Freedom Airlines, a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group, will begin flying out of Orlando on behalf of Delta Connection in October. Destinations will include Austin, Charlottesville, Chattanooga, Fayetteville, Fort Wayne and Jackson. American Eagle announced that it will initiate nonstop service between Fort-de-France and San Juan Dec. 15. Flights will operate every Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday from Fort-de-France to San Juan using 64-seat ATRs.
SkyWest Airlines plans to maintain Atlantic Southeast Airlines as a standalone operation upon completion of its purchase of the Delta Air Lines Regional subsidiary for $425 million, a deal announced late Monday ( ATWOnline, Aug. 16).
LAN Airlines threw a lifeline to Pratt & Whitney's PW6000 as it placed a launch order for the engine to power 15 firm A318s ordered in late June ( ATWOnline, July 1) with options on a further 25 shipsets and spares. The firm order covers 34 engines including four spares, while the options cover 50 installed and six spare engines. A long-term maintenance agreement is part of the deal. Previous orders for the PW6000 were cancelled after the engine experienced extended design delays.
US State Dept. said it plans to issue the first full-validity US electronic passports in December and by October 2006 all domestic passport agencies will issue e-passports. The new passport will combine facial recognition and contactless chip technology with antiskimming technology to prevent unauthorized reading. State said it also is considering incorporating basic access control technology in the new passport.
Asiana Airlines will offer free domestic flights Thursday when services are expected to return to normal after a lengthy pilots' strike. International schedules, however, are not expected to be back to normal until the end of August. The free flight offer applies to nine destinations and there will be a 30% discount on the same routes until Sunday. The offer does not include the holiday island of Jeju.
ATA Airlines parent ATA Holdings Corp. announced that President and CEO George Mikelsons is retiring at the end of the month from the company he founded more than 30 years ago. If approved by the bankruptcy court overseeing ATA's Chapter 11 reorganization, he will step down at the end of August while continuing to serve as nonexecutive chairman through Dec. 31 or until ATA's bankruptcy reorganization plan is approved, whichever comes first. Mikelsons, 67, founded ATA's predecessor, the Ambassadair Travel Club, in 1973.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said it terminated the contract with the Terminal Design Team for the design of the new International Terminal, citing the failure of TDT "to live up to its contractual obligations despite extended deadlines." In a statement, Airport GM Benjamin DeCosta said, "Among the major issues related to this action is the proposed terminal project design presented by the TDT that would have cost an estimated $140 million above the approved project budget.
British Airways said that operations at London Heathrow were almost back to normal after the disruptions of last week, caused when 1,000 baggage loaders and ramp workers walked off their jobs Thursday to protest the firing of several hundred employees at Gate Gourmet ( ATWOnline, Aug. 15). Both the fired workers and the BA employees belong to the same union.
Delta Air Lines announced yesterday that it entered into a definitive agreement to sell its wholly owned Regional airline subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines to SkyWest for $425 million in cash. As part of the deal, ASA will continue to operate in the Delta Connection network under a new 15-year agreement. The payout includes $350 million payable at closing representing $330 million of the purchase price and $20 million relating to certain aircraft financing deposits.
Alaska Airlines and the Transport Workers Union jointly announced ratification of an amended contract extending the current agreement covering Alaska's 34 dispatchers to June 30, 2010. The five-year contract in effect since July 1, 2002, called for a reconsideration of wages in 2005. The extended contract includes a redistribution of planned wage increases through 2010 and other contract updates and clarifications resolving issues raised by the union and the airline.
United Airlines yesterday announced "a brand promise" to operate larger aircraft on longer stage lengths out of Chicago O'Hare and said Embraer 170s and Bombardier CRJ700s flown by United Express partners at ORD will offer both first and Premium Economy sections under the new "explus" brand name. "Scheduled flights out of O'Hare longer than two-and-a-half hours--as well as select other flights--will be served by United mainline, Ted, or explus," United said. "Premium snack boxes" will be served to first class passengers on explus flights longer than 150 min.
Continental Airlines announced modifications to its free checked-bags policy for international travel to reflect new weight limits of 50 lb. each for up to two pieces. It said the new policy is necessary to recoup increased handling and fuel costs associated with carrying heavier bags. Under the new policy, passengers are allowed to check two pieces of baggage with a maximum weight of 50 lb. each free of charge. However, OnePass Elite members are allowed to check two pieces with a maximum weight of 70 lb.
