Passenger traffic in September continued at a strong growth rate of more than 4% year-on-year at Frankfurt Airport in Germany. A new peak was recorded for the month. However, freight tonnage fell 5.3% compared to September a year ago when tonnage reached record levels.
SkyWest Holdings, which has hundreds of aircraft that will need to be replaced over the coming years, is exploring new aircraft acquisition models with regional aircraft manufacturers that could make the largest U.S. regional carrier an even more attractive partner for some mainline carriers. SkyWest CFO Michael Kraupp says the airline is “looking for ways that would change our existing model and make it better for our major partners.”
In an unprecedented move designed to outflank General Electric and its CFM partner Snecma, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce have announced plans to form a new engine joint venture to power future mid-size aircraft based initially on the geared turbofan (GTF) configuration.
ST Aerospace Technologies (Xiamen) Co. Ltd. (STATCO) has opened a facility in Xiamen, China, that will overhaul and repair the CFM International CFM56-7B and -5B series engines that power the Boeing 737NG and Airbus A320 aircraft families, respectively. STATCO is a joint venture of Singapore Technologies Aerospace (ST Aero) and Xiamen Aviation Industry Co. Ltd.
Airbus will commence flight trials of its A320 fitted with winglets slightly later than planned, but the prototype aircraft will still fly this year, says Tom Williams, the aircraft maker’s executive vice president for programs.
The FAA should extend its oversight of terminal area safety to include runway overruns and ramp areas, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends in a new report that also finds a rising rate of runway incursions.
Detroit Metropolitan Airport will dedicate a permanent lounge for traveling U.S. service personnel on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m. A nonprofit organization, the Michigan Armed Forces Hospitality Center, is spearheading the effort to establish the Freedom Center inside the McNamara Terminal. The 1,100-sq.-ft. center will be staffed by trained volunteers to meet the needs of thousands of traveling troops. In the past, Delta Air Lines and Transportation Security Administration employees set up temporary lounges assisted by military veterans.
Pratt & Whitney Canada is embarking on initial studies for a next-generation PT6 turboprop that could provide up to a 20% improvement in fuel burn. “We are in early technology evaluation and looking forward to getting results early next year,” says PWC strategic planning and business development VP Eva Azoulay. The study is being conducted by PWC's internal advanced development group and operating “below the radar,” she adds.
Avianca in November is scheduled to add La Paz and Rio de Janeiro to its Bogota network, with the three-a-week Brazil service set to launch Nov. 4 and the Bolivian five-weekly flights on Nov. 16. The Bogota-hubbed division of AviancaTaca will serve both markets with 120-seat Airbus A319s, offering 12 seats in business class and 108 in economy. Avianca says it will be the only operator offering nonstop service on each city-pair.
SecurityPoint Media, which provides bins used by passengers going through airport security checkpoints, has teamed with a company to prepare it for expansion beyond 30 U.S. airports. RaptorAccelerator and Raptor Ventures are supporting the media company’s business plan. SecurityPointMedia provides trays and carts to security checkpoints and uses them for advertisements.
Key West International Airport has been approved by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to serve as a gateway to Cuba. The airport has teamed with CT Charters to operate the service in aircraft of 10 or less seats. The launch date has not been determined.
DHL Express Americas, riding on growth of international shipments through its Cincinnati-based North American hub, is carving out a creative sampling of new express and cargo routes, in some cases non-traditional connections, to keep revenue flowing.
Defense budget pressures in the U.S. and Europe are starting to bite into the profits of several aerospace companies—a reality reflected in midyear declines in Aviation Week's 16th annual Top-Performing Companies (TPC) scores of major industry contractors. Halfway through 2011, defense contractor Lockheed Martin maintained the top spot in the TPC study rankings for companies with annual revenues of more than $20 billion, but its TPC score dropped to 85 from 88 at the end of 2010. Raytheon and Northrop Grumman turned in even bigger declines.
Canada’s labor minister blocked a strike by Air Canada’s flight attendants on Oct. 13 by referring the dispute to the Canadian Industrial Relations Board. “I have asked the CIRB to review the situation at Air Canada to ensure that the health and safety of the public will not be impacted, and to determine how best to maintain and secure industrial peace and promote conditions that are favorable to the settlement of industrial disputes,” Labor Minister Lisa Raitt says.
Boeing’s first 747-8 freighter was set to be delivered to launch customer Cargolux yesterday after a long-running wrangle over contractual terms concerning engine performance was finally resolved. Announcing an end to the impasse that stalled delivery celebrations on Sept. 19, Boeing VP-Commercial Marketing Randy Tinseth said, “I’m happy to announce that we’ve resolved the contractual issues that delayed the first delivery of our new 747-8 Freighter last month.” Tinseth added that Cargolux will take delivery of its second 747-8F on Thursday.
The FAA gave its final, conditional approval on Oct. 11 for Delta Air Lines and US Airways to swap a large number of their slots at New York LaGuardia and Reagan Washington National airports, but there is a complication: the Justice Department (DOJ) says it is still investigating the slot transaction at National for antitrust concerns.
Germany plans to reduce its air passenger duty by 5.5% next year as the European Union introduces its emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). According to internal finance ministry documents, Germany would reduce the €45 charge for long-haul flights to €42.52, the €25 for medium-haul services to €23.62, and the short-haul tax from €8 to €7.56. The cuts are supposed to compensate for the expected costs the airline industry faces with ETS. A German federal law limits air passenger duty revenues to €1 billion annually.
Airways New Zealand's profit dipped slightly in the fiscal year ending June 30, which the air navigation service provider attributes to global economic uncertainty as well as natural disasters in key markets in the region. The net operating profit after tax totaled NZ$4.8 million ($3.7 million), down from NZ$5.1 million in the previous fiscal year. Revenue for the year came to NZ$152.6 million, and Airways returned a NZ$6 million dividend to the government. The company is a state-owned enterprise.
AirAsia, which is busy establishing low-cost carrier joint ventures in Japan and the Philippines, has decided to abandon plans to set up a joint-venture airline in Vietnam. The Malaysian low-cost carrier group was set to own 30% of proposed Vietnamese airline VietJet and bring it under the AirAsia brand, but AirAsia tells the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange that the VietJet deal has expired and it has no plans to renew it.
Delta Air Lines is cutting seven more routes from its Memphis International Airport hub in early January in a continuation of the service reductions it announced last spring and implemented in the fall. But airport officials are hopeful that Southwest Airlines will pick up some of the slack.
