United is removing the over-the- wing portion of all five of its dual-end passenger boarding bridges, a system that it had hoped would cut boarding and deplaning times nearly in half.
With Dragonair joining Oneworld Nov. 1, the alliance says it will add 15 new destinations -- including 12 in China -- to its global network. Dragonair operates to 19 airports in Mainland China. Of these, Chongqing, Changsha, Chengdu, Fuzhou, Haikou, Kunming, Guilin, Ningbo, Nanjing, Shenyang, Sanya and Wuhan are new to oneworld. The alliance now has 22 destinations in Mainland China.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has officially taken control of Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. The port bought the remaining 93-year lease on Stewart Airport from U.K.-based National Express Corp. for $78.5 million after the company wanted to leave the airport business (DAILY, Jan. 26).
United intends to launch nonstop flights between Denver and London Heathrow on March 30, making Denver a European gateway. It will operate combination service with a Boeing 777 with 12 seats in First Class, 49 in Business and 197 in Economy, including 83 in Economy Plus. By late 2009, this aircraft will be one of the 97 outfitted with the new United First Suites with lie-flat seats. The flights will provide 15 tons of cargo capacity.
Russia banned Lufthansa Cargo from flying into Russian airspace, as Russian authorities claimed the airline failed to apply for an extension to its Siberian overflight approval that expired on Oct. 27. Lufthansa says it applied for the rights in time.
Milton Suanazzi resigned this week as CEO at Brazil's airline regulator Anac after weeks of criticism and pressure from Minister of Defense Nelson Jobim, in charge of aviation, for his role in the year-long air safety crisis that is still not resolved. After stepping down, Suanazzi told Clarin that Jobim "does not know much about Brazilian civil aviation, and I don't want to work with him."
Skybus plans to start flights from Stewart International Airport to its newly named base at Piedmont Triad International airport that serves Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, NC starting February 25. The startup low-cost carrier also plans to launch flights from its Columbus, Ohio, headquarters to Stewart -- based in Newburgh, N.Y., 55 miles north of New York City -- Jan. 6.
FLO Corp. has signed a deal to buy Unisys Corp.'s rtGO registered traveler program; financial details were not released. Both companies saw obvious synergies, said FLO Corp. Executive VP Luke Thomas. "Unisys is a great name in technology, but didn't have the consumer background," he said. "We had the marketing and distribution expertise."
Mineta San Jose (SJC) in San Francisco is readying itself to welcome traffic bound from India heading to the West Coast of the U.S. The Bay Area of San Francisco is home to the largest Asian Indian population. More than 70,000 Indians live there, working primarily in the IT business.
UPS and DHL both intend to add extra flights in the U.S. during the upcoming holiday peak season, and UPS will lease 10 Boeing 747s, as well as smaller aircraft to temporarily boost its fleet.
Three-fourths of U.S. consumers surveyed said they would support the deployment of biometric technologies to improve security, while only 18% were opposed, according to new findings from the Unisys Security Index.
Pacific Wings says it denied boarding to a passenger due to multiple incidents over two years of noncompliance with crewmember instructions, which it said put passengers and crew at risk (DAILY, Nov. 1). It reported the incidents to FAA, TSA and the U.S. Transportation Dept. A story in The DAILY stated the passenger was blacklisted for threatening to harm the carrier's EAS contracts. [DOT-OST-99-6502]
Major Boeing 787 supplier Spirit AeroSystems is declining to give cash flow guidance for 2008 as it adjusts forecasts for the six-month delay of the aircraft's entry-into-service. Boeing detailed the delay earlier this month and subsequently replaced program head Mike Bair with VP-Missile Defense Pat Shanahan. Spirit AeroSystems has responsibility for the 787's forward fuselage, pylons and fixed and movable leading wing edges.
Pinnacle and its largest U.S. major partner Northwest Airlines have agreed to enter arbitration to settle differences over elements of their airline services agreement (ASA).
Southwest's hedging strategy could once again provide a significant upside to the carrier as fuel hovers in the $90-per-barrel range. The airline's aggressive hedging allowed it to preserve operating profits of $2.8 billion from April 1, 2003, to March 31, 2007, with $2.2 billion of that amount attributed to hedging (DAILY, May 21). Briefly in January, oil closed at below $50 per barrel, triggering little advantage for the roughly $50 cap Southwest had in hedges heading into 2007.
Finnair is on track to achieve the best operating results in years after third quarter operating profit increased to EUR59.9 million (US$86.7 million). Airline CEO Jukka Hienonen believes it could be the airline's best financial results since before 2000. And, he adds, the success comes at an important time, as the carrier needs to finance its fleet expansion, which will unfold during the next decade. For the first nine months, revenue is up 8.2% to EUR1.6 billion (US$2.3 billion) and profit before tax stood at EUR103.7 million (US$150 million).
AirTran this week asked the U.S. Transportation Dept. for permission to assign two Washington National slots held by ATA to its current slot times, 1300 and 1400 hours, versus the original 2100 hour time. Under a deal between the carriers, AirTran will start to use the slots on Nov. 28 to offer more service in the Washington-Atlanta market [DOT-OST-2007-0032].
Firming up a succession plan that's been in place for quite some time, AirTran named President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Fornaro its new CEO, with Joe Leonard retaining the chairman position. Fornaro told The DAILY that he and Leonard have worked closely since they both joined AirTran in 1999, and Leonard has always been comfortable sharing responsibility. Leonard arrived in January of that year, followed by Fornaro in March.
Aeroflot in the winter schedule launched this week is boosting frequencies to Sochi, Irkutsk, Kranodar, Mineralnie Vodi, Novosibirsk and Perm, as well as to Hong Kong, Hannover and Athens. The airline will offer daily service to both Athens and Hannover, versus the previous four weekly flights offered for Athens and three weekly Hannover services. Hong Kong, meanwhile, will gain two additional frequencies, resulting in a five-times-weekly offering.
Mesa would carry Singapore Airlines' code on the flights it operates as US Airways Express from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Las Vegas and Phoenix and on the Charlotte-New York route pending U.S. Transportation Dept. approval. The carrier needs a statement of authorization for the code share and is asking the department to expedite the process, so US Airways and SIA can begin to market and sell the services [DOT-OST-2007-0031]. [email protected]
