Papua New Guinea (PNG) is continuing to restructure state aviation assets, proposing a part-privatization national flag carrier Air Niugini (ANG) and establishing a new low-cost carrier (LCC).
Thai regional carrier Bangkok Airways will establish Chiang Mai Airport in northern Thailand as a second hub for its local services starting later this month, an executive at the carrier said. Initial services will fly to Mandalay and Yangon, Myanmar, and to regional tourist destinations in Thailand, including Phuket and Udon Thani. The flights will be operated with ATR 72s and Airbus A320s.
The head of U.S. intelligence told the aviation industry today that he believes in working jointly with them against security threats but also warned that protecting intelligence agents and their technologies was essential.
FedEx Express is expanding its “International First” time-definite, door-to-door, early delivery service to more than 30 new countries, including China, South Korea and India.
VLM Airlines has been sold to its management by Intro Aviation and is aiming to relaunch scheduled operations and also is exploring options to expand its fleet of 12 Fokker 50 aircraft, which are currently exclusively used on air, crew, maintenance and insurance (ACMI) contracts and charter services.
Japan Airlines, continuing to strengthen its domestic regional operations, has acquired a majority share in turboprop airline Hokkaido Air (HAC). JAL boosted its stake in HAC to 51.2%, from 14.5%, enabling it to bring the smaller company into the JAL group as a subsidiary. JAL would neither reveal how much it paid, nor who sold it the additional shares. HAC’s other major owner is the Hokkaido government, which is believed to have been negotiating with JAL about such a deal for months.
U.K. travel group Monarch will be able to move forward with its plan to order 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and revamp its airline subsidiary into a scheduled low-cost operator following its sale to London-based investment firm Greybull Capital.
Mineta San Jose International Airport, positioning itself as the San Francisco Bay Area’s third major airport, continued its 21-month streak of traffic growth with a 10% increase in travelers in September. Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines started new service from the facility; Hawaiian Airlines increased frequencies to Hawaii to daily service from thrice weekly. Year-to-date, San Jose’s traffic rose 7.2%.
The top spot at JetBlue Airways doesn’t change hands for several months, but at least one analyst believes some key strategic changes at the carrier could be unveiled in a matter of weeks. Robin Hayes, currently JetBlue’s president, will assume the role of CEO on Feb. 16, 2015, replacing Dave Barger, who will leave at the end of his contract (Aviation DAILY, Sept. 22). But analysts at CRT Capital are eyeing the carrier’s Nov. 19 Investor Day as a likely time for a few highly anticipated changes to be unveiled.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has committed to remain with the Irish low-cost carrier until September 2019. O’Leary has led Ryanair for 17 years, assuming the CEO role when the airline floated shares publicly in 1997. In a statement, Ryanair confirmed that O’Leary has switched from a 12-month rolling contract to a five-year agreement “which commits him to the company until September 2019.”
American Airlines, which has the most exposure to Venezuela of any U.S. carrier, expects the country’s economic travails to result in a 2-4% decrease in the carrier’s systemwide fourth-quarter unit revenues.
Royal Jordanian has named Haitham Misto as its acting president and CEO, replacing Nasser Lozi. Misto will take up the acting position on Oct. 26. He has been with the airline since joining as a pilot in 1983, and is currently Royal Jordanian’s head of flight operations. Last month, Lozi said that the government and board were studying “a number of options” to return Royal Jordanian to profitability.
By charging $5 to customers who do not check in at home or on mobile devices, Allegiant Air wants to dissuade passengers from using airport kiosks, so it can eventually reduce the number it has—part of a plan to reduce airport fees by using less space, CEO Maurice Gallagher said.
Alaska Airlines’ third-quarter network changes were less extensive than in past quarters, but the carrier is aggressively moving to counter fresh competition from Delta Air Lines at its Seattle hub. Three cities—Detroit, Baltimore and Albuquerque, New Mexico—were added at the Seattle hub, where Alaska is fiercely competing with Delta. Two other new routes, from Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes, California and another from San Diego to Kona, will start soon as leisure routes and will not be flown daily.
Business magnate Lucio Tan is looking to further strengthen his grip on Philippine Airlines (PAL) by buying outstanding minority shares, although the carrier’s holding company insists it will remain publicly listed. PAL Holdings confirms that Tan has issued a voluntary offer—through two of his companies—to buy remaining shares. Tan already controls almost 90% of PAL Holdings, which in turn owns 98% of the airline. He recently grew his ownership in PAL Holdings through purchase of a 47% stake from the San Miguel Corp.
Passenger and cargo airline executives, already reaping the benefits of a demand upswing, are bullish that the next 12 months will see a rise in traffic volume and further boost in profits, an International Air Transport Association (IATA) survey found.
Tim Canoll, a pilot with Delta Air Lines, has been elected as the new president of the Air Lines Pilots Association (ALPA) union. ALPA represents more than 51,000 pilots at 30 airlines across the U.S. and Canada. Canoll succeeds outgoing ALPA President Lee Moak, who did not seek re-election. Moak was also a Delta pilot. Canoll, an MD-88 captain who will be ALPA’s tenth president, was elected to a four-year term starting Jan. 1. He has been ALPA’s executive administrator since 2011.
AviationWeek Conferences & Exhibitions For a complete list of Aviation Week’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.aviationweek.com/events Nov. 4-6—MRO Asia, Singapore EXPO Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Wigwam Resort, Liltchfield Park, Ariz. Jan 13-14, 2015—MRO Latin America, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Upcoming Events To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.)
