Contract negotiations between American and its pilots union are scheduled to resume Tuesday, after more progress last week on non-controversial elements of the contract. The two sides reached their first tentative agreements, although they affect three areas that required no changes.
Analysts in Colombia think President Uribe may be siding with airport concessionaire Opain in the stalemate over Bogota’s El Dorado Airport, based on public statements the Colombian leader made last week.
Expedia Inc. reported 25% higher gross bookings in the fourth quarter worth $4.6 billion versus $3.7 billion in same 2006 quarter, the result of strong hotel sales more so than air tickets.
Senate Aviation Subcommittee Chair Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) says Congress needs to work out a long-term extension for FAA contracting and fee collecting authority, due to run out Feb. 29. While the House passed its version of a four-year reauthorization bill last year, the Senate did not. Congress has already passed four brief extensions. Rockefeller plans to negotiate with Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus to extend the FAA’s authority to Sept. 30.
AAR CORP. selected Robert Regan to become genereal counsel when he joins the company on March 3. Current General Counsel Howard Pulsifer plans to retire June 1.
Correction:Allegiant, at its air service conference, tapped Huntington Tri-State Airport because it offered the lowest airport operating costs, which enable the carrier to serve not only Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, but also start service to the Tampa Bay area, beginning Feb. 9. The DAILY dated Feb. 9 erroneously omitted the word “not.”
JAL Group saw revenue in its core airline business increase 2.1% for the nine months through Dec. 31, with a boost in unit revenue offsetting cuts in capacity and traffic. The Air Transport segment reported an operating profit of JPY71.2 billion (US$663 million) for the first three quarters of the fiscal year. This helped drive a group net profit of JPY20.4 billion – compared with a loss of JPY9.3 billion for the same period the previous year. Although airline revenue was up, group operating revenue dropped 1.9%.
Air Canada says even if an economic recession damages demand, it will not look to delay delivery of its Boeing 787 orders in 2010. However, executives say the carrier “does have the ability manage capacity downward with other fleet types,” such as Airbus A330s and Boeing 767s. The airline is relying on the 787 to help drive costs down.
Brussels Airport has received approval to go-ahead with building a terminal dedicated to low-fare airlines, with plans to start operations in April 2009. The airport’s board of directors okayed the plan late last week. The terminal will make use of an existing, but unused, passenger terminal and extend a low-cost pier. Initially, the facility will accommodate up to six aircraft, with plans to extend that to 15.
A bill introduced into the House of Representatives Friday extends FAA’s tax and contract authority to June 30, allaying fears raised by agency leadership that FAA would have to furlough employees on March 1.
Air Moldova has agreed to buy a single Embraer 195 regional jet to be delivered in March 2010, with purchase rights for another aircraft of the type. The 114-seat aircraft will complement two Airbus A320s, one Yak-40 and one Embraer 120 the carrier operates on its 16-city network. The Embraer 190 will be used on routes currently served with A320s but that don’t show sufficient demand to fill the Airbus narrowbody, says airline CEO Vasile Botnari.
Canadian regional airline Jazz Air reported profits of C$35.1 million for the fourth quarter and C$150.7 million for full-year 2007, up 9.9% and 7.6%, respectively, from 2006. Operating revenues in the December quarter grew 5.8% to C$372.1 million on a 3.7% increase in block hours flown and a C$17.7 million gain in pass-through costs, the company said. Performance incentives paid to Jazz under its capacity purchase agreement with Air Canada added up to C$4 million of scheduled flight revenues.
You can now register online for AVIATION WEEK events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) FEB. 12-13 — Defense Technology and Requirements, Washington, D.C. FEB. 13-14 — ATC Demand Management, New York, N.Y. MARCH 4 — Laureates, Washington, D.C. MARCH 12-13 — Aircraft Data, Phoenix, Ariz. APRIL 15-17 — MRO/MRO Military/AVIATION WEEK’s Interiors, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Air India last week began nonstop service from Delhi to New York Kennedy Airport with a new Boeing 777-200LR, becoming the first airline to offer nonstop flights on the route. Air India started nonstop service between Mumbai and New York on Aug. 1, 2007.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. last week extended the comment period on its congestion pricing proposal by 30 days, and comments are now due by April 3. The extension to the Policy Regarding Airport Rates and Charges, published in the Federal Register last week (FAA-2008-0036), came at the request of the Air Transport Association, the Cargo Airline Association, the Regional Airline Association, the filing says.
Air New Zealand says it will be reviewing its security measures after a knife-wielding woman attempted to hijack an Air NZ commuter flight last week, prompting a scare at Christchurch Airport. Both pilots and a passenger – who helped restrain the woman – received minor knife injuries, and the pilots managed to safely land the 19-seat Beechcraft at Christchurch Airport. One pilot required surgery on his hand. The flight was operated for Air NZ by Air National.
Raytheon last week announced it is pursuing an ATC training system contract with FAA valued at more than $100 million. Raytheon Technical Services will team with Science Applications International Corp. in a bid for FAA’s ATC Optimum Training Solution (ATCOTS). The multi-year, performance-based contract is expected to be awarded in June. The final request for proposals will occur this month.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) FEB. 21 — Wings Club Luncheon featuring Stephen Finger, president, Pratt & Whitney, Yale Club, New York, 212-867-1770, e-mail: [email protected] FEB. 25-27 — IATA OPS Forum, Madrid, Spain. (International Air Transport Association); +1 514 874-0202 x3207, www.iata.org/events/ops08
The Peruvian government has budgeted US$35 million for the reconstruction and upgrading of Pisco International Airport, which was recently ravaged by a major earthquake, Transport Minister Veronica Zavala revealed last week. Zavala stressed that the key role of a modern, streamlined airport at Pisco to export the region’s fine wines and premium vegetables, such as white asparagus and table grapes, directly to worldwide markets, bypassing Lima. The airport currently is under management by concessionaires Aeropuertos del Peru,
New Jersey’s two Democratic senators are not the only lawmakers underwhelmed by FAA Administrator-nominee Robert Sturgell. Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), chair of the House aviation panel, says he’s been “very disappointed” in the FAA and Sturgell, its acting administrator, for being “slow to acknowledge” there is a problem retaining experienced air traffic controllers. Shortly after Sturgell’s confirmation hearing last week, Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez placed a hold on Sturgell’s nomination, blocking a confirmation vote on the Senate floor.
Expedia is looking for more airline marketing partnerships to boost air volumes in 2008 similar to its co-branded deal with Hawaiian Airlines that offered package discounts to NFL games. President and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says he is watching airline ticket prices more closely than ever, and the company is charging booking fees only in mature markets, Expedia.com in the U.S.
Estonian Air is expanding its network with flights to Minsk being added today and further expansion planned in March and April with Munich and Rome connections. The new service will bring the network to 22 destinations. Estonian last year grew passenger volume 9% from 2006, with a particularly strong second half, where growth reached 15.7%, compared with the prior year. Load factor inched up 2.1 percentage points to 67.7%.
Congressional leaders earlier this week grilled FAA executives about the sources of the $688 million slated for NextGen in the President’s FY2009 FAA budget request, questioning where the funding is coming from when the overall request is significantly lower than the enacted FY2008 budget. On Monday, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell announced that the budget request includes $688 million for NextGen programs -- a $400 million rise from the $212 million in the enacted FY2008 budget (DAILY, Feb. 5).
