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British Airways intends to serve 60% of its scheduled passengers March 20-22, or about 45,000 per day, when flight attendants represented by Unite are scheduled to stage the first of two strikes this month. In addition, the airline said it will offer seats to "many thousands more customers" on alternative flights or on services operated by 40 other carriers to which passengers can be rebooked free of charge during the strike. Unite also plans to strike March 27-30 ( ATWOnline, March 15).
Lufthansa's full-year result, which included an €8 million ($11 million) operating loss by the Passenger Airline Group, was buoyed slightly by the €93 million operating profit posted by its Swiss International Air Lines subsidiary, the most successful carrier in the LH stable.
Continental Airlines is following the footsteps of other US legacy carriers by eliminating free economy class inflight meal service on North American flights under 6 hr. and some shorter Latin American flights beginning in the fall.
FAA issued an emergency Airworthiness Directive calling for operators of 737-600s, -700s, -800s, -900s and -900ERs to inspect elevator tab control mechanisms following "severe elevator vibration" on a Ryanair 737-800 that made an emergency landing in Brussels this month.
American Airlines said it has canceled the planned furloughs of about 75 pilots scheduled for April 1, citing "attrition rates and a number of other variables" that allowed it to reevaluate its original decision. It said in January that it had made the "painful but necessary decision" to furlough up to 175 pilots in the first half of this year ( ATWOnline, Jan. 25). The first round occurred at the end of February when around 100 pilots were furloughed.
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines Executive VP-Marketing and Sales Thierry Antinori said at ITB Berlin last week that the company will continue to invest in its product and that it "see[s] some positive signs of recovery" in premium traffic, although it is "far from being able to relax." LH invests some €500 million ($688.2 million) annually in cabin and service products and through 2013 it intends to spend an additional €50 million to upgrade its lounges and check-in options.
Fourth 787 joined Boeing's flight test fleet and completed its first flight Sunday partially equipped with passenger cabin fittings. ZA003 departed Paine Field in Everett at 10:55 a.m. Sunday morning and landed at Boeing Field at 2:01 p.m. In addition to demonstrating that the interior meets certification requirements, ZA003 will be used to conduct tests on systems, noise performance, flight-deck operations, avionics, electromagnetic effects, high-intensity radio frequency response and ETOPS. ZA001 has completed 57 flights, ZA002 37 flights and ZA004 one flight. Total combined hr.
Second 747-8 freighter completed its first flight Sunday. Test Program Manager Andy Hammer said the aircraft "performed well" on a 2.5-hr. flight on which it reached an altitude of 27,000 ft. and an airspeed of 240 kt. before landing at Boeing Field. The second aircraft will conduct tests focused on community noise, environmental control systems and extended operation performance ( ATWOnline, March 12).
Robin Hood Aviation, a small regional based at Graz, declared insolvency yesterday owing to debt of €3.3 million ($4.5 million). It operates two Saab 340s and plans to pay a bond of €100,000 to continue operations.
Spirit Airlines took delivery of the first of four new A320s scheduled to arrive this year and placed it into service Sunday on its Fort Lauderdale-Washington National service. It now operates 26 A319s, two A321s and the new A320, which seats 178 passengers.
UK CAA said the country's airports handled 218 million passengers in 2009, a 7.3% decline from the prior year. The drop was the largest single-year decrease for 65 years and marked the first time that traffic fell for two straight years. "Passenger numbers are now back to the level they were six years ago and, although they will certainly rebound, the pace of recovery is uncertain and it could be a number of years before they reach their peak level again," Director-Economic Regulation Harry Bush said.
AAR Corp. won a contract to design and manufacture composite flap track fairings for wings on the CSeries. Deal could be worth more than $90 million over the life of the program, AAR said.
CAE announced the sale of three 7000 Series full flight simulators to Indonesia's Lion Air. Contract valued at some C$38 million ($37.3 million) at list prices includes two 737-900ER FFSs, one ATR 72-500 FFS and two Simfinity integrated process trainers. The two 737 FFSs will be delivered to Lion's Jakarta training center next year. The ATR simulator will arrive "at a later date," CAE said.
Goodrich Corp. said Flydubai took delivery of the first 737NG (a 737-800) outfitted with its Duracarb carbon brakes. Goodrich will supply wheels and carbon brake equipment to the airline's entire incoming fleet and will retrofit its previous six -800s.
London Heathrow Airport, UK NATS, Singapore Airlines and Airbus announced an improved departure procedure for the A380 aimed at saving more fuel while remaining within the airport's strict noise limits. According to the parties, the procedure will save an additional 300 kg. of fuel per flight, equating to 1 tonne of emissions of CO2 saved on a flight to Singapore, as well as reducing NOx emissions. The initiative, developed over the past year and put into place in early March, involves the A380s using less power when taking off from LHR. Once a height of 1,500 ft.
Carbon dioxide emissions from flights that fall within the area of coverage of the EU's contentious Emission Trading Scheme dropped by 6.85% last year, according to data from RDC Aviation, as airlines reduced schedules and cut utilization in the face of the global economic downturn. Interestingly, Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways recorded declines of 23.9% and 15.7% respectively, much of which can be attributed to introduction of the A380 of many of their London services.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt will speak at ATW's Third Annual Eco-Aviation Conference at the Capital Hilton in Washington June 23-25. Babbitt will deliver the luncheon keynote address on June 24. Also that day, the Airline & ATM Efficiencies panel will feature presentations and discussion by experts from Continental Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. On June 25, conference attendees will get to hear from AltAir Fuels, which is participating in the historic 15-airline biofuel project announced last December.
Quantum advances in videoconferencing, combined with the desire of companies to reduce both travel budgets and environmental impact, are going to have a marked negative impact on future airline traffic growth but will improve CO2 emissions, according to a new report from New York-based Bernstein Research.
Airports and airlines have united to warn that a proposed US Environmental Protection Agency rule on limiting discharges from airport deicing operations would be highly costly, compromise safety and impede efficient operations during winter months.
ICAO's Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection in February committed to a timetable for development of a CO2 Standard for commercial aircraft that would establish the first global fuel-efficiency standard for any industry and is aiming to have it ready in 2013.
Air New Zealand has realigned its biofuel plans as the reality of sustainable production hit home. The airline, which conducted the first second-generation biofuel flight in late 2008, had set an ambitious target of 10% of its fuel being sourced from biofuel by 2013. According to CEO Rob Fyfe, it spent considerable time last year working through the carbon penalty issue of moving fuel long distances and instead turned its attention to home-grown options and settled on cellulose and algae as the two main contenders.
