The largest customer for Boeing’s 787 is predicting another six-month slip in deliveries and has for the first time raised the specter that the new passenger jet’s troubles extend beyond production delays to design problems.
Code sharing will enable Turkish Airlines and United to hold out additional service in the U.S.-Turkey market, while US Airways would be the big beneficiary of a code-sharing deal with Star Alliance partner Swiss.
The U.K.’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is asking the Competition Commission to give it more flexibility and discretion to tailor its regulation better across airports and over time, and respond to the continually changing market environment. CAA submitted a report as part of the Competition Commission’s ongoing market inquiry into BAA’s airports in the Southeast of England and Scotland. In its submission, CAA argued there is a clear case for regulatory reform, but that airport investments and service quality improvements will still need to be paid for.
Sydney Airport has released a draft plan to build a A$85 million (US$75 million) 8,100-square-meter safety area land bridge to offer a 90x90 meter cushion at the end of the runway to help aircraft decelerate in case of an emergency. The equipment needed to complete the project means the airport will have to close the east-west runway for eight months, from October 2008 to mid-June 2009. And from mid-June 2009 to mid-April 2010, the runway will not be available for use between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Panama’s COPA is requesting authority to expand its domestic network from São Paulo to other profitable destinations in Brazil, among them Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Brasilia, Porto Alegre, Salvador and Recife.
The ATC union that was almost destroyed during the Reagan Administration has reached a tentative contract deal on behalf of controllers working at four contract towers. The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) achieved an agreement with Midwest ATC Service for controllers at Gary, Ind.; Oxford, Conn.; Trenton, N.J.; and Waukesha, Wis. The deal is still subject to ratification by employees at the respective facilities.
The government of Dubai is launching a low-fare airline that is slated to start flying within one year. The carrier will operate under the roof of state-owned Emirates, according to an order issed by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Makhtoum. Emirates executive VP-commercial, Gaith al-Gaith, has been appointed CEO of the new, yet-unnamed airline.
Mainland China will have 244 civil airports in 2020, up from 147 at the end of 2006, according to civil aviation administration plans. Currently, 52% of counties have an airport within 100 km (62 miles) or a 1 1/2 hour drive. That will rise to 75% in 2010 and more than 80% by 2002.
The trend toward integrated surveillance systems in large commercial aircraft is gaining momentum, and Honeywell has won a second berth for its system at Airbus on the A350XWB, adding to its first placement on the A380; the win also expands the market footprint of the company’s new RDR-4000 radar, which is part of the system.
Several senior union members have resigned from management roles at Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, local press reported, as a means to safeguard salaries and benefits for workers in midst of continuing uncertainty at the airline. The senior members claimed that besides salaries owed them for the past 20 months, they have no information on the company’s revenues from current charter operations or about concrete relaunching plans, Los Tiempos reported. Because all this makes their presence untenable as directors, they have opted for “indirect” resignation.
Lufthansa Cargo expects to move its Asian hub from Astana, Kazakhstan, to Krasnoyarsk in Russia, after negotiators for Germany and Russia reached a settlement in the long-standing dispute on overflight charges. CEO Carsten Spohr said the airline will likely use Krasnoyarsk mainly for technical stops from mid-2009. The move is conditional upon infrastructure upgrades at the airport.
Standard & Poor’s has put Auckland International Airport Ltd. on CreditWatch with negative implications. The debt watcher made the move after a majority of AIAL’s shareholders approved Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board’s 40% bid for the airport. “The CreditWatch action reflects uncertainty regarding the final outcome of the CPPIB offer, which is now subject to approval by the New Zealand government by April 11, 2008, and the implications of the ownership changes for AIAL,” said the company in a report.
In a strange twist suggestive of political playoffs, operations at India’s first greenfield airport in Hyderabad were held up a day before they were to start despite a glitzy launch last Friday. The civil aviation ministry made the announcement minutes after the official inauguration by sending text messages to journalists saying the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport opening was delayed by a “few days.” The reason given was that some airlines were not ready to operate from or to the new airport.
Delta has unveiled a plan to cut capacity by another 5%, find another $550 million in productivity and shed up to 2,000 jobs to help mitigate high oil prices. Having built its strategy last year on an oil price of $90 per barrel, the Delta now needs to “recalibrate,” said CFO Ed Bastian in remarks at the JP Morgan Aviation & Transportation conference March 18. Fuel will be $2.2 billion higher this year — Delta had already announced fuel would increase by $1.3 billion, and now it is adding another $900 million to its guidance.
The most profitable of China’s big-three airlines, Air China, has delivered a 57% surge in 2007 net earnings to CNY4.2 billion (US$593 million) on operating revenues of CNY49.7 billion (US$7 billion), up 14.6%. Foreign-exchange windfalls flattered the result, as has been common across the Chinese airline industry since the country began to let the yuan appreciate against the dollar in 2005. The yuan value of the airlines’ large dollar-denominated debt falls as the local currency rises, and the gain is booked as profit.
Five more European states have begun enforcing a European Commission requirement covering radio equipage in upper airspace, meaning all states now comply. As of March 13, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Spain have been enforcing the mandatory carriage of 8.33kHz radio equipment above Flight Level 195, Eurocontrol says. This brings them into line with EC Regulation 1265/2007, which is aimed at alleviating “the current difficulties in obtaining VHF assignments in the aeronautical communications VHF band from 118-137 MHz,” said Eurocontrol. -
More efficient operations, lower costs, increased revenue and more airline service have been the result of a move in November 1999 to create the nine-member Allegheny County Airport Authority, which oversees Pittsburgh International and Allegheny County airports, according to a new report.
Global Aero Logistics, parent company of ATA, is looking for a new CEO after the resignation of Subodh Karnik. Global Chairman John Denison will step in as interim president and CEO until a permanent replacement is found. Denison was CEO of ATA from February 2005 to December 2006. He joined Global in January 2005 after a three-year retirement from Southwest, where he was CFO.
FAA yesterday launched an audit on all carriers in the wake of the highly publicized lapses in Southwest’s aircraft inspection program. FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell directed the agency’s aviation inspectors to “reconfirm that commercial carriers operating within the United States have complied with all airworthiness directives.” One recent failure — by Southwest — to comply with a directive prompted Sturgell to “validate that all other carriers are in full compliance.”
The U.S. Transportation Dept. and the European Commission are launching a study to find out what effect the U.S./EU open-skies agreement — which goes into effect this month — has on airline competition.
At least four of the major U.S. airlines yesterday either announced plans to reduce capacity or warned they are considering cuts, as the industry looks to fight through a weakening economy and rising oil prices.
Astar is filing an arbitration claim against Merrill Lynch for more than $36 million in damages after much of ASTAR’s cash reserves, invested in Auction Rate Securities on Merrill Lynch’s recommendation, have become locked up in these securities.
