Aircell on Monday announced it closed $35 million in private equity financing, portions of which will be used to fund growth in commercial aviation markets. The inflight Internet provider said it plans to increase its base of installed airline-operated aircraft by an average of three per day in 2011.
WestJet and Delta Air Lines said Monday that they have entered into an interline agreement, effective immediately that will allow passengers to connect between each other's flights at 25 US and Canadian airports.
News from Travel Technology Update: Amadeus was obliged to restore distribution services to Air Astana after a Madrid court granted the Kazakh carrier injunctive relief on Feb. 3. Amadeus canceled Air Astana’s agreement on Jan. 21 after 15 days’ notice, alleging a breach of the terms of the agreement. Air Astana unveiled a “Competitive Booking Source Program” in July, slated for implementation on Jan. 1, and began renegotiating its GDS contracts with Abacus, Travelport, Sirena and Amadeus.
US FAA last month dedicated a new 233-ft. ATC tower at New York LaGuardia, replacing the 151-ft. tower that had been in operation since 1964. The new tower is equipped with Sensis ASDE-X and Integrated Control and Monitoring System.
Dusseldorf International said 2010 was its "best traffic year ever" as it increased passenger throughput on the prior year by 6.7% and aircraft movement 0.6% despite multiple adverse circumstances including one of the worst winters in recent history, the Icelandic volcano-ash disruptions and several European ATC strikes. DUS handled 19 million passengers last year and had 206,500 aircraft movements.
Sydney Airport , Australia's largest, last week released "two expert reviews" that it said "give rise to serious concerns" about the methodology used by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for its quality-of-service monitoring at major airports. The reviews were undertaken separately by the University of Melbourne's Statistical Consulting Centre and professional firm GA Research.
ACI reported that world passenger traffic rose 6% in 2010 compared to 2009, with growth led by developing markets. International traffic at the world's airports grew 7% while domestic traffic heightened 5%. ACI Director-Economics Andreas Schimm said, "2010 was a banner year for air traffic, generating a much quicker recovery than expected. The 6% growth takes the global industry well beyond pre-crisis volumes, but the recovery continues to progress in a two-paced manner between developing and mature markets."
American Airlines and United Airlines last month filed a lawsuit in Illinois to stop the City of Chicago from moving forward with the second phase of Chicago O'Hare expansion, arguing that the city government failed to get clearance from the carriers before approving $3.4 billion in modernization projects at the busy airport.
Raising the $4.50 maximum passenger facility charge US airports are allowed to impose is highly unlikely, according to the top staffer on the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The global airport community was shaken when a Jan. 24 terrorist bombing at Moscow Domodedovo killed 36 and wounded more than 100, particularly since the explosion occurred in a terminal area that generally is unsecured at airports worldwide.
Boeing Training & Flight Services reached a long-term agreement with Blue1 to provide 717 training capabilities in Stockholm beginning in the first quarter. Blue1 currently operates five 717s and is scheduled to add four additional 717s to its fleet by the end of March.
American Airlines flew 9.87 billion RPMs in January, a 2% year-over-year increase, while capacity rose 2.5% to 13.02 billion ASMs. Load factor fell 0.4 points to 75.8%. American Eagle Airlines operated 681.9 million RPMs in January, up 19.7% compared to January 2010, against an 18.2% lift in capacity to 1.06 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 0.8 points to 64.4%.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating an operational error that occurred last month in which an American Airlines 777-200 came within approximately 1 mi. of a pair of USAF C-17s. According to NTSB, the incident took place on Jan. 20 at about 10:30 p.m. local time, approximately 80 mi. southeast of New York City. The AA aircraft had taken off from New York JFK en route to Sao Paulo. There were no injuries.
US Airways on Friday became one of the first US airlines to receive FAA validation of its company-wide implementation of the Safety Management System, a voluntary safety enhancement program. The carrier said it established systems and programs company-wide, and within each covered department, to help identify and predict where future safety risks might occur, or where existing risks might grow worse.
BAE Systems said it placed 52 aircraft in 2010 (up from 44 in 2009) and won "significant" remarketing mandates from third parties. Out of the 52 placed aircraft, 45 were BAe 146/Avro RJs, which "significantly outperformed the market, with an estimated market share in excess of 75% despite only managing around 40% of the global fleet," it said.
Boeing said the fifth 747-8 Freighter participating in the flight test program made its air debut on Feb. 3, from Paine Field in Everett. The flight lasted 3 hr. and 30 min. "The airplane performed well," said Andy Hammer, test program manager for 747-8. The aircraft, coded RC523, will focus on functionality and reliability testing, Boeing said.
Aer Lingus confirmed Friday that it reached a successful conclusion to its industrial dispute with the IMPACT cabin crew union on the “full implementation of the Greenfield plan, including changes in [flight attendant work] rosters to deliver 850 annual flying hours."
US Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole on Friday issued a decision he said "provides a framework" to allow TSA's more than 60,000 airport screeners to unionize "for the purposes of engaging in limited, clearly defined collective bargaining at the national level only on non-security employment issues."
JetBlue Airways CEO Dave Barger said the LCC is "excited" about Airbus's recent unveiling of the A320neo, a re-engined version of the narrowbody to be offered with either the CFM International Leap-X or Pratt & Whitney's PW1100G.
Ramco Systems signed a contract with MAS GMR Aerospace Engineering to provide its Series 5 Aviation M&E and MRO software. MAS GMR Aerospace Engineering Co. Ltd. is a 50/50 joint venture between Malaysian Aerospace Engineering and GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd.
Oman Air launched four-times-weekly Airbus A330 Muscat-Milan service. Qatar Airways launched five-times-weekly Airbus A330 Doha-Brussels service. AirBaltic reached a codeshare agreement with Transaero under which it will offer connections via Moscow Domodedovo to destinations in Russia, Central Asia and the Far East.
BAE Systems announced its Regional Aircraft segment is “refocusing its customer support operation” and will also expand its offering into different aircraft types this year. “In addressing our customer needs and the continuing consolidation in the repair and overhaul market, Regional Aircraft has now developed, and is offering to the market new Total Support solutions to meet the needs of our large European fleet operators,” BAE Systems Regional Aircraft Business-Director Sean McGovern said.
US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that US airlines employed “virtually the same number of workers” in November in 2010 as they did in the year-ago month. The November full-time equivalent employee total of 379,335 was only 23 below that of November 2009. The report noted that prior to November, there were 28 consecutive months of year-over-year cuts in FTE levels for US scheduled passenger carriers.
