Boeing reported a strong week for orders, with 59 aircraft booked during the seven days through Feb. 26 — including 30 anonymous 737 orders. The latest total also includes 19 737s and six 777s for Continental, four 737s for RAK Airways. These orders boost the net order total for 2008 to 189. Of the total, 75 orders are from unidentified customers. 737s dominate other aircraft classes with 132 orders, 48 of which are anonymous. The 787 has 40 orders, the 777 16, and there is a single 747 order.
JAL intends to increase its reliance on small and medium-sized aircraft in the next three years, which the carrier believes will make its operations more efficient as it prepares for major capacity expansion at Tokyo airports.
Spirit yesterday added Columbia, S.C. to its network, and expanded its summer schedule with three new routes to Florida airports. Columbia service will begin May 22 with flights to Fort Lauderdale. In addition, Spirit will boost Myrtle Beach service with a new route to Orlando, beginning June 12. This will be Spirit’s sixth Myrtle Beach route. Spirit is also adding twice-daily flights between Islip, N.Y. and Ft. Lauderdale, beginning May 1.
The heads of Airports Council International-Europe and the European Travel Retail Council (ETRC) are calling on eligible countries to apply European Commission regulations call for more harmonization in the handling of liquids.
India, Asia’s third-largest economy, is showing signs of growth in business aviation. Hawker Beechcraft Corp. and India’s Interglobe General Aviation have opened the first authorized service center for Hawker Beechcraft in India at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. HBC has a 56% market share of all turbine aircraft in India and Hawker in the past few years received 23 orders from India, Jim Schuster, chairman and CEO, said. Of the roughly 122 turbine-powered aircraft in India, 73 are Hawker Beechcraft products.
Airbus is expected to unveil details of new-style assembly procedures for the upcoming A330-200 Freighter at an initial technical coordination meeting set to take place next week in Bremen, Germany.
Boeing yesterday said it completed a series of important tests on a composite barrel section as part of the 787’s certification process. The tests — which began late last year and were finished this week — “couldn’t have gone any better,” Boeing said. Some tests on barrel sections will continue, but they are considered optional for “additional learning.” More static testing will be done on a complete aircraft fuselage.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) says it would oppose a merger between United and Continental if the deal does not benefit workers. The IBT represents 3,800 mechanics at Continental. United has 9,300 mechanics represented by another union, but the IBT has petitioned to hold a representation election there. The union says it wants United’s Human Resources Dept.
Copa and SkyTeam partner KLM are seeking code-share authority for San Juan, Puerto Rico, services. Specifically, Copa would carry KLM’s code on its flights between San Juan and Panama City. KLM will hold out single-carrier service between San Juan and the Netherlands but will not sell single-carrier service between San Juan and Panama City. Copa, meanwhile, will hold out service between San Juan and the Netherlands via Panama City, since KLM will carry the code on its flights from Panama City to the Netherlands [DOT-OST-2008-0070].
With American about to begin contract negotiations with its flight attendants, the union representing attendants has elected a new president, who is promising to take a hard line.
The European Commission said it will reinforce to the U.S. next month that it — and not member states — sets the visa policies for the 27 EU countries.
Sterling Airlines has appointed Reza Taleghani as CEO. He has served for 10 years with JPMorgan in New York and London. He replaces Almar Hilmarsson, who has been the top executive for the past two and a half years while leading the merger of Maersk Air into Sterling. Taleghani will relocate to Copenhagen and will formally join the company after a brief transitional period. Sterling operates 29 Boeing 737s.
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American as of April 7 will suspend the operation of seven contested U.S.-Colombia frequencies that the carrier uses in the Miami-Bogota market, claiming the U.S. Transportation Dept.’s delay in resolving whether it will let the frequencies remain with American could jeopardize its operations. The move will downgrade American’s existing service from a three-times-daily to a twice-daily offering.
Plans for a new $1.6 billion international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport have been unveiled by General Manager Ben DeCosta almost three years after he sent a default-of-contract notice to the original design team for cost overruns. The decision to issue the default notice was caused by $140 million in cost overruns by the original design team of Leo A. Daly Company, KHAFRA Engineering Consultants, Anthony C. Baker Architects & Planners, and Browder and LeGuizamon & Associates (DAILY, July 5, 2005).
Qantas is having to draw down some of its QantasLink domestic services to account for a spike in pilot losses. The changes, affecting QantasLink’s Queensland and New South Wales routes, are due to “higher than normal pilot attrition rates,” the carrier said. Qantas will suspend services on “a limited number of routes,” reinstate some services previously suspended, and putting larger aircraft on some routes. The changes will be in effect until at least July.
With the complicated reservations systems migration out of the way, US Airways is turning full attention to one of its few remaining — but perhaps most troubling — post-merger snags, securing labor agreements with the pilots, flight attendants, fleet service staff and mechanics.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is threatening to introduce legislation requiring “proof of age” before unaccompanied minors can board a commercial aircraft if the FAA doesn’t come up with a regulatory solution. Stevens, senior Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, is concerned about underage teenagers flying without their parents’ permission or knowledge. He cited a case a year ago where an Alaska teenager booked a flight to meet someone she connected with in an Internet chat room.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) says he does not expect the FAA reauthorization bill will be passed this year — and adds that the general aviation community bears a lot of the blame. Rockefeller has often criticized GA groups for attacking the $25-per-flight user fee included in the Senate version of the bill, which Rockefeller views as a compromise.
U.S. carriers this year will produce more than 7,000 tons of recyclable aluminum and plastic, mainly in the form of beverage cans and glasses, most of which will not be recycled, a consultancy Greenskies says. By 2013, U.S. carriers will fly 800 million passengers per year and will generate 8,500 tons of recyclable waste.
Ryanair claims the Dutch ticket tax scheduled to go into effect on July 1 is tantamount to state aid for Air France-KLM and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Group because transfer passengers are exempted.
