By Michael E. Korens The historic U.S.-European Union air service agreement and the related renewed attempt by U.K.-based BMI to upgrade to an advantageous immunized alliance relationship with United are sobering reminders that in the world of global alliances, most U.S. carriers will be competitively disadvantaged by a U.S. Transportation Dept. decision in late 2005.
Fort Lauderdale-based SkyValue is ending flights to its five-city network on May 6, citing low traffic. SkyValue began two-class, Boeing 737 flights in December 2006 between Phoenix's Williams Gateway Airport and Gary/Chicago International Airport, Gary and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, Gary-Las Vegas, and Gary-Orlando.
Recent wildcat strikes at SAS are driving the airline's leadership to change plans: Launch of a strategic overhaul is being pushed out a month and management of some operations now resident in Copenhagen are being moved elsewhere. Airline CEO Mats Jansson expressed frustration at recent strike action at SAS in Copenhagen that cost the carrier SEK100 million and forced the cancellation of 700 flights. As a direct consequence, management of flights between Copenhagen-Oslo and Copenhagen-Stockholm will be shifted outside Denmark.
Airports Council International-North America is criticizing the Senate's FAA reauthorization bill, accusing lawmakers of missing an opportunity to help airports reduce delays, avoid congestion and provide passengers increased airline competition.
Travelport, owner of 21 travel brands including Orbitz, is going green with a new program to support eco-tourism that it plans to unveil May 8. The company also is sponsoring the carbon-offsetting program at the World Travel and Tourism Council summit in Lisbon, Portugal, May 11-12. Orbitz is letting travelers offset the carbon emissions from their flights by donating $3.25 to $12.50, depending on length of flight, to Carbonfund.org during the booking process.
NTSB recommends that FAA mandate that aircraft collision avoidance systems provide enhanced aural and visual warnings requiring pilot acknowledgement in the event of inflight system malfunction. The recommendation would apply to all aircraft required to have a traffic alert and collision avoidance system and for existing and future system designs.
Mesaba on May 1 applied for authority that will enable it to introduce its 76-seat CRJ-900s on some of its scheduled U.S.-Canada service. The airline currently uses its Saab 340 turboprops for its Canadian flights [OST-2007-28092]. Separately, the U.S. Transportation Dept. on May 7 will begin taking proposals from carriers interested in operating Essential Air Service at Watertown, S.D. Mesaba currently operates the service as Northwest Airlink, and its rate term will expire on July 31 [OST-2001-10644]. -ARS
Copa Airlines of Panama has increased its outstanding order for Boeing 737 next-generation aircraft from six to 10 with a new order for four 737-800s that will be delivered in 2011 and 2012. Copa's fleet currently is comprised of 30 aircraft -- 737s plus six EMB190s. The 737-800, at 155 seats, is the largest in its fleet. "This new order reinforces our commitment to our passengers by allowing us to continue expanding our route network through additional frequencies and destinations," says Pedro Heilbron, CEO.
British Airways, a notable holdout in the decade-long trend toward increased airline use of aftermarket PMA parts, has signed a long-term parts supply, development and management agreement with HEICO Corp., the two companies announced Thursday.
Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad, a wholly owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional, parent company of Malaysia Airlines is offering interested parties to bid for 18 Boeing 737-400 aircraft with leases attached. The aircraft sale would be divided into two lots of nine each. Companies could bid for one lot or both. The 18 aircraft are currently leased to MAS. After the sale is completed, the buyer will lease to MAS on identical operating leasing agreements for a period to be determined by the airline. Closing date for bids to be submitted is May 14.
St. Kitts will receive its first nonstop flights to New York on Nov. 18, when American launches flights twice a week to the Eastern Caribbean island. American will use a 188-seat Boeing 757-200s in the market with 22 seats in first class.
Weather and ATC problems caused SkyWest to miss incentive payments built into its agreements with its network carrier partners during the first quarter, resulting in the company not collecting close to $4 million in pre-tax revenues. SkyWest Inc. executives issued a warning in February about the carrier's fourth-quarter performance, citing ramp-up costs for its new business with Midwest and follow-on business with Delta and below-average utilization levels in the second and third quarters of 2006.
Debt-watcher Fitch gave a rating of A Stable to $600 million in revenue bonds to Miami International Airport, citing MIA's role as the international gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America, strong demand for local air service, a diverse mix of domestic and international passenger and cargo airlines and enhanced oversight of the capital improvement program. Miami-Dade County, Fla., will use the proceeds of a May 14 bond sale to finance a portion of the airport's capital improvement program (CIP) and refund outstanding commercial paper.
Keeping alive the aspiration to eventually build the C-Series aircraft, Bombardier officials say they will have to make engine and other key decisions no later than next year to meet the new 2013 in-service date. The airframer said this week it has evolved the 110- to 130-seat aircraft significantly in recent months, noting that the composites content, for instance, has grown to 46% from 20% in an earlier version. As a result, operating empty weight has come down 3%, says Gary Scott, president for new commercial aircraft programs.
Allegiant Air is considering adding a fourth destination city to its network and could make a decision before the quarter ends. The carrier currently serves three "world-class destinations" -- Las Vegas, Orlando and Tampa/St. Petersburg -- from smaller U.S. cities. Yesterday, management told analysts that a fourth market might join the roster during the fourth quarter. Plans are also underway to add service to Las Vegas from new smaller cities during the third and fourth quarters.
The Business Travel Coalition yesterday urged the European Commission not to deregulate the European computer reservations systems industry, arguing that doing so would be "devastating to corporate travel programs" and travel management companies. In a joint filing with 119 associations and companies that book travel in Europe, BTC called on the EC not to revise its 1989 Code of Conduct for Computerized Reservations Systems.
Japanese airline ANA this week confirmed it has signed a deal with cargo carrier ABX that will see ABX operate two aircraft for ANA; this is the first time the Japanese government has allowed a foreign carrier to conduct cargo operations for a Japanese airline. Under the wet-lease deal, ABX will fly two Boeing 767-200s for ANA. The deal is initially for two years with an option for annual renewals. ABX will support ANA cargo operations throughout Asia, including Japan, China and Thailand.
