Travelspan GT on April 23 won U.S. Transportation Dept. approval to launch flights to Orlando from Georgetown, Guyana, via Port-of-Spain in Trinidad. The airline, which also flies to New York Kennedy and Fort Lauderdale, aims to launch the Orlando flights on June 16 [OST-2007-27901].
Continental this month inducted the first Boeing 757-300 due for heavy maintenance into its Orlando maintenance facility. The airline's Orlando facility has been performing 737 maintenance, but it was able to construct stands and acquire tooling to insert the 757 into the second line, which it started last summer, according to Dave Shotsberger, director of technical operations for the Southeast U.S., Europe and Caribbean. Shotsberger expects to complete the first 757 in 23 days but thinks Continental will decrease that to a 20-day turnaround.
United says it will be holding the line or reducing domestic capacity in the second quarter, and studying ways to gain new revenues through ancillary products as a way to improve on the $152-million net loss the carrier incurred in the first quarter.
U.K. startup Zoom Airlines wants to serve Bermuda with two of the seven weekly London Gatwick-New York Kennedy flights the carrier hopes to launch on June 21 (DAILY, Jan. 25). The airline on April 24 amended its application for route authority and a foreign carrier permit to incorporate the change and also asked the U.S. Transportation Dept. to reissue the pendente lite exemption, which let the carrier begin marketing and pre-sales of the services in the U.K., to reflect the new service plan.
Airbus is holding discussions with four or five carriers regarding A380 orders as part of its push to meet its target of selling 20 of the planes this year, the manufacturer's top salesman said yesterday. Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy admitted it would be "a bit of a stretch" to meet that goal. However, airlines are interested in securing production slots and that would help Airbus reach or exceed its sales targets, Leahy told reporters at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France.
Work on the steel roof of the new terminal at Indianapolis International Airport will start again this week after a month-and-a-half delay. The work was stopped in February after roof trusses shifted during installation and created a potentially dangerous situation (DAILY, March 3). Construction on other parts of the facility continued during the roof delay, said airport spokesman David Dawson.
House Republican aviation leaders are urging the Chinese government to accept U.S. proposals for a phased open skies deal. In a letter to China's Vice Premier Wu Yi, Transportation Ranking Member John Mica (R-Fla.) and aviation subcommittee ranking member Thomas Petri (R-Wis.) stress the trade disparity between the two nations, and identified aviation liberalization as one area where they "can begin to address the imbalance with relative ease." Negotiators from the U.S. Transportation and State Dept.'s are in China this week for another round of talks.
A former head of the Transportation Security Administration says privatizing elements of airline passenger and baggage screening could save the government money while still maintaining security levels. Retired Navy Rear Adm. David Stone says a mixed airport screener force of full-time federal employees and part-time private sector workers could be the answer to the high attrition rate of part-time federal screeners, which is "costing the U.S. taxpayer a lot of money." Stone ran the TSA from December 2003 until June 2005.
Farmers in Canada will be able to buy 11,000 acres of land at Montreal Mirabel International Airport under a report submitted to Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon by the facility's transition committee. The airport, which opened in 1975, is currently being used for cargo flights and by manufacturer Bombardier. The committee recommendations will now be studied by the Canadian government.
Hawaiian Airlines' frequent flyer members can now earn miles on Continental flights anywhere in the U.S. The expanded benefits are part of a new code-sharing arrangement in which Continental miles can be used for free flights on Hawaiian. Members of Continental's OnePass frequent flyer program can earn 500 OnePass miles for every interisland flight on Hawaiian.
The U.K.'s Manchester Airport has just completed a six-month pilot program testing the use of RFID tags to track 90,000 passengers as a potential tool to improve customer service and security in the future.
Ending a run of 20%-plus capacity increases and passing the half-billion-dollar mark for first-quarter revenue, AirTran eked out $2.4 million in net earnings and a 2.7% operating margin for the quarter that ended March 31. AirTran grew 20.5% in the first quarter and has increased capacity in the 20%-25% range annually for the past few years. In the past four years, growth has totaled 125% with a higher load factor nonetheless, but the carrier isn't willing to keep up that pace at a time of volatile oil prices.
Boeing has swapped one Randy for another in the crucial role of VP-marketing for the Commercial Airplanes (BCA) unit. Company veteran Randy Tinseth will be responsible for marketing BCA's entire range of products, taking over from Randy Baseler, who is expected to retire April 30. Tinseth, who has been with Boeing for more than 25 years, will report to VP-business strategy and marketing Mike Cave.
Boeing may need to look at a refresh of some of its 777 variants before it considers a full replacement for the 737, Boeing head Jim McNerney said yesterday.
American this week confirmed plans to upgrade the interiors on all 124 of its Boeing 757 fleet, which will include the addition of two extra seats in first class. The upgrade work is scheduled to begin in 2008, and will be completed in-house. The project includes new economy class seats, and new sidewalls to "give the interior a lighter and brighter look." LCD monitors will be installed, and a digital media file server will improve the in-flight video quality, American said. The two additional seats will increase the 757 first-class cabin to 24 seats.
The operations certificate issued to Sunworld International Airlines was recently revoked by the U.S. Transportation Dept. due to dormancy. The carrier changed hands several times and claimed it was working on a comeback (DAILY, May 26, 2006) but has not sent the Department any relevant paperwork on the matter since May 2006 [OST-2004-18574].
Europe's high court yesterday ruled the Netherlands' 1957 bilateral air services agreement with the U.S. is illegal under European Union law. In its ruling, the European Court of Justice wrote the international commitments between the Netherlands and the U.S. on air fares, computer reservations systems, the U.S.' rights to withdraw or limit traffic on carriers not owned by the Netherlands broke EU law.
Massport has unveiled incentives to encourage passengers and taxis going to Boston Logan Airport to drive hybrid, alternative-fuel and alternative-powered vehicles. Announced on Earth Day, Massport will offer more than 100 preferred parking to customers driving hybrid and alternative fuel cars at Logan's Central garage, Terminal B garage, Terminal E surface lot and economy parking, starting May 1.
Alitalia is scheduled to hold talks with cabin staff unions on April 26 in an attempt to avert a strike scheduled May 3 (DAILY, April 18). Five unions will be seeking a renewal of employees' contracts, addressing working hours and other issues.
A top U.S. official gave the strongest signal yet that the U.S. is committed to the second stage of negotiations with the European Union on open skies.
