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Colgan Air’s operating practices are again in the spotlight following the FAA’s decision to fine the U.S. regional for breaching minimum rest rules on 17 specific occasions in an eight-month period that encompasses the fatal crash of one of its Bombardier Q400s in Buffalo, N.Y., in early 2009.
James Coyne, the former congressman who has led the National Air Transportation Association for 18 years, is leaving the association at the end of this year.
Boeing is evaluating a series of systems, aerodynamic and interior upgrades to the current 777 family at the same time as it aims for potential board approval by year-end for the advanced 777X derivative.
Austrian Airlines named Karsten Benz, 47, as its new chief commercial officer (CCO), replacing Andreas Bierwirth. Benz was European head of sales for Lufthansa. Bierwirth, 40, has been the airline’s CCO for the past four years. Austrian picked Jaan Albrecht as its new CEO last year. The airline is in survival mode and has given its unions two weeks to agree to new, much lower, wage contracts. Pilots plan to strike. Parent company Lufthansa is evaluating plans to build a new Austrian on the basis of its regional subsidiary Tyrolean, if no agreement is reached.
Consider this the next time you grab a cup of coffee at the airport: The market capitalization of Starbucks exceeds that of the 12 largest U.S. airlines—combined. Soaring fuel costs pushed the average profit margin of those carriers down to 0.3% in 2011, or a still-meager 2% if you factor out American Airlines, which has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since late November.
Spirit Airlines executives say they are not concerned about the airlines already in the markets it decides to enter—even if they are low-cost carriers—as long as it believes it can profitably lower the average fare by 25% and stimulate enough new demand to generate at least 200 more daily passengers each way. The South Florida-based, low-cost carrier is increasingly going head-to-head against other low-cost carriers with its recent route selections.
Indicators from two of the U.S.’s largest operators suggest continued momentum in passenger unit revenue growth among the country’s legacy carriers. Both Delta Air Lines and US Airways have posted improved passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) for their February operations, with Delta recording a 13% year-on-year improvement and US Airways a 7% gain on February 2011.
Bombardier is ramping up its business jet production with planned deliveries of 180 aircraft in 2012, up from 163 delivered in 2011. But the gap between its business jet and commercial aircraft production is expected to widen, with commercial deliveries anticipated to fall to 55 this year. That compares with the 97 commercial aircraft delivered in 2010 and 78 last year.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) March 5—Speednews’ Second Annual Aerospace Raw Materials & Manufacturers Supply Chain Conference, Beverly (Hills) Wilshire Hotel, Calif., www.speednews.com/conferences March 5-7—26th Annual Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference, Beverly (Hills) Wilshire Hotel, Calif., www.speednews.com/conferences
Frontier Airlines has no hedges in place on fuel for this year, but the CEO of parent company Republic Airways says he is confident the low-cost carrier subsidiary has reduced its costs and improved its revenue enough to make a profit even if jet fuel prices average $3.50 per gallon this year. Republic’s current plan for Frontier projects “really good margins” at $3.30, Republic Chairman and CEO Bryan Bedford said March 1 during Republic’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Government and industry officials need to collaborate on ways to mitigate runway incursions before another disaster happens, says Christopher Hart, vice chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board. “If we don’t get our hands around this problem—and we don’t have our hands around this—sooner or later it’s going to happen again,” Hart told the Air Charter Safety Foundation’s 2012 Air Charter Safety Symposium last week.
Vietnamese low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific has appointed two executives from Vietnam Airlines to take over management of the airline, a move that comes just days after it was announced that Vietnam Airlines had bought a 70% stake in Jetstar Pacific. The low-cost carrier says its new CEO is Le Hong Ha, who has held various senior positions at Vietnam Airlines over the years. It also says its new chairman is Duong Tri Thanh, who is already deputy chairman of Vietnam Airlines.
Boeing delivered the 1,000th 777 produced to Emirates Airlines Friday amid assembly line changes that will push the production later this year to the highest level ever for a Boeing widebody.
Bryan Bedford, chairman and CEO of the airline that is the biggest buyer of the Bombardier CSeries, says he remains concerned about the dearth of orders for the new aircraft and worries it could face the same fate as Boeing’s 717. But Bedford was coy about whether there is any out in Republic Airways’ contract with Bombardier if CSeries orders do not exceed a certain level.
The Asia-Pacific region will grow to 5 billion people before 2050, yet airline capacity in the world’s most populous region will not keep pace with this growth. Instead, in terms of available seat miles (ASMs), Western Europe and North America will continue to have the most airline capacity at least through 2021, an analysis of Aviation Week Intelligence Network data shows.
Austrian Airlines, Vienna, named Karsten Benz, currently Europe head of the Sales & Services Division at Lufthansa, chief commercial officer, succeeding Andreas Bierwirth, subject to approval by the Supervisory Board Steering Committee.
