Indonesia’s Lion Air plans to place an order for two Hawker 900XP business jet aircraft to start its new, yet-to-be-named, premium carrier, which initially will operate charters, but may later move into scheduled operations.
UPS is standing by its 2011 stockholder guidance after posting a 5.1% rise in its third-quarter net income to $1 billion on an 8% improvement in revenue to $13.2 billion, although increased costs restricted operating income growth to just 0.2%. “UPS produced another solid quarter of earnings growth against the backdrop of a deceleration in exports from Asia and a challenging global economic environment,” says Chairman and CEO Scott Davis.
Delta Air Lines’ leadership, while acknowledging that fuel prices continue to outstrip revenue growth, is confident that the current business model is succeeding and that booking trends indicate a solid, profitable year-end.
The largest vegetative roof at any U.S. airport, covering the recently opened FedEx Express package sorting center at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, offers multiple benefits that have boosted the use of the environmentally safe technology at other FedEx installations.
AAR Corp.’s planned acquisition of Telair International and Nordisk Aviation Products will allow AAR to branch out from the freighter conversion market to having a presence on new platforms, AAR’s senior management says.
The House of Representatives passed a bill Oct. 24 that would bar U.S. air carriers from participating in an EU cap-and-trade plan to reduce carbon emissions. The bill also instructs administration officials to negotiate away penalties imposed under the system. While members of the House were celebrating the bill, dismissing EU’s inclusion of airlines in its emissions trading system (ETS) due to take effect Jan. 1 as “misguided and illegal,” the legislation drew criticism from environmentalists.
The lack of a coherent aviation policy is putting up barriers to future airline service in the U.K. and telling the rest of the world that its infrastructure will remain static for at least several years, a British airline group says.
Airbus is undergoing ground preparations to begin the flight test campaign for the Rolls-Royce TrentXWB, which will eventually power the A350 twin widebody.
Vietnam Airlines and Qantas’s low-cost carrier Jetstar are negotiating a deal that could elevate Vietnam Airlines to majority shareholder in Jetstar Pacific.
Pinnacle Airlines is closing Mesaba Airlines’ corporate office in Eagan, Minn., and relocating the operation to its new head office in downtown Memphis. The move is part of a transition plan that drops the company’s Colgan Air operating certificate, and assigns all jet operations to Pinnacle and all turboprops to Mesaba. The new plan is expected to be finalized next year. Pinnacle says about 35 Mesaba staff have so far accepted new positions in Memphis. A pilot training center will be retained in Eagan.
In a little more than three years, the cost gap between large U.S. network carriers and their low-fare “value” rivals has narrowed by some 40%, and trends so far suggest that this gap will keep closing during the next few quarters.
Bombardier Aerospace will build the aft fuselage for its new Bombardier Global 7000 and Global 8000 business jets in Queretaro, Mexico, a move that continues to expand its already substantial presence at the location. The Queretaro facility produces the aft fuselage for Bombardier’s Global 5000 and 6000 jets, as well as major composite structures for the Learjet 85.
U.S. regional operator GoJet Airlines in December expects to take delivery of the first of 15 Bombardier CRJ700s from Delta Air Lines to fulfill a new contract as a Delta Connection carrier. A wholly owned subsidiary of Trans State Holdings, GoJet currently operates 25 CRJ700s for United Airlines. However, it now is seeking approval from the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) to revise its operating authority to expand fleet restrictions to 40 aircraft and to add the Delta Connection air services agreement to its remit.
Delta Air Lines continues to outsource much of its airframe heavy maintenance and interior modification work to maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies overseas, but the U.S. carrier has found that the cost savings are getting harder to come by, and there is a lot of time and effort involved in managing relationships with MRO suppliers.
By Capt. Dave Bates, President, Allied Pilots Association The Air Transport Association (ATA) has employed a variety of scare tactics in an effort to delay implementation of new flight- and duty-time safety regulations for commercial pilots. The loudest objections appear to be coming from carriers whose business models conflict with well-established scientific evidence concerning human physiology and the dangers of fatigue.
The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is setting an ambitious goal—getting the FAA reauthorization bill signed into law by the end of the year, he told reporters yesterday. “I’ll take whatever measures I need to finish this before the end of the year,” said Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) about the bill that has been extended 21 times already, including one extension that led to a two-week partial shutdown of the FAA during the summer.
Piper Aircraft is shelving its single-jet program, the PiperJet Altaire, and making plans to let go up to 200 workers as it refocuses on its piston and turboprop programs, the company says. The decision, announced yesterday, comes a week after the company said it was assessing whether to move forward with the Altaire. The jet was considered among the most promising of the new breed of single-jet personal aircraft under development, but Piper maintains that the market currently cannot support the aircraft.
National carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) is reportedly working behind the scenes lobbying the Singapore government to block Qantas Airways’ bid to establish a full-service short-haul carrier in Singapore, a move by Qantas that threatens to cannibalize SIA’s core business.
Garmin , Schaffhausen, Switzerland, appointed Philip Straub VP and managing director-aviation, Carl Wolf VP-aviation marketing and sales and Frank McLoughlin VP-aviation engineering. VP-Marketing Gary Kelley plans to retire at the end of the year.
Rolls-Royce is building on its experience with the Boeing 787 Trent 1000 and Airbus A350 TrentXWB program to develop upgrade packages to improve specific fuel consumption on the Trent 900, the engine powering the Airbus A380. Rolls-Rolls already has implemented and delivered improvements yielding 1% reduced fuel burn that should be in service next year. It puts the engine ahead of specification, says Peter Johnson, Rolls-Royce’s head of marketing for Airbus aircraft.
