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.
Philippine Airlines has begun using the RAPID airline revenue accounting system developed by the IT division of the Emirates Group, Mercator. PAL has opted to use the full passenger and cargo revenue accounting package. It already uses Mercator’s Airline Loyalty product CRIS. In addition to PAL, RAPID is being used by Emirates, British Airways World Cargo, South African Airways, Qantas and Malaysian Airlines.
FAA believes a new agreement with China will help the U.S. and China better harmonize their future ATM systems. The two nations have signed a memorandum of understanding covering their cooperation on NextGen initiatives in both countries. FAA and Chinese civil aviation authorities plan to establish a NextGen Air Traffic Management Steering Group, and a FAA delegation will travel to China in April for a NextGen workshop. The U.S. and China already have a Joint Air Traffic Steering Group that was formed in 2004.
The Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners has awarded a $2.15 million contract to Jacobs Consultancy to handle an air monitoring and data analysis program at Los Angeles Airport. The Air Quality and Source Apportionment Study will offer information on the airport’s role in air pollutant emissions and the effect these emissions have on the total concentration of air pollutants in communities surrounding LAX.
The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is claiming victory after the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced an agreement to provide enhanced whistleblower protection for airport screeners.
Atlas is bullish about further earnings growth over the next two years, helped by an expansion of its flying for DHL that will require two more Boeing 747 freighters. The company on Feb. 26 reported its 2007 net profit more than doubled to $132.4 million, and pre-tax earnings will improve this year despite cost and revenue challenges in the first half. Growth will pick up “accelerate sharply” in 2009 to $165 million-$175 million, said William Flynn, CEO of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings.
Economists and analysts have long warned that the U.S. housing crisis, record high prices for oil and a looming credit crunch could tip the U.S. economy into recession, and recent airline comments suggest that the industry is beginning to see the effects of cooling consumer demand.
Air Jamaica, which has been shrinking some of its U.S. service lately to become a leaner operation, intends to increase its seat capacity from New York Kennedy to Barbados and Grenada. On April 1, the airline will upgrade its existing Airbus A320 daily nonstop service to Barbados with the larger A321, adding 38 seats. It will then fly from Barbados to Kingston, Jamaica, which will add onward connections from Kingston to the U.S.
Brazil’s VRG (Varig) and Spain’s Iberia on Feb. 26 announced the signature of an interline agreement that will enable passengers of both airlines to buy tickets to all destinations served by either carrier. Varig’s frequent flyers, however, will be able to earn miles only on flights operated by Varig.
The Flight Safety Foundation has agreed to partner with the International Air Transport Association in its efforts to address the looming shortage of skilled aerospace workers. FSF will be represented on the governing board of the IATA Training and Qualification Initiative (ITQI), which was launched in December. FSF will play an active role in ITQI projects. The board also includes ICAO and other industry stakeholders.
