Ryan International will not proceed with plans to launch scheduled service between Milwaukee and Cancun. The carrier initially planned to launch the four weekly flights in May 2005, but damage to the Cancun and its airport from Hurricane Wilma forced the airline to postpone the launch until May 2006. The airline again asked for more time to launch the flights, further pushing the launch to Dec. 31, 2006. The dormancy period for the route expired on March 31 [OST-2004-19887]. -ARS
American yesterday launched AA.com/women, which it said is the first airline Web site designed specifically for female customers. Women make up about half of American's passengers -- nearly 50 million of 98.1 million in 2006 -- and the carrier said it "recognizes the growing women's market and is intent on tapping its potential for improving the customer experience for all passengers."
FAA last week issued a rule prohibiting U.S. carriers and aircraft used in commercial operations from flying at altitudes below 20,000 feet in Somalian airspace, essentially banning operations in the country. The rule comes after two incidents at Mogadishu International Airport. On March 9, the fuselage of an Ilyushin 76 carrying Ugandan peacekeeping forces exploded and caught fire on final approach at Mogadishu. Another Il-76 crashed after taking off from the airport on March 23, killing all 11 people on board.
JetBlue says all of its Embraer 190s have completed two-thirds of the 30 modifications that started last month, and one aircraft has fully completed the mods. The work is being done to correct software issues associated with being the aircraft's launch customer. JetBlue created a special modifications line and contracted with ExpressJet to fly 50-seat ERJ-145s while the work is being completed.
Alaska Airlines reported a March load factor drop of 1.4 points to 76.8%, with traffic rising by just 0.5% compared to a capacity increase of 2.3%. For the year through March, Alaska saw a 0.3% traffic decline on a 2.8% capacity hike. Load factor dropped 2.3 points to 71.4%. Horizon's traffic dropped 0.3% in March, with capacity up 6.3% and load factor dropping by 4.6 points to 71%.
Eurocontrol hopes to build on recent successes in reducing environmental impact with improved Air Traffic Management by shortening routes by up to 2% in the next few years and streamlining operations by 2020 enough to reduce total fuel burn in European airspace to near optimal levels.
Advertising spending by the legacy airlines follows more of a traditional path toward travel agent commissions to influence buying, whereas the spending by new-generation carriers is on main stream media, says a report by Unisys Transportation Management Consultants.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands will not fight the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s tentative award granting parts of the island's petition for expanded rights for foreign carriers (DAILY, Feb. 28) and is instead urging quick confirmation of the order.
Only a few days into his job, new Gulf Air CEO André Dosé has decided to streamline management at the airline. Dosé inherited an organizational structure with 13 direct reports, but decided quickly that was unwieldy. As a result, three positions are being eliminated and the vice president for finance, services and business units will leave the carrier.
Annapolis, Md.-based iJET Intelligent Risk Systems, which offers operational risk management to mostly corporate clients, will introduce a new air carrier risk-management product next month. The company will send its 450 corporate customers an alert when an employee does not use a vetted carrier on its white list -- preferred airlines that should be booked if possible -- and a separate, higher alert if an airline or charter company is on a black list. IJET has been compiling a black list of airlines that do not meet certain safety criteria for some time.
Allegiant Air reported a March load factor of 87.3%, an increase of 0.9 points, while its load factor for the first quarter rose 1.1 points to 80.3%. The airline, which links smaller cities to leisure destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando, saw revenue passenger miles jump by 38.6% in March to 268 million, and its available seat miles rose 37.1% to 306 million. During the first quarter, its RPMs rose 28.4% to 749 million RPMs and ASMs increased to 932 million, a 26.6% increase.
FAA took the travel industry one more step toward space tourism on April 6 when it released guidelines for obtaining one-year experimental launch permits for reusable spacecraft. The guidelines give developers the opportunity to fly and test their vehicles before applying for an FAA launch license. Each permit will cover multiple vehicles of a particular design and will allow an unlimited number of launches. The vehicles must operate in an area large enough to contain a trajectory that is not close to any densely populated areas.
TraceGuard Technologies Inc.'s CompactSafe system, designed specifically to detect traces of explosives from items, including laptops, medical devices, cameras and electronic devices, posted 1%-2% false positive testing rate during a pilot program at Israel's primary international airport.
All U.S. airport workers would be screened under a bill being prepared by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Unlike H.R. 1413, introduced by Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the Schumer bill would require all airports to create and implement a screening plan by 2010. Lowey's bill only calls for a pilot program for a few airports around the country, said Schumer spokeswoman Risa Heller.
While Allegiant's strategy of serving small cities from Las Vegas, Orlando and Tampa shields the carrier from most legacy carrier competition, some of the large airlines are muscling in on some of Allegiant leisure markets with regional jet service.
Concept Solutions has won a five-year FAA contract worth a potential $32 million to help build the Next Generation (NextGen) air transportation system, the Reston, Va., information management and technology consulting company announced yesterday. Under the base-year contract, with four one-year options, ConceptSolutions will help FAA's Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) plan, develop, deploy, coordinate and implement alternative systems integration strategies for the modernization of the air traffic management system.
World Air Holdings and its three wholly owned subsidiaries -- World Airways, North American Airlines and World Risk Solutions -- has entered an agreement to be acquired by Global Aero Logistics, owner of ATA Airlines.
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
JetBlue's capacity slightly outstripped revenue passenger miles in March causing the airline's load factor to dip one percentage point to 85.5% year over year.
Boeing's 787 sales team still has some work to do to make the plane the best-selling Boeing model by the time of first delivery. The 737NG currently holds that record, with 724 orders between launch on Nov. 17, 1993, and first delivery on Dec. 12, 1997. The 787 has sold more than the 737NG through the first three years -- 514 vs. 489 -- but still needs another 211 sales by May 2008 to claim the pre-delivery record.
AirTran, coincidentally, said late last week it was holding its annual meeting May 23 - the same date its takeover target Midwest Airlines plans to hold its annual meeting. AirTran has nominated three members to Midwest's board, and upped its offer to the company's shareholders by about 13% to $389 million (DAILY, April 3).
