Alternative fuels and new technologies such as the NextGen system are the keys to reducing the aviation industry's carbon emissions, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday testimony before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
FAA plans this summer to rebaseline the cost estimates for its automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast program, the DOT Inspector General says. The current ADS-B estimate is $1.2 billion. Also, FAA may have to "rely on a rulemaking initiative to help speed ADS-B...equipage," the IG notes.
Midwest Airlines' chief executive is giving kudos to SkyWest, noting the service its new regional partner started in April was exceeding Midwest's expectations.
Frontier CFO Paul Tate tells analysts he's "personally sort of excited," about the carrier's discontinuing Los Angeles-San Francisco and San Francisco-Las Vegas service July 10 "because it is going to help my CASM." Noting that expenses have doubled in Los Angeles, Tate says dropping the expensive short-haul market "is going to help our P&L (profit and loss)" in the near term.
A consortium led by Germany's Hochtief AirPort GmbH has signed a deal to buy BAA's shares in Budapest Airport for EUR1.9 billion (US$2.4 billion) after receiving final approval from the Hungarian government. The sale is part of Ferrovial's strategy to sell several international holdings, including Budapest, Sydney and Bristol airports, to reduce debt acquired with its purchase of BAA in June 2006.
FAA and the European Commission plan a North Atlantic ATC demonstration with airline aircraft using environmentally friendly procedures, including in-trail climbs to optimum altitudes and continuous-descent approaches for near-idle operations from cruise to landing. Industry officials familiar with the plan expect European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot and FAA Administrator Marion Blakey to announce it at the Paris Air Show.
JetBlue's Board of Directors earlier this week elevated President Dave Barger to CEO, making founder CEO David Neeleman non-executive chairman of the board. A carrier spokesman characterized the board's decision as "part of a larger realigning of our leadership structure that has been taking place over the last year, a natural evolution from a startup to a $3 billion company." Trey Urbhan joined in November as chief revenue officer from on-demand private jet provider OneSky Jets.
The European Commission on May 16 is expected to propose Galileo be entirely financed with public funds and deployed by the European Space Agency (ESA), after the consortium of private companies holding the concession for the global satellite navigation system missed the May 10 deadline to agree on Galileo's financing and management. European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot gave the consortiums the May 10 deadline in March (DAILY, March 23).
Mesa is ending its Dash 8 turboprop service for Delta at New York Kennedy Airport Aug. 21 because of higher-than-anticipated costs of flying the aircraft. Flights of the 12 37-seat aircraft got off to an unstable start with Mesa having to use smaller 19-seat planes on some of the routes after the flight data recorders on some of the planes didn't monitor the correct 32 parameters (DAILY, Aug. 10, 2006). Republic Airways Holdings also flew 37-seat ERJ-135 jets at JFK to help backfill some of the Dash 8s that couldn't start service (DAILY, Aug. 16, 2006).
One of the difficulties that could derail the Next Generation ATC system is a weak management structure in FAA, a Boeing ATM official told ATC technical specialists in Atlantic City, N.J.
The International Federation of Airline Pilots issued a warning to chief pilot members to proceed "with extreme vigilance and precaution" in Argentina, citing safety concerns about radars as the provision of ATC services shifts from the air force to a new body created by the Ministry of Transportation. The shift affected traffic at Buenos Aires' Aeroparque and Ezeiza airports. The association, meanwhile, singled out the airports because the radars have been operated manually since March 1, when their joint radar system was damaged by an electrical storm.
TAM Brazil and LAN agreed to establish and develop a commercial alliance among their affiliated carriers. Passengers on the LAN group of airlines (LAN, Lan Argentina, Lan Peru and Lan Ecuador) will be able to fly on routes operated by TAM with multiple choices in schedules and frequencies. Passengers would also share VIP lounges and frequent flyer programs.
Boeing sees compelling reasons why the current strong aircraft ordering cycle is likely to continue, the company's lead commercial aircraft marketer told analysts in London this week. Boeing believes this cycle will be "more drawn out ...more elongated" than previous cycles, Commercial Airplanes Marketing Director Drew Magill said. The major reasons are that the airline industry's economic "fundamentals are very strong," there should be a good geographic balance in orders, and there is a strong demand for replacement aircraft, he said.
New York City helicopter shuttle operator US Helicopter has signed a multi-year agreement to provide its full-fare content to Sabre Travel Network (STN). US Helicopter partners with Delta at JFK Airport and with Continental at Newark Liberty by providing interline service on its eight-minute, scheduled shuttle service over Manhattan. The company flies to both airports from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, Atlantic Metroport at East 34th St. and the heliport to Bridgeport Sikorsky Memorial Airport, serving mainly Fairfield and New Haven, Conn. -JLM
Delta will challenge Spirit for 14 U.S.-Colombia frequencies, rights that are currently unavailable but can be found with American, where they have gone unused for almost two years, the carrier said. American last week told the U.S. Transportation Dept. that all 70 frequencies were distributed to other carriers -- American holds 42 frequencies, Continental 21 and Delta seven. American admitted it's using only 28 of the frequencies, but would use all of them this year. The carrier last used all of the frequencies in summer 2005.
