United Airlines' low-fare unit Ted will take over mainline service from Chicago O'Hare to West Palm Beach beginning Dec. 15. Ted will start Saturday-only service from O'Hare to Los Cabos Oct. 15, rising to four times per week from Dec. 15.
SkyQuest International will remarket an undisclosed number of Saab 340B turboprops on behalf of AMR Leasing. The aircraft come out of the American Eagle fleet.
International passenger traffic (RPKs) for IATA member airlines rose 8.8% in July compared to July 2004 while capacity (ASKs) climbed 7%, pushing passenger load factor to 79.6%, meaning that the industry on average filled nearly four of every five seats in the month. Cargo growth remained anemic, however: FTKs rose only 2.2% on a 5.6% gain in capacity. The strongest monthly RPK growth occurred in Latin America, where airlines reported a 12.9% increase in international traffic. Middle East airlines saw RPKs climb 12.3% and North American carriers' traffic rose 10%.
US FAA moved yesterday to dispel reports that a shortage of fuel owing to damage to refineries and pipelines from Hurricane Katrina could lead shortly to flight cancellations at a number of US airports.
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.
AirTran completed a financing agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland for up to $345 million to fund aircraft deposits and provide permanent financing for 737-700 deliveries in 2006 and 2007. The transaction frees up $51.9 million in pre-delivery deposits made by AirTran to Boeing. SkyWorks Capital advised the airline on the transaction. Separately, AirTran said it has suspended service to Gulfport/Biloxi and New Orleans through Wednesday, Sept. 7.
Dragonair will provide two aircraft to its mainland affiliate Air China via wet-lease. The deal covers one A330 and one A320 for two years. Dragonair and Air China are linked through equity and codeshare on seven routes.
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.
