India’s Jet Airways and SpiceJet could sell stakes to foreign companies following a recent change in the country’s investment rules, a government official tells Aviation Week. Mumbai-based Jet Airways, India’s largest airline by total passengers, is in discussions with Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways to sell a minority stake, the government official, who requested anonymity, says. “Talks are on. It is more or less final,” the official says. It may take about 45 days to conclude the deal, he adds.
Qatar Airways is among Airbus’s and Boeing’s best customers, given its huge targets for growth. But it is also using its clout to rearrange its orderbook and push for new models.
An Ohio congressman wants the FAA to provide a time line for the agency's next step toward establishing six sites in the U.S. for testing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in civilian airspace.
Click here to view the pdf Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: New York Newark - Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: New York Newark - Tel Aviv Ben Gurion United El Al Other
Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) has dropped his bid to continue as the leading transportation lawmaker in the U.S. House of Representatives and has endorsed Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) as the new chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “Bill [Shuster] has served in two subcommittee leadership positions and has both the experience and ability to assume this important position,” Mica says in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Delta Air Lines is again slashing service at its hub at Memphis International Airport in Tennessee—this time to fewer than 100 daily peak-day flights as of Jan. 3—but more dramatic movement could come Feb. 1 when a new contract reached this week with the airport authority board allows all airlines to reduce the amount of terminal space and gates they lease without penalty. Under previous lease agreements, airlines were locked into their contracts for the life of the lease.
President Barack Obama late yesterday signed into law a bill that aims to thwart the EU’s ability to levy the emissions trading system’s (ETS) fees on U.S. carriers. The bill was introduced earlier this year by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and was passed out of the Senate in September and approved by the House of Representatives earlier this month.
ST Aerospace is reviewing its narrowbody maintenance facility in Panama, which is recording the lowest demand among the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) provider’s global facilities, says President Chang Cheow Teck. The MRO provider opened the Panama facility in 2007 to take advantage of lower labor costs in the region and access to local operators. While ST Aerospace hoped to take advantage of its global network, competitors from established MRO companies—Aeroman in El Salvador and Coopesa in Costa Rica—did not leave much space for a third provider.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) is expected to lift his objection to Michael Huerta’s elevation to the top spot at the FAA just weeks before a year-end deadline to confirm the acting administrator’s position. DeMint’s objection initially stemmed from concerns about the FAA’s labor policy. A Senate aide, who requested anonymity, however, tells Aviation Week that the senator likely will stand down from the objection in the coming days. “This is a five-year nomination that wouldn’t have made sense to move forward had the White House changed hands,” the aide says.
AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes will not include Bombardier’s CSeries in a pending order for narrowbody aircraft. The carrier considered buying CSeries aircraft, but concluded that the aircraft did not provide sufficient capacity, Fernandes tells Aviation Week.
As the FAA nears completion of work to tighten oversight of its contract air traffic control towers, a government audit finds significant cost-savings from the program. Contract towers in fiscal 2010 each cost nearly $1.5 million less to operate than similarly tasked towers operated directly by the FAA—$537,00 on average compared with $2 million—and incur fewer safety incidents than their agency counterparts, the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) says in a new report.
The Danish pilots union has approved a new collective bargaining agreement with SAS, clearing one of the last hurdles for the implementation of the carrier’s 4Excellence NG restructuring program.
The upper house of the German parliament has voted to abolish the country’s air passenger duty. The move was initiated by the state of Bavaria, where Lufthansa’s second-largest hub, Munich, is located. It was supported by the states of Hesse and Saxonia. Lufthansa’s main hub is in Frankfurt, Hesse.
Click here to view the pdf Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: Dubai - New York Kennedy Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way: Dubai - New York Kennedy Emirates Delta Others
The board of directors for the Asian Aviation Centre of Excellence (AACOE), a joint venture between AirAsia and CAE based at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, are scheduled Dec. 6 to decide on an expansion plan. According to Terance Chan, AACOE general manager, if the board endorses the expansion, the company expects a ground-breaking ceremony to be held early next year. The center currently has five Airbus A320 simulators and one A330 simulator, but it needs an extension to house four more, says Chan.
State-run Air India’s recently delivered Boeing 787s are not operating at full capacity because of technical issues. “At any given point in time, at least one of the three aircraft, which has been recently added to the [Air India] fleet, is grounded due to some technical snag,” an airline spokesperson tells Aviation Weeks. “The snag has caused massive delays in most of the domestic sectors where the aircraft has been deployed,” the spokesperson continues, adding that a team of engineers from Boeing is expected to arrive in India shortly to rectify the problem.
