Frontier Airlines is expanding its presence in Kansas City, Mo., by adding service to Las Vegas and Houston Hobby Airport, starting Nov. 1, on 99-seat Embraer 190 aircraft. With the additions, the low-cost carrier will serve 18 destinations nonstop from Kansas City. As a result of the service expansion, which follows the addition of three other routes within the past year, Frontier will be expanding its facilities at the airport to include a fifth gate in Terminal C. Republic Airways, Frontier's parent company, has crew and maintenance bases in Kansas City.
A new Japanese low-cost carrier will operate under the Jetstar brand and will launch by the end of 2012, according to Japanese media reports. The Nikkei business daily says an agreement has been reached among Jetstar, Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi Corp. for a 3 billion yen ($39 million) joint venture. Mitsubishi would reduce its 33.4% share in the LCC by next summer, and new shareholders would be brought in, the reports say. Mitsubishi would handle the leasing of aircraft to the carrier.
While there are no overt overtures coming from Washington, American Airlines’ proposed joint venture with Oneworld alliance partner Qantas could be helped by the U.S. Transportation Department’s tentative approval of new entrant Strategic Airlines’ plan to offer scheduled service between Australia and the U.S. The two legacy carriers cited the Brisbane-based company’s application in their own proposal, noting it as an example of increased competition between the two countries.
Great Lakes Aviation is making progress on reducing its dependence on Essential Air Service funding. But the U.S. regional carrier still relies heavily on revenue from the program’s federal subsidies for rural air service, and the political standoff over the program’s future continues to hamper the airline’s immediate financing needs, the airline says in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Transportation Security Administration shortly is expected to release a much-anticipated rulemaking on cargo security. The Office of Management and Budget recently cleared the final air cargo screening rule for publication, following a review that began May 5. The rule follows the September 2009 interim final rule that established the Certified Cargo Screening Program (CCSP) for shippers, manufacturers and other entities to screen air cargo transported on passenger aircraft.
FlightSafety International , Flushing, N.Y., promoted Mitch Alexander to manager, from assistant manager, of the Daleville, Ala., Learning Center. He succeeds Ralph Hicks, who has retired.
Ecuador’s state-owned airline TAME has started the search for a new CEO after Director General Gustavo Cuesta was ousted following a boardroom clash last week. According to industry sources, Cuesta left after failing to reach an agreement with a government-appointed committee that is overseeing the airline’s turnaround. The committee demanded significant staff cuts that Cuesta refused to accept, the sources say.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, operated by a municipal government and the world’s single busiest commercial airfield, is also the most fiscally efficient, says a Canadian university aviation think tank.
Australia’s Skywest Airlines has taken delivery of its first ATR 72-500, which, in addition to further deliveries, it plans to operate on behalf of Virgin Australia. Skywest is scheduled to take delivery of three more ATR 72-500s this year and four ATR 72-600s in 2012. They will all fly in the new Virgin Australia livery.
A delay in setting a fuel-efficiency measurement for aircraft CO2 emissions opens the door for environmental groups to push for stricter standards. An ICAO working group sent rival metric proposals to a steering group that meets in September, and is now targeting 2015 instead of 2013 as the date for completing a standard.
India’s federal government on Aug. 12 replaced the head of Air India and said it will complete the financial restructuring plan of the ailing carrier in about three months.
Boeing is looking at expansive and more modest changes to the 777 widebody to keep the product viable, but a strategy decision is not likely soon, says Air Lease Corp. Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy. Boeing is already in talks with potential customers about the so-called 777X, says Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Jim Albaugh.
Brazil’s GOL Linhas Inteligentes is attempting to generate RL650 million (US$403 million) in savings to mitigate the effects of an increasing competitive domestic market that caused second-quarter sales to decline from the same time last year and pushed the company’s operating performance into the red.
Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt will not have a direct effect on airport revenue bonds in the near term, but some of the ancillary and trickle-down effects could spell trouble for airports down the road, bond analysts say.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Aug. 16-18—Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems North America 2011, Washington Convention Center, 703-845-9671 ext. 213, www.symposium.auvsi.org/auvsi11/public/enter.aspx Aug. 16-21—MAKS 2011 International Aviation and Space Salon, Aviasalon JSC, Flight Research Institute, Moscow, +7 (495) 787-66-51, www.aviasalon.com
Air Berlin says it is implementing comprehensive measures to improve its financial standing after reporting a widened loss for the second quarter. The company stated that it will reduce frequencies and suspend some routes for a capacity cut of more than 1 million seats in the second half of the year. Air Berlin admitted, however, that the measures’ effects may not come quickly enough to avoid an operating loss in fiscal 2011.
