Midwest Airlines announced yesterday that it will launch daily nonstop service between Kansas City and Tampa Dec. 15. It also will add flights to its service between Kansas City and Ft. Lauderdale. It will continue its connecting service to both Florida markets through Milwaukee.
Air India's previously announced plan to order 27 787s, 15 777-300ERs and eight 777-200LRs was approved by an Indian government acquisitions review panel. Now the order must be approved by the cabinet.
Qantas is due to make its much-anticipated fleet decision between the 787/777 and A340/A350 on Dec. 7. CEO Geoff Dixon told ATWOnline that the airline will submit on that day a recommendation to the board for the 100-aircraft commitment. Boeing is working with Qantas on an even longer-range 777-200LR to operate nonstop from Sydney to London. It would be configured in an all-business-class arrangement and have a lighter-weight interior.
Italian air traffic controllers are set to walk off their jobs for 4 hr. today in a strike called to campaign for improved training and more staffing, the Associated Press reported. Alitalia said it expected to cancel 62 domestic and 40 international flights.
Indian LCC Go Air will launch its online booking service Friday with the biggest giveaway of seats the region has witnessed. The airline initially will distribute 10,000 free seats and will give away another 10,000 in November and December. MD Jeh Wadia said he wants the carrier to be India's cheapest and plans to have 36 A320s in service within three years. Leases already have been signed for six, with the first service set for Nov. 12 from Mumbai to Goha. Normal fares start at $42 and range up to $120.
Northern Hawk Aviation, a small carrier connecting communities with Vancouver and Calgary, has suspended operations. The two-year-old airline blamed rising fuel costs in a statement on its website.
Lim Chin Beng, who founded Singapore-based LCC Valuair and then sold it to Qantas ( ATWOnline, July 25), is now chairman of newly formed Changi International Airshow & Events, which plans to take over the biennial Singapore show beginning in February 2008 and rename it Changi International Airshow. The new entity is a joint venture between the Singapore CAA and the Defense Science and Technology Agency.
Emirates will introduce an enhanced economy class on Nov. 1. The upgrade will feature ergonomically designed seats with footrests and a new food presentation using custom matching trays and dishes, and will be implemented gradually across the carrier's network. It also is retrofitting its 777-200s with the inflight entertainment system currently available on its A340-500 and 777-300ER aircraft.
Guggenheim Aviation Partners ordered two 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighters (formerly known as Special Freighters) for delivery in 2008. The aircraft will be Combi-to-freighter conversions. Boeing's Commercial Aviation Services unit will manage the process.
Second A380 took to the air yesterday, nearly six months after MSN001 lifted off on April 27 ( ATWOnline, April 28). Like its slightly older sibling, MSN004 is outfitted with four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. It also is equipped with heavy test instrumentation for trials in extreme weather conditions and altitudes. Electromagnetic interference tests will be conducted during flights through the first half of 2006 as well. MSN001 has logged 105 flights and 366 hr.
SAS and Cendant Travel Distribution Services agreed to allow Galileo continued full access to SAS's content. The airline said the contract followed months of negotiations and allows it to obtain lower distribution costs. SAS agreed to new terms with Worldspan ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17) and Sabre this month and with Amadeus in August.
Pegasus Aviation Finance Co. named Toby Bright as its chief marketing officer. Bright spent 28 years at Boeing, rising to the position of executive VP-sales. He left the company following a corporate shakeup last December in which he was replaced as Boeing's top airplane salesman by former Connexion by Boeing President Scott Carson ( ATWOnline, Dec. 6). KLM appointed Ben Swagerman deputy chief of KLM Security Services effective Feb. 1. He will succeed Chief of KLM Security Services Teun Platenkamp upon the latter's retirement next autumn.
US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics directed Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Mesa Airlines to begin reporting flight delay numbers in 2006 because the carriers' revenue has exceeded the required threshold for the monthly reports. BTS also removed St. Louis Lambert and Portland, Ore., International from the list of airports for which airlines are required to report flight delays.
Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-largest carrier, will merge with three smaller airlines--Xinhua, Changan and Shanxi--to form Grand China Air. A Hainan spokesperson told Bloomberg News that US financier George Soros agreed over the weekend to invest $25 million for approximately 4% of the new carrier. Hainan is trying to raise $1.06 billion to buy aircraft and add routes ahead of the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
Alitalia is seeking a medium-/long-term loan of up to $485 million from a major US bank in order to offset the rise in fuel costs, Reuters reported. The carrier said in a statement that it would offer its planes as a guarantee. As part of a new industrial plan approved Friday, Alitalia will speed up some elements of its restructuring, including the renegotiation of procurement contracts and labor cost reduction ( ATWOnline, Oct. 14). The airline said it expects to receive €85 million ($102.6 million) in government aid next year.
Delta Air Lines will announce a significant international expansion today at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Mayor Shirley Franklin is scheduled to be on hand as the carrier unveils nonstop service from ATL and New York JFK to 11 new markets in Europe and the Middle East. It also will expand service on two existing international routes next spring.
Jet Airways will begin new daily services to Singapore from Chennai, Singapore and Bangalore by the end of October. It also will start a daily Mumbai-Bangkok service and has plans to fly from Delhi to Heathrow via Amritsar. Separately, Jet announced it will be the first Indian airline to offer a Web check-in facility. The site was developed by Sabre Airline Solutions.
US FAA yesterday approved a proposal to build two new runways and conduct related improvements at Washington Dulles. The proposal includes constructing north-south and east-west runways, parallel and connector taxiways, concourse development and navigational aids.
General Electric's Aviation Engine Services unit, in one of the largest such deals it has done, signed an eight-year OnPoint Solutions service agreement valued at $1.5 billion covering maintenance, repair and overhaul of the nearly 600 CFM56-7 engines in service or on order powering Southwest Airlines' 737-700s. According to GE, the new deal is a "hybrid" blending traditional OnPoint time-and-materials and cost-per-flight-hour agreements.
