Aviation safety experts tout a number of measures taken in recent years that have helped to mitigate the risk of runway incursions--better signage and lighting, improved training and ATC alerting systems such as AMASS--but say developing and deploying technology that enables pilots to receive direct warnings is critical if the ever-present danger of airfield collisions is to be eliminated.
TUI Travel, the tourism conglomerate that includes TUIfly, Thomson Airways, Arkefly, Corsairfly and Jet4you, among others, reported a £24 million ($39.6 million) deficit in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 91% improvement from the £267 million loss suffered in the prior year. CEO Peter Long said the result was a reflection of "the effectiveness with which we have delivered merger synergies" and the fact that "the main summer holiday is an essential expenditure" for customers.
Allegiant Air will transfer part of its Orlando operation from Sanford to Orlando International on Feb. 1, a move the LCC said will appeal to passengers who want easier access to the city's tourist attractions while "improv[ing] our position relative to competitors with service to [MCO]." Allegiant currently flies to 31 destinations from Orlando. In February it will begin flying from MCO to Knoxville, Lexington, (both from Feb. 1), Allentown, Greenville-Spartanburg (both Feb. 8), Grand Rapids (Feb. 12), Springfield, Mo., Tri-Cities, Tenn. (both Feb. 15), Huntington (Feb.
US National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman yesterday criticized FAA for failing to act on runway safety recommendations the board repeatedly has made, including multiple recommendations first issued in July 2000.
Safi Airways is looking beyond the complicated domestic operating environment and hopes to enhance its international profile with the addition of a 285-seat A340-300 it plans to use on its thrice-weekly Kabul-Frankfurt service. The aircraft, formerly with Air Comet and Virgin Atlantic Airways, will provide a 30% capacity increase on a route Safi used to operate with a 767-200ER. CCO Claus Fischer told ATWOnline that loads on the route, launched in June, have improved ahead of what he expects to be a challenging winter season.
Shenzhen Airlines promised to maintain its operational stability following the Sunday arrest of controlling stakeholder Li Zeyuan, who was accused of economic crimes. Shenzhen President Li Kun has taken charge of the carrier in the interim. Launched in 1995, Shenzhen originally was a state-owned airline but was privatized when Shenzhen Huirun Group and Shenzhen Yiyang Group purchased a 65% share in May 2005. Li Zeyuan holds 89% of Huirun. CAAC and Air China, which holds a 25% stake in Shenzhen Airlines, have sent a working group to the carrier to help maintain stability.
US FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Committee said at a US Senate hearing yesterday that it has pushed back its Jan. 1 deadline for issuing new rules on pilot fatigue for an additional month. "We will unfortunately miss the first of next year," Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Peggy Gilligan said. FAA expects to complete its analysis by the end of January. Pilot fatigue has been on the National Transportation Safety Board's "Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements" since it first was published almost 20 years ago.
Boeing took a key step toward getting its first 787 in the air after completing the static testing necessary to validate the side-of-body modification work performed last month ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17). Full analysis of the results will not be concluded for about 10 days, it said. During the tests, the leading and trailing edges were subjected to their limit load of about 2.5 g. The 150% structural tests required for certification are planned for spring.
IATA said 75 major airlines around the world that have reported third-quarter financial results were a combined $718 million in the black, improved from a $3.37 billion loss in the year-ago quarter, but that the industry still is expected to lose $11 billion this year despite the gradual recovery.
European Commission released its updated list of airlines banned from EU airspace and cited progress with carriers from Ukraine and Angola. From the former, Motor Sich was removed from the list entirely and Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines now is allowed to operate into the EU with one aircraft while TAAG Angola Airlines was permitted to increase the number of planes it flies to Portugal owing to "significant progress" made by the carrier and civil aviation authority "to resolve progressively any safety deficiencies," the EC said.
