Lambert-St. Louis International Airport has closed indefinitely Concourse C, which sustained heavy damage in the F-4-ranked tornado that struck the airport and the region last Friday. An assessment team is expected to report on the damage, which includes the loss of a large section of the roof and many broken windows. The flight schedule was expected to be restored to 100% on Tuesday, with all 13 tenants airlines providing services.
Boeing says it would be “premature and speculative” to draw any conclusions from a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation update that suggests manufacturing defects could be to blame for the April 1 fuselage rupture on a Southwest Boeing 737-300 aircraft.
After threatening last year to cut back investments at its main hub, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and shift traffic to its other hubs, Delta Air Lines is now willing to invest $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities, including some of the $1.4 billion cost of the new international terminal.
JetBlue Airways eked out a $3 million profit for the first quarter, but CEO Dave Barger pronounced himself “pleased” with the outcome, given the rise in fuel prices. The airline, however, is trimming its previous growth plan for this year by one percentage point, now planning for a 6-8% increase in capacity. The results released April 21 compare with a $1 million loss for the airline in the first quarter of 2010.
A group of Star Alliance partners currently operating a transatlantic joint venture want to add Brussels Airlines to their immunized partnership. The agreement currently permits Lufthansa subsidiaries Austrian Airlines, British Midland and Swiss International Air Lines the same immunized relationship their parent company enjoys with Air Canada, LOT Polish Airlines, SAS, TAP Portugal and United Continental Holdings, albeit with revenue sharing and other aspects of the joint venture controlled by the German operator.
The Massachusetts Port Authority will consolidate rental car companies in a four-level garage and customer service building at Boston Logan International Airport. The Massport board has approved a $300 million budget for the facility, to be located in the southwest service area. The consolidated facility will reduce the rental car bus fleet and Massport shuttle buses from more than 100 to 28, cutting vehicle emissions and curbside congestion. Solar panels will produce about 2.5% of the building’s electrical needs.
Tornado-bashed Lambert St. Louis International Airport expects to return to operating its normal flight schedule by midweek following a weekend of clearing debris and boarding up windows broken in the F-4-strength tornado that struck last Friday and closed the airport for 24 hr.
The National Air Transportation Association and Airports Council International-North America are at odds over a bill designed to reduce “unfair government competition” with the private sector.
Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) is preparing to build a compressed natural gas fueling station at LA Ontario Airport, another step in its alternative fuels vehicle conversion policy. LAWA operates 648 alternate-fuel vehicles, about 63% of its fleet, each powered by sources other than gasoline or diesel fuel. At Los Angeles International Airport, 72%—557 vehicles—use alternate fuels, including liquefied petroleum gas. It also operates a fuel station capable of discharging both kinds of alternate fuels.
Virgin America, which is slowing its growth plans and reducing aircraft deliveries for 2012 and 2013 because of higher fuel prices, likely will need another capital infusion eventually if fuel prices do not drop and fares do not continue to rise, CEO David Cush says. Cush, however, says he does not expect that to happen. “We fully expect something to balance—either fuel will drop or fares will rise—eliminating any need for additional capital,” he told Aviation Week.
India is expected to shortlist within the next five months a manufacturer for a much-needed basic jet trainer aircraft. Five competitors—Grob's G-120 TP, Embraer's EMB-312 Super Tucano, Korea Aerospace Industries' KT-1, Finmeccanica's M-311 and Pilatus' PC-7—emerged after a request for proposal was issued early last year. The deal is estimated to cost about $1 billion.
American Airlines will probably delay a vote to divest its regional affiliate American Eagle Airlines beyond a May 18 board meeting, says the feeder carrier’s pilots union.
Aerospace lobbyists say the FAA reauthorization bill has the best chance of passing of all its 18 extensions. Insiders speculate that top Republicans working in conference on the bill will eventually trade away the National Mediation Board regulation to get this one legislative victory. Congress remains on spring recess this week, giving key staffers more time without members to lay the groundwork for a compromise by the May 31 deadline.
India wants to introduce 100 seaplanes into service in the next 10 years to support tourism and essential services to its coastal and island territories. The federal government has allowed 100% foreign direct investment in the seaplane sector and has urged foreign operators to take advantage of the offer. India looks at more foreign direct investment in this sector so seaplanes can be introduced on a large scale not only for tourism, but also to provide essential services and medical aid during floods and other emergencies.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is calling on FAA’s Randy Babbitt to address fatigue among its members with recommendations it says previous administrators avoided. Union President Paul Rinaldi, while applauding the agency’s recent decision to eliminate single staffing on midnight shifts, says all current measures to resolve a series of highly publicized incidents involving sleeping controllers “barely scratch the surface of the problem.
The Chinese Railways Ministry is easing pressure on the country’s airlines with a decision to cut the speed of the Beijing-Shanghai fast train service that will begin in June.
Jamaica’s government is budgeting about $10 billion to accommodate aircraft lease commitments prior to its sale of Air Jamaica to Trinidad & Tobago’s Caribbean Airlines, Finance and Public Service Minister Audley Shaw reportedly told the country’s Parliament during his 2011-2012 budget speech. According to local media, the new budget allocates $4.5 billion for the fiscal year, but quoted Shaw as saying that is not the full extent of support for this fiscal year.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has agreed to hear an appeal June 11 in Seattle from Boeing’s unionized machinists that would prevent the airplane builder from opening a 787 factory the size of 12 football fields in South Carolina.
