American Eagle is premising its business plan on the expectation that parent company AMR Corp. will divest the regional carrier after its emergence from Chapter 11, says Eagle CEO Dan Garton. Garton, speaking to reporters May 23 at the Regional Airline Association Annual Convention in Minneapolis, says the only difference with AMR’s divestiture plans for Eagle prior to the Chapter 11 filing in November are a reduced cost structure for the regional and a fleet revitalization plan, both if which will result from AMR’s court protected reorganization.
A recent spate of commercial carrier accidents and incidents in the U.S. involving hail and lightning strikes is prompting the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to seek improvements in weather information furnished to both air traffic controllers and pilots. The NTSB recommends that the FAA study the potential of providing real-time total lightning information on air traffic controller displays, both at air route traffic control centers and terminal radar approach control facilities.
Aftermarket parts supplier AeroInv.com today will name FL Technics, the maintenance arm of Vilnius-based Avia Solutions Group, its exclusive sales representative in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Baltic and Eastern European.
Swedish regional carrier Skyways on Tuesday ceased all operations and said it would simultaneously file for bankruptcy. “The owners of the company have decided not to fund the company any longer and therefore the board of directors was forced to decide to stop all payments and to stop all flights,” the airline says on its website.
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Delta Air Lines yesterday reached a tentative agreement to sublease all 88 of Southwest Airlines’ Boeing 717 aircraft just hours after the Atlanta-based carrier negotiated a tentative accord with its pilots to expand the scope of their collective bargaining agreement.
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Med Atlantica, the investment group that has taken effective control of bankrupt Mexicana de Aviacion, has asked Mexico’s transport ministry to return routes authorities assigned to rivals after the carrier was grounded in late 2010. The route authorities include flights from Mexico City—Mexicana’s home airport—to Miami, Chicago O’Hare, San Antonio, Guatemala City and Bogota, a source close to Mexicana tells Aviation Week.
Finnair in October will outsource about one third of its European flying program to British regional low fare carrier Flybe, under a memorandum of understanding between the two carriers. The move is part of Finnair’s efforts to return to profitability following years of rising losses. The carrier has launched a €140 million ($178.2 million) cost saving program to be fully implemented in 2014 that includes the sale of its catering unit, outsourcing engine and component maintenance and cutting four Airbus A320s and five Embraer 170s from its European fleet.
A move by Qantas to split its domestic and international operations is expected to highlight how much the international unit has been adversely affecting the rest of the airline group’s business. In a major realignment, Qantas will treat its international and domestic operations as separate business entities, with each reporting their financial performance. Both of the new units will have their own CEOs, part of a wider shakeup of Qantas senior management. The carrier says these changes will help bring “more accountability and transparency” to each segment.
Andrew Steinberg, who held two of the most important aviation regulatory positions in Washington, has died. Steinberg died May 20 at home in Chevy Chase, Md., of complications from ocular melanoma. He was 53.
The president of Thai Airways International, Piyasvasti Amranand, has been replaced by the carrier’s vice president for business development and strategy, Chairman Ampon Kittiampon told reporters in Bangkok May 21. Chokchai Panyayong, the new president, takes the helm as Thai Airways faces major operational and strategic challenges. Ampon says Piyasvasti left the airline because he was unable to agree with some of his senior colleagues on strategy.
Ask Laurie Price, director of aviation strategy at the Mott McDonald consultancy, what an ideal European regional airline looks like and he will say: It should be well-established in niche markets with a significant share of public service obligation (PSO) routes. And it should have a strong relationship with one of the region’s major airlines as a complement for the base network.
There is no magic formula for a profitable airline business model, says Lim Kim Hai, head of Australia’s Regional Express (Rex). Rather, success comes from focusing on a raft of minor details, and constantly searching for new ways to do them better.
Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport Terminal 3 is expected to open June 27 with 15 international carriers, five years after construction began. The $2.4 billion terminal will have seven dedicated international gates and expanded, dedicated Customs and Border Protection processing facilities that are designed to simultaneously handle passengers from six Boeing 747s.
The FAA is taking steps to significantly overhaul outdated repair station ratings and certification requirements, but a proposal released yesterday avoids attempts to impose new quality system requirements.
Austrian Airlines has named Gaudenz Ambuehl head of regional subsidiary Tyrolean Airways, which on July 1 will assume authority for the company’s entire operations after the mainline carrier’s pilots rejected a concessions package. Ambuehl, who is coming out of retirement to take his new position, has experience is such transfers having integrated a segment of the bankrupt Swissair’s fleet and staff into what was then regional carrier Crossair. That airline was relaunched as Swiss International Air Lines in 2002 and later acquired by Lufthansa.
