Mexico’s Labor Secretary Javier Lozano says at least two investors appear ready and capable of reviving Mexicana de Aviacion, although there are no indications the government will announce which bid will be chosen. The comments come just days after Lozano, who may run in next year’s presidential election, canceled a planned meeting with Congress to discuss the carrier’s situation.
Normandy, France-based Brotonne Capital, the holding company for landing gear MRO Revima, acquired Revima APU from Hamilton Sundstrand on May 31 for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition grows the group’s portfolio as an independent aftermarket company.
Strong demand to the U.S. and Latin America in May neutralized excess supply across Air Canada’s domestic and transoceanic operations and helped produce a small 0.2-percentage-point rise in the operator’s load factor, which grew to 82.2%.
A new J.D. Power and Associates study of customer satisfaction with North American airlines underscores some of the risks that accompany the benefits of merging two carriers or charging for the first checked bag. It also highlights the price airlines could pay for having surly employees, particularly with its most potentially influential customers.
LAN Cargo and its Brazilian affiliate ABSA have proposed a $66 million settlement to the civil class action suit that arose from a criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into cartel practices among the world’s airfreight operators (Aviation Daily, May 9, 2008).
Antigua’s LIAT is being threatened by strike action as it seeks to reduce staffing levels. The carrier’s unions are angered by the proposed closure of city ticket offices across the Caribbean, which they claim breaches current labor agreements.
FAA, in the throes of finalizing new flight, rest and duty regulations for Part 121 carriers, is considering extending the rules to Part 135 operators, says FAA Flight Standards Director John Allen. Speaking during the National Air Transportation Association’s Air Charter Summit June 8, Allen did not provide a time line on a potential proposal for Part 135, and concedes the agency has its hands full with mandates from last summer’s Airline Safety and FAA Extension Act of 2010 that stemmed in part from the 2009 Colgan crash.
The FAA has issued a manual for its employees, some 22.28 megabytes in volume, that offers guidance on airports' compliance with federal regulations. An introduction says employees can assure airport operators of requirements they must fulfill and remain compliant if they receive federal funding or a land grant.
The leaders of United Continental Holdings’ pilot groups used the company’s annual shareholder meeting to attack management’s failure to proceed with a joint contract the unions say is essential to generate the full benefits of a merger that is scheduled for completion early next year.
The Boeing 747-400 freighter service launched this week by DHL Express connects its Cincinnati hub with Bahrain and Hong Kong. Polar Air Cargo operated the flight June 7 to Bahrain, which shortens delivery times by as much as a full day for shipments from the U.S. to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The service feeds to a Middle Eastern interregional network of more than 150 flights a week.
U.S. carriers are asking the Transportation Department to give them an additional six months to comply with new passenger rights rules on checked baggage fee disclosure, full-fare advertising and denied boarding compensation—and are arguing for a change in one of the new bag fee disclosure requirements.
Domestic on-time performance for U.S. carriers fell to its second-lowest level for any April in the past 17 years, the U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) and its Bureau for Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported June 7. This year’s big storms in April likely were a big factor. Weather accounted for 40% of the arrival delays for the month, which is even higher than the percentage for the winter months in which snowstorms exacted a big toll, BTS data show.
The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) has joined the chorus of dissent against the European Union’s proposed emissions trading scheme (ETS), calling the program discriminatory, flawed and, ultimately, illegal. Europe’s ETS is central to the region’s climate control policy by attempting to limit carbon dioxide emissions. However, the inclusion of any airline that uses EU airspace has angered industry and governments alike amid claims that the EU, among other things, is imposing a tax on companies outside its jurisdiction.
Data Watch: Top Carriers-Riyadh June 1-7, 2011, Ranked By Scheduled Outbound ASMs Airport ASMs Airport Seats Departures Share (mil) Share /Dept. Saudi Arabian 769 32.1% 135
Passenger unit revenue at United Continental Holdings grew 14-15% in May despite slightly reduced capacity. That 0.6% dip in supply to 21.5 billion available seat miles also helped United Continental push its load factor 0.2 percentage points higher to 83.7% despite a 0.3% decline in traffic to 18 billion revenue passenger miles. Domestic capacity accounted for the largest reduction, falling 3.3% to 9.4 billion ASMs, although this again helped improve loads 1.3 points to 86.8% on a 1.7% drop in demand to 8.1 billion RPMs.
Thai Airways International wants majority control of low-cost carrier Nok Air, but is unable to get it because of the other shareholders. “We still want to control Nok, but the other shareholders don’t want us to control Nok. However, in the long term, Nok would benefit from Thai playing more of a role in the company,” Thai Airways President Piyasvasti Amranand tells Aviation Week in Singapore. Thai owns 39% of Nok Air.
Driven by strong growth in international passengers, particularly at European airports, worldwide passenger traffic spiked 11% in April, compared with ash cloud-affected April a year ago. European airports led the growth spurt with a 27% increase as 61 of its 78 airports reported gains of more than 20% in domestic and international traffic. Major European hubs posted sharp increases: Amsterdam 37%, Frankfurt 31%, London Heathrow 31% and Paris 29%.
Atlanta City Council awarded a contract to widen taxiways and a runway to accommodate the Airbus A380 and a separate contract to expand the center point of Concourse D at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Runway 27R will be widened from 220 ft. to 250 ft. and taxiways from 145 ft. to 162 ft. The A380 can land now at Atlanta, but each operation requires manual inspections for foreign object debris in areas where outboard engines extend beyond the paved runway.
The Philippine government has set a June 2012 deadline for its civil aviation authority to achieve Category I status with the U.S. FAA. “The president of the Philippines has given a time frame and it is June 2012,” the month Philippine Airlines (PAL) takes delivery of its next Boeing 777-300ER, PAL President Jaime Bautista tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Singapore.
Airbus and Rolls-Royce are believed to be working on a potential thrust margin increase of about 5,000 lb. for the Trent XWB engine that will power the A350-1000, a sufficiently substantial design change that would force the planned entry-into-service target for the larger model to slide from 2015 to at least 2016. The plans come as key customers, such as Air Lease Corp. (ALC) and Emirates, have publicly voiced doubts that the engine—as currently defined—will be powerful enough.
