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.
Boeing’s decision to outfit its 737 jet with new engines and push back development of a cutting-edge replacement may be good news for China’s Comac and other new entrants to the passenger jet market.
A delegation of U.S. House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee representatives will be making road trips in the near future to various airports to look into strengthening airport perimeter security. Rep. William Keating (D-Mass.) is spearheading these trips. The Government Accountability Office on July 13 released a report finding that the Transportation Security Administration needs to do more to ensure access controls at airports.
Alaska Airlines is seeking rate reductions in current negotiations with two of the three major global distribution system providers. But executives for the carrier say they still see the greatest potential for reducing distribution costs in shifting more bookings to the carrier’s website, which already takes about 50% of them, and will be stepping up promotional efforts in the coming months via online search and online and offline advertising.
The Italian market is seeing yet another major change following Lufthansa's decision to terminate its Lufthansa Italia venture at Milan Malpensa by the end of October; Meridiana Fly is merging with Air Italy. The combined airline will have pro forma revenues to the tune of €850 million ($1.2 billion) and a fleet of 35 aircraft, five of them long-range ones. It will therefore became one of only two Italian airlines, the other being Alitalia.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact: Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) Sept. 12—A&D Finance Europe, London Sept. 14-15—MRO for Aircraft & Engine Leasing, Dublin Sept. 26—Aircraft Composite Repair Management Forum, Zurich Sept. 27-29—MRO Europe 2011, Madrid Oct. 20-21—MRO IT, Chicago
The top three countries for fraudulent online air ticket bookings are currently Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, says Charles Clump, the head of fraud prevention company Retail Decisions. Tickets booked from Egypt and Italy have also had a high incidence of fraud, according to the company’s research. The most fraud-prone route at the moment is Malaysia-Nigeria.