Air France A330-200 registered F-GZCK and performing Flight AF445 from Rio de Janeiro Galeao to Paris Charles de Gaulle on Sunday night/Monday morning declared a mayday owing to severe turbulence near the equator, according to The Aviation Herald. The incident occurred near the site where AF447 was lost six months ago ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21). The aircraft was at 38,000 ft. on airway UN866 about 4 hr. after takeoff, just before the DEKON waypoint about 680 nm.
AeroMexico CEO Andres Conesa told reporters in Mexico City this week that the airline expects a 3% fall in passenger numbers this year compared to the 10.5 million it posted in 2008 but a 5% year-over-year increase in 2010. It will relaunch its Shanghai service in March and is considering new flights to Atlanta, Washington, Costa Rica and Colombia, according to Dow Jones.
American Airlines yesterday named ExpressJet President and CEO James Ream as its new senior VP-maintenance & engineering. He will take over on Jan. 1, succeeding the retiring Carmine Romano. Ream held various positions at AA between 1987 and 1995 and led ExpressJet for the past eight years.
Concessions in US airports generated $7.49 billion in revenue in 2008, representing a 6.4% increase over the previous year, according to a report by ACI-NA. "With passenger traffic continuing to decline in this challenging economy, airport concessions have become a critical component of nonaeronautical revenue," said ACI-NA CFO Bill McAllister.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is to begin construction in March of a new baggage transport system known as the Backbone. It recently signed a contract for the system with Vanderlande Industries and IBM. The Backbone will link the West, E, D and South baggage basements, "thus creating an integrated baggage system." The project is expected to be completed in mid-2013. Two rows of check-in desks in Departure Hall 2 will be closed alternately from May 2011 through September 2012 to facilitate the project's completion.
Aficionados of the old Seinfeld TV show may recall an episode in which Jerry accuses his dry cleaner of wearing a jacket that Jerry left to be cleaned and pressed. Responding indignantly to this (truthful) accusation, the proprietor sputters that no dry cleaner would dare do such a thing because, "It's in the dry cleaner's code of ethics."
An advisory group is set to propose an "administrative unification" of Japan's Kansai International, Osaka International and Kobe airports in an effort to streamline costs, Japan Times reported. The proposal will be presented at a Dec. 14 meeting of regional leaders. Currently, each of the airports has separate management groups.
What distinguishes these "high performers"? Accenture recently released a comprehensive study, "Achieving High Performance in the Airline Industry," that may provide some clues. The consultancy--which has spent the last six years conducting a wide-ranging research project trying to determine what distinguishes high-performance businesses across a range of industries--turned its attention to airlines, closely examining and analyzing the financial performance of carriers from around the world for the period 2001-07.
BAA last week placed a £235 million ($391 million) Sterling index-linked bond with a 2039 maturity and a fixed real annual interest coupon of 3.334%. The issue follows placement in late November of a £700 million, 17-year bond issue undertaken by the company. Proceeds from the bond issues will be used to refinance existing debt and will lengthen the airport operator's debt maturity profile.
In October, Iberia disclosed plans to create a new short- and medium-haul carrier feeding its growing long-haul network of mainly Latin American services through its Madrid hub. The announcement was unexpected given that IB has a solid short/medium-haul network into MAD spanning all 38 domestic airports, 47 destinations in Europe and eight in North Africa that it serves with a fleet of 81 Airbus family aircraft.
Since American Airlines told delegates to the Computerized Airline Sales and Marketing Association conference in October that it plans to move all indirect volume to direct connections, industry observers have wondered what such a world would look like and how it would change relationships among airlines, travel agencies, GDSs and customers. Jim Davidson, chief executive officer of Farelogix, shed some light on the issue during the recent PhoCusWright conference in Orlando. "It's not about eliminating the GDS channel," he said. "It's not about either/or."
Vancouver Airport Authority is gearing up for the 2010 Winter Olympics in February with programs to manage increases in passengers and oversized bags and new snow removal equipment that will maintain operations in adverse weather conditions. The airport also plans to double the size of its volunteer force and is training more than 5,500 frontline employees to help passengers find their way around the airport.
