Major U.S. airlines have cut turn around times to a minimum to trim costs and mimic low-cost carriers, leaving little room for connection error this summer, when thunderstorms normally wreak havoc. Ron Kuhlmann, lead transportation consultant at Unisys, points out that there are still as many airplanes in the skies on domestic routes, but they are now smaller. This means fewer empty seats for those who missed a connection, especially with load factors expected in the mid-80% range.
Mexican low-cost carrier Avolar last week confirmed its interest in bidding for Aeromexico at an auction on a date yet to be set by the latter's controlling shareholders. Avolar CEO Jorge Nehme said, "A group of national investors and myself are interested in acquiring Aeromexico, and we are now refining a formal bid." At a ceremony marking the start of Avolar's operations at Toluca International Airport, Nehme added, "Some labor problems would be the only major hurdle to execute the deal for Aeromexico."
Air France's attempt to block the launch of Geneva airport's low-cost terminal T2 was considered inadmissible by Switzerland's Federal Administrative Tribunal last week.
The implementation of new security regulations that limit liquids in carry-on bags has led to a large boost in checked baggage, leaving air travelers notably less satisfied with the baggage claim process, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2007 North America Airport Satisfaction Study.
AeroSur President Humberto Roca will invest $5 million to set up an affiliate carrier in Paraguay, he announced recently. The affiliate is just an extension of the growth that Aerosur is currently experiencing -- Roca bragged that Aerosur's market share is now 90% in Bolivia and growth was so explosive in the past few months that the carrier had to increase its work force from 375 to 800 employees.
The U.S. Visa Waiver program must be applied equally to all European Union countries, or a new method of granting visas must be found, a senior EU official told The DAILY. Citizens from some new-entrant EU countries -- Poland, for example -- are not eligible for the U.S. Visa Waiver program despite being fully fledged citizens of the EU, Telmo Baltazar, Justice and Home Affairs counselor, said.
Michel Wachenheim, the director general of France's civil aviation authority, has been tapped by the new government led by President Nicolas Sarkozy to be chief of staff to the secretary of state for transportation. As a result, Wachenheim has taken himself out of the running to replace Victor Aguado as the next director general of Eurocontrol when Aguado steps down by year's end, according to air traffic control industry executives.
The U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has shut down Ireland's Derry Airport because of unspecified safety concerns. The shutdown has forced Ryanair to cancel all its flights to London Stansted, while British Airways is transferring its Derry flights to Belfast Airport. A Derry Airport official said the airport is in discussions with CAA to end the suspension.
GOL Airlines President Constantino de Oliveira, Jr., told Brazilian Labor Minister Carlos Lupi that some 2,500 workers employed at Old Varig before the sale of New Varig to GOL in March would be rehired to work in the company's new route structure. O Globo reported Lupi as welcoming the news, especially since foreign airlines are recruiting former pilots and technicians to work abroad, to the detriment of the labor resources of Brazilian carriers.
Virgin Nigeria is pressing the U.S. Transportation Dept. for a decision on its almost 18-month old application to serve the U.S., saying moves by Nigerian aviation authorities and the signing of an European Union-U.S. aviation deal should eliminate any outstanding obstacles to approval of the application.
CEO Jeff Potter says Frontier is developing a vacation package product that should be unveiled in the current quarter as part of the airline's plan to capture more ancillary revenues. Executives say they're pleased with their tie-up with AirTran, which includes a Web site referral and reciprocal frequent flyer privileges. Senior VP-Marketing John Happ points to previous guidance that the partnership would generate $5 million-$10 million in incremental revenue. "We're at or close to the upper end of that estimate," he says.
British Airways thinks the U.S.-EU open-skies deal does not go far enough to benefit the traveling public, says Simon Cox, managing director of airports and ATC. "We're not allowed to do New York-Los Angeles, but U.S. carriers can operate freely in the EU. It's an imbalance...We want to be able to fly where we want, but I won't say we'd fly everywhere. What are you afraid of? Let's have a true open aviation area."
Appointed Gary Paxton, president and CEO of car rental company Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, to its board of directors as a non-management director.
Mexican cargo carrier AeroUnion is expanding its U.S.-Mexico operation with new service in 10 markets that it hopes to launch once it secures the necessary authority from the U.S. Transportation Dept. AeroUnion currently serves 17 markets, including routes to industry hubs like Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Dayton. The airline would boost service to both Los Angeles and Miami with flights to the California city from Leon and Tijuana and a new Monterrey-Miami offering.
Air Midwest is planning an early August exit from its Essential Air Service routes in nine western markets. The airline would discontinue scheduled service at Farmington, Roswell and Alamogordo (New Mexico), Moab, Cedar City and Vernal (Utah) and at Ely, Nevada, and Merced and Visalia in California on Aug. 19. Air Midwest receives subsidies to operate all of the services except Farmington-Albuquerque, which is operated without subsidy.
Named Mel Carraway general manager-field operations for the Office of Security Operations and Barbara Bonn Powell deputy federal security director (DFSD) for Newark-Liberty International Airport. Powell has been acting DFSD at the airport since December 2006.
Austrian was fined $20,000 by the U.S. Transportation Dept. for failing to submit its 2004 and 2005 reports on disability-related complaints on time. Austrian likely will pay only half of the fine, if it can avoid a repeat of the incidents for a year [OST-2007-26781].
The Industrial Arbitration Court in Singapore ruled in favor of the pilots at Singapore Airlines (SIA) for a large pay increase to fly the Airbus A380.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. last week began taking proposals for essential air service at Chisholm and Hibbing, Minn. Mesaba currently connects the communities to Minneapolis with two daily nonstop Saab 340 flights that it operates as Northwest Airlink [OST-2003-15796].
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) OCT. 17-18 -- MRO Asia 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Shanghai, China OCT. 29-31 -- A&D Programs, Phoenix NOV. 6-8 -- MRO Europe, Milan NOV. 7-8 -- MRO Europe 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Fiera Milano Congressi, Milan, Italy NOV. 28-29 -- A&D Finance Conference, New York, N.Y.
Russian carrier Vladivostok Air plans to make its first outing to the U.S. in April 2008, when it intends to launch service to Anchorage and Seattle. The flights would be operated twice weekly, one flight operating from Vladivostok to Anchorage and Seattle via Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and the other via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The airline plans to use its 142-seat Tu-204s but could use Airbus A320s for the operation at a later date. Vladivostok is leasing six A320s and should be taking delivery of the aircraft soon.
