Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee said engine failure was not the cause of last week's fatal Aeroflot Nord 737-500 crash in Perm ( ATWOnline, Sept. 16), backing away from comments made shortly after the accident by some government officials that a fire had erupted in one of the engines inflight. "There is no indication of an engine fire or the aircraft breaking up in the air," the committee said in a statement.
Qantas Executive GM John Borghetti told a cheering crowd of more than 4,000 Qantas staff Sunday that the airline's new A380 will give it an edge over the competition.
US National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a runway incursion in which a Mesa Airlines CRJ700 carrying 60 passengers narrowly missed colliding with a Cessna 172 at Lehigh Valley International in Allentown, Pa., on Sept. 17. The incident occurred at approximately 7:45 p.m. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed. According to NTSB, the 172 was on a landing roll on Runway 6 when the pilot was instructed to exit at taxiway A4. The CRJ had been instructed to position and hold on the same runway and was then given clearance by the same controller to take off.
China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines experienced a sharp traffic decline in August, another sign of China's sagging domestic passenger market. CEA posted a 23.1% year-over-year drop to 2.92 million passenger boardings with a load factor of 69.4%, down 8.6 points. HNA transported 1.2 million passengers, a 5.2% decrease, as load factor fell 7.8 points to 74.3%. China Galaxy Securities Co.
Turkish Airlines will launch thrice-weekly Istanbul-Baghdad flights from Oct. 26, restarting service that was suspsended during the 1991 Gulf War. Several charter and cargo operators are operating flights to the Iraqi capital and Royal Jordanian operates flights from Amman. Jetstar announced an expanded flight schedule from Oct.
World Airways signed a two-year contract with Allied Air to operate one MD-11F on a full-time basis between Belgium and Nigeria. World Airways will begin the Allied service on Oct. 1, flying from Ostend to Lagos and continuing on to Nairobi to uplift perishables. The flights will be operated 3-4 times weekly. Nigeria-based Allied Air operates four 727 freighters, working with its worldwide sales agent ANA Aviation Services to provide scheduled flights and ad hoc charter services.
Alitalia Administrator Augusto Fantozzi made an open plea for an investment plan to rescue the failing airline, calling on "anyone" who could "assure continuity of the air transport service in the medium term" to make a bid on all or part of the carrier by Sept. 30, but Italian regulators warned that AZ could be shut down before then for safety reasons.
Sensis Corp. won a contract from the US Dept. of Transportation to provide its Aerobahn surface operation monitoring technology to FAA at New York JFK. Technology combines flight schedule and operational information with airport ground surveillance data to provide real-time surface views.
Skyservice Airlines, based at Toronto Pearson, launched Skyservice Maintenance initially focusing on "all phase letter checks for the A320 and 757 airframes with developing capabilities on the 737."
US FAA yesterday approved the merger transition plan submitted by Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines that envisions the carriers moving to a single operating certificate within 15-18 months. "The plan outlines the methodology, processes, tools and timing to maintain the safety of the day-to-day operations and to achieve a single operating certificate," the airlines said in a statement. DL Senior VP-Maintenance Operations John Laughter added that FAA's acceptance of the plan is "a significant milestone in our efforts to bring together our two airlines."
Lufthansa Cargo said it allocated seven MD-11 heavy C checks for 2009 after an "intensive tendering procedure. The work will be carried out by EGAT in Taipei and TAECO in Xiamen. LHC valued the contracts at around €6.5 million ($9.4 million).
AviIT said it launched its AviTag module extending its AviCheck handheld wireless check-in system. Technology connects to DCS and secures real-time credit card approval authorization, enabling airlines to collect excess baggage fees before passengers reach check-in counters or baggage drop locations.
Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan told reporters in New York that the carrier believes it can lift passenger numbers from the current 6 million per year to 25 million annually by 2020 while doubling the number of cities served from 48 to 100. It plans to grow its workforce from 6,600 today to 27,000 in 2020.
Afriqiyah Airways reached a deal with Air France Industries to provide component support for 14 A319s and A320s. Contract includes access to a spare parts pool managed by AFI at Paris de Gaulle.
DayJet, Services, which described itself as the world's first "per-seat, on-demand jet service," ceased operations last Friday and laid off most of its staff less than a year after launching service among five cities in Florida. It attributed its failure to the inability to "arrange critical financing in the midst of the current global financial crisis." It said it would be unable to honor customer reservations and/or issue refunds for unused travel.
Jat Airways on Friday countered assertions that it is in serious financial trouble, insisting in a statement that "the situation. . .is stable and there are no signs of bankruptcy."
Embraer named Luiz Carolo Siqueira Aguiar executive VP-finance and CFO and Emilio Kazunoli Matsuo executive VP-strategic planning and technology development.
Qantas used the ceremony commemorating the handover of its first A380 in Toulouse Friday to announce that it is likely to add to the 20 of the type it already has on order. CEO Geoff Dixon and his successor, Alan Joyce, made clear that a new order is a virtual certainty, though Dixon qualified that any order would have to be within QF's current A$35 billion ($27.9 billion) budget for capital spending on aircraft, meaning that it may be interested in aircraft swaps with Airbus. Qantas Group last year ordered 60 A320s/A321s for its LCC Jetstar.
Pacific Blue Airlines, the regional international arm of Virgin Blue Australia, announced a major drive into Asia with plans to launch 11 weekly flights from Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth to Denpasar. The new services will start from Dec. 1 and will be the first to link Adelaide and Brisbane directly with the provincial capital of Bali, a popular tourist destination for Australians. Pacific Blue currently operates 62 weekly international flights from Australia's east coast to New Zealand and the South Pacific.
Frontier Airlines is considering moving some of its maintenance operations outside the US, Denver's Rocky Mountain News reported. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents Frontier maintenance workers, said the bankrupt carrier sees outsourcing as a way to save money but complained that the move could result in the loss of 150 jobs. The Teamsters said Frontier management shared with the union a proposal to outsource heavy maintenance, which includes major repairs and checks.
The Boeing machinists strike has entered its third week, continuing to silence the manufacturer's production lines and raising airlines' anxieties over delayed aircraft deliveries.
Amadeus said Air France finalized implementation of its Ticket Changer Shopper solution featuring online rebooking and revalidation capabilities. Since launching the technology across 80 websites in July, the carrier has seen a 35% increase in online rebooking transactions.
FedEx reported net income of $384 million for its fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, down 22% from the same period last year, citing "challenging" economic conditions. Chairman, President and CEO Frederick Smith said the delivery giant will "continue to hold the line on costs across all segments." It also will raise shipping rates 6.9% from Jan. 5 for domestic US and US export services as part of its effort to compensate for "weaker global macroeconomic conditions."
