The on-time performance of U.S. carriers hit a 13-year low in September despite marked improvement by airlines in handling delays in the month. Airlines have posted an on-time rate of 73.18% for the year to date, one-tenth of a point off the previous low of 73.28% in 2000. Performance in September, however, improved to 81.7%, some 10 percentage points from August 2007 and almost 5.5 points from September 2006 figures. The U.S. Transportation Dept.'s Bureau of Statistics said it was the sixth best September on record in 13 years.
Budget carrier Air Arabia said it has flown 5 million passengers since its launch in October 2003. Passenger traffic through the first half of 2007 was 1.23 million, a 57.9% increase from the same period in 2006. In July and August 2007, Air Arabia's traffic was up by 347,000 in 2007 from the same period in 2006. In 2006, passengers carried for India totaled 333,176 and in 2007, 293,026.
Czech Airlines last week offered its first all-cargo flight, Boeing 747-200F service on the Prague-Dubai-Hong Kong route. The service is offered in cooperation with Emirates SkyCargo. The Czech carrier anticipates the partnership will represent an annual volume of 6,000 metric tons and will increase overall cargo carriage by one-quarter.
US Airways revealed declining October traffic and capacity numbers as President Scott Kirby said he hopes the industry will continue its current level of capacity discipline. The airline's available seat miles were down 5.5% from October 2006 to 6.1 billion, while its revenue passenger miles fell 1.5% to 4.9 billion. The carrier set a record October load factor of 80.5%, up 3.3 percentage points.
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB) received bad news last week after making some headway in its re-launch effort (DAILY, Nov.5) -- the national tax collection agency's effort to sue the carrier for back taxes was approved by a federal judge. The judge gave LAB 15 days to prove in court it has not ceased payments to any creditors, or otherwise is subject to bankruptcy and liquidation under receivership.
Mesa named current VP-Finance William Hoke as its interim chief financial officer after terminating Peter Murnane, who was placed on administrative leave after Hawaiian Airlines claimed he destroyed evidence in a lawsuit it filed against Mesa.
30 Years Ago Nov. 7, 1977 -- UN last week adopted a resolution condemning hijacking and urging nations to assure hostages are not used "as a means of extorting advantage of any kind" that fell short of IFALPA-sought measures. The union threatened to shut down world air traffic for 48 hours in response to the hijacking of a Lufthansa 737 and the killing of its pilot last month. 20 Years Ago Nov. 10, 1987 -- U.S. Trade Representative report says 50K U.S. jobs could be lost if Airbus reaches its goal of selling 600 A320s by 1995.
Labor leader and acting Lloyd Aereo Boliviano Director Gustavo Viscarra told Los Tiempos of two small blessings for the carrier: 1) a public auction of some of the company's real estate assets to pay off outstanding assessments to the National Pension Fund (AFP) was suspended, as AFP accepted payment from the sale of unprofitable assets; and 2) LAB balance sheets for the past three years were audited and are ready for submission to the civil department as a prerequisite for renewal of the airline's operating license by Nov. 20.
FAA Chief Operating Officer Henry Krakowski says the agency is developing new southbound departure routes to increase efficiency at Chicago O'Hare Airport. The new routes "are being designed for implementation shortly," Krakowski says.
The U.K. Transportation Dept. reiterated its support for including aviation in the European Union's emissions trading scheme (ETS) as the best way to mitigate the sector's greenhouse gas emissions.
Air Caraibes next month will inaugurate twice-weekly service from San Jose, Costa Rica via Panama to Guadaloupe, where passengers connect to or from Paris on the airline's widebody Airbus aircraft. Air Caraibes also serves Cuba, the French Antilles and the Dominican Republic. [email protected]
British Airways believes it can engineer a dramatic revenue swing in the next six months, with an increase of 7%-8% in the second half of its fiscal year offsetting the 0.8% decline the carrier saw in the first half.
Management at Allegiant Airlines believes the company's cost structure and the approach it takes to offering low-frequency MD-80 service in its markets place it in a unique position to make dramatic capacity adjustments while preserving revenue. The carrier cut its available seat miles by 30% from July to September, yet still posted an 11% operating margin for the third quarter.
BAA has signed a GPB20 million (US$41.6 million), 10-year deal with U.K.-based Smiths Detection to install new Advanced Threat Identification X-Ray (aTiX) machines at seven U.K. airports.
Hurricane Noel, the deadliest storm in this year's Atlantic hurricane season, caused airports to close in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic last week, but appears to have not left any permanent damage. The international airport in Nassau, Bahamas, closed for about 24 hours, but reopened without damage. Several airlines announced lenient rebooking policies to accommodate passengers.
VRG Lineas Aereas, which now operates under the Varig brand as an affiliate owned by GOL, is making long strides to get back into the international and domestic markets.
Tapped Marty Bentrott to replace Lee Monson as VP-Middle East and Africa Sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes and appointed Fred Kiga to lead Boeing state and local government relations-Northwest region. Bentrott and Monson will work together in the transition until January 2008.
Mexico's Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP) posted a MXN277.3 million profit (US$25.9 million) for the third quarter of 2007, as increased traffic and revenues at its 12 airports provided for a 32.4% improvement from the result recorded for the same period last year.
FedEx says it plans "little to no" aircraft wet-leasing during the upcoming peak shipping season. The carrier says it has enough flexibility in its existing fleet of nearly 670 aircraft to accommodate the surge in package volume. UPS plans to wet-lease 32 aircraft for the week before Christmas, to boost flights by nearly 30% (DAILY, Nov. 2).
Uruguay's recently privatized Pluna has inaugurated three weekly Montevideo-Rio de Janeiro frequencies and opened a new route from Montevideo to Rosario and Cordoba in Argentina. All the flights will be operated with Boeing 737-200s, while a 767-300 will be used on weekly long-hauls to Madrid. Route expansion will increase in February as Pluna takes delivery of new Bombardier CRJ-900s to replace aging Boeing equipment.
SideStep.com has launched a beta version of Airport Guides, a resource offering real-time updates on 160 or more of the largest commercial airports in the world. The guides give airport overviews as well as specifics, such as real-time flight arrival and departure data, current weather conditions, average security wait times, historical on-time ratings for individual flights, airport layouts and restaurants and shops. All of the information that is provided in real time, such as flight status and local weather, is provided by FlightStats.
Freight carrier ABX won exemptions to operate cargo flights between Los Angeles, Guadalajara and Mexico City. The flights will operate daily, though ABX said it may increase LAX-GDL service or reduce Mexico City service based on demand. The U.S. Transportation Dept. put a condition on the award restricting the launch of Guadalajara flights until Oct. 26, when an additional designation to serve the market became available [DOT-OST-2007-29318, -29319]. [email protected]
