India’s leading private airline Jet Airways announced plans to take delivery of four new A330-300 aircraft from Airbus by year-end, an airline official says. The first of the four “new, state-of-the-art series” aircraft was delivered on Dec. 12, the official adds. “The remaining aircraft are likely to be delivered later this month.”
An article in the Dec. 7 issue of Aviation Daily mischaracterized John Byerly’s remarks on cabotage at a Dec. 6 conference. Byerly stated that “it doesn’t make sense” to allow foreign airlines to operate without restriction in the domestic U.S. market, and he did not say cabotage reforms are a path to global cooperation.
The European Parliament (EP) this week supported European Commission (EC) proposals allowing airlines to trade takeoff and landing slots across the EU. Present European law does not address secondary slot trading, and EU member states apply diverse rules, with the U.K. allowing the practice and Spain prohibiting it. The proposed policy will now be streamlined throughout the EU, and slot trading will have to be transparent.
Delta Air Lines plans to invest in railroad offloading facilities at its Trainer, Pa., oil refinery, but not just to help with the transport of the less expensive Bakken crude oil from North Dakota. CEO Richard Anderson says the loading facilities also could be used to backhaul jet fuel to the Midwest, where the crack spread between the per-barrel price of crude and the refined jet fuel product Delta is buying from the region’s refineries for use at its Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit hubs has been ranging from $38 to $40.
US Airways pilots union has joined the merger discussions between its carrier and American Airlines parent AMR Corp., which could be a sign that the deal is closer than previously thought. American’s unsecured creditors committee (UCC) asked the US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) to join the merger discussions and sign the non-disclosure agreement that binds all negotiating parties to keep merger talks private. The UCC comprises American’s three unions, several banks, Hewlett-Packard, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and Boeing.
The European Commission (EC) has provided more details on the legislative proposal to temporarily “stop the clock” under the EU’s Emission Trading System (ETS) for flights to and from European airports.
Delta Air Lines will remain cautious with aircraft acquisitions even after it reaches its $10 billion net debt target by the end of 2013, and it will use its Virgin Atlantic Airways ownership stake and board membership to influence fleet decisions at the British carrier, Delta’s top executives said Dec. 12.
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs and Statistics, 12 Months Ended June 2012, Jet Aircraft (Pages 9 and 10 or 10) (Page 9) 777 Manufacturer: Boeing
Air Berlin is planning major shifts in fleet allocation within the group as it looks for options to reduce costs further. The unprofitable carrier will move part of its Airbus A320 family fleet to Austrian subsidiary Niki Airlines, industry sources tell Aviation Week. The Austrian affiliate will then move its sub-fleet of seven Embraer 190s to Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (LGW). The regional carrier currently operates a fleet of 10 Bombardier Q400s on behalf of Air Berlin.
A new, satellite-based, 8-hr. weather forecast prototype covering remote areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans is available to industry as a research tool on the website for the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
Airbus is working on finalizing another “significant order” for the Airbus A380 soon, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy tells Aviation Week. Leahy is hopeful a memorandum of understanding (MOU) can be signed before the end of the year and the commitment turned into a firm order in 2013. Leahy declined to identify the customer and the exact number of aircraft under discussion.
The departing Mexican administration has confirmed that it did not plan to intervene in Mexicana de Aviacion’s bankruptcy case and has recommended that the incoming administration of newly inaugurated President Enrique Pena Nieto also not try to revive the airline.
Sequestration would have a “significant impact” on the nation’s airspace system, possibly leading to the closure of air traffic control (ATC) towers at smaller airports, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) concludes in a report on the effects of a nearly $1 trillion across-the-board budget cut set to take place in January.
The U.S. government is throwing its support behind the high-level working group on market-based measures to combat aviation greenhouse gas emissions the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is convening today and tomorrow in Montreal.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is urging the FAA to ease rules governing the inflight use of portable electronic devices (PEDs). The agencies split jurisdiction when it comes to PEDs. The FAA regulates their use before takeoff, while the FCC assumes oversight during flight. The FAA, however, has taken the lead on a six-month study examining current aircraft operator policies and procedures regarding PEDs.
The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) has granted final approval for new bottle screening technology that can detect liquid threats. ECAC recently approved the LS10 liquid bottle scanner from Battelle, a Columbus, Ohio-based research organization, and its marketing partner Sellex, according to a statement obtained by Aviation Week The device uses radio frequency and ultrasonic technology to scan liquids, aerosols and gels for explosives and other threats in a non-invasive manner.
Etihad is in negotiations with grounded Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines over becoming a minority shareholder in the airline. Kingfisher confirmed in a notice to the Mumbai stock exchange that it is “in discussion with various investors, including Etihad Airways, for equity investments in the company.” Kingfisher cautions, however, that “no agreement has been reached either with Etihad or any other airline and the matters are merely at a negotiation stage.”
Two pilots unions are attacking as irrelevant and “flawed” a new FAA analysis that the agency says supports its decision to exclude cargo-only carriers from new crew-rest requirements for pilots. And both are vowing to continue their fight against the cargo-carrier exclusion, with the courts and Congress as the battlegrounds (Aviation Daily, Dec. 10).
The U.S. House of Representatives this week is expected to approve a pilot program that would exempt the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from screening checked baggage arriving from international pre-clearance airports (Aviation Daily, Dec. 3). The House will consider the Senate version of the No Hassle Flying Act of 2012 under a parliamentary procedure that would limit debate and bar amendments to the bill. “We feel confident it will pass,” Patricia Rojas, U.S. Travel Association VP-government affairs, tells Aviation Week.
Austrian Airlines is cutting 150 more administrative position as it eliminates double functions between it and subsidiary Tyrolean. The airline is placing its operations control center in Vienna, while nine departments dealing with operations planning will be based in Innsbruck. Austrian plans to implement the changes next year. It transferred its own flight operations to Tyrolean Airways last summer in an effort to cut costs and after negotiations with flight crew over new collective bargaining agreements failed. Austrian aims to reach breakeven results next year.
