Big Sky and Great Lakes will split Essential Air Service at six midwestern communities as troubles at RegionsAir likely played a role in the loss of flying at the core of Regions' operations. The FAA grounded RegionsAir last week over wording in the airline's training manuals for line-check airmen. It was the second time that the carrier had been grounded in almost two weeks -- the carrier was grounded the first weekend in March due to training manual concerns but was up and running again by March 5.
Airbus COO-Customer John Leahy tells attendees at the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading conference in Phoenix that the Airbus board has approved pushing A330 production rates from eight planes per month to nine in 2009. He also says the airframer is studying pushing that rate to 10.
The Indonesian government plans to install instrument landing systems at 50 airports across the country. Indonesia's director general of air transport, Iksan Tatang, said the installation will be carried out in stages based on priority and location of the airports. Work will start as soon as the government makes the funds available to the Ministry of Transport, and completion is slated for November 2010.
The board of directors for the Albany County Airport Authority has chosen a proposal from Verified Identity Pass's Clear for its registered traveler (RT) program. The board's approval gives permission for airport staff to start negotiating with Verified ID on creating the RT program for Albany International Airport, said spokesman Doug Myers. "Our board considered presentations from Verified ID and the FLO Alliance, and they thought that Clear's proposal was outstanding," he said.
A four-hour air traffic control strike protesting staff shortages is forcing Alitalia to cancel 96 flights today. The strike, called by Italian transport sector trade union Uiltrasporti, will take place from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. local time and is likely to affect other carriers operating in Italy. For the most part, Alitalia will cancel domestic flights out of Rome Fiumicino Airport, as well as services to EU destinations and Egypt. Repeated strikes were among the factors that prevented Alitalia from reaching its revenue objectives in 2006. -MT
The Allied Pilots Association last week applauded proposed Senate legislation that would remove some of the restrictions from the federal flight deck officer program that have annoyed pilots since the program was introduced.
Boeing yesterday announced two significant orders for its 787 program, with Continental adding five aircraft to its order, and Kuwaiti leasing company ALAFCO doubling an existing order of six. Continental increased its 787 firm orders from 20 to 25 aircraft. The new orders are all for the 787-9, and the airline also converted other 12 existing 787-8 orders to the -9. Continental now has 17 -9s and eight -8s on order.
Czech Airlines (CSA) signed a one-year deal with Air-India to lease an Airbus A310 to the Indian carrier. Crewing is also included in the deal. The aircraft will be based in Bombai and fly to Bangkok, Hong Kong, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur, starting in April. CSA has cut its regular service to Dubai.
Aeroflot plans to operate 56 Airbus A320 family aircraft by 2010, Deputy CEO Lev Koshlyakov said in an interview yesterday. The airline plans to lease the additional aircraft and has preliminary agreements in place, according to Koshlyakov. Aeroflot currently operates 26 A320 family aircraft.
Peninsula Airways was reselected to operate Essential Air Service at Akutan, Alaska. The new annual subsidy rate, which will take effect on May 1, is $556,155 -- the increase reflecting increased costs to maintain the carrier's aircraft. Under the order, the carrier will offer 11 weekly nonstop roundtrip flights to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, with nine-seat Grumman Goose aircraft [OST-200-7068].
Air Arabia has launched flights to Karachi and Peshawar in Pakistan, offering three flights a week to Karachi and two weekly flights to Peshawar from its Sharjah base in the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai's International Airport was closed for about eight hours on Monday, causing severe disruptions and cancellations, after a Biman Bangladesh Airbus A310 blocked the field's single remaining runway.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. granted Columbus, Ohio-based startup Skybus its request for a waiver on the dormancy period covering DOT approval. Skybus asked DOT for the waiver last month (DAILY, Feb. 26) as the one-year approval granted to Skybus by the agency approaches March 14. Regulations require carriers to start service within a year of winning approval. But Skybus is still in the process of obtaining FAA approval to start operations.
A lawsuit to stop the transfer of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) has been thrown out by Richmond Circuit Court Judge Margaret Spencer. Plaintiffs Patrick Gray and James Nagle sued the Virginia Dept. of Transportation and other state officials claiming that MWAA's takeover was illegal for two reasons: one, that the Virginian government cannot transfer the road without approval from the state assembly; and two, the state cannot transfer the power to tax to a non-state entity.
Nashville International Airport has been given $66,825 from the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation for facility improvements. The airport will use the money to buy 26 automated external defibrillators and develop an emergency public information display system. "Nashville International Airport is critical to the continued economic development of this region," said Gov. Phil Bredesen in a statement. "Thousands of travelers touch down here daily, and the airport serves as a major hub for businesses and shipping."
The draft European Union-U.S. open-skies agreement for the first time gives both sides a forum to review and resolve differences about environmental affairs, a senior EU official told The DAILY. Before the draft open-skies agreement, no structured, formal recourse for discussion of environmental concerns existed, the official said. The provision for such a forum is a "clear advantage" of the proposed deal, the official added.
Investigators with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) have garnered information from the flight data recorder of the Garuda Airlines Boeing 737-400 that overran a runway last week at Indonesia's Yogyakarta Airport and caught on fire.
Security at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatt International Airport will be stepped up on March 31, when a new ruling goes into effect requiring domestic passengers to produce a passport or any other government-issued document with a photograph for identity verification. Indonesian Director General for Air Transport Iksan Tatang said local airlines have long had a problem of passenger's name on the air ticket differing from that on the passenger manifest. Iksan said some airlines have taken the problem lightly.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl has been elected chairman of the revived Southern California Regional Airport Authority (SCRAA); he was appointed to the authority by LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. SCRAA, originally created in 1984 and deactivated in 2003, is charged with working to regionalize air traffic among Los Angeles World Airports and other airports in Southern California. Members include the county and city of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside County and Orange County.
JAL's international load factor is up by just over one percentage point as the carrier nears the end of its fiscal year, with capacity dropping much faster than traffic. The airline's international load factor through January was 70.7%, compared with 69.4% for the previous full fiscal year. JAL's FY2006 runs through the end of March. Traffic is down 7.2% for the year to Jan. 31, and capacity is 10% lower. January traffic was 10.2% lower, capacity was cut by 5.9%, and load factor was 68.4%. -AS
Star Alliance member Lufthansa won authority from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to carry Air Malta's code on flights from Munich to New York and Washington (DAILY, Feb. 27). The agreement will help Air Malta hold out service to the U.S. from Malta via Germany. The carriers plan to initiate the code share on or after March 25 [OST-2007-27369].
