Allied Pilots Association (APA) members will fly all new Airbus aircraft delivered to American Airlines in the near term in the event the carrier merges with US Airways, despite the availability of a large roster of Airbus-certified pilots at the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline.
U.S.-based cargo operators that fly near trans-Siberian routes over Russia could soon gain full access to the routes or, at the least, liberalized overflight rights.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the first Republican appointee in President Barack Obama’s cabinet, says he will not serve a second term, providing grist for the Washington rumor mill on a possible successor. “It has been an honor and a privilege to lead the department [of Transportation], and I am grateful to President Obama for giving me such an extraordinary opportunity,” LaHood says in a statement announcing his departure. He will remain at the department until a replacement can be found.
Low-fare airline Fastjet has signed a memorandum of understanding with Kenya’s Jetlink to set up a joint-venture carrier in an effort to expand the Fastjet brand into Kenya. The company said that the deal would provide it with a platform for the brand to be used in another African market, but that the agreement still is subject to several conditions, among them Fastjet shareholder approval.
Air France is combining the operations of its three regional French airlines under a single management and one brand, HOP! The fusion of Nantes Atlantique Airport-based Regional Compagnie Aerienne Europeenne (Regional), Lyon Saint Exupery Airport-based Brit Air and Airlinair will result in the loss of some 190 jobs net, taking into account the creation of 51 new positions. Negotiations are still ongoing. Lionel Guerin, formerly CEO of Transavia.com France and Airlinair, has been appointed CEO of HOP!.
Ryanair is not close to an aircraft order but foresees taking delivery of 30-40 aircraft a year from 2015 to 2018 and is in “a continuing dialogue” with Boeing, CEO Ryan O’Leary says. The low-cost carrier also is “working actively with Comac, although O’Leary notes he does not expect the Chinese manufacturer to become a reliable supplier of aircraft until the end of the decade. “We continue to be opportunistic in terms of the aircraft order,” O’Leary said in a Jan. 28 conference call with analysts on the carrier’s quarterly earnings.
The last of American Airlines’ three labor unions has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the carrier and US Airways to provide a working agreement should the two airlines merge. The Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents 20,000 mechanics, dispatchers, simulator instructors, logistics and maintenance and related workers at American, signed the MOU on Jan. 28.
Southwest has reached a settlement with Wells Fargo Bank over the bank’s refusal to accept the return of a Boeing 737 aircraft unless Southwest also paid a $3.3 million penalty for replacing the original engines.
Finnair has announced the appointment of Ville Iho to the position of deputy CEO following the resignation of the airline’s CEO Mika Vehvilainen. Iho is currently chief operating officer and is expected to run the airline until a permanent replacement for Vehvilainen has been found. Finnair’s board states it has already started the search.
Singaporean low-cost carrier group Tiger Airways posted a profit in the fiscal third quarter, but projects a return to losses in the fourth. “We are encouraged by the turnaround in this [fiscal third] quarter. However, we are mindful that the September-December period is traditionally the strongest quarter for the air travel industry,” Group CEO Koay Peng Yen says in an earnings statement.
German regional airline OLT Express halted flight operations on Jan. 27 after a last-ditch effort to finance a turnaround plan failed. The carrier stated that its new owner, Panta Holdings, did not approve a restructuring strategy that management and employees had agreed on in the last few days.
Malaysian turboprop operator Firefly, which is unable to get additional landing slots at Singapore’s Changi Airport at peak times, is reluctant to use Singapore Seletar Airport as an alternative.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Sao Paulo, Jan 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers: Sao Paulo, Jan 15-21, 2013, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures
EADS is slowly preparing the composition of its administrative board, to be confirmed at an extraordinary general meeting likely to be held before the end of March. Anne Lauvergeon, ex-CEO of French nuclear energy group Areva, has received strong endorsement to become the next EADS chairman, succeeding Arnaud Lagardere. Jean-Claude Trichet, a board member since 2012, is expected to be re-elected.
The Middle East air cargo industry continues to be the bright spot in an otherwise depressed worldwide cargo market, which as a whole dropped 1% for the 12-month period ending last September. The Middle East market, in contrast, has remained relatively robust, growing 8.2% during 2011 and 14.1% for the first 10 months of 2012, according to Brad Hart, Boeing’s regional director for cargo marketing. Its growth is projected to continue at 5.7% per year over the next 20 years, particularly as the region continues its movement toward economic liberalization.
Southwest Airlines expects to retire about 13 of its Boeing 737 Classic aircraft this year, CFO Tammy Romo says. With 20 more new Boeing 737-800s due to arrive at Southwest this year and 16 Boeing 717s departing under a sublease to Delta Air Lines, the carrier’s fleet will shrink slightly this year. But its capacity will be about 2% higher, because the -800s are bigger and the airline still is in the process of adding six seats to its 737-700s, which it expects to complete this year.
Congestion in major Asia-Pacific cities is reaching the point where passengers now find there is a lot of time wasted, in both road and air traffic delays. Anyone who has tried to reach Jakarta Soekarno Hatta International Airport, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport from the city centers will tell you that getting there can be cumbersome. The airports are many miles from downtown, and often the roads are clogged with traffic.
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