US FAA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that calls for raising fees charged to airlines overflying the US by 14% annually for four consecutive years beginning in the US government's 2012 fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2011, and airlines appear willing to live with the proposed rule despite serious reservations about it.
American Airlines named William Collins VP-base maintenance.He will be based in Tulsa and oversee AA's US MRO operations. Collins left GE Aviation, where he served as VP-electric power. Aviation Capital Group promoted John Feren to executive VP. Feren was previously senior VP-business development. Aircell named Norman Smagley CFO.
Amadeus reached a long-term content agreement with the Cathay Pacific Group for access to Cathay Pacific and Dragonair's fares, schedules and availability. Jet Airways signed a 10-yr. business transformation and IT services agreement with IBM valued at $62 million. Jet plans to leverage IBM technology solutions to transform its airport operations, direct distribution and frequent flier programs, it said.
Delta Air Lines flew 16.11 billion system RPMs in September, up 6.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity increased 6.6% to 19.53 billion ASMs, as load factor stayed flat at 82.5%. AirTran Airways operated 1.39 billion RPMs in September, up 1.7% from the year-ago month, on a 0.6% increase in capacity to 1.79 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 0.7 points to 77.7%.
American Airlines on Thursday secured US Dept. of Transportation approval to operate daily Los Angeles-Shanghai Pudong 777 flights from April 5, 2011 ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 4).
ATRdelivered its 900th aircraft to TRIP Linhas Aereas in Brazil, the second-largest ATR operator in the world. The ATR 72-500 is the 30th ATR in its fleet and it will take delivery of three more before the end of the year. "Our ATR turboprops are enabling us to cover the largest regional network in our country and to meet the demand of a large range of markets," said TRIP CEO Caprioli dos Santos. "With our new aircraft, we will also be able to further expand our network and add frequencies."
Syrian Arab Airlines is considering placing an order for two Russian TU204-100Bs. Because of US-imposed economic sanctions on Syria, the state-run carrier turned to Russia after negotiations stalled on the purchase of up to 50 Airbus aircraft, according to the Austrian daily Wirtschaftsblatt.
Boeing announced Thursday it delivered 124 commercial aircraft in the 2010 third quarter, up 11 from 113 in the year-ago quarter, for a total of 346 deliveries so far this year. Leading the way is the delivery of 100 737NGs, up from 90 in the year-ago quarter, bringing its year-to-date total to 281. Boeing said it delivered three 767s and 21 777s, for year-to-date totals of nine and 56, respectively. Comparatively, in the third quarter of 2009, Boeing delivered four 767s and 19 777s.
Bernstein Research believes that EADS is the “top pick” for investors in commercial aerospace owing to its stock performance being driven primarily by Airbus, whose delivery outlook continues to improve.
Coral Gables, Fla.-based AerSale said Thursday it has acquired 19 747-400s from Japan Airlines, which is in the midst of an aggressive bankruptcy restructuring and made the decision this year to retire its 747-400 fleet.
Bombardier said Thursday that Tripoli-based Libyan Airlines signed a firm order for three CRJ900 NextGen aircraft valued at $131.5 million at list prices. It also took options on three more CRJ900NGs.
Air Canada and United Continental Holdings, the parent of merger partners United Airlines and Continental Airlines, said Thursday they've concluded an MOU "setting out the principles for a comprehensive revenue-sharing joint venture" on US/Canada transborder services.
Bombardier said Thursday that Tripoli-based Libyan Airlines signed a firm order for three CRJ900 NextGen aircraft valued at $131.5 million at list prices. It also took options on three more CRJ900NGs.
Astraeus wet leased three 757-200s to Saudi Arabian Airlines for operation from this month through December to support increased demand during the Hajj season. GECAS delivered one new A320 to Avianca-TACA. The aircraft is one of three acquired through a sale/leaseback transaction with the airline; the remaining two will be delivered this month and in December.
Continental Airlines said September estimated consolidated RASM increased 19%-20% year-over-year. Consolidated traffic rose 3.1% to 7.16 billion RPMs against a 1.4% increase in capacity to 8.64 billion ASMs. Load factor was up 1.4 points to 82.9%.
Air Line Pilots Assn. International reported Wednesday that its pilots ratified a tentative agreement with Air Transat ( ATW Daily News, Sept. 6). It said 75% of the pilots who voted were in favor of the agreement, which included employment protection for long-term job stability, improvements to pay rate, and lifestyle considerations that incorporated fatigue-mitigation factors.
ANA and Hawaiian Airlines said Wednesday they signed an agreement "to establish a commercial partnership" that will see the carriers "explore bilateral cooperation in areas such as codesharing, frequent flyer programs and cargo subject to necessary government approvals." ANA plans to launch Tokyo Haneda–Honolulu flights from Oct. 31 while HA is slated to start HNL–HND service on Nov. 17.
EgyptAir will take delivery of its third new 777-300ER next week and will start deploying the aircraft on its Cairo–New York JFK route on Oct. 18, MS Chairman and CEO Alaa Ashour confirmed to ATW.
Copa Holdings, parent of Copa Airlines and Aero Republica, announced Wednesday that Colombia-based Aero Republica will operate as Copa Airlines Colombia, effective immediately.
EasyJet revised upwards its pre-tax profit target for the financial year ended Sept. 30 owing to strong fourth-quarter traffic and revenue, and said it now expects to deliver a pre-tax profit “slightly ahead of the £150 million [$239 million] that was the top end of our previous guidance range [issued in May] of £100 million to £150 million.” The company will report full-year results on Nov. 16.
Airbus has completed its market study into re-engining A320 family aircraft and New York-based Bernstein Research said it expects the manufacturer to move ahead with the program.
Oneworld members American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia officially launched their long-planned transatlantic joint venture on Wednesday, promising customers "far more choice and flexibility" when booking flights across the north Atlantic.
US Dept. of Transportation on Wednesday proposed granting antitrust immunity to oneworld members American Airlines and Japan Airlines and, separately, to Star Alliance members United Airlines, Continental Airlines and All Nippon Airways, to operate their respective transpacific partnerships.
