Canada and Ireland liberalized air service with an open-skies agreement that takes effect immediately. The open-skies accord, which replaces a 1947 bilateral agreement, allows airlines to provide service between any city in either country. Furthermore, the agreement allows Canadian and Irish carriers to serve third countries from Canada or Ireland, Transport Canada said in a statement. The deal provides "more choices for Canadian passengers, shippers, air carriers and airports," said Lawrence Cannon, Canada's transport minister.
The importance of the foreign control issue could be diminished in the second stage of U.S.-European Union open-skies talks if airlines on both sides of the Atlantic take advantage of greater code sharing, marketing and franchising possibilities created by the accord signed this week, top European officials said.
Jakarta-based Merpati Nusantara Airlines has filed a civil suit against U.S.-based Thirdstone Aircraft Leasing Group (TALG) for alleged breach of contract concerning delivery of two Boeing 737-400s leased by the carrier. According to the airline's corporate secretary, Irvan Harijanto, the suit was filed in a District of Columbia court on April 20. Both parties had been given 30 days to seek an out-of-court settlement.
Thai Airways International plans to increase its five flights a week to Los Angeles and New York to daily services. "Thai expects to gain a great benefit in the future from maintaining the base of passengers in the two routes, given that they are the premium customers," it said in a statement. Meanwhile, starting with the summer 2007 schedule, Thai and Pakistan International Airlines will code share on all flights operated between Pakistan and Thailand.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. on April 27 approved Air China's plan to transfer the authority and exemptions used in its all-cargo operations to Air China Cargo (DAILY, July 18, 2006). Air China Cargo will assume Air China's cargo operations on routes from Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai to Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and New York, while Air China will carry only cargo and mail on its combination flights to the U.S. [OST-2006-25383].
Southwest's 0.23-cent year-over-year increase in first-quarter unit costs came half from fuel and half from maintenance, and the latter is by far the faster-growing at 23.4%, the carrier says in an SEC filing. The number of airframe inspections and the cost per inspection each increased under a new maintenance program for Boeing 737-300s and -500s adopted in 2006, said Southwest, and the cost impact will continue for "the next two to three years."
Delta's plan to serve the Salt Lake City-Mazatlan market with year-round service has changed, as delays in winning approvals from Mexico hampered operational transitions between Connection carriers Shuttle America and Skywest.
ExpressJet continued its branded flying roll-out on Monday, launching service from five airports -- Colorado Springs, Fresno, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Jacksonville. Schedules show that ExpressJet has no competition on the flights it launched from those airports. But that's not the case in all of ExpressJet's new markets. Horizon has stepped up competition with ExpressJet on the Boise-San Diego, Spokane-Sacramento and Spokane-San Diego routes (DAILY, April 4).
Air Jamaica has decided to outsource Air Jamaica Vacations to The Mark Travel Corporation of Milwaukee, Wis., effective Aug. 1. Mark Travel already manages brands such as United Vacations, Midwest Airlines Vacations, Funjet Vacations and Spirit Vacations. Air Jamaica Vacations will be managed from Orlando, Fla. Air Jamaica executives say the travel packages will have the same options they do now under new management, and nothing will change in appearance to the consumer or the travel agent. -JLM
Electronic flight bags are proliferating on the flight decks of airline aircraft, with affordable Class 2 systems that fit into docking stations in the cockpit for use in all phases of flight proving particularly popular. The popularity of Class 2 Systems is expected to increase as FAA launches an initiative to certify these devices with GPS so they can display "own ship" position on taxiways and runways. This will help pilots see and avoid runway incursions, and several avionics companies are working with FAA to participate in this type of certification.
American is launching a trial of personal media players in all cabins on a selected number of MD-80 flights, and is also introducing this technology in premium cabins on all transcontinental flights. The MD-80 trial began yesterday, and is expected to continue through Aug. 31. Eight daily flights between Los Angeles and Chicago will be used for the test. Economy passengers will be able to rent the personal media players, while the devices will be provided free in the premium cabins.
All-business-class airline MAXjet Airways is making a major leadership change with the hiring of a new chairman, CFO, chief operating officer and VP-people services. The board of directors has appointed board member and Extra Space Storage CEO Kenneth Woolley as chairman, replacing Richard Sharp. Woolley was an early investor in JetBlue and an early investor in MAXjet.
Malaysia Airlines will set up a new subsidiary to operate the rural air services (RAS) and Fokker 50 routes in the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak following the government's decision to return the operations of Fly Asian Xpress (FAX) to the flag carrier. MAS Managing Director and CEO Idris Jala said it has to be a win-win solution when the government transfers RAS back to MAS.
Bombardier added about 200 aircraft and $23 billion in potential revenue in the latest update to its annual market forecast. The outlook, stretching from 2007 to 2026, sees 11,200 aircraft sold in the 20- to 149-seat range, worth about $393 billion. There was no fundamental adjustment in the outlook, notes Michael McAdoo, VP-strategy and business development.
American is stepping up competition with ExpressJet in Raleigh by offering double frequent flyer miles on American Eagle flights to the ExpressJet markets of Jacksonville, Kansas and Louisville. American Eagle launched flights from Raleigh to the three cities yesterday. ExpressJet is rolling out its flights from Raleigh to New Orleans, San Antonio, Louisville, Kansas City, Birmingham and Jacksonville from May 7 through June 12. American's double miles offer is valid for travel from May 1 to July 31. -LR
Northwest this week reported a first-quarter pre-tax profit -- excluding reorganization costs -- of $100 million, which CEO Doug Steenland said was consistent with the airline's bankruptcy re-emergence business plan.
US Airways and Singapore Airlines plan to implement their new code-sharing agreement on June 1, pending regulatory approval. The carriers put the final signatures on the deal late last month. Under the agreement, Singapore's code would initially appear on US Airways flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to both Phoenix and Las Vegas, while US Air's code would be carried on SIA's flights between Singapore and Los Angeles, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Manchester (U.K), Zurich, Brunei, Jakarta and Bali [OST-2007-28084].
Continental will be the first U.S. carrier to use the Boeing Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag on its 777s, having it installed in new deliveries and also as a retrofit. Boeing recently delivered to Continental the second 777-200ERs equipped with the Class 3 EFB. The first was delivered in March. The EFB will be retrofitted on three other new 777s. The Class 3 EFB is certified for all phases of operations in the air and on the ground. It is integrated into aircraft avionics, and provides digital versions charts and manuals.
During the U.S.-European Union summit yesterday, leaders from both sides signed the first stage of the open-skies agreement, part of a larger transatlantic economic integration plan. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Transportation Secretary Mary Peters represented the U.S. Jacques Barrot, European Commission vice president for transportation affairs, and Wolfgang Tiefensee, EU transport council president, led the European delegation. -MU
