EC VP-Transport Jacques Barrot told the International Aviation Club in Washington yesterday that negotiators for the EU and US "must leave no stone unturned" in their quest to create a transatlantic open aviation area. But he offered no hints as to how the two sides can resolve the impasse that arose when the Dept. of Transportation last December withdrew its proposal to modify how it interprets foreign control of US airlines in the face of strong Congressional opposition.
US NTSB is investigating a runway incursion incident at Denver International on Feb. 2 in which a United Airlines 737 had to stop short after landing to avoid running into a snowplow. The aircraft missed the vehicle by 200 ft. An airport operations vehicle that was escorting the plow already had cleared the runway. NTSB also is investigating a second incursion incident at DEN that occurred on Jan. 5 when a Frontier Airlines aircraft broke off a landing attempt when the crew noticed another aircraft on the runway.
Pinnacle Airlines announced that its newly acquired regional subsidiary Colgan Air will operate 15 Q400s as a Continental Connection carrier ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5). Pinnacle, which flies 127 CRJs as a Northwest Airlink partner, will purchase the turboprops from Bombardier subject to a loan arrangement. Deliveries to Colgan are scheduled to begin in December and run through June 2008.
SkyEurope CCO Karim Makhlouf told ATWOnline that the carrier intends to focus more on its to core markets and build its operation in Vienna to strengthen a business that lost €57.3 million ($74.2 million) last fiscal year ( ATWOnline, Dec. 5, 2006). The process will start next month with the opening of its Vienna base ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20, 2006).
Austrian Airlines Group will transfer three of its four A330-200s to Star Alliance partner TAP Portugal as part of its long-haul fleet reduction ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12, 2006). Aircraft will leave Austrian by April 29. Separately, OS will launch a thrice-weekly Vienna-Bourgas service on May 15.
UPS said yesterday it ordered 27 767-300ERFs for delivery from 2009 to 2012. The aircraft, valued at more than $3.8 billion, are necessary to keep pace with international traffic demand and for fleet renewal, the company said. UPS was the launch customer for the first 767 freighter in 1995. The -300ERF can carry 24 containers on its upper deck and seven in the lower cargo compartments, according to the airline. It has a maximum payload of 132,200 lb. and a range of 3,000 nm.
British Midland, parent of bmi, announced Friday that it acquired control of London Heathrow-based British Mediterranean, a BA franchise partner since 1997, subscribing to approximately £30 million ($59 million) of new shares in BMED. "Bringing BMED into the bmi group creates a business with a turnover in excess of £1 billion with substantial growth opportunities. The acquisition enables the bmi group to accelerate its strategy of expansion into medium-haul markets," group CEO Nigel Turner said.
American Airlines flew 10.9 billion system RPMs in January, a 1.2% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.3% to 14.49 billion ASMs and load factor dipped 0.1 point to 75.2%. Domestic RPMs were down 2.7% to 7 billion against a 2.3% fall in capacity to 9.27 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 0.3 point to 75.5%.
Air Canada plans to launch thrice-weekly Toronto-Shanghai service on April 6, increasing to daily on June 30 and returning to thrice-weekly for the 2007-08 winter schedule. It also will double its Vancouver-Beijing service to twice-daily July 1-Sept. 30.
British Airways reported a £107 million ($210.3 million) net profit for the third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, a 13.7% drop from the £124 million earned in the year-ago quarter thanks to a "raft of external factors" that cost the carrier an estimated £40 million in revenue, CEO Willie Walsh said Friday.
ELTA said it was awarded a Boeing SFE for its ADT406 S emergency locator transmitter specified for the 787. ELTA said the contract could be worth more than $5 million over the life of the program.
More than 20,000 Airbus workers staged protests at multiple manufacturing sites across Germany Friday to demonstrate their opposition to facility closures and job cuts rumored to be a part of the manufacturer's Power8 restructuring program, with a prominent union leader threatening a "European-wide wave of protest" aimed at disrupting production.
Innovative Solutions & Support said its Cockpit/IP flat panel display system for the 757 received an FAA STC last week. The retrofit offers AMLCD displays for primary flight and navigation as well as multi-function display capability with numerous options including an electronic flight bag.
Fraport appointed Matthias Zieschang CFO. He succeeds Stefan Schulte, who was appointed vice chairman effective April 1. Zieschang comes from DB Netz, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn.
SkyTeam announced that it signed agreements with Air Europa, Copa Airlines and Kenya Airways "indicating the carriers are on track for official Associate Airline status." Signing ceremonies were held in the capital of each airline's home country. The trio will add 25 destinations to SkyTeam's network.
Pinnacle Airlines, which operates 127 CRJs as a Northwest Airlink partner, is in the market for large turboprops that may be placed with Colgan Air, which Pinnacle acquired last month for $20 million in cash and stock ( ATWOnline, Jan. 19). Pinnacle CFO Peter Hunt said the company is looking at both ATR 42s/72s and Q400s and a decision on an order for 20-25 70-seat aircraft could be placed within weeks.
Airports of Thailand Chairman Chotisak Asapavirya resigned last week owing to "ill health." He had been criticized heavily for the pavement cracking problems at Bangkok's $3 billion showcase Suvarnabhumi International. While he said he was not forced out, he told Thai media yesterday that he warned authorities not to rush the airport's opening. Meanwhile, Suvarnabhumi's director and head of commercial operations have been fired.
US and EU once again are set to take up the contentious issue of Passenger Name Record data transfer this month ahead of the July 31 expiration of a temporary agreement permitting the US to continue to require EU member airlines to supply PNR data to the US. The interim agreement is similar to one that expired last September, having been ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice in May 2006 ( ATWOnline, Dec.
CAE said Friday that it will establish its first Indian training center by year end in Bangalore, where it plans to train as many as 1,000 pilots annually. The facility will cost $20 million and likely will include an as-yet-unidentified partner. It will serve Indian carriers and the surrounding region, initially offering pilot, cabin crew and maintenance training as well as flight operations support for A320s and 737s. "We realized the strategic importance of opening a training center in India.
Oneworld confirmed yesterday that Royal Jordanian, Japan Airlines and Malev Hungarian Airlines will join the alliance as full members on April 1. Five additional subsidiaries of JAL Group will join the same day as affiliates: JALways, Japan Asia Airways, JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air. At the same time, Aer Lingus will withdraw from the alliance ( ATWOnline, May 31, 2006). Three other airlines are lining up to join as affiliates in 2007: Dragonair, LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador.
LAN Airlines is providing $17.1 million in financing to VRG Linhas Aereas, the "new" Varig. The loans may be converted into shares of the new airline, LAN said, which would make it a minority owner.
Airline efforts to get business and general aviation to bear a larger share of the cost of the air traffic control system may stall when Congress takes up FAA reauthorization legislation this year, a senior congressional staff member said yesterday.
Alaska Airlines said it introduced two 737-400 combis into its fleet for service within Alaska. The conversions were done by Pemco World Air Services. Two more 737-400Cs will enter the fleet by year end. The aircraft, the first 737-400 combis, accommodate 72 passengers and four cargo pallets on the main deck.
