UK-based Trac Precision Machining will set up a turbine blade plant in the Mexican port town of Guaymas. The plant will be a little over 18,000-sq. ft. when it opens in the first quarter of 2009, but it will grow to 35,000-sq. ft. with three years, says The Offshore Group, which is renting the industrial space to the British company. In a statement The Offshore Group adds that it has also being contracted for “outsourced manufacturing support, or ‘shelter,’ services at the Roca Fuerte Industrial Park.”
As the White House/Capitol Hill standoff turns to stalemate over climate change legislation, staffers close to the process are beginning to believe that any real movement will be up to the next President. The bill to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions with a cap-and-trade system, renumbered as S.3036, was voted to cloture on June 2. As the debate began, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said the "real work on the Senate floor now begins."
Spirit’s board has scheduled a meeting for June 10 to decide how many pilots and attendants to furlough, the unions for those workers said yesterday after receiving notice from the carrier that hundreds of their jobs are at risk.
The Air Transport Association is coming out fighting against the U.S. Homeland Security Dept.'s decision not to extend the comment period for a proposal to collect biometric data from non-U.S. citizens leaving the country. A coalition of transport industry groups, including ATA, IATA, regional airline groups and bus and tour operator associations, urged DHS to extend the 60-day comment period for the rule when it was published in April. The comment period expires June 23.
As airlines around the world scrambled to become 100% electronic-ticket compliant by June 1 for tickets processed through IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), those distributing tickets in the U.S. were not among them.
United Airlines in the next few days is expected to follow American Airlines’ lead and announce a cull of more than 100 aircraft. All 737-300s and 737-500s are expected to be cut, as are roughly 1,500 jobs from carrier’s Chicago headquarters. United’s low-cost unit Ted is also on the chopping block.
EADS Socata is in talks with UB Group and Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya for an investment in its next product — a twin-engine, eight-seat TBM-850 business aircraft expected to launch next year.
Japan’s Skymark Airlines has cancelled about 10% of its June schedule, dropping an average of six flights a day, because, it says, two of its 85 pilots are leaving the company. It is unclear why the loss of just two pilots is having so great an effect on the schedule. The transport ministry says the cut could extend into July and beyond and is urging Skymark to get its business back in order.
The U.S. will launch an electronic travel authorization program on August 1, although it will be voluntary until at least next January, the Homeland Security Department said yesterday.
Bombardier could launch its 110- to 130-seat CSeries aircraft in July with as many as 200 committed orders, according to one Canadian analyst. In a May 30 report Research Capital’s Jacques Kavafian also proclaimed China Southern Airlines will be a launch customer and that the carrier will order 50 CSeries aircraft as well as 50 of the Canadian manufacturer’s turboprops.
United Airlines will end all service to Alaska when it terminates its Anchorage flights in September. The airline confirms it will drop Anchorage from its network on September 21 when it stops operating a nonstop service from Denver. The cessation is part of United’s plans to trim 9% from its domestic schedule. Local reports say 35 airline employees will be affected by the withdrawal. United normally cuts its Anchorage service in the winter to a sole Denver-Anchorage nonstop. Summer services are already set to end September 2.
U.S. airlines are watching this week's Senate vote on landmark climate-change legislation with apprehension, fearing the costs the bill could add to already stratospheric fuel prices. Senate debate began yesterday on the Climate Security Act, introduced last year by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) and co-sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), calls for a national cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions.
Pacific Wings, moving to expand its essential air service business, can add Athens and Macon, Georgia, to its portfolio — the U.S. Transportation Dept. last week selected the Hawaii-based carrier to operate service to the communities. Pacific Wings will fly as Georgia Skies, providing 12 weekly nonstops between Athens and Atlanta and 26 weekly nonstops between Macon and Atlanta. Both routes will be served with nine-seat Cessna Grand Caravan turboprops.
The U.S. and Kenya signed an open-skies agreement, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters reported Friday. The deal is the first-ever aviation agreement between the two countries, and it goes into effect immediately, Peters said. The agreement removes all restrictions on flights between Kenya and the U.S. and allows for full liberalization of capacity, pricing and cooperative marketing agreements. After the deal has been in effect for three years, U.S. airlines will be allowed to fly from Kenya to other points in Africa.
The European Parliament is expected to push through tighter rules on airlines’ ownership of global distribution systems at its plenary session of July or September. The parliament’s transport committee adopted a amended draft that effectively targets Amadeus and is intended to prevent its “parent carriers” Air France-KLM, Lufthansa and Iberia from taking unfair advantage of their stake in the Madrid-based GDS.
The SkyTeam alliance is talking to several potential new members. Discussions are underway with China Airlines, China Eastern, Malaysian, Vietnam, Kingfisher and Jet Airways as well as Gol/Varig, according to Chairman Leo van Wjik. Formal talks will start with Vietnam Airlines. SkyTeam is also talking to Bangkok Airways, Rossiya and Uzbekistan Airways about becoming associate members.
The world’s biggest airports are likely to remain busier than ever, but the bleak economic outlook and skyrocketing fuel prices have clouded the outlook for the international airport sector, according to a report by debt watcher Standard & Poor’s.
El Salvador-based Grupo Taca’s Flight 390, an Airbus A320-133 en route from San Salvador to Miami, overshot a short runway on landing Friday at 9:45 a.m. local time in Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, broke through a barrier and slammed on a city street. The fuselage broke in three large segments and the cockpit burrowed in the rubble while tanks spilled 2,000 gallons of fuel. Weather might have been a factor as the aircraft was trying to land in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Alma.
Delta will offer more service to the Middle East, adding a Boeing 777-200ER non-stop flight between Atlanta and Kuwait City, Kuwait, beginning Nov. 7. The new service is on top of destinations the carrier is either already serving or adding in the region, including: Atlanta to Dubai and Tel Aviv; JFK to Istanbul and Tel Aviv; and new JFK-Cairo service starting June 5 and JFK-Amman starting June 5. Delta in October will also boost frequencies between Atlanta and Dubai from five times a week to daily.
Latin American carriers LAN and TACA are being investigated by Bolivia’s Corporation Superintendent, or SEB, for excessive airfares charged by both on international routes originating in Bolivia, according to local wire reports. SEB Superintendent Rolando Morales says the investigation may lead to charges of abusing the market, which would be subject to legal sanctions. LAN links Bolivia with other South American countries, Europe and the U.S. while Grupo Taca codeshares with Bolivian AeroSur to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and Colombia.
Forced to issue a profit warning for the second time this year, Air Berlin is reconsidering major parts of its current strategy and could make changes in weeks. CEO Joachim Hunold said he is reviewing “the entire long-haul operation” and will make a decision on measures in the next three to four weeks.
