FAA Administrator Marion Blakey says the agency is "running the numbers" and analyzing the Senate proposal for FAA reauthorization to see how closely it aligns with the Administration request. However, she says it is very difficult to assess the overall effect without knowing what the Senate Finance Committee will propose regarding taxes. "You can't take just one financing element in isolation," Blakey notes.
Singapore's Changi International Airport signed an agreement with Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) to serve as a consultant as part of the effort to convert the domestic airport at Nagpur to an international one. MADC will pay $120,000 for the consultancy services, MADC Vice Chairman and Managing Director R.C. Sinha said at the Asia Pacific Airports World Conference in Singapore. The consultancy is for a period of nine months, after which MADC will invite international bids for private-public partnership.
The American Society of Travel Agents reports that agencies are selling far fewer air tickets than they were in 2000, based on The 2006 ASTA Agency Profile report. In 2000, agencies said that 56.1% of their total sales came from airline tickets. By 2006, that dropped to only 24.7% of their sales. That shift is mainly due to a concerted effort by agencies to sell more cruises and tours -- which pay high commissions -- over the past few years since airlines cut agent commissions.
Frontier Airlines named Gerry Coady its new VP and chief information officer, effective May 14. Coady most recently was the chief technological officer and executive VP of engineering at Evident Software in Bloomfield, N.J. Before that, he was the chief information technology officer at Xcel Energy in Denver. Frontier President and CEO Jeff Potter says, "Information and technology are critical to every aspect of our operation." -LR
John Newhouse, author of Boeing Versus Airbus, The Inside Story of the Greatest International Competition in Business, will address the luncheon meeting of the International Aviation Club Tuesday, May 15, 2007, at the Marriott Metro Center hotel, 775 12th Street NW, Washington, D.C. Lunch will be served at 12:30 p.m., preceded by a reception at 11:45 a.m.
Delta is ending service between Atlanta and Trenton six months after the service started, citing low passenger demand; the final flight will be on June 7. The three daily flights to Boston still remain, said Julie Willmot, a spokesperson for Mercer County, which oversees Trenton-Mercer Airport. "The economy here is really strong, so it is an attractive place to do business," she said. "The county will still collect $300,000 in rent and fees from [Delta Connection carrier] Comair." No incentives were used for the service, she added. -BW
Eos named Holly Nelson as its VP Finance & Controller. Nelson was previously senior VP, controller and chief accounting officer with JetBlue. Nelson will report to Eos Executive VP-Finance and CFO Eilif Serck-Hanssen.
US Airways Group said its consolidated unit revenue dropped in April and warned that this trend could continue for the rest of this quarter. "As we've seen from other airlines, the passenger [unit revenue] environment has weakened from the rapid growth rate seen in 2006 leading to more difficult year-over-year comparisons, particularly in the second quarter," said US Airways President Scott Kirby. The timing of the Easter holiday also hurt April revenue performance, he said.
Canada's two largest carriers, Air Canada and WestJet, both grew their traffic faster than capacity in April, prompting the carriers to post increases in their respective load factors. Air Canada's revenue passenger miles were up 3.5% to 3.6 billion, while available seat miles rose 2.2% to 4.3 billion. That spurred the carrier's load factor to grow one percentage point to 83%. WestJet's RPMs jumped 23% to 936 million and ASMs 16% to 1.1 billion, lifting load factor 4.3 points to 82.8%. -LR
European regional low-fare airline FlyBE yesterday placed an order for 15 more Bombardier Q400s. The order comes on top of 45 Q400s previously ordered and leaves the airline with a fleet of 60 Q400s. FlyBE also secured options for another 15 of the type. The aircraft will be delivered in the next two years and will replace Embraer ERJ-145s that FlyBE inherited as part of the takeover of BA Connect. FlyBE has invested more than $2 billion in its fleet over the past two years. -JF
As Air Transport Association members, airlines have voiced their opposition to registered traveler programs, but at the airport level, the view is different, according to participants at a recent conference sponsored by the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE)
Africa's air safety has again come under scrutiny with the May 5 crash of Kenya Airways Flight 507 near Douala, Cameroon. IATA reported 2006 as the safest aviation year on record, with a world average hull loss rate of 0.65 per 1 million departures, or 1 accident per 1.5 million flights of Western-built aircraft. Africa, however, had 4.31 accidents per 1 million flights -- the second-highest world average accident rate, next to Russia.
The Transportation Security Administration's proposed modifications to passenger checkpoint screening standard operating procedures -- and its methods for evaluating and documenting them -- could be improved, says a new report from the Government Accountability Office.
A group of Dominican and Spanish airlines and investors are in the final stage of incorporating international carrier Air Dominicana with initial equity of $10 million, according to press reports in Madrid and Santo Domingo. Juan Jose Hidalgo, president of Spain's Globalia hotel and travel group and one of the founding shareholders is said to be on a shortlist to become president of the incorporated carrier. -LZ
The average domestic, short-haul economy fare in Latin America and the Caribbean rose 2.7% in 2006 from 2005, while the international, long-haul fare was up 4.4%, according to American Express Business Travel's 2006 LAC Airfares Index. Argentina saw the highest domestic fare increase --up 18.2% -- to an average of $133.17, followed by Brazil, up 11.6% to $175.75, and Chile, up 10.4% to $272.75. In Mexico, where low-fare competition is on the rise, average short-haul fares were down nearly 5%.
Atlas yesterday reported a net profit of $6.2 million for the first quarter, a major achievement compared to the $3.7 million loss the cargo carrier reported for the same period last year. Driving the turnaround were the highest first-quarter revenues in the company's history. The $353.6 million revenue total was up from last year's $332.2 million. CEO William Flynn noted these were "robust results during a traditionally slow period of the year in air cargo demand, as well as a quarter with some sluggishness in key trade lanes."
Raleigh/Durham Airport Authority's strong financial position, strong operating margins and minimal debt needs through the next 10 years have led credit agency Fitch to upgrade $155 million in airport revenue bonds to AA-; it also upgraded $622 million in outstanding airport revenue bonds to 'AA-' from 'A+'.
The U.S. government appears to be backing away from its attempts to pin down Chinese negotiators on a firm timetable for full open skies between the two nations, but in return the U.S. wants to push the Chinese to grant many more flight frequencies.
The registered traveler (RT) program has been designed not only to maintain airport security, but also to enhance the travel experience for passengers by getting them through checkpoints quicker, said John Martinez, director of the Transportation Security Administration's RT program office, in remarks at an American Association of Airport Executives conference in Baltimore yesterday.
Northwest subsidiary Compass last week applied for an exemption to operate U.S.-Canada services. The carrier plans to use its Embraer 175s, which it will begin to take delivery of in the third quarter, on "a variety of U.S.-Canada transborder routes" [OST-2007-28132]. Compass operated its first flight, between Washington Dulles and Minneapolis, on May 2, only days after winning a certificate for domestic service on April 28.
Eurocontrol member states have reconfirmed that one minute will remain the optimum target for average en route ATC delays. At a recent meeting in Brussels, Eurocontrol's Provisional Council noted that delays have risen for three consecutive years, and that an average of one minute for flow management delays should remain the performance target through 2013. This goal is "considered to be the optimum performance and is achievable," Eurocontrol Director General Victor Aguado said.
