By Greg Principato, President, Airports Council International-North America As the nation commemorates Memorial Day, we also celebrate the unofficial start of summer and kick off one of the year’s busiest seasons for air travel. But this summer could bring with it the beginning of more unnecessary delays for airline passengers as a result of the ongoing federal budget sequester.
Pinnacle Airlines’ court protected reorganization has given the company the lowest costs of any of the regional carriers conducting operations for Delta Air Lines, including costs that are 20% below the levels at SkyWest Inc.’s SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines divisions, Delta CEO Richard Anderson says. Anderson, however, insists that the disparity does not mean Delta will automatically transfer more of its regional flying its new wholly-owned subsidiary as contracts with other regional carriers operators or new opportunities arise.
Click here to view the pdf Fuel Watch: Global Jet Fuel Prices (midpoint) As of May 23, 2013, compared with previous week and previous year cts/gal prev. week prev.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) says it will be flying its Boeing 787s on some one-off passenger flights later this month, even though the aircraft are not due to resume their regularly scheduled routes until June 1. The move confirms a statement made to Aviation Week in February that ANA was considering using the 787s on ad hoc “relief flights” before the carrier resumed operations on the aircraft’s regular routes. Such flights are intended to temporarily boost the domestic network where demand is high.
U.K. regional airline Flybe is making further structural changes to fund its financial turn-around by selling its entire slot portfolio at London Gatwick Airport and deferring about half of its outstanding order for Embraer 175s. Flybe has been trying to find a market niche combining aspects of regional operations with a low-fare business model, but has found it tougher than expected to gain traction.
The number of Boeing 737 Classics classified as stored has increased by nearly 19% since the end of 2012, the Aviation Week Intelligence Network Fleets database shows. Data show 198 stored Classics as of April 30: 107 Boeing 737-300s (four for which are freighters), 47 Boeing 737-400s and 44 Boeing 737-500s. That is an increase from the 161 classified as stored as of the end of 2012.
The top Republican on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is trying to use the transportation secretary nomination to get the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) and FAA to answer his questions about their budgets and sequestration.
The European Commission has closed an extensive review of the transatlantic joint venture between Air Canada, Lufthansa and United Airlines with no major concessions, although Lufthansa and United have to give up an unspecified number of slot pairs in New York and Frankfurt to allow competitors to enter the route should they wish. While the exact number of slots remained undisclosed, industry sources say Lufthansa has agreed to surrender one slot pair at Frankfurt Airport.
The world’s newest aerospace aluminum mill, which Cleveland-headquartered Aleris has built at Zhenjiang in China, should begin producing metal certified for aircraft and space manufacturers by the end of the year, at about the same time as it reaches full production capacity. Aleris formally opened its 35,000-ton-per-year hot rolling mill in April, having begun pilot production there late in 2012. The plant duplicates Aleris’s major aerospace-aluminum facility at Koblenz, Germany, with detail improvements based on experience at that facility.
Avic, funding full-scale development of the MA700 turboprop from its own resources, now expects the type to go into service in 2018, says an industry official. The target has slipped repeatedly. In 2008, when the aircraft was only a proposal, first deliveries were forecast for 2014. The official attributes the slow progress to propulsion studies, although the absence of abundant central government funding, such as the financing enjoyed by Comac C919 program, presumably is a factor.
Qatar Executive has secured regulatory approvals to provide base maintenance services for Bombardier Challenger 604 and 605s jets and for Bombardier Global aircraft at its 6,400-sq.-meter hangar facility at Doha International Airport.
Oskar Schwenk, chairman of Pilatus Aircraft, during this week’s European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Geneva unveiled the PC-24, a clean-sheet turbofan aircraft that will offer the short, soft-field versatility of the PC-12, the cabin volume of a midsize aircraft and the cruise speed of a light jet.
As Boeing 787s re-enter service on routes around the world following the aircraft’s prolonged grounding for battery problems, the company is already busy resolving other issues that were emerging before they ceased flying in mid-January. Most of these problems, such as a string of failures concerning power panels in the electrical system unrelated to the later lithium-ion battery problem, fell into the ‘teething trouble’ category which Boeing uses to describe the steep learning curve of early service life.
Thailand’s department of civil aviation says Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air has notified them of plans to begin airline operations using Boeing 737-900ERs based at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport. The department will not comment further and Lion was not available for comment. Thai law stipulates that domestic carriers must be at least 51% locally owned. It is unclear who Lion’s local partner is, and whether it is planning to establish a new carrier or buy into an existing airline.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Los Angeles - San Francisco May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Los Angeles - San Francisco May 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Departures Share ASKs(000) Share Seats/Dept
Clamps improperly installed during maintenance visits have been tied to at least three serious in-service fire and smoke incidents on Boeing 737 Classics, prompting the FAA to warn operators and encourage compliance with a Boeing-suggested fix. The FAA’s Safety Alert for Operators, approved earlier this month and released this week, says that 279 737 Classics inspected in 2010-2012 turned up 71 incidents of improperly oriented flight deck ceiling/side panel gasper air duct hose thumb clamps.
Interest in airport privatization is starting to revive after mixed results and a recession-driven dearth of private capital halted the trend in its tracks. This time, privatization is being considered with more caution and a “more reasoned and balanced approach,” says Angela Gittens, director general of Airports Council International (ACI).
Boeing has begun flight tests of a 747-8 passenger model powered by upgraded General Electric GEnx-2B engines, which are expected to improve fuel burn by a further 1.8%.
Aeromexico on June 1 will introduce the first of three Embraer 175s to its fleet. The 86-seat, single-class aircraft—the latest E-jet to join the Mexican operator’s fleet—gradually will replace the carrier’s 50-seat jets, the airline says. According to the Aviation Week Intelligence Network Fleets database, Aeromexico Connect operates 34 Embraer ERJ-145s as well as three E-170s and 19 E-190s.
