Northwest last week picked up one additional U.S.-China all-cargo frequency, which will help the carrier's planned Shanghai service remain both profitable and within the bounds of the U.S.-China bilateral. The need for the additional frequency arose from China's interpretation of the bilateral. As Northwest understood it, China is requiring flights that travel beyond China to turn around "within 24 hours of reaching the end point of the route, and flights may stop over within China for no more than 24 hours."
Thai Airways International is holding out the possibility of canceling the order for the six Airbus A380s placed two years ago, if the airline and the manufacturer fail to reach a compromise on compensation. Thai Airways President Apinan Sumanaseni said the airline is in talks with Airbus on the amount of compensation to be paid. Airbus has offered the carrier a discount of $10 million per A330-300 for the late delivery of the A380s. Thai Airways plans to order eight A330s.
More details about Frontier's wholly owned subsidiary Lynx Aviation emerged last week as Lynx Aviation began the certification process to fly as Frontier Express. Lynx tells the U.S. Transportation Dept. Frontier "created Lynx to provide regional turboprop services for, and connecting traffic to, Frontier Airlines." Frontier provided some $40 million in initial capital to the wholly owned subsidiary, which will operate Bombardier Q400 services from Denver to "regional and business travel destinations in the United States," Lynx said.
The European Parliament during its plenary session next March in Strasbourg is expected to request that the European Aviation Safety Agency be granted the power to impose fines on operators that do not implement European standards appropriately.
A U.S. Navy oceanographic survey ship detected the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the Adam Air Boeing 737-400 that disappeared from radar screens on New Year's Day (DAILY, Jan. 3) in deep waters off the Makassar Strait in Indonesia. The ship, USNS Mary Sears, picked up ultrasonic pinger signals from the ocean floor on the same frequency as the aircraft's black box and CVR. The black box was detected at a depth of 1,800 meters and the CVR at 500 meters, some 30 kilometers apart.
Alaska Air executives are "contemplating" the addition of one more route this year but haven't decided on a city or start date. The carrier has been eyeing Hawaii for some time and has been working to have its aircraft certified for over-water flights. Alaska earlier announced several new routes to start this year.
FAA Administrator Marion Blakey visited Chicago Midway Airport last week to be briefed on the airport's safety improvements, including new runway overrun measures. Blakey was also expected to receive an update on the O'Hare modernization project and to tour the aviation training facilities at Southern Illinois University. She was accompanied on the trip by Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), the new chair of the House aviation subcommittee.
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) FEB. 14-15 -- Defense Technology & Requirements Conference, National Press Club, Washington, D.C. APRIL 17-19 -- MRO Military 2007 Conference & Exhibition, Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Ga.
Continental got the go-ahead from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to launch service from Newark to Athens, Greece, this May, as the department gave the carrier an exemption to serve the market (DAILY, Jan. 19). The flights will launch on May 3, with Continental operating daily Boeing 767 flights during the peak season and four weekly flights in the winter. SkyTeam partner Delta also operates in the market with service from New York Kennedy [OST-2007-26949].
Back-to-back storms that virtually shut down Denver Airport in December caused Frontier's losses to widen in the third quarter of its fiscal year, and management warns unit costs will rise slightly in the current quarter as weather continues to create problems at the airport. Frontier estimates fallout from the storms, including 875 canceled flights, wiped out about $13 million in lost revenue.
American is further accelerating its pilot recall schedule, the Allied Pilots Association says. The airline plans to recall 30 furloughed pilots in April, in addition to 10 both this month and in February, and 20 in March. The airline previously said it would recall 20 pilots a month beginning in March.
The new South Pier of Tokyo Haneda Airport's Terminal 2 will open to the public on Feb. 15, completing the final phase of construction at the terminal, which is the nearly exclusive residence of ANA.
Midwest's CEO believes the carrier's smaller markets could be at risk if AirTran takes over the airline, a move that seems more uncertain now that Midwest's board unanimously recommended that shareholders reject AirTran's latest offer -- $13.25 per share, split between $6.625 in cash and 0.5884 shares of AirTran stock.
Alaska Air wants to improve its airport gate utilization from about five aircraft turns per gate to six by yearend and eight by the end of 2008, says CFO Brad Tilden. The carrier recently gave up two gates at its Seattle hub and is looking to return even more gates at Sea-Tac and other airports as part of the project.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board of commissioners authorized the purchase of the remaining 93-year lease on Newburgh, N.Y.'s Stewart Airport for $78.5 million. The U.K.'s National Express Corp. ran Stewart under a 99-year lease but sold its stake, saying it wanted to exit the airport business.
The air travel price index, compiled by the U.S. Transportation Dept., increased 7.5% in the third quarter of 2006, reaching the highest level for this quarter since the index was introduced 11 years ago.
ANA and JAL Group this week unveiled plans to train "first-class" aircraft line maintenance technicians, which are staff who can confirm completion of maintenance, such as the pre-departure inspection of large aircraft, starting in April.
