CFM International said Eric Bachelet is now president and CEO of the 50/50 joint venture company between Snecma and GE. He replaces Pierre Fabre, who held the positions since September 2001 and left to become executive VP of Turbomeca, which like Snecma is owned by Safran Group. Bachelet, who joined Snecma in 1971, participated in the early design of the CFM56. Before assuming his new post, he was COO of Aircelle, which specializes in the design, manufacture and sale of engine nacelles.
With oil prices EXCEEDING $60 a barrel and OPEC hinting that $80 a barrel in the next two years is not beyond the realm of possibility, jet fuel prices are at historically high levels and industry analysts predict they are likely to remain so for at least the next 9-12 months.
Overlooking the ramp at Akron-Canton, Airport Director Fred Krum reaches into a desk drawer and pulls out his most prized possession. Like a man handling precious parchment, he reverently places it on his desk and smiles. "This is our Napkin Plan," he says. His aim: Nonstop service to 20 destinations. "We're at 13," he comments.
THe airline industry is looking at Europe's satellite navigation system, dubbed Galileo, with a good deal of caution. This is understandable in view of the industry's day-to-day preoccupation with rising fuel prices, falling fares, escalating user fees, increasing environmental regulation, excess capacity and security issues. Additionally, Galileo will not become operational before 2008, a very long timescale in today's airline business. Yet if it lives up to its promise, it finally could provide the capability to complete the long-anticipated transition from ground-based navaids.
The sixth-busiest AIRPORT in the world wants to get a whole lot busier. With a stunning new 2.1-million-sq.-ft. international terminal and 21 domestic gates left vacant by Delta Air Lines' departure, Dallas/Fort Worth International's air service development staff is courting carriers all over the world, telling them how they can make money deep in the heart of Texas. It is offering an incentive package worth up to $22.2 million to any
A hare has joined the tortoise in the race to bring so-called trusted traveler programs to US airports. At Orlando International, a private company called Verified Identity Pass Inc. is taking a lead role in a program that promises a speedier trip through airport security in return for an $80 fee. Industry observers say the entrance of businesses into a realm where the government has held the reins is sure to speed up the eventual rollout of an interoperable program nationwide, though concerns about privacy and profit- making could pose hurdles.
Two months ago, United Airlines selected Korean Air to perform heavy checks on its fleet of 27 747-400s. The work will bring Korean an estimated $60 million over the next five years, but this agreement is about far more than just money to the Seoul-based carrier: It means affirmation and a vote of confidence from a peer for its continuing effort to remake itself into one of the world's quality airlines.
A big warm California welcome awaits the A380 in San Francisco. Four of the available gates in the 1.8-million-sq.-ft. international terminal, the largest in the US in passenger-processing capacity, are scaled for new aircraft with two-level boarding.
If ever a carrier needed a tool to help it better manage aircraft in the terminal environment, it is FedEx Express. Beginning at 2:48 a.m. Monday-Friday, it dispatches 8-12 aircraft every 6 min. from Memphis International Airport.
Even before Ryanair Director-New Route Development Bernard Berger could begin his presentation on what an airport has to do in order to attract a low-cost carrier, a delegate from a smaller French regional airport participating in the French Connect seminar in Sheffield earlier this year whispered, "We know which strategy we have to implement to attract them: Give it all for free." Not without some irony, she continued, "I have been too kind here; they expect us to pay them for the honor of operating from our airports."
Its not because it is a terminal that will be used by low-cost carriers that it should be unpleasant or disagreeable for the passengers, Marketing Director Philippe Wilmart tells AE&T. Mp2 will have a hip look with flashy colors while applying the same philosophy of the LCCs, namely exclude some of the frills which are standard in a traditional terminal like carpets and moving walkways while outsourcing as much as possible of the handling process to the passengers.
AirTran Airways Chairman and CEO Joe Leonard smiles slyly when asked to discuss everybody's favorite topic these days, the price of fuel: "I'd like to see oil go up to about $80 a barrel for about three months, then drop down to $30," he tells ATW at the carrier's modest one-story headquarters near Orlando International Airport.
