Sukhoi Civil Aircraft will be the launch customer in Russia for software designed by Pacelab Mission/SCAP. Sukhoi is developing the RRJ line of regional jets in the 60/90-seat range. The software will be used in sales support for the RRJ.
United Airlines is strengthening its presence at its Washington Dulles hub, announcing service additions and expansions to 10 domestic and two international markets. Perhaps in response to recent incursions by JetBlue and AirTran ( ATWOnline, Nov. 21), UA's biggest commitment will be to its Boston service, which it will increase by five daily flights for a total of 14 beginning in February. At the same time it will boost daily service to Phoenix, New Orleans, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Myrtle Beach and St. Louis.
European Union signed a so-called "horizontal" aviation agreement allowing European airlines to fly between any EU member country and Ukraine. European Commission VP-Transport Jacques Barrot said the agreement "paves the way for a closer integration of Ukraine into European aviation structures." The EC stressed the accord is "an important first step in the broader aviation relations between the EU and Ukraine," with more than 1.5 million passengers carried in 2004 on flights between the two, 25% more than in 2003.
Thai Airways concluded its fiscal year at the end of September with a net profit of 6.78 billion baht ($164.3 million), a 32.7% drop from a year-ago profit of THB10.08 billion, which the company attributed to fuel costs and a decline in tourism resulting from "unrest in southern Thailand, the terrorism in other countries and the concern of a bird flu epidemic."
As predicted by this website ( ATWOnline, Nov. 30), Cathay Pacific Airways chose the 777-300ER, stating that it will order up to 36 of the type including 16 firm aircraft that will be delivered between September 2007 and July 2010 and powered by GE90-115Bs. A Boeing statement did not refer to the deal as a final order but confirmed the numbers Cathay released. The airline said it also will take three Trent 700-powered A330-300s in 2008 for regional routes.
Northwest Airlines lost $346 million in its first six weeks in bankruptcy net of $158 million in reorganization-related charges, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The Sept. 14-Oct. 31 reporting period encompasses 16 days of the airline's third quarter. NWA previously reported a loss of $475 million for the July-September period. In its SEC filing, it did not provide separate loss figures for September and October.
Embraer 170, 175 and 190 have been granted a common type rating by aviation authorities in Brazil, the US, Canada and Europe. This will allow operators to reduce pilot training and crew qualification costs.
KLM will reduce fuel surcharges effective Dec. 21 by €1 ($1.18) to €12 per segment within Europe and by €5 per coupon to €33 within its intercontinental network. At the same time, it increased the security surcharge on all tickets by €2 to €7 per segment "to cover extra security measures that have been taken." Separately, KLM introduced an all-new catering model for European economy flights, bringing it "more in line with that of Air France's economy product," it said in a statement.
China and Singapore agreed to an expanded air services deal lifting restrictions on routes, capacity and aircraft type on flights between the countries. The contract was signed in Beijing, according to media reports.
Finnish Commuter Airlines took delivery of its first new ATR 42-500. Configured with 48 seats, the aircraft is part of an order for eight finalized at the Paris Air Show. It will feed the Finnair Helsinki hub and also will be operated on the Finncomm regional network. Pegasus Airlines, a Turkish leisure carrier, said it ordered six 737-800s. It already operates a fleet of 12 737-800s and two 737-400s. JAT Airways plans to take delivery of two Embraer 170s in January for use on services from Belgrade to Podgoroca, Vienna and Sarajevo.
Soon after President George W. Bush put pen to paper on the transportation appropriations bill that exempts Missouri from the Wright Amendment, Southwest Airlines released details yesterday of its new service between Dallas Love Field and St. Louis and Kansas City. Four daily direct flights to each Missouri city will commence from Love Field Dec. 13. One-way fares will be $79 with a two-week advance purchase and $129 walkup.
Air Sahara will acquire seven 737-800s on lease and is negotiating the lease of two 767s, President Rono Dutta told reporters. The carrier is expanding its network with four-times-weekly flights between Delhi and London set to begin Jan. 6 and include with a transatlantic codeshare with American Airlines, plus an additional daily service to Singapore and planned service to Bangkok, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.
Airbus named John O'Leary senior dir. and Bill James dir.-Airbus North America Engineering-Wichita and David Trent senior dir.-Airbus North America Engineering-Mobile. Air France Industries appointed Bruno Delile senior VP-industrial & business development, Fouad Attar VP-marketing & sales, Pierre-Yves Reville senior VP-materials & services and Ludovic Loisel VP- strategy & Air France/KLM MRO coordination. Air Jamaica tapped Michael Conway as CEO.
It may be news in North America, where record nominal fuel prices have eclipsed four years worth of financial, labor and operational restructuring efforts at US legacy carriers, but the world airline industry is feeling more bullish about the future than at any time since the end of the last millennium.
Amadeus is beginning to "unbundle" its airline pricing so that carriers can opt out of certain features they do not require. Six yield management tools are currently available on the "take it or not" basis, said Edward Ross, Amadeus' director of corporate and marketing communication. Among them is the "married segment control" feature, which long-haul carriers use to ensure that feeder flights do not fill up with passengers who are not connecting to their long-haul services. That tool would be of little use to a low-cost carrier, Ross said.
FAA may be closer to weeding out a thorny safety issue persistent enough to have made the National Transportation Safety Board's "Most Wanted" list for 15 straight years: Coming up with a real-time cue to warn pilots of an impending on-airport collision.
When the Greater Toronto Airports Authority added a mezzanine level to Pearson International's new terminal to separate Canada-US passengers from domestic and international travelers and changed the shape of the building's airside edge, it gained some unexpected advantages.
It took three years, but the Star Alliance and Amadeus finally hammered out a deal for a common IT platform. The announcement took no one by surprise. It was common knowledge that exclusive negotiations had been under way between the alliance and the Madrid-based technology company for the past year, and the initial response from many observers was, "What took them so long?"
That 309 people could evacuate a torn and mangled flying machine in 2 min. with only 43 injuries was hailed as a "miracle" by the thrill-a-minute mass media. The people who built, certificated and flew the A340 knew better.
The world's most famous transport, the DC-3, was launched on the back of a single telephone call between two friends, American Airlines President Cyrus R. Smith and Donald Douglas. And in contrast to today's protocol, the contract was signed just before delivery.
Owing to record nominal fuel prices, the July-September period was going to be painful for US carriers well before Mother Nature decided to visit her fury on the refinery-rich Gulf Coast. According to the Air Transport Assn., which cited data from the US Energy Information Administration, the spot price of West Texas Intermediate reached $61 a barrel on Aug. 1 while the differential between crude oil and jet fuel prices (the crack spread) pushed the all-in cost to airlines to around $74 a barrel.
AE&T Editor Sandra Arnoult spoke with JoAnne Paternoster, a former official with the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey who was in charge of the Port Authority's Airport Customer Improvement Program. She spearheaded development of branded regional customer service programs and a performance management program to improve perception and image at JFK and LaGuardia airports while increasing net revenues. Paternoster is now an executive consultant for Maritz Research.
Unlike a number of congested European hubs, Munich Airport traditionally has rolled out the welcome mat for Regional airlines. For this reason, the eighth-busiest airport in Europe was honored by the European Regions Airline Assn. at its annual meeting here in October as Airport of the Year.
The underlying reason for airports and airlines' clashing perspectives on the installation and management of airport wireless networks can be summed up in a few words: "Airports can be served by 20 or 30 airlines; each airline can serve hundreds of airports."
