The Regional Airline Association is the latest group to oppose Porter Airlines' proposed flights between Toronto City Centre Airport and Newark unless U.S. carriers have access to the airport.
Air France this summer will carry Delta's code on Air France's new Paris-Seattle services. The code share will begin on or about June 11. The French carrier also intends to put Delta's code on flights between Paris and Bilbao and Vigo in Spain. Air France, however, has yet to receive authority for the flights from Spanish authorities, and told the U.S. Transportation Dept. the flights would launch as soon as the carriers get the nod but "no earlier than 30 days" from March 12 [OST-2000-6939]. -ARS
Frankfurt Airport reached record traffic for passengers and air freight tonnage in February, reports parent Fraport Group. The airport handled 3.5 million passengers in the month, up 3.8% year over year. Air freight rose 4.4% to 157,360 metric tons, while airmail traffic fell 3.9% to 7,124 metric tons. Aircraft movements in February climbed to 36,971 takeoffs and landings, up 2.6%. Maximum takeoff weights rose 3.3% to 2 million metric tons.
Miami International, which has done 100% employee screening since 1998, can serve as a model for airports looking to implement a similar program at their facilities.
The Airbus A380 will land in the U.S. for the first time next week. Aircraft with the tail numbers MSN001 and MSN007 are planned to land simultaneously at New York Kennedy and Los Angeles airports on Monday, Airbus said. MSN007 will have more than 500 passengers on board as part of the commercial route-proving trial implemented together with Lufthansa. MSN001 will perform an airport compatibility trial in cooperation with Qantas.
A survey initiated days after the January crash of an Adam Air aircraft (DAILY, Jan. 3) and released almost a week after a fatal accident involving a Garuda Boeing 737 (DAILY, March 8) revealed that safety in the Indonesian air transport industry is at its lowest point.
Airbus's top salesman says customers remain committed to the A380 -- despite a two-year delay -- and the A350XWB that's endured three redesigns. John Leahy, chief operating officer-customers, told attendees at the Istat conference this week in Phoenix that every A380 customer had the right to walk away and receive damages, and with "the exception of our freighter friends," all those airlines have stayed with the program. He expects Airbus to log two new orders this year for the program.
The Dept. of Homeland Security is studying the use of high-altitude, unmanned aerial vehicles as airborne platforms to counter small surface-to-air missile attacks on commercial aircraft, the head of the department's research arm said March 13. DHS Under Secretary for Science and Technology Jay Cohen said the department plans to issue a broad agency announcement soon, looking for industry suggestions.
The House aviation subcommittee begins a series of hearings this month on the Bush Administration's plans for funding the multi-year reauthorization of the FAA, starting with a hearing today on the overall plan. The panel has also scheduled a hearing March 21 on the FAA's controversial funding proposal and March 28 on the airport improvement program.
Philippines' low-cost carrier Cebu has ordered 10 Airbus A320s, with five more options and five purchase rights, Airbus said yesterday. The latest deal builds on Cebu's existing fleet of A320s. The carrier ordered 12 in 2004, with the last being delivered earlier this month. These deliveries have allowed Cebu to phase out its DC-9s and Boeing 757s. The new orders will be used to expand Cebu's network, which comprises 26 domestic and 10 international points. -AS
Seoul Incheon Airport took top honors worldwide in the 2006 Airports Council International Airport Service Quality Awards. The awards recognize customer service efforts made by airports taking part in the ACI program and are based on responses to a passenger survey conducted throughout the year. Incheon was followed by Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur coming in second and third, respectively. It was the second year in a row that the top three winners were from the Asia/Pacific region.
Embraer has overcome challenges in Embraer 190/195 production and hopes to reach a target of producing 14 planes per month by yearend. The airframer had to cut its delivery numbers last year from 145 to 135 as a result of supplier challenges that hampered production (DAILY, Oct. 9, 2006). Embraer reached a deal with Kawasaki Heavy Industries to bring the building of metallic pieces for the Embraer 190 wing in-house. Kawasaki still supplies composite flight control surfaces to Embraer.
US Airways will offer daily nonstop roundtrips between its Charlotte hub and Portland, Ore., for the summer season, beginning May 28, using an Airbus A320 configured for 12 seats in first class and 138 in coach. On July 12, the carrier will add a second daily nonstop between Philadelphia and Portland, also with an A320.
The president of Boeing Commercial Airplanes believes that as American, Delta and United continue to evaluate their fleet needs, robust demand could lead to one of the airlines making aircraft replacement decisions this year. BCA head Scott Carson told The DAILY yesterday at the Istat conference in Phoenix that those carriers are under pressure to make decisions as momentum builds for new aircraft around the world. He expects to see the "first break" in the market among the three airlines this year.
The Transportation Security Administration plans to deploy a "surge" of 160 transportation security officers, aviation security inspectors, federal air marshals and other personnel to five Florida airports -- Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Luis Muñoz Marín -- the agency said yesterday. The issue came to the forefront after a Comair employee at Orlando Airport was arrested last week for trying to board a flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, carrying weapons and drugs.
Hawaiian Airlines is restarting its efforts to replace operations head Norm Davies after former FAA COO Russell Chew changed his mind about taking over the position. Davies was expected to retire at the end of June but will now stay on at least until a replacement is found, Hawaiian says. Chew had not actually started at Hawaiian when he told the airline he was instead going to work at JetBlue (DAILY, March 8). "Our understanding is that he was offered a job at JetBlue with the promise of elevation to a more senior position," a Hawaiian spokesman said.
The European Union will press the U.S. on the further liberalization of transatlantic air transport in second-stage talks scheduled to start "at the latest in January 2008," said EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot. "If we do not obtain a second-stage agreement by mid-2010, we can suspend elements of the accord" that was reached with U.S. negotiators on March 5, Barrot elaborated in a statement to the European Parliament yesterday in Strasbourg.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey is confident that greater consensus will emerge over the administration's controversial reauthorization package as it is debated in Congress and modified. The first round of discussions was always likely to focus on the aspects of the package that various industry groups didn't like, Blakey said during a recent interview with DAILY staff. In this round of discussions, "everyone is putting their concerns on the table," which allows lawmakers and other stakeholders to consider how to address these concerns, she said.
Bombardier's launch of the 100 seat CRJ1000 could help the airframer penetrate the low-cost carrier market, and the company plans to target those airlines with the new aircraft. The airframer debuted the CRJ1000 last month, with Air France subsidiary Brit Air, Italian airline My Air and an unnamed customer placing a total of 38 firm orders for the derivative of Bombardier's CRJ-700/900 family of regional jets.