For more than a year, Paul Barron, CEO of the UK's National Air Traffic Services, has been talking and listening hard-to more than 5,000 staff members, but not to the media. Now he feels ready to talk about the stronger, leaner, more robust organization over which he presides.
This works on several levels. Most obvious is the idea of the LCC as an eating machine, chewing up the competition. Another thought, equally applicable, is the need to move forward continually or die. This characteristic is not unique to LCCs, but it seems to be of greater importance to them. Recently a groundswell of opinion has held that the LCC tide has peaked due to inter-LCC competition, aging workforces, aging fleets and reduced market opportunities. Geoffrey Thomas in last month's issue (8/05) presented this argument in fine detail.
The Star Alliances request for information titled Alternative Content Access Platform was sent to new-entrant and traditional GDSs alike. The RFI, the first step in the alliances quest to establish a unified approach to distribution, is basically asking for GDS functionality at GNE pricing, according to a consultant who was asked to read it. Its supposed to be an RFI, but it looks like a GDS spec, said the consultant, who asked not to be identified.
The US airline industry continues to separate into those companies that in some small way can overcome today's record fuel prices and those that cannot. Seven of the 11 Major passenger airlines reported profits in the second quarter ended June 30. These carriers earned a combined $371 million, with 40% of that amount coming from perennial profit leader Southwest Airlines, which is heavily hedged.
The onset of the European winter signals a trying and testing time for aviation. Longer periods of darkness and cold, poor visibility, rain, ice and snow all mean potential trouble for airlines. Recent accidents underline the need for flightcrews to be trained properly in the potential hazards of snow and ice on the performance of the aircraft they are flying. FAA and JAA rules are very clear that no one may take off with frost, snow or ice adhering to any propeller or powerplant or with snow or ice on the wings or control surfaces.
Aviareps named Johnny Gardsaeter GM-Stockholm. Boeing appointed Roger Bone president-Boeing UK. CSA Czech Airlines selected Lubos Frank as UK sales dir. and Julie Sumner as sales mgr.-North of England.
CAE signed a 10-year agreement with Virgin Atlantic Airways to provide training for pilots of the carrier's fleet of A340-600s and 747-400s. Initially valued at ¤28 million ($50 million), the contract includes an option for A380 training. If all options are exercised, the total contract value could amount to ¤43 million over 10 years. The training, which includes instructional delivery for ground school as well as simulator training, will take place at CAE's Burgess Hill center in the UK.
Lufthansa Systems' O&D-based ProfitLine/Yield revenue management system was chosen by AiRUnion, a new airline alliance in Russia comprising KrasAir, Omskavia, Sibaviatrans, Domodedovo Airlines, Samara Airlines and SAT Airlines. Together the carriers serve more than 5.5 million passengers annually. LHS said it will work closely with Moscow-based Transport Automation Information Systems to implement the solution.
Bucking the trend toward outsourcing maintenance, Qantas said it intends to establish a new consolidated "center of excellence" in Sydney for maintenance of Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. However, the airline also said it will eliminate 60 positions from its Sydney workforce as a result of consolidation and the establishment of Jet Turbine Services, a joint venture with Virgin Blue parent Patrick Corp. for maintenance of CF6 and CFM56 engines in Melbourne. The consolidated facility will employ around 300.
Republic Airways Holdings acquired three Embraer 170s previously ordered by US Airways. They will be leased from GE Commercial Aviation Services and placed into service on the Republic Airlines operating certificate for service in the US Airways Express network.
Air New Zealand, which announced an 8% improvement in net earnings to NZ$180 million ($125.6 million) for its June 30 fiscal year ( ATWOnline, Aug. 30), is reconstructing its service strategy for the Tasman in a bid to become more cost-competitive as a sharply rising fuel bill and falling yields threaten to reduce profit by 40% for 2005-06.
KLM will deploy its first A330-200 in daily service between Amsterdam and Washington beginning today. The airline has ordered six A330-200s and will be leasing two more from ILFC. They gradually will replace its 767-300ERs.
