Japan Airlines (JAL) has revealed the first four international routes to be flown with its Boeing 787s, although the carrier now expects first delivery of the aircraft will slip to February. While JAL is still discussing delivery dates with Boeing, President Masaru Onishi says the initial aircraft will likely arrive in mid-February. JAL previously said this would occur in December. The carrier will be the first to take delivery of the GE-powered version of the 787.
Virgin Australia this week consolidated all of its subsidiary carriers under the same brand, except for its Samoan joint venture, which it has renamed.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reports that as air traffic increased in 2010, the accident rate for commercial flights also has gone up.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 751 Wednesday approved a four-year contract with Boeing by a 74% margin, assuring the union of continued job security on the company’s 737 MAX re-engining program. An IAM official said there was “heavy turnout” among the 31,000 eligible voters, mainly in Seattle’s Puget Sound area, but also in Oregon, Kansas and California. The IAM did not release the actual vote tally.
U.S. and EU officials meeting in Washington on Dec. 8 vigorously debated aviation’s inclusion in the EU’s emissions trading system (ETS), although the tenor of the meeting was less combative than other recent meetings, according to an observer.
Boeing 787 launch customer All Nippon Airways says the next 787 it receives is likely to be the first in long-haul configuration, although it is not announcing exactly when the aircraft will arrive. ANA already has taken delivery of its first two 787s, which are being used on domestic routes. The carrier expects to receive a total of 11 787s through the end of March, including two configured for long-haul service.
Japan has more than enough untapped demand for low-cost carrier (LCC) service to meet the ambitious growth plans of the LCC being set up by All Nippon Airways (ANA) and AirAsia, says the new carrier’s CEO.
Lufthansa Technik, which this week is using a Boeing 747-8 test aircraft, N6067U, for entry-into-service preparations, is evaluating which of the 45,000 spare parts it will buy as part of its initial provisioning. As parts continually incorporate higher-cost materials and technology, their prices increase, so Lufthansa is balancing which parts to provision to ensure operational readiness, says Dean Raineri, Lufthansa Technik’s director of new aircraft readiness, aircraft maintenance.
Advocates for LightSquared are using a time-honored Washington technique in arguing that the company should be allowed to proceed with plans to build a 4G wireless broadband network—they’re reframing the debate, painting objections about interference with GPS signals as needlessly complex. “Our opponents have turned basic engineering issues into a political debate,” LightSquared CEO Sanjiv Ahuja told a Capitol Hill audience Dec. 7.
It is no secret that Southwest Airlines pays its employees well. So what prompted Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly to warn employees this week that the airline needs to improve its labor costs, preferably through higher productivity and elimination of “waste,” to compete with major carriers that have cut costs through restructuring? Southwest’s labor costs have gone up in the past decade, but that likely is not the only factor behind Kelly’s push.
U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) introduced a bill on Dec. 7 opposing the European Union’s planned inclusion of international aviation in its emissions trading system (ETS). The bill, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011, is similar to a House bill passed on Oct. 24 that would prohibit U.S. carriers from participating in the ETS.
Air Canada’s top executive is calling on staff to accept “new ways of doing business” or risk losing market share to competitors with lower costs. In an internal memo, CEO Calin Rovinescu uses AMR Corp.’s Chapter 11 filing as a warning of “today’s new realities," adding that the U.S. carrier’s predicament was caused in part by “the reluctance of American’s unions to participate in meaningful change to the status quo.”
Malaysia could have three new airlines next year. Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation, says three companies have applied for air operator certificates (AOC): two have asked for licenses as scheduled operators, and one is requesting a permit for charter operations. Azharuddin, speaking to Aviation Week on the sidelines of the LIMA Airshow in Langkawi, Malaysia, declines to name the potential startups.
Boeing says that key elements of the traditional aircraft financing system will deteriorate in the coming two years, but that adequate liquidity will exist to sustain aircraft deliveries, and lessors may be long-term beneficiaries. “Everybody is nervous,” says Kostya Zolotusky, managing director for capital markets leasing at Boeing Capital. That view has driven the company to alter its market strength forecast to two years from its traditional one-year projection. The situation “will be more challenging,” he notes.
Estonian Air plans to focus its fleet on Bombardier regional jets to replace larger Boeing 737s as part of a government-approved turnaround plan that it hopes will result in a profit in 2014. The carrier operates three 737 Classics and two Bombardier CRJ900ER aircraft, and it has another CRJ on order, according to the Aviation Week Intelligence Network database.
The Air Berlin board of directors is said to be debating the status of negotiations with possible strategic investors, but is unlikely to make a decision right away, industry sources tell Aviation Week.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Paris DeGaulle - Sao PauloNovember 20-26, 2011, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Paris DeGaulle - Sao Paulo November 20-26, 2011, Ranked By Scheduled Seats ASKs
The European Commission (EC) may soon launch a review of its passenger rights rules and will later consider changes to regulations governing state aid to airports and airlines.
