Republic Airways is negotiating with Embraer to delay the delivery of six E-190s that it was scheduled to begin receiving this quarter for operations at its Frontier Airlines low-cost carrier subsidiary. The U.S. carrier already had touched on the possibility in a recent court filing, in which it said the uncertainty created by an International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) lawsuit against Republic and Frontier might jeapardize Republic's ability to finance the aircraft.
Following through on previously announced plans for the potential spinoff of AMR Corp’s American Eagle regional airline subsidiary, mainline carrier American Airlines signed an agreement Aug. 31 to acquire all of Eagle’s jet aircraft for “fair market value” by Oct. 15. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Sept. 2, AMR said American signed an agreement Aug. 31 to buy American Eagle’s 47 CRJ-700 and 216 Embraer 135, 140 and 145 aircraft and took its first delivery on Aug. 31.
Eurocontrol is taking the final regulatory steps toward becoming the network manager for the European air traffic management system, a role that will be crucial to the success of the Single European Sky (SES) effort. The agency says it is seeking the formal approval of its member states to accept the nomination as network manager. It has recently received the formal nominating letter from the European Commission.
The Asia-Pacific area accounts for half of ATR’s sales, and the success it has achieved in this region partly explains why the aircraft maker is ramping up production. “If we talk about orders since the beginning of the program, Asia-Pacific represents 30% of our sales, and some 50% since 2005,” says an ATR spokesman in the aircraft maker’s Toulouse headquarters. “Asia-Pacific has 28% of the total ATRs flying today,” he adds.
Garuda Indonesia has recruited 23 local Indonesian pilots, a move that is part of efforts to appease the Garuda pilots union, which recently threatened to go on strike over Garuda’s use of foreign pilots. The Indonesian national carrier says the 23 new pilots all are recent graduates of the Bali International Flight Academy. It says the graduates will undergo type-rating training, after which they will have the necessary skills to operate the carrier’s new aircraft. Garuda has been replacing Boeing 737-400s with 737-800s.
The U.S. Transportation Department’s Aviation Consumer Protection and Enforcement Office may be on track for a record-setting year—at least for this century—in the number of fines levied against airlines and other air travel sellers. Through August, the office has issued 44 consent orders, which is the process used for imposing the fines. That compares with 24 for the same time period in 2010, 20 in 2009, 10 in 2008 and 16 in 2007, an Aviation Week review of the records shows.
Bangkok Airways has dropped its order for four Airbus A350-800s, increasing Airbus cancellations for the year to 144 units. The original equipment manufacturer booked 234 new orders last month. The Bangkok Airways move brings to 29 the number of A350 cancellations Airbus has suffered year-to-date, leaving the combined order book for the type at 131 -800s, 361 -900s and 75 -1000s. For the year, however, the net order intake for the type is negative, with 19 fewer aircraft booked than added to the backlog.
An Australian labor court has rejected a long-running challenge by Qantas pilots against the carrier’s use of a New Zealand-based subsidiary. Fair Work Australia dismissed the Australian and International Pilots Association’s application to allow it to represent pilots employed by Jetconnect. Jetconnect is a Qantas Group subsidiary that operates New Zealand-based Boeing 737s between New Zealand and Australia.
A Senate panel passed a homeland security spending bill Tuesday that provides $7.9 billion for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), an increase from fiscal 2011 fueled in part by a $1.50 increase in passenger-paid security user fees.
Air France has met with labor representatives to discuss the current economic outlook, signaling the airline may seek further concessions to reduce its unit costs. French reports suggest that a new cost-cutting plan is being readied. Air France posted a €145 million ($204.1 million) operating loss in the last quarter for which it has reported financial results, showing that operating costs, excluding fuel, were up 6.2%.
The FAA is considering imposing a $175,000 civil penalty on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology based on an allegation that MIT violated hazardous materials regulations.
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) new medium- to long-haul, low-cost carrier Scoot plans to have its Boeing 777-200s configured with about 400 seats. Industry research firm Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA), citing tender documents issued by Scoot for wireless inflight entertainment (IFE), says Scoot aims to achieve a seating capacity of about 400 on its Boeing 777-200s. SIA’s 777-200s currently have a capacity of up to 323 seats.
EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou is making good on his threat to seek further changes at the low-fare airline. The latest target is Riagos Doganis, a long-serving non-executive director. At issue remains the fleet expansion plan approved by EasyJet this year, which has previously drawn criticism from Haji-Ioannou.
Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and current chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association, will address the monthly luncheon meeting of the Aero Club of Washington on Sept. 13 at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington. Lunch begins at 12:30 p.m.
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs and Statistics, 12 Months Ended December 2010, Jet Aircraft (Pages 9 and 10 of 11) MD11 Manufacturer: McDonnell Douglas
Indonesian carrier Lion Air is planning to establish an aircraft leasing business in Singapore, with the global market in mind. Industry executives familiar with the situation say Lion’s founder and President director Rusdi Kirana has had a long-held ambition to expand into the aircraft leasing business, and in recent months has made progress in achieving that goal.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 8—Safety and Security: How 9-11 Changed Security, Alexandria, Va., (Reagan National Airport Historic Terminal A), 202-547-0229, www.womeninaerospace.org./events/current/83.html Sept. 8-9—Second Annual European Corporate Aviation Summit, Swedish Air Force Museum, Linkoping, Sweden, www.aeropodium.com
Hawaiian Airlines has promoted Kathy Wong-Nakamura to the new position of managing director of application development and maintenance to further its information technology needs. She was interim managing director.
Travelport named Simon Ferguson as its regional director for the U.K. and Ireland, effective Sept. 12. He comes from Travelzoo where he is general manager for the destinations and network business.
By Deborah A.P. Hersman, Chairman, National Transportation Safety Board On Feb. 13, 2008, two Go! airline pilots, cruising at 21,000 ft. over Hawaii in broad daylight, fell asleep. Ignoring repeated calls from air traffic control, they flew 26 mi. past Hilo’s airport before waking up, contacting air traffic control and landing safely. The pilots’ fatigue that day resulted from several successive days of early flights as well as the captain’s undiagnosed sleep apnea.
Boeing will deliver its first 747-8 Freighter to launch customer Cargolux on Sept. 19 and turn over the second of the 13 aircraft the Luxembourg-based carrier has ordered on Sept. 21.
