Labor—including flight attendants—has always been at the forefront of the open skies debate currently pitting the U.S. airline industry against the three big Persian Gulf airlines: Etihad, Emirates and Qatar.
The first flight-test aircraft apparently needs modification following unstated discoveries in ground testing. “In order to fully incorporate the verification results of the various ground tests and related feedback into the first flight-test aircraft, the timing of the first flight has been reviewed and is now scheduled for September or October of this year,” Mitsubishi Aircraft.
Interests on both sides of the border had long considered building a bridge to accommodate U.S. residents who could take advantage of lower fares to Latin America from Tijuana, as well as to service Mexican citizens who want to reach the U.S. more cheaply.
The latest sales include one Airbus A350 full-flight simulator to China Airlines, two Boeing 737-800 simulators to Southwest Airlines, one simulator and training devices for a regional jet sold to an undisclosed customer in Asia, and one Boeing 737-900ER simulator to an undisclosed North American airline.
This will be the third leasing-company launch for Genise, who set up Dubai Aerospace Enterprise’s leasing division—DAE Capital—and founded Boullioun Aviation Services before that.
Airbus, aiming to become a “major” player in A350 aftermarket support, is poised to announce its first long-term agreement with an A350 customer and is in talks with several more, a company executive reports.
Under new CEO Alain Bellemare, Bombardier has revamped its commercial-aircraft management again, as the CSeries airliner continues its struggle to sustain and expand an order backlog. Mike Arcamone has been replaced as president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft by Fred Cromer, formerly president of powerful lessor International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC).
Although Cathay Pacific’s new Hong Kong cargo terminal still operates well-below its potential capacity, it expects to see significant gains in volume this year.
Delta thanked the DOT for allowing it to retain the slots, but blasted the department for attaching conditions to its approval. DOT is requiring Delta to operate the Seattle-Haneda flights 365 days per year unless the carrier has permission through a DOT waiver to suspend service.
DOT in its order said the application was “not yet substantially complete,” lacking supporting documents the DOT needs to determine whether the application “meets established standards and policies.”
The routes—San Francisco to Honolulu and Maui—had been expected, with Virgin America CEO David Cush suggesting to analysts that the carrier would try Hawaii with some of its 10 new “Sharklet”-fitted Airbus A320s, the first of which arrive this summer, with deliveries through 2016 (Aviation Daily, April 8).
Much of the new traffic came from increased capacity. As measured by available seat-miles (ASMs), Air Canada’s capacity rose 9.3% overall in the first quarter and 17.3% on transborder routes.
Major airways across China will be altered in the coming 3-5 years, said Che Jinjun, director of the air traffic management bureau of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), apparently referring to more general changes but without giving details.
The American Airlines-US Airways integration is one step closer to completion, now that the FAA has issued a single operating certificate to American Airlines for the merged carrier. Beginning April 8, air traffic controllers will refer to all US Airways and American flights with the call sign “American,” the carriers said.
BEIJING—The anti-corruption crackdown that has suppressed sales of business aircraft in China could end in 2017, according to one expert, though others see reasons for it to wind down sooner, or maybe later. The duration of the government’s campaign to catch bribe-taking officials and their business cronies is probably the biggest question for manufacturers looking to China as a potentially enormous market. When showing off a jet is no longer asking to be investigated, the theory goes, buyers will come back.
Soaring global airline profitability driven by sustained low oil prices is setting the aftermarket up for significant growth in 2015 and 2016, RBC Capital Markets analysts say.
In an effort to avoid “costly [public relations] and litigation,” United Airlines will open a Digital Operations Center at its Chicago headquarters to more effectively monitor social media, message boards and other online channels, the carrier told employees in a recent note.
The FAA has contracted the same three companies currently running its contingent of 252 civilian-staffed control towers—Midwest ATC Services, Robinson Aviation and Serco Management Services—to continue operating the facilities for five years.
Heathrow—which is publicly campaigning to be the site of a new runway against rival Gatwick Airport—says it could cut domestic-passenger charges by a third to encourage airlines to increase the number of domestic services to destinations in the British Isles.
