Andrew Steinberg, a former top U.S. Transportation Dept. official, will be joining law firm Jones Day’s Washington office as partner May 1. Steinberg served for five years at DOT, first as FAA chief counsel and most recently as assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs earlier this year.
United has reimplemented the Saturday-night stay requirement for discounted fares in about 65% of its domestic markets, in a move that drives another stake into the fare simplification that Delta launched with great fanfare more than three years ago.
Boeing still plans to use radio frequency identification smart labels on certain 787 maintenance-significant parts, according to Phil Coop, manager of 787 GoldCare operational efficiency. However, he said, “Our strategy is to let business needs dictate the solution,” which might mean Boeing will use a mix of technologies, such as RFID and contact memory buttons. “We need to use the right technology for the right needs,” he stressed.
U.K. airlines posted a slight improvement on schedule punctuality in the fourth quarter of 2007 year over year, according to figures tracked by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The regulatory agency tracked performance at the following airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Luton, Stansted, Manchester, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London City. Between October and December 2007, the overall on-time performance — defined as early to 15 minutes late — of scheduled airlines at the 10 U.K. airports monitored rose by one percentage point, CAA found.
AirTran abruptly changed the date of its first quarter earnings call from Thursday morning to this morning, but it did not say why. Late last Friday, AirTran felt compelled to issue a press release to calm investors when, in the wake of the Frontier bankruptcy filing, its stock took a dive and ended the day at $4.13 after opening at $6.17 (DAILY, April 15). That stabilized the stock somewhat, but the stock closed yesterday at $4.56. AirTran announced the change minutes after the market closed.
The early Easter holiday proved beneficial to traffic at the 12 airports operated by Mexico’s Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP) but the same could not be said for the top tourist airports operated by Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (OMA). Total passenger traffic at GAP airports shot up 9.1% in March, thanks to increased international travel during the holiday period. The 7.7% increase in total passenger traffic at OMA’s airports, meanwhile, came courtesy of strong domestic traffic that offset decline on the international side.
MAT Macedonian Airlines claims that it was barred from serving Greece this summer because of its name. “We kindly inform you that we cannot grant permission to the airline under the name of ‘MAT-Macedonian Airlines’, reads a letter from the Greek Civil Aviation Administration which MAT leaked the media. The Skopje-based carrier intended to serve the Greek island of Corfu in the summer season and claims Athens’ rebuttal “will generate… substantial losses.”
U.S. aircraft lessor Aviation Capital Group yesterday revealed another order for 17 Boeing 737s. The latest deal means ACG has ordered a total of 76 737s, as well as five 787s. The company says this aircraft is in high demand, and the 737 family has proven it retains value well. The ACG backlog includes 15 delivery positions acquired from Delta in 2006.
Amid persistent reports that Rome wants to entice Air France-KLM back to the table to salvage Alitalia, the Franco-Dutch airline group yesterday moved to clarify the current status, as it sees it. The offer Air France-KLM made for Alitalia last month is no longer on the table, Europe’s largest network carrier stressed. The terms have lapsed because conditions to launch a takeover were not met, it said.
Senate Democratic leaders are trying to bring the FAA reauthorization bill — long viewed as dead for this year — to a floor vote this week or next, sources tell The DAILY.
Airbus has set up a separate entity to take over three of its German sites originally earmarked for outsourcing. The Varel, Nordenham and Augsburg sites will be integrated into the German Aerostructures Company (GAC) that will for the time being remain a fully owned EADS subsidiary. The unit will be run by Hans Lonsinger, a former head of EADS’ Augsburg plant.
Aeroporti di Roma SpA’s BBB- rating and stable outlook through Standard & Poor’s will remain in place despite IATA’s talks with Alitalia about possible guarantees to keep using its settlements system if the Italian flagship goes into administration.
The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld Nevada’s Clark County Dept. of Aviation lawsuit against FAA over plans to build a wind farm near the site of the planned Ivanpah Airport; the issue could delay an environmental impact study on the proposed site. FAA and Clark County have been working on a new airport at the Ivanpah site, located southwest of Las Vegas. During the process, an alternative-energy company told FAA that it wanted to build a wind farm of 83 electricity-generating turbines on a mountain a few miles from the planned airport site.
Airbus this year will fit a Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan to an A340 for test flights to assess the engine technology. The test flights should help Airbus engineers examine the suitability of the geared engine technology for a future single-aisle aircraft. The A340 is being used not because that’s the intended application for the Pratt engine, but because with four engines, the widebody is a suitable test platform, an Airbus official says.
BAA will only receive partial payment of landing fees owed by Ryanair and EasyJet at London Stansted and Gatwick airport until their legal challenge against the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) over price hikes that went into effect April 1 is resolved. Both carriers are putting the disputed funds into escrow accounts.
American says it spent $256 million on maintenance, repairs and materials in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 31.3% from the first three months of last year, according to Securities & Exchange documents. Only the cost of aircraft fuel rose at a greater rate (45.6%) at American in the period. American attributes the increased maintenance costs to a heavier workscope of scheduled airframe overhauls, repair costs and volume, and contractual engine repair rates, which are driven by aircraft age.
Russia’s East Line Group has announced plans to begin building a new $425 million Terminal 2 at Moscow International Airport Domodedovo early next year. The first phase will see construction of the new T2 building with eight air bridges, ready for operation by 2011. Phase two will extend the terminal’s boarding gallery to bring capacity up to nine million passengers a year, to be completed by 2015. A third, final phase will further extend the gallery to handle 15 million travelers a year, by 2019.
Brussels Airlines is expected to name an alliance partner by the end of the second quarter, and the Star Alliance and oneworld are seen as leading candidates, says a Brussels-based industry executive. Oneworld would be somewhat easier because of the airlines already present at the Brussels airport hub, he adds. Also uncertain is how alliance membership will affect Brussels Airlines’ partnership with Jet Airways.
Bombardier has reshuffled its Aerospace Group executive management team by naming Guy Hachey as its new president and CEO. He replaces Pierre Beaudoin, who takes over as president and CEO of Bombardier Inc. June 4. Hachey has 30 years of management experience with General Motors. He was most recently VP of Delphi Corporation and president of Delphi Powertrain Systems.
Jones Day law firm tapped former U.S. Transportation Dept. Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Andrew Steinberg to join its government regulation practice as a partner in Washington, effective May 1.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly said he’s optimistic about the airline’s new Business Select fare now that’s he’s seen it bring in $15 million in additional revenue in the first quarter.
