As Air India prepares to be inducted into one of the largest airline alliances in the world, the new Indian government has indicated that it is not averse to the idea of privatizing the money-losing national carrier. “We are examining and trying to formulate our views ... I am not close to any idea,” says new Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, referring to proposals for privatizing the state-run carrier. But there will be no hasty decision on privatization, the minister said after taking office on May 29.
A new-build airport in the Thames Estuary could supplant London Heathrow and could be built for far less than had been previously forecast, the company behind the plans for the new airport says in a response to the U.K. Airports Commission. Architectural firm Foster and Partners is pushing for the government to develop a four-runway hub airport on the Isle of Grain, a peninsula in the Thames Estuary east of London, which developers say could potentially operate 24 hours a day and open with a capacity of dealing with up to 110 million passengers a year when it opens its doors.
Hard on the heels of Singapore Airlines’ (SIA’s) recent agreement with Airbus to set up a training joint venture for pilots at the country’s Seletar aerospace hub, the company is expanding its local training options through an agreement with Boeing to train its Scoot long-haul subsidiary low-cost carrier pilots.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is making plans for identifying and mapping the debris field from the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean as soon as this summer, despite having found no physical evidence to date of where the 777-200ER came to rest. “The aim of the (underwater) search is to locate the aircraft and any crucial evidence, such as aircraft wreckage and flight recorders,” says the ATSB.
LOS ANGELES — Following a lengthy evaluation, Boeing has received FAA approval for 330 min. extended operations (ETOPS) for the 787-8, enabling operators to maximize the aircraft’s long-range capabilities on a broader network of point-to-point routes.
The bottom-line result showing a slight year-over-year rise in global air freight demand masks the bigger-picture story of de facto volume stagnation so far in 2014, an analysis of International Air Transport Association (IATA) figures reveals. Freight ton kilometers (FTKs) rose 3.2% last month compared to April 2013, IATA figures show. But volumes remain “slightly below” where they were in January after a 1.1% dip compared to last month, IATA says.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) is deploying member pilots to Capitol Hill to persuade lawmakers to deny Norwegian Air International (NAI) permission to fly to the U.S., arguing for what the union calls a “level playing field” to protect the U.S. airline industry.
Hard on the heels of its talks with “unspecified investors,” reports suggest SpiceJet may be talking with Qatar Airways about the Middle East carrier taking a position in the cash-poor LCC.
FRANKFURT — Qatar Airways completed the transition from Doha’s existing international airport to Hammad on May 27, just days before the International Air Transport Association (IATA) holds its annual general meeting in Qatar. The event and the delivery of Qatar Airways’ first Airbus A380 were seen as the two target dates not to be missed. Qatar’s first A380 will arrive from Hamburg on June 3.
Pratt & Whitney (P&W) is solidifying its service foundation by streamlining its aftermarket organization of 13 repair facilities and 6,000 professionals into one de facto business that melds 24 profit-and-loss centers into a single, unified bottom line. Matthew Bromberg, P&W’s aftermarket president, says aligning the aftermarket in this manner is “good for operators because it clears any internal transferring that has occurred and focuses everyone on delivering high-speed, high-quality and high-value services.”
Honeywell is moving ahead with development of its Electric Green Taxiing System (EGTS) for narrowbody aircraft and is talking to COMAC about potentially making the system an option on the C919. The company is in talks with “north of 30” airlines that are interested in the system, a Honeywell executive said.
BRUSSELS — Aegean Airlines expects that the full synergy and scale economies benefits of the Olympic Air integration will mature with the next 12 months, but the tie-up has already delivered encouraging results in the first quarter with the combined entity reporting increased passenger numbers and a smaller net loss. Aegean completed its long-proposed acquisition of smaller rival Olympic Air in October 2013 after winning approval from the European Commission.
BRUSSELS – Finnair is moving ahead with plans to increase the use of outsourced cabin service, on three additional long-haul routes at first, and will reduce its own cabin staff by one-third after negotiations failed to find a compromise on management’s €18 million ($24.5 million) savings target. In the next stage, Finnair will further outsource cabin crew services on more than 10 routes, both short-haul and long-haul.
While new airplane sales drive most of Boeing’s commercial sector growth, the company is putting renewed emphasis on grabbing a larger share of the lucrative but fragmented aftermarket business, and two recent purchases indicate its strategy is a mix of acquisitions and organic expansion.
The Transportation Department’s delay in granting Norwegian Air International (NAI) permission to fly to the U.S. is unprecedented and suggests that the department is bowing to arguments that have nothing to do with the carrier’s fitness to operate, former DOT Secretary Mary Peters told Aviation Week.
Aviation Week named Copa Airlines as the industry’s strongest carrier in this year’s Top-Performing Airlines (TPA) study, with Allegiant Air and Japan Airlines also featuring prominently in the rankings. Copa achieved the highest score overall and was ranked first among mid-sized carriers, edging out Allegiant, which was second overall and best in the small airline category. Japan Airlines (JAL) won the large airline category.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact: Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) June 10-11 —MRO Eastern Europe, Baltics and Russia, Sheraton Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland July 16-20—Farnborough Commercial Manufacturing Briefings and Farnborough Air Show, U.K. Oct. 7-9—MRO Europe, Madrid Spain
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) June 4-5 —RTCA 2014 Global Aviation Symposium, Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC http://symposium.rtca.org/ June 8-10—2014 Airport Board & Commissioners Conference, Whitefish, Mont. http://aci-na.org/event/3220
