It wasn’t the New Year’s Eve 2012 memorythat the passengers and flight crew wanted. Spirit Airlines Flight 403 had just landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. While taxiing to the gate the Airbus A320 clipped the tail of a US Airways A320 parked in a remote part of the runway. The collision caused a gash in the tail cone section of the US Airways aircraft. The Spirit aircraft suffered no damage, but the incident caused consternation at Spirit Airlines, which said it was not advised by air traffic control of the presence of the other aircraft.
What started as one of Boeing’s most difficult weeks—beginning with a fire and ending with a full-scale safety review of the 787’s design and production—rapidly turned into a public relations nightmare the following week when two airlines grounded their 787 fleets and images of a Dreamliner with emergency chutes deployed streamed over television and computer screens worldwide.
Includes: Airline Traffic Growth by Region, Top 20 Reporting Airlines, World Airline Traffic, Jet Fuel Price Monitor, Aircraft Values, US Fuel Cost and Consumption, Aircraft Data, Aircraft Deliveries, US Ontime Performance, US Mishandled Baggage, US Consumer Complaints, Airline Traffic by Region,
n 2005 European Union Regulation 261/2004 on passenger rights in aviation came into force. Its main objective was to dissuade airlines from excessive overbooking (leading to denied boarding) or cancellations for commercial reasons.
Swiss International Air Lines, which is owned by Star Alliance’s Lufthansa Group, was for the longest time a benchmark in the European airline industry in terms of profitability, service and setting new trends.
It was the aviation news of 2012 that received far too little attention. Airbus’s top brass acknowledged publicly, to a room full of reporters at the Farnborough Airshow no less, that there will be no all-new narrowbody commercial aircraft entering the market for at least another 18 years.
Fast-growing Turkish low-cost carrier (LCC) Pegasus Airlines is seeking new ways to expand into Russia and Central Asia as it tries to combat restrictive regulatory regimes in the region.
In its services market outlook, Boeing identifies a total market of almost $2.4 trillion over the next 20 years. The market for services is projected to grow by approximately 4% annually over the term of the outlook.
Although hurt by the deterioration in cargo markets, Asia Pacific airlines are expected to see net profits grow by $200 million to $3.2 billion in 2013, according to IATA.
Ask any European airline CEO about their top challenge for 2013 and their answer is unanimous: making money. All are facing a constant struggle to maximize revenues and control costs in the face of spiraling fuel prices, but on top of these global issues Europe has found itself in the eye of the economic storm.
A rash of mostly positive third-quarter results across US and Canadian carriers helped underscore the general feeling that North American airlines are climbing out of the abyss of red and into a more stable era of sustained profitability.
The airline business remains a roller-coaster ride unsuited for the faint of heart. First the good news: global airline financial performance improved in the second and third quarters of 2012 following a sharp deterioration in the first quarter.
Despite a dismal start, a painful set of first-quarter financials, high fuel prices and a slowing world economy, the world’s airlines managed to end 2012 on a relative uptick.
LCCs are under-represented in the GDS channel for historic, commercial and cultural reasons. Travelport’s aim is to move beyond standards to deliver, aggregate and merchandise content in a business-friendly way for agents. It believes that this approach heralds a paradigm shift in the relationship between airlines and their technology partners.
OEMs must meet customer demands for more efficient, lighter, environmentally robust aircraft that also fulfill the demands of the airlines’ own customers.
Delta Air Lines will launch Los Angeles service to Nashville (daily, April 8), Seattle, (3X-daily, April 8), San Jose (4X-daily, July 1), Spokane (daily, June 10), San Jose (July 1) and seasonal service to Boston (daily, June 10), Anchorage (18X-weekly, June 21) and Bozeman (weekly, June 22). Turkish Airlines will operate 4X-weekly Istanbul-Marseille service June 4-Oct. 25. American Airlines will fly daily Chicago O’Hare-Dusseldorf 767-300ER service from April 12.
Fastjet has secured another £15.7 million ($23.4 million) in funding and lined up some potential partners, which it hopes will help firm up its planned acquisition of South African budget carrier 1time.
