Two years after it announced an intention to acquire AirTran Airways, Southwest Airlines remains on track to integrate the smaller carrier into its system by 2015. Dallas-headquartered Southwest closed on the AirTran purchase in May 2011 and was granted a single operating certificate for the two airlines in March.
Kazakhstan’s government is banning two Soviet-era aircraft in an effort to overcome safety concerns the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has raised against the Central Asian republic. The chairman of Kazakhstan’s civil aviation committee of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Beken Seidakhmetov, says the country will remove Antonov An-24s and Yakovlev Yak-40s from a commercial aircraft registry that currently includes 60 western-built and 52 Soviet-built aircraft.
A headline on Sept. 14 incorrectly indicated that General Electric is investigating a second GEnx-2B failure. As the story details, it was the first such incident for the powerplant, and a second for the family of GEnx engines.
AerCap, the Amsterdam-based aircraft lessor, says it still sees a “significant growth opportunity” in the so-called BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China, because of aircraft “under-penetration” in those countries. The lessor cites Airbus’s Global Market Forecast statistics for this conclusion, noting the report’s data on aircraft per 1 million people, which showed rates of 1.6 for Latin America, 1.2 for China and 1.1 for Asia-Pacific countries. That compares with 11.5 for the U.S. and Canada, 5.2 for Europe and 3.5 for the Middle East.
International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) has parted out nine aircraft in-house so far this year, and expects to increase the number of aircraft it breaks down for spares in the next year. The parting-out strategy, to some degree, grew out of the October 2011 acquisition of a company that provides aircraft dismantling services. But it also reflects financial pressures on Europe’s airline industry, which resulted in unforeseen liquidations and bankruptcies for a number of ILFC customers.
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Tony Tyler, president and director general of the International Air Transport Association, is calling the EU’s ban on foreign carriers a “misguided approach that does little if anything to improve safety.” Speaking at a forum in Astana, Kazakhstan, Tyler said, “There is no transparency, no clarity on why some carriers are put on the list and no clear indication of what is required to get off the list.”
The pilots union for Pinnacle Airlines is objecting to the regional carrier’s decision to file a sealed Section 1113 motion to reject the union’s collective bargaining agreement. A letter Pinnacle filed in conjunction with the Section 1113 motion reiterates the need to save $76 million annually–including about $60 million from pilot concessions, according to the union—as it restructures under Chapter 11 with financing provided by Delta Air Lines.
A large portion of the FAA budget will be exempt from mandatory sequestration cuts, set to take effect on Jan. 3, according to data released late Friday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
International Communications Group , Newport News, Va., named Davert Leong electrical engineer-production, and David Casey and Doyle Sisson lead embedded software engineer and project manager, respectively. Debbie Glass was added as technical writer.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carrier: Atlanta - New York LaGuardia - September 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carrier: Atlanta - New York LaGuardia - September 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats
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India has approved a long-pending policy reform allowing foreign airlines to buy stakes of up to 49% in the country’s local carriers. Though Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was previously allowed in the aviation sector, foreign airlines were prohibited from investing in Indian carriers, says Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh.
Thai AirAsia on Sept. 30 will shift its Bangkok operation to Don Mueang International Airport from Suvarnabhumi Airport. CEO Tassapon Bijleveld tells Aviation Week that the move, which includes transferring all Bangkok services within the AirAsia group to Don Mueang, should enable Thai AirAsia to expand services beyond those allowed at congested Suvarnabhumi Airport. “There’s not enough aircraft parking bays and passenger check-in counters and we couldn’t grow,” says Tassapon.
Boeing says a new contract proposal presented to the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (Speea) will “more than offset some increased health insurance cost sharing” requested by the manufacturer. The company says the net effect will mean average pay increases of more than 3% for engineers and 2% for technical workers over the lifetime of the proposed four-year contract. A Speea official said the union is evaluating the proposal.
Kazakhstan’s national carrier Air Astana is considering a new provider of heavy maintenance for its fleet of Airbus narrowbodies under a plan to eventually conduct all maintenance in-house. Air Astana currently sends all its Airbus A320-family aircraft to ATC Southend in the U.K. for heavy checks, but the carrier’s senior VP-engineering group, John Wainwright, tells Aviation Week the carrier it is considering a Chinese maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider to lower costs.
