The US Air Transport Assn. said the actual cost of FAA's proposed rule governing flightcrew duty and rest requirements issued two months ago could cost $19.6 billion—15 times more money than the $1.25 billion the government projects—as it submitted final public comments calling for significant revisions to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ( ATW Daily News, Sept. 13).
EasyJet, which celebrated its 15th birthday last week, reported a £121.3 million ($195 million) net profit for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 70.4% increase on the £71.2 million it earned in the prior year.
Cathay Pacific Airways has announced in a trading statement that it expects its consolidated profit for the year ending Dec. 31, 2010 will not be less than HK$12.5 billion ($1.62 billion), “as demand for passenger and cargo services had remained very strong with revenues at high levels.”
Boeing said Monday that it has not made a decision on when 787 flight testing will resume as it continues to investigate the electrical malfunction that led to a fire onboard aircraft ZA002 last week (ATW Daily News, Dec. 15).
COMAC announced at the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai Tuesday that four Chinese airlines and two leasing companies have placed orders and commitments for up to 100 C919s.
COMAC announced Tuesday that four Chinese airlines—Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines—as well as GE Capital Aviation Services and China Development Bank Leasing Co. have placed commitments for up to 100 C919s with first deliveries of the 150- to 170-seat jet scheduled for 2016.
Navtech won a contract to provide cargo carrier Southern Air with its Navtech Flight Plan system. "Using Navtech’s flight planning system allows us to execute flawless flight releases with relative ease," said Southern Air Director-Systems Operations Paul Chase. Lufthansa Systems said Croatia Airlines renewed a contract for its Lido/Flight planning solution for an additional eight years.
Air Canada announced it will begin charging economy passengers $20 for a second checked bag on domestic flights and flights to the Caribbean and Mexico, effective on travel booked from Nov. 11 on flights beginning Jan. 19. AC economy passengers will still be able to check one bag for free in addition to a permitted carry-on baggage.
Flybe graduated its first pilot candidates under the ICAO Multi Crew Pilot License program in a ceremony at the airline's headquarters in Exeter. Flybe said that the completion of the course by the six candidates, "under the supervision of the [UK] Civil Aviation Authority, marks the culmination of a successful relationship between Flybe, Flight Training Europe Jerez and the CAA and is an historic milestone not only for Flybe’s pilot training but also for the development of professional pilot training throughout the UK aviation industry."
The Air Line Pilots Assn. announced Friday it formalized an alliance with US Airways Express pilots that “promotes and maintains the highest level of safety…, improved pilot contract standards, and protects pilot jobs at ‘express-level’ airlines.” ALPA represents approximately 3,000 US Airways Express pilots. ALPA President Capt. John Prater said, “ALPA pilots are not competitors and we will not be whipsawed against one another by undercutting our peers.
SkyWest Inc. announced the completion of its acquisition of ExpressJet Holdings, the parent company of regional air carrier ExpressJet Airlines. As a result of a merger transaction, declared effective Monday, ExpressJet Holdings became a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which is in turn a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest ( ATW Daily News, Nov. 12).
Flight crew are calling on the TSA and Dept. of Homeland Security to revise their “enhanced security screening” procedures requiring all persons to be subject to screening by intimate pat-down searches or advanced imaging technology machines now in place at many US airports ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 4).
The European Low Fares Airline Assn. said it sent a “strongly worded” letter to European Commission VP-Competition Joaquin Almunia urging him to carry out a swift and full investigation into what the organization’s Secretary General John Hanlon described as “recent unchecked infusions of funding to airlines in Europe [which] represent flagrant breaches of European legislation with respect to competition and state aid.”
Cargolux Airlines International President and CEO Ulrich Ogiermann has stepped down in the wake of his indictment on price-fixing charges by the US Justice Dept. “The decision to step down as CEO has jointly been reached by the board of directors of Cargolux and [Ulrich] Ogiermann,” Cargolux said, confirming that the decision “is related to Mr. Ogiermann’s indictment by a US court for alleged antitrust violations.”
Colombia and the US officially signed an open skies agreement Nov. 11, which is scheduled to take effect in late 2012, US Dept. of Transportation announced Friday, making Colombia the 100th US open skies partner.
S7 Airlines announced Monday it officially joined oneworld (ATW Daily News, Sept. 24), making it the second Russian airline to join an alliance behind Aeroflot, which became a member of SkyTeam in 2006. S7 subsidiary Globus also joined as an affiliate member.
The nine largest US airlines posted collective net income of $1.91 billion in the third quarter, reversing a $578 million net deficit in the prior-year period, ATW has calculated.
Rolls-Royce has advised airlines that up to 34 Trent 900 engines may have to be replaced, according to airline sources in Sydney, who noted that Singapore Airlines may have to replace up to 20 engines in its fleet of 11 Airbus A380s, and Qantas may have to replace 14 engines.
Rolls-Royce has advised airlines that up to 34 Trent 900 engines may have to be replaced, according to airline sources in Sydney, who noted that Singapore Airlines may have to replace up to 20 engines in its fleet of 11 Airbus A380s, and Qantas may have to replace 14 engines.
American Airlines will offer 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified Java City coffee on its flights. The coffee is grown only on sustainably managed farms in Central America that meet comprehensive and rigorous standards covering social, labor and environmental conservation issues. AA VP-Marketing Rob Friedman said the airline is committed to exploring greener options “for all of our products, both inflight and on the ground, to enhance the travel experience for our customers."
US FAA awarded its largest Voluntary Airport Low Emission grant for an $18.3 million project at Seattle-Tacoma International to improve air quality and reduce the use of conventional fuels at the airport. With the VALE grant, Sea-Tac will install a centralized pre-conditioned air plant that will enable aircraft arriving at gates to shut off their APUs and connect to a cleaner central heating and cooling system, greatly reducing aircraft emissions on the ground.
FedEx Express has joined with Cologne Bonn Airport to inaugurate the FedEx Central and Eastern Europe hub, the second FedEx Express hub to be solar-powered and the fifth solar facility in operation within FedEx Corp.
