The new board of Spain's low-fare carrier Vueling has named Lars Nygaard to become the new CEO. The appointment is the latest in a series of personnel changes for the struggling airline, which faces a major shareholder meeting Nov. 26 to determine its future. The new board, which has already been named, also is to be approved at that time. Nygaard previously worked at SAS and later at its Spanair unit. The Dane became Spanair's CEO in 2005 after serving as commercial and financial director. Nygaard will take up his post at Vueling on Jan. 1.
Pakistan's Airblue has signed a firm order for eight Airbus A320 aircraft, bringing the airline's total order for A320s to 14; in late November 2006, Airblue signed firm contracts for six Airbus A320s. "This is the largest ever order for outright purchase of brand-new aircraft by any Pakistani private sector carrier," Airblue's CEO Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said.
ANA subsidiary Air Nippon's pilot union (ANK) and the pilot unions of three other ANA Group airlines have threatened to go on a 24-hour strike on Nov. 21; only domestic flights would be affected. The strike is being held to express dissatisfaction with the management stance on pilots' yearend demands, says an ANA statement. The unions include Air Nippon Crew Association, 427 pilots; Air Nippon Network Pilot Union, 61 pilots; Air Next Crew Association, 28 pilots; and Air Central Pilots' Union, 48 pilots.
US Airways is moving to assure the U.S. Transportation Dept. that it will reach agreement with the City of Philadelphia to gain the airport gates it needs for its proposed China flights and will also have the right aircraft by the time the service is due to begin in 2009.
New York's Port Authority is expecting the four major commercial airports it controls to handle 1.7 million passengers over the five-day Thanksgiving travel period beginning Wednesday, which would be a 2% increase over last year. Kennedy is expected to see 728,000 passengers, Newark 547,000, LaGuardia 396,000 and Stewart 17,000.
The Colorado congressional delegation is asking acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell to speed up the installation of Airport Surface Detection Equipment -- Model X (ASDE-X) at Denver Airport, the nation's fourth busiest.
Named Melissa Sabatine as the new AAAE VP-regulatory affairs to replace Thomas Zoeller, who left AAAE to become the President of the National Air Carrier Association.
ABX and DHL last week agreed to enter arbitration over a dispute about payments withheld by DHL. ABX earlier this month accused DHL of defaulting on their agreement by withholding $8.8 million in overhead expense payments. DHL contended it was no longer responsible for reimbursing those costs.
Some elements of the European Parliament's plan to cut greenhouse gases in half by 2050 have come under fire by Airports Council International-Europe (ACI-E). The Parliament last week voted to make the rules governing aviation's inclusion in the emissions trading scheme (ETS) more stringent (DAILY, Nov. 14).
The Teamsters union, which is in the process of organizing United's mechanics, intends to protest Wednesday in hopes of persuading the airline not to sell its Mileage Plus program or its San Francisco maintenance facility. They will pass out leaflets and ask frequent flyer members to sign a petition at O'Hare, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington Dulles airports.
FedEx last week cut its earnings guidance for its quarter ending Nov. 30 due to higher fuel prices. The carrier dropped its earnings-per-share (EPS) estimate to $1.45-$1.55, compared to earlier guidance of $1.60-$1.75. Full-year EPS is now forecast to be $6.40-$6.70, down from $6.70-$7.10. FedEx said its fuel costs have increased more than 8% -- or $85 million -- since its last guidance was released in September.
Bolivia's main airport, Santa Cruz's Viru Viru, was paralyzed for 24 hours on Nov. 14 by the double-barrel effect of a national strike by the land transport workers union and a work stoppage by employees of air transport regulator AASANA. The labor actions resulted in the cancellation of 80 international and domestic flights, with operations returning to normal on the morning of Nov. 15. The dispute between AASANA and its workers at Viru Viru was originally motivated by labor demands for higher salaries and benefits.
Copa subsidiary AeroRepublica plans to take delivery of two Embraer 190s during the fourth quarter, bringing its yearend fleet count to seven E-190s and six MD-80s.
Subsidiary SkyWest Airlines promoted Lori Hunt to VP-people, effective Nov. 19, to replace Necia Clark-Mantle, who is leaving SkyWest to pursue educational opportunities.
30 Years Ago Nov. 23, 1977 -- "The greatest contribution to lowering fares and improving service in international aviation would be the elimination of IATA," Freddie Laker, president of Laker Airways, said yesterday. 20 Years Ago
Elected William Cotton, Joseph Luca, Wes Cummins, James Schwartz and Neal Fine to its board, upon the retirement of founder Samuel Kovnat, co-founder Frank Rees, Jackson Kemper, Senator Larry Pressler and Kenneth Wood. Cotton is the new chief executive officer and vice chairman of the board of directors; Fine is chief technology officer; Knight is general counsel, executive VP and corporate secretary; Joseph Luca is board chairman.
The Pacific Blue unit of Australia's Virgin Blue started New Zealand domestic services last week, flying a triangular route between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The initial Pacific Blue domestic schedule comprises a total of 10 daily roundtrips among those cities. Its competitors in this market are Air New Zealand and Qantas.
The Travel Industry Association of America is today expected to release results of a survey of 1,200 voters in South Carolina and Florida that finds they would vote for a presidential candidate who addresses travel industry issues. The survey polled both Republicans and Democrats.
Growth in Mexico's air transport industry has outstripped increases in the country's GDP since 2002, and this growth is expected to continue, an IATA economics report shows. Export earnings from the air transport sector fueled the Mexican economy to the tune of $9.38 billion last year, and IATA expects the country's growing connectivity to the global air transport system to yield even further GDP gains.
The rising cost of fuel will force change on the airline industry and boost talk of consolidation, predicted new AirTran CEO Robert Fornaro in a speech before the BWI Business Partnership yesterday. Most legacy carriers will see their hedges end next year, said Fornaro. "As fuel costs rise, we'll see fares go up, capacity cut, fewer customers and higher prices," he warned.
Hainan Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A330, which is quickly becoming a standard workhorse type among the carrier's three larger local competitors. Hainan's first A330, an A330-200 fitted with 222 seats in two classes, has been leased from CIT Aerospace. Like all other A330s in mainland China and Hong Kong, it is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700s.
Delta CEO Richard Anderson last week promised lawmakers the carrier will ensure staffing and equipment are available to ensure a smooth operation over the holiday period.
