Business aviation advocates received a setback in their efforts to preserve the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program last week after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied their motion to stop the U.S. Transportation Department from severely limiting participation in BARR. The advocates say they are pushing expeditiously for a full hearing on the matter.
JetBlue Airways pilots, who currently are not represented by any union, began voting July 26 on whether they want to be represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. The voting will continue until Aug. 16, which is when the ballots will be counted, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger says. A vote by JetBlue pilots on forming an independent union failed in early 2009, with only about a third voting for representation at the New York-based low-cost carrier (Aviation Daily, Feb. 10, 2009).
Alaska Airlines has more work to do to reduce its vulnerability to competition from low-cost carriers and “reconstituted legacy airlines,” but is generally pleased with its progress after reporting record second-quarter income when excluding special items, the carrier’s president says.
India’s largest airline by market share, Jet Airways, plans to merge its two low-fare subsidiaries into one full-service yet low-cost brand. Jet Airways currently operates JetLite, which it bought from Sahara Air, and Jet Konnect, both as separate businesses.
Next month will see Senegal Airlines undergo its first fleet expansion effort after the carrier started service in January. The airline—born of a public/private partnership—was established after the demise of Air Senegal and aims to initially focus on domestic and regional operations before pushing into long-haul operations. The airline will add an ATR 72-500 and an Airbus A320 to its fleet, with the 46-seat turboprop to join Aug. 8, followed by the narrowbody (the third in its fleet) on Aug. 15.
South Florida-based low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines says it is developing an option in which customers could pay a fee to hold a reservation for “a limited period” prior to final purchase, but that plan could be scuttled by a new U.S. Transportation Department rule that requires U.S. airlines to provide a 24-hour hold or refund option on any booking made more than a week before the flight. Spirit and Allegiant Air are challenging the 24-hour rule in court.
Passenger revenue growth slowed for the largest U.S. carriers in June, but the Latin American and Caribbean market remained a standout performer with continuing double-digit gains in revenue and yield, the Air Transportation Association says. According to ATA figures released July 20, passenger revenue increased 22% and yield by 18% year-over-year for Latin American and Caribbean routes. That compares with a 7% increase in both revenue and yield for all domestic, transatlantic, transpacific and Latin American/Caribbean routes.
Most U.S. airlines are cashing in on ticket-related taxes the federal government cannot collect because Congress has not reauthorized the FAA—so much so that one aviation industry stock analyst is openly rooting for prolonged congressional deadlock on a reauthorization bill.
Boeing 787-9 launch customer Air New Zealand says that while the 787 program delays are holding back its growth plans, it has no plans to add other aircraft to bridge the gap. Air New Zealand is now slated to begin receiving the 787s in 2014. It would be “an understatement to say we are frustrated and disappointed” by the 787 program delays, CFO Rob McDonald says at the Aviation Outlook Australia Pacific conference in Sydney.
With Ryanair nearing the end of its order for Boeing 737-800s and no follow-on deal in sight, the low-fare airline may curtail planned fleet disposals and maintain slightly higher capacity than planned.
MASwings, Malaysia Airlines’ (MAS) turboprop operation in East Malaysia, will request government approval to buy as many as six new turboprop aircraft to replace its de Havilland Canada Twin Otters.
The partial shutdown of the FAA, due to Congress’s failure to extend a reauthorization bill, has expanded into stop-work orders on airport construction and is threatening plans to spend $2.5 billion of Airport Improvement Program (AIP) money on expansion projects, including the Next Generation air transportation system (NextGen).
All Nippon Airways has disclosed that it will take delivery of its first Boeing 787 in September and that its first revenue service with this aircraft type will be a charter flight to Hong Kong. The Star Alliance carrier and Boeing had not specified before in which month the first 787 would arrive in Japan.
Spirit Airlines might be forced to delay or cancel new aircraft deliveries because of new Transportation Department passenger rights rules scheduled to take effect early next year, the South Florida-based low-cost carrier told the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.
Gains in every one of its designated markets improved United Continental’s second-quarter revenues 10.3% year-on-year, but the gain still was not enough to mitigate cost increases in the three-month period.
The FAA has tentatively decided to let Delta Air Lines and US Airways exchange their slots at Washington Reagan National and New York LaGuardia airports, largely under the conditions proposed by the carriers, in a breakthrough that could herald a consummation of the long-proposed deal this year and full implementation by the third quarter of 2012.
Boeing is in the middle of qualifying Interfaceflor's carpet tiles for use on its aircraft. Called Sky-Tiles, the carpet squares incorporate recycled raw materials and are designed to save labor costs due to their ease of replacement. Southwest Airlines has installed Interfaceflor carpet on four Boeing 737s and is testing the material. Once Boeing qualifies the carpet, operators will be able to select the lighter-weight carpet, which can be recycled.
United Continental Holdings’ top executive now believes the complexity of brokering joint collective bargaining agreements combined with “factors outside of our control” will push the completion of new labor agreements from this year into 2012.
Iberia plans to decide soon which engine to select for its Airbus A330-300 fleet. “We are close to a final decision” for the engines that will power up to 16 of the aircraft, the first of which it is scheduled to receive in early 2015, says Jose Luis Ruiz de Castaneda, EVP-maintenance and engineering.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will install software upgrades to its 500 body scanners in place at U.S. airports that use a generic image of a person’s body, replacing software that provided a fairly graphic image.
