FAA is working with its inspector base to ward off minor compliance issues that could be addressed directly with companies before enforcement actions are taken.
Chinese airlines, struggling to find flight crews, were offering three-year pilot contracts with salaries 70% higher than the U.S. average at job fairs in Miami and Las Vegas in the past week, says one of the organizers, Pan Am International Flight Academy.
Airline capacity and traffic increases in Africa are expected to beat the world average over the next decade, as the region’s economies continue to grow.
Allegations that U.S. carrier “overscheduling” is a source of flight delays are misguided, but antitrust immunity from the federal government for collaborative airline scheduling decisions still could improve performance at some congested airports, say the authors of an extensive new analysis of airline scheduling practices.
A group of investors is meeting today with Mexican government officials to discuss the issue of a conditional operating certificate for Mexicana de Aviacion, so they can proceed with a plan to resume service by late April. The group, known as Med Atlantica, has proceeded further than any previous entity to revive Mexicana with verification of its $300 million investment and the deposit of those funds in a Mexican bank.
As part of its effort to demonstrate technologies that are designed to allow unmanned aircraft to operate in commercial airspace, EADS is planning another flight-test campaign using its Barracuda unmanned aircraft technology demonstrator. The trial will take place at Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, during the summer, says the head of flight guidance at EADS’ Cassidian defense unit. The company would not disclose the demonstration’s technology goals.
Talks between AMR Corp. and its pilot and flight attendant unions falter days after the operator called for new contracts to be agreed “in a matter of weeks.”
FAA concedes that the costs of the requirements in its pilot-training proposal far exceed the benefits, but says about 75% of the costs come from congressional mandates, making the costs unavoidable. FAA published the proposal in the Feb. 29 Federal Register, significantly increasing the training, experience and type rating requirements for first officers and captains flying in Part 121 operations.
Nok Air, the Thai low-cost domestic carrier in which Thai Airways International has a 49% stake, is moving back to Bangkok Don Mueang Airport now that the authorities have cleaned up the airport. Don Mueang has been closed to commercial flights since Oct. 25 because of flooding, but national airport operator Airports of Thailand has announced that domestic commercial airlines are permitted to return and start operating from the facility on March 6.
Vueling Airlines managed to eke out a small profit for 2011, as a 15.7% increase in overall costs eroded an 8.4% gain in revenue that outpaced growth in available seat kilometers. The main headwind for the Spanish low-fare carrier was a 37% increase in its fuel bill. Given that, management signaled it was satisfied it could still deliver a third year of profitability, even if the €10.4 million level ($13.9 million) was far off the €46 million for 2010.
The involvement in the new People Express of one of the founders of the original People Express could complicate the proposed startup carrier’s efforts to obtain U.S. Transportation Department certification.
Click here to view the pdf Mishandled Baggage Reports December 2011 Total Baggage Enplaned Reports Per 1,000 Passengers Rank Airline Reports Passengers
Strict capacity discipline has stood the U.S. airline industry in good stead even as oil prices rise, but rising gasoline prices could hurt airlines by putting the brakes on consumer demand, says an industry consultant.
The main effect of high fuel prices on U.S. airports is indirect, but predictable. When airlines slash capacity in response to the rising price of jet fuel, airport revenues from passengers fall.
Philippine AirAsia, which received its air operator certificate in early February, has started selling tickets to the general public and will launch commercial operations March 28. In a statement announcing the sale of tickets, the airline says it will launch service with twice-daily domestic flights on the Clark-Kalibo and Clark-Davao routes. The carrier is based in Clark, a secondary airport outside Manila. Davao is the third-largest city in the Philippines, and Kalibo is a gateway to Boracay, a popular beach resort area.
Air Cargo Germany (ACG), a German long-haul cargo carrier based at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, is in talks with Russian rival Air Bridge Cargo (ABC) about a tie-up between the two carriers, several industry sources tell Aviation Week. The deal would see Air Bridge Cargo buy into Air Cargo Germany through a capital increase in a transaction observers say could be concluded in the next few days.
United Airlines will begin service from Reagan Washington National Airport to San Francisco International Airport, Delta Air Lines will begin service to Salt Lake City and American Airlines will begin service to Los Angeles International Airport, thanks to the FAA reauthorization that granted carriers more rights to offer service to destinations more than 1,250 mi. from National.
Airlines for America (A4A) is stepping up its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill and at the White House for a National Airline Policy, the group’s chief, Nick Calio, says.
