Northwest Airlines has reached a tentative contract agreement with the Association of Flight Attendants that allows the airline to "continue to achieve the required $195 million in cost savings needed from our flight attendants," says Mike Becker, the airline's senior VP of human resources and labor relations. The agreement gives the flight attendants an unsecured claim of $182 million in Northwest's bankruptcy procedure. The union's Master Executive Council will now decide whether to present the agreement to its membership for a ratification vote. -JLM
San Francisco airport plans to have a registered traveler program up and running by October. The airport is putting out a request for proposals for a vendor to build and operate its registered traveler program.
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) APRIL 17-18 -- MRO Military 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Ga. APRIL 18-19 -- MRO 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Ga. OCT. 17-18 -- MRO Asia 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Shanghai, China
Spirit last week filed for authority to operate daily service to Barranquilla and Bogotá in Colombia as part of the continued expansion of its Fort Lauderdale hub [OST-2007-28057]. The airline recently has boosted its international offering with new service to Haiti, St. Maarten, Costa Rica and Venezuela and will launch to Peru and Trinidad and Tobago next month. -ARS
Mexico's Department of Transportation (SCT) suspended Mexican charter airline Republic, following a major investigation that determined it did not meet the high safety standards demanded by relevant authorities in "the areas of operations, technical training and maintenance." Specific mention was made of two "deteriorated" 130-passenger Boeing 737-200s, as well as the fact that none of the employees originally hired to run the company are still working there. SCT has given the company 60 days to clean up its act or else face final suspension. -LZ
Airbus wants by mid June to reach deals with unions representing 10,000 workers whose jobs could be lost in the Power 8 restructuring plan, with negotiations expected to begin next month.
Queretaro, one of four alternate airports in Central Mexico that funnels traffic to the nation's capital, expects passenger numbers to grow 100% by yearend. The airport handled 150,000 passengers in 2006, 60% more than in 2005. Its facilities are now being used by Avolar, Republic Air, Aeromar, Alma, Viva Aerobus and Continental.
Weak growth in the U.S. domestic market during the first quarter was offset by surging international business, express giant UPS reported this week. Overall, net profit dropped 13.5% to $843 million during the quarter, with operating profit down 12.7% to $1.4 billion. These results include an impairment charge of $221 million due to the accelerated retirement of some Boeing 727 and 747s, and another of $68 million related to a voluntary retirement program. Excluding these special items, net profit would have increased 5.3%.
Sun Country Airlines, based in Minneapolis, says CEO Shaun Nugent has resigned for personal reasons. T. Jay Salmen, who served as president and CEO of Sun Country from 2002 to 2006, has been brought back to serve as interim CEO. Salmen is the president of Petters Aviation, one of Sun Country's owners. On April 13, Sun Country named Stephen Spellman, president and CEO of Champion Air, as its new CFO/COO.
Ameco Beijing on May 1 is scheduled to start providing line maintenance services in Shanghai and Moscow for Moscow-based AirBridge Cargo. The five-year service contract also includes aircraft release services for ABC's Boeing 747-200s. ABC awarded a second contract to Ameco Beijing to perform one 747-200 1A check in May. This will be the first work Ameco Beijing has conducted for ABC, but the doors are open for base maintenance work too, said Jan Butzmann, Ameco's senior director of marketing and sales.
Takeover target Midwest reported a profitable first quarter yesterday, but the Milwaukee carrier and its pursuer AirTran each had their own take on the results.
US Airways yesterday reported a $66 million profit in the first quarter -- up from $5 million for the same period last year -- and revealed plans for several customer service initiatives. The airline's profit, which is reduced to $32 million when excluding net credits from special items, came during a particularly trying quarter for the carrier during which it was afflicted by two major storms on the East Coast and many operational glitches when it cut over its reservations systems into a single system on March 3.
Canadian airlines this week sent a clear message to the nation's airport leaders that carriers will find it difficult to add more destinations and grow further until the airport crown rent issue has been resolved. Airlines and airports have the same objective -- to grow markets, Air Canada CEO Montie Brewer said during the Canadian Airports Council (CAC) annual meeting in Ottawa this week. Airlines need to choose where to put new service, and they "see that some airports are non-competitive because their costs are so high," he said.
Reno International Airport has announced a May 15 start date for its RT Go registered traveler program, while Verified Identity Pass has signed a deal to bring its Clear program to Little Rock National Airport. Travelers using Reno airport can register online at www.rtGOcard.com or in person at the airport, said spokesman Brian Kulpin. "The RT lines will use what are currently crew lines at both of the airport's security checkpoints," he said.
Government-owned carriers Air India and Indian -- formerly Indian Airlines -- will be legally merged by June 2007, Air India Chairman and Managing Director Vasudevan Thulasidas said in New Delhi this week. The name of the new carrier and at least three of its top executives are also expected to be announced in June. Both airlines have already started working towards route rationalization by integrating their domestic and international flight schedules.
Struggling Bolivian carrier Lloyd Aereo Boliviano on May 15 will reimburse 100 passengers who demanded their money back for tickets for flights to Spain that never took off. In exchange, passengers have agreed to stop staging protest demonstrations and shows of force at Cochabamba Airport. Meanwhile, further problems are on the horizon as unions refuse to join the recently created Committee for the Defense of LAB (DAILY, April 17).
Chief Airbus salesman John Leahy claims the airframer didn't submit an A350 proposal to Virgin Atlantic during the carrier's recent aircraft selection process. Leahy notes Virgin wanted an aircraft to be delivered in 2011, but the A350-900 will not enter service until 2013. Virgin's selection of Boeing's 787 was viewed as a major victory for the U.S. manufacturer.
Alaska Air Group blamed a soft revenue environment and increased competition for its first-quarter net loss of $10.3 million, although this was still an improvement from the $79-million loss sustained in the same period last year.
According to a Priceline survey, people who book travel seven days or less before departure are not waiting to find a better deal, but are simply too busy to book in advance. Priceline surveyed 1,000 consumers and found that 30% said they were overscheduled and couldn't plan a trip more than a week in advance. Only 13% said they were concerned about money.
JetBlue is beefing up its presence in Salt Lake City and will increase from two to four the number of destinations it serves nonstop from this airport. The airline intends to begin daily flights to San Diego and San Francisco from Salt Lake on July 27 with A320s. JetBlue currently flies twice a day to Long Beach, Calif. It also offers daily flights to New York Kennedy.
