The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has accepted the airline and airport industries’ voluntary aircraft de-icing pollution reduction measures, almost 15 years since it last adopted voluntary measures. The EPA will mandate that all new airports be equipped with its technology-based Effluent Limitation Guidelines, which require a central de-icing pad. Established airports, however, will be allowed to adopt other measures that include better application techniques, nozzles and recovery programs.
Austrian Airlines has again reversed a crucial decision in its effort to restructure after its pilots rejected a compromise plan to keep flight operations at the airline. With this latest decision, Austrian on July 1 will transfer all flight operations from the parent company to regional subsidiary Tyrolean Airways. This transition was to be implemented last week but was suspended after a deal was reached with Austrian’s flight crew union that would have frozen pay and revised pension obligations but retained operations at the mainline carrier.
Major airlines are moving away from financing and owning their own regional aircraft, which leaves the risk of operating these fleets to their feeder partners, says SkyWest President Brad Rich.
Global passenger demand rose by 7.6% in March from a year earlier although inflated by favorable comparables, data from the International Air Transport Association show. Last year’s figures were depressed by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and political turmoil in the Middle East. “If we discount the industry’s growth by two percentage points as a result of the extraordinary events of 2011, airlines still managed an expansion in the range of 5-6%,” IATA Director General Tony Tyler said in a statement.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers - Cancun, April 23-29, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers - Cancun, April 23-29, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures Airport Share ASMs (mil) Airport Share Seats /Dept
AMR Corp.’s management reorganization continues with the loss of five VPs and the pending departure of Senior VP of Human Resources Jeff Brundage. Brundage’s replacement Denise Lynn now joins a simplified and reassigned higher management structure that include CFO Bella Goren, Chief Commercial Officer Virasb Vahidi, Chief Information Officer Maya Leibman, SVP Operations Jim Ream and SVP Customer Craig Kreeger.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) by year-end could have a new domestic competitor after the national government agreed to sell a controlling stake in the airline’s regional operation MASWings to two local governments. The deal, which was unveiled over the weekend, would give the governments of Sabah and Sarawak management control of MASWings and at least 51% of the airline’s shares. Talks are still in progress, but could be completed by the end of the year, according to Abang Johar, Sarawak’s tourism minister.
Boeing expects more 747-8 orders this year and is “bullish” on the aircraft’s prospects in the market now that it has delivered the first passenger variant of its three generation widebody. Elizabeth Lund, VP and general manager for the 747 program, during a media conference celebrating the Lufthansa delivery noted that China “as the biggest market for the 747-8.” She also “expects a surge of sales when the Lufthansa aircraft goes into service.”
Washington will later this year become the first city to see the benefits of an FAA effort to improve airspace and flight procedures in major metropolitan areas.
A member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee contends that the Obama administration is not doing enough to shield U.S. air carriers from the EU’s cap-and-trade system to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Republic Airways could put its Chautauqua Airlines subsidiary into court protection without affecting the rest of the company, although CEO Bryan Bedford suggests this is just one possibility as he attempts to revive the division. “We’re focused on working with our stakeholders at Chautauqua to get a win-win opportunity, just as we were working with Frontier [Airlines], which also continues to be a completely separate corporate entity and business enterprise,” Bedford told analysts during the company’s first-quarter results conference call.
Another month of positive cash flow allowed AMR Corp. to end the first quarter with a relatively healthy cash balance of close to $5.6 billion, a sizable improvement on the $4 billion or so it had when it entered Chapter 11 at the end of November.
Antiguan carrier LIAT is searching for a new CEO after Brian Challenger resigned the acting role he has held since the sudden departure of Mark Darby in 2009. The resignation, which remains unexplained, is effective at the end of June. CFO Julie Reifer-Jones will assume the Acting CEO role until a permanent replacement is named, says LIAT Chairman Jean Holder. That search, however, has been ongoing since the airline decided to let Darby’s contract expire and Challenger, like Reifer-Jones, was appointed as a temporary measure.
Canada’s WestJet Airlines has decided that Bombardier Q400 turboprop will support its proposed regional offshoot, which could be launched as early as mid-2013. The decision is a boon for the Canadian manufacturer, potentially adding up to 45 firm orders to a commercial backlog that has shrunk as demand for new regional aircraft diminishes. It also beat a competitive bid from ATR, which heavily promoted its new turboprop to WestJet.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers - Santiago, April 23-29, 2012,Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Top Carriers - Santiago, April 23-29, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Departures Airport Share ASMs (mil) Airport Share Seats/Dept.
The U.S. airport industry could be hit on multiple fronts by the automatic budget cuts due to take effect next January. The scale of the cuts to federal discretionary spending still is not known, however, leading the industry to brace for the worst.
The Air Line Pilots Association chapter representing pilots from the pre-merger United Airlines is seeking to be released from federally mediated talks, a step that could eventually lead to a strike action. Jay Heppner, the recently elected chairman of the master executive council, tells members that the request stems from management’s failure to negotiate new contract terms. "There is no more serious business than that which we are embarking upon today.
British Airways Engineering and VAS Aero Services today are expected to announce a multi-million-dollar aftermarket inventory accord that makes them one another's customer and supplier. VAS Aero Service will move its European inventory to BA’s London Heathrow Airport facility, so the airline can gain immediate access to the supplier’s inventory. In return, VAS can sell the airline’s excess inventory through its distribution network. In addition, British Airways Engineering will become VAS’s preferred MRO supplier for component overhaul.
