is made prominent by its shape as well as distinct auto parts like the VW Beetle rainguards. Even though scorned for its queer styling, rough ride, noise, and weak power, the Beetle has ultimately become the most produced and the longest automobile for a sole design. The car remained a hot seller even as tough competition involving refinement of the rear--wheel drive conventional subcompacts invaded the realm.

The German automaker, at present, is concentration on the enhancement of its old product lines. It is also considering new and innovative models to pull more purchasers closer.

With this supply agreement, CAAS has entered into VW’s global sourcing system. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, two key VW joint ventures in China, FAW VW and Shanghai VW, together produced and sold over 680,000 passenger cars in China in 2006. FAW Volkswagen, the leading passenger car producer in China, experienced a hearty 40 percent year over year unit sales growth last year. In the first quarter of 2007, FAW Volkswagen's production and sales unit growth accelerated to 55 percent up from same period in 2006.

"This agreement represents a major step towards our goal of becoming the number one producer in the power steering market in China. After a decade long effort of improving our product R&D, quality control, production scale and after-sale customer services, we have finally become a tier one supplier to one of the largest global automakers," said Hanlin Chen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of China Automotive Systems.

Chen added, “We are very excited about this opportunity to provide reliable and dependable support to Volkswagen's rapid growth in China. As China's passenger vehicle OEM market continues to grow, we remain focused on expanding our market share and strengthening our relationships with major OEMs, like Volkswagen, by providing high quality and competitively priced products. In addition, we continue to improve product quality and ramp up production capacity to prepare for potential opportunities outside of China.”

VW is also expanding its partnership with other auto giants. Porsche, is reported to be contemplating on the possibilities inherent in its beefed-up partnership with Volkswagen. And hybrid technology is just one of the many options on the table. The possible sharing of technology also means access to a large development team where Porsche can offer the best of hybrid engines. The Cayenne and Panamera are the cars Porsche says it will offer as full hybrids, meaning that the vehicles can travel up to speeds of 20 to 25 miles per hour without kicking on the gasoline engine.

As the effects of the credit crunch are felt globally and increasing numbers of vulnerable businesses falling by the way side, it appears that against the odds, the travel industry looks set to weather the storm and come out the other side intact if not unscathed.

However it is not going to be all plain sailing, the CAA is taking a decidedly hard line in their bid to ensure there won’t be a repeat of last year’s XL Leisure debacle that left over 85,000 tourists stranded and cost the CAA millions of pounds to repatriate the stranded travellers. Therefore any travel company found to be underperforming will find them self under the Civil Aviations Authority’s microscope in a bid to either weed out or strengthen the weaker players in the industry before the busy summer season.

In order for tour operators to be awarded an ATOL licence they must measure up to the stringent standards specified by the CAA. It’s vital for agents to retain their ATOL (Air Travel Organisers’ Licencing Scheme) affiliation as it is a major selling point that provides peace of mind for almost thirty-million Britons who take a package holiday each year, ensuring that they will either receive a refund or be brought home should their travel company run into trouble.

The credit crunch has brought the matter of reliability to the forefront and it has become apparent that the CAA would rather see the less able companies cease trading now, rather than face another huge bill for bringing home British holiday makers stranded abroad. They are now considering asking some tour operators to provide a larger bond this year and if they are unable to meet the criteria, they will be forced to stop selling flights.

A spokesman for the CAA stated that; “Our responsibility is to passengers and to ensure companies meet the criteria for the ATOL licence. If they do not, that is a matter for them”.

The upshot is that the CAA is playing hard ball and is determined to keep a reign on spending. The overall cost of the XL operation not only grossly exceeded XL’s £42 million bond but it could possibly exceed the Air Travel Trust Fund’s £60 million pounds over draft, which is run by the industry as a passenger compensation scheme.

Following last year's ruling in favour of Travel Republic at Westminster Magistrates Court, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) recently launched another criminal prosecution against the online travel agent. In 2009, it was held that Travel Republic had not breached the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations 1995, which pertain to package holidays among other aspects of the travel industry. Subsequently, the CAA brought further legal action against Travel Republic but this time chose to argue the issue from a more pointed angle by asking: was Travel Republic in breach of its legal duty to hold an ATOL (Air Travel Organisers' Licence)?

The ATOL was drawn up with the intention of providing greater protection to consumers who opt for package holidays. In the event of a travel operator permanently ceasing its business operations for one reason or another, the ATOL enables the CAA to ensure that affected customers do not lose their money and that, if they happen to be abroad at the time the travel operator goes out of business, any stranded customers are allowed to finish their holidays in the knowledge that return flights have been organised for them.

Travel operators that hold an ATOL are required to enter into a financial guarantee scheme that is managed by the Air Travel Trust (ATT), which supplies the monetary funds to customers should a travel operator go out of business. Clearly, the question as to whether or not an online travel agent holds an ATOL is critical in determining its liability where problems arise. As such, the CAA was disappointed to hear the judgement reached by Nicholas Evans DJ in the latest case involving CAA and Travel Republic.

Crucially, he ruled that Travel Republic did not act as a tour operator and did not, therefore, require an ATOL. The decision meant that Travel Republic had not committed a criminal offence, as the company merely acted in the role of travel agent and did not assemble package holidays. Although the decision may surprise some customers who purchase package holidays through online travel agents, the reality is such that contract formation is nowhere near as simple as the purchase itself; in fact, it is often the case that several separate contracts are involved: one for the flight; one for the accommodation; and others for various components of the holiday.

The decision reached in CAA v Travel Republic will have a profound impact on holidaymakers, who are advised to keep accurate records of every step involved in the booking process; indeed, of particular interest in the present case were the call transcripts and recorded telephone conversations relating to the booking in question. When using the services of online travel agents, it is essential that customers read the small print carefully and retain electronic and printed copies of all agreements signed. The question as to whether a holidaymaker has booked a 'package holiday' or some other form is not always easily resolved, yet the distinction is crucial in determining whether a claim can be brought in the English courts or abroad. The travel law team at Blake Lapthorn will quickly identify what protection is available in a given case and what steps can be taken to resolve any dispute.