Some 3.9 million international visitors traveled to the U.S. in November 2007, up 17% from November 2006, and spent some $11.2 billion during the month, 21% more than in the same 2006 month. Canada visitation powered most of the gains, as arrivals were up 30% for the month and 10% for the year, reported the U.S. Commerce Dept.’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. Arrivals from Mexico were up 10% in November and 16% for the year to November 2007.
Air France-KLM is prepared to financially invest in a merged Delta-Northwest to strengthen its transatlantic joint venture and boost operating margins on the $12 billion in annual transatlantic business the airlines account for.
Delta’s flight attendants have become increasingly interested in union representation in recent weeks in light of U.S. airline consolidation speculation. The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) filed a petition with the National Mediation Board (NMB) for an election yesterday, saying it has garnered a “solid majority” of signatures to authorize such a vote. It started collecting signatures more than a year ago for an elecetion, but did not have the momentum needed until recently.
The European Union Court of Justice ruled against Greece yesterday for failing to timely recoup some EUR500 million (US$730 million) in illegal state aid to its flag carrier that the European Commission deemed illegal in 2005.
Pacific Wings subsidiary New Mexico Airlines is expanding its flying beyond the Essential Air Service it operates, with flights to Sierra Blanca Regional Airport in Ruidoso as well as Midland/Odessa in Texas. Flights to El Paso, Texas, will come on line March 1. The airline’s Web site also says service has been proposed to Deming, in the southwestern part of New Mexico, from El Paso.
Air Wisconsin traffic jumped 5.3% from January 2007 to January 2008, as the carrier generated 158.3 million revenue passenger miles. Available seat miles were relatively flat year over year, dipping from 256.34 million to 256.32 million. Load factor, meanwhile, improved 3.2 percentage points to 61.8%. Air Wisconsin carried 421,740 passengers on the flights it operated as US Airways Express, up 4.7% from January 2007.
Note to Readers: Because of observance of the U.S. Presidents’ Day holiday, Aviation DAILY will not publish an issue dated Monday, Feb. 18. The next issue will be dated Tuesday, Feb. 19.
Taiwan’s EVA Airways will carry ANA’s code on its Taipei-Osaka-Los Angeles flights, provided it receives regulatory approval. The code share would launch April 1, with EVA putting the “NH” code on both passenger and cargo services and blocking belly cargo space on the Osaka-Los Angeles sector only. EVA will use its Boeing 747s or 777s to operate the flights. [DOT-OST-2008-0054].
Iberia is blaming defunct international low-cost carrier Air Madrid for the decline in long-haul loads on its flights from Spain to Latin America, according to Spanish press reports.
In a surprise move, Spain’s largest airline Iberia offered to buy its biggest domestic rival Spanair yesterday. At the same time, tour operator Grupo Marsans pulled back its own offer to acquire the carrier.
Japan should take heed of lessons learned elsewhere as it considers privatizing Narita Airport, and Japan is uniquely positioned to take a leadership role in addressing aviation’s environmental issues, IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani said yesterday in Tokyo.
The AFL-CIO set a course of action yesterday to look into airline mergers following a meeting of national AFL-CIO aviation union leaders. Saying the American labor movement is deeply concerned about possible mergers, various unions are working to protect employee rights.
AirTran yesterday kicked off a new round of expansion at Baltimore-Washington airport — with more to follow today — and the airline also expects to see growth opportunities emerge at constrained airports due to network carrier mergers. The airline announced it will introduce daily service between BWI and Los Angeles, beginning in May, and it will also resume seasonal service to Seattle and Dallas/Fort Worth. Additional Baltimore service due to be revealed today is expected to include a destination not previously served by AirTran.
Spain’s Marsans/Air Comet group denied claims by Argentina’s pilots union that the company was giving up on its affiliate, Aerolineas Argentinas (AR). Jorge Perez-Tamayo, leader of Argentina’s pilots union, said the airline had no future, was in deep financial trouble, defaulted on payments to creditors and needed a major injection of money from its parent company, which Marsans is not supplying, EFE News Agency reported.
Venezuela’s Santa Barbara Airlines last week signed an alliance with another Venezuelan carrier, Aserca, to increase capacity on Caracas-Spain long-hauls. The alliance calls for support from Aserca to improve passenger access and add new connections and destinations in Venezuela to achieve shared growth in the future. Santa Barbara started flying to Spain in 2002.
Jordan’s Royal Falcon Air Services will begin operating charter flights to the U.S. on April 15 pending regulatory approval. The company would use an Airbus A310-300 to fly a weekly service between Baltimore/Washington Airport and Amman, with a stopover in Shannon, Ireland.
Oneworld alliance partners Finnair and Cathay Pacific on March 1 will start code-sharing flights. The agreement will cover flights between Hong Kong and Bangkok, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Cathay will get access to Finnair flights connecting Helsinki with Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London.
Hourly caps at New York Kennedy Airport are not a preferred measure, but they are a short-term remedy necessary to prevent a repeat of last summer, said D.J. Gribbin, general counsel for the U.S. Transportation Dept. at Aviation Week’s ATC Demand Management Forum Feb. 13.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has promised lawmakers more releases of data this year from the National Aviation Operations Monitoring Service (NAOMS) pilot survey, although the agency has no plans to resume it (DAILY, Oct. 23, 2007). “We think that all of the goals of NAOMS with regard to aviation safety are being accomplished in coordination with the FAA in ongoing programs,” Griffin told the House Science & Technology Committee Feb. 13.