American Airlines will install Recaro lie-flat seatbeds, larger overhead bins and "enhanced" inflight entertainment systems in the business class cabins of its 767-300s and 777s and will add its Flagship Suite first class cabin to its remaining 20 777s, the carrier said yesterday.
A loss of cabin pressure that incapacitated the cockpit crew appears to have been the cause of Sunday's crash of a Helios Airways 737-300 into a mountainside north of Athens, but investigators still have at least two mysteries to solve: What caused the aircraft to lose pressure and why were the pilot and copilot apparently unable to don oxygen masks and bring the aircraft to a survivable altitude before they were overcome from lack of oxygen?
Structural Monitoring Systems entered into a commercial license agreement with Boeing for terms and proprietary information access rights to enable SMS's Comparative Vacuum Monitoring system to be manufactured, certified, sold and distributed by the company to operators of Boeing aircraft. The agreement also establishes the terms under which Boeing will provide technical services and assistance to SMS.
Southwest Airlines said it will allow members of its Rapid Rewards frequent-flyer program 24 months to earn credits for free travel, up from 12 months today. Also, effective Feb. 10, it "will remove systemwide blackout dates and implement seat restrictions for award travel."
For the third year in a row, British Airways suffered a major operational meltdown at its biggest hub during the summer high season. After canceling more than 100 flights at London Heathrow Thursday ( ATWOnline, Aug. 12) when 1,000 baggage handlers and ramp workers walked off their jobs to protest firings at caterer Gate Gourmet, the airline suspended operations for most of Friday as well, resulting in at least 500 flight cancellations and affecting an estimated 70,000 passengers across its system.
Southwest Airlines said it will allow members of its Rapid Rewards frequent-flyer program 24 months to earn credits for free travel, up from 12 months today. Also, effective Feb. 10, it "will remove systemwide blackout dates and implement seat restrictions for award travel."
Lufthansa will close for economic reasons its cabin crew bases in Bremen, Hannover, Cologne and Nurnberg starting with the winter schedule. According to staff magazine Lufthanseat, the carrier also is looking to close Stuttgart. Affected cabin staff will be offered the opportunity to transfer to one of the other LH bases.
Pegasus Aviation Finance Co. ordered six CFM56-powered 737-800s, its first direct aircraft purchase from Boeing. The aircraft are valued at $400 million with deliveries beginning in 2006. Separately, Boeing and Jet Airways finalized the Indian carrier's order for 10 737-800s announced at the Paris Air Show. Deliveries will begin in early 2006. Jet's order for 10 777s, also announced at Le Bourget, will be finalized "at a later date," Boeing said.
As of Friday, a $5-$10 fare increase per one-way ticket on most US domestic airline tickets appeared to be holding, with American, Continental, Northwest, United and US Airways matching an earlier action by Delta Air Lines. LCCs America West and JetBlue also said they will raise fares in certain markets. This is the eleventh time this year that airlines have been able to push through a fare increase, JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker stated.
Star Alliance opened a dedicated flight connection center at Munich, its sixth such center. Employees in the center monitor arrival and departure times of member carriers' flights so that potential misconnections can be flagged at the earliest possible stage and corrective action taken. On average, 1,500 passengers per day transfer between two Star carriers at Munich, where the airlines are co-located in the same terminal.
More than 50% of large commercial transports delivered in the US in 2005-07 will go to low-fare airlines, according to data from the Airclaims CASE database. Of the 449 aircraft of more than 100 seats scheduled to be delivered to US carriers between Jan. 1, 2005, and Dec. 31 2007, low-cost carriers will accept 258, data show. In addition, JetBlue will take delivery of 43 100-seat Embraer 195s during the period. ATWOnline has excluded deliveries to Independence Air and ATA Airlines, both of which are in financial distress and have postponed or cancelled some orders.
Last week's "suspension" of Thai Airways President Kanok Abhiradee from day-to-day responsibility for managing the airline ( ATWOnline, June 12), as suspected, was linked to the carrier's heavy June quarter loss.
