Republic Airways Holdings added the sixth airline partner to its cadre this week after its Republic Airlines subsidiary struck an 11-year deal with Frontier Airlines to fly 17 Embraer 170s from Denver, starting in March. Aside from Frontier, Republic's subsidiaries -- Chautauqua, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America -- partner with American, Continental, Delta, United and US Airways. The latest deal makes Republic Airways Holdings and its airlines the most diversified U.S. regional company in terms of partner carriers.
FAA is on track to meet its early goals for introducing more approach and departure routes based on required navigation performance (RNP) and area navigation (RNAV), agency Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nicholas Sabatini said this week. The agency published three new RNP special aircraft and aircrew authorization (SAAAR) instrument approach procedures in November, bringing the total to 35. Sabatini said another three will be published next week, which is consistent with FAA's target of 25 SAAAR procedures in the current fiscal year.
Foreign visitors coming to the U.S. will now have to submit 10 fingerprints, rather than the two currently required under the Dept. of Homeland Security's US VISIT program under a pilot scheduled to begin this summer.
American will extend its current contract with Amadeus "until further notice," while the two sides work toward a long-term contact agreement. During the extension, American will participate in the Amadeus Content Plus program, and the program's subscribers will get full content without being subject to surcharges from the airline.
The number of Nepalese who flew last year jumped 32% to 3.12 million, an all-time record in the history of Nepal's civil aviation. Domestic flights handled 1.75 million passengers, a 58.8% increase, while 1.37 million traveled on international flights. Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Director General Yagya Prasad Basnet attributed the increase to more Nepalese opting to fly instead of drive for local travel and locals leaving to work in foreign countries.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. yesterday gave Virgin America a short extension to Jan. 16 to file its response to DOT's tentative decision denying its application to start service.
Singapore Airlines this week unveiled plans to review is partnership with long-time advertising agency Batey Ads and launch an open process to consider other agencies. "The decision to embark on a market review is to procure the best services available in the market at the most competitive price," the carrier said. "A market evaluation is timely in view of the dynamic changes in today's communications and media landscape." SIA said it regularly reviews its third-party supplier arrangements.
WestJet's decision to renegotiate its deal with Travelport for the aiRES reservations system was a result of shifts in the carrier's business model, said Travelport/Galileo President and Managing Director of Airline Services Flo Lugli. Terms of WestJet's contract, which was finalized in December 2005, called for the carrier to use aiRES 1.7, a version that doesn't support code-sharing capabilities and offers limited global distribution system functionality. AiRES is a partnership between Travelport and IBS software.
US Airways CEO Doug Parker, growing impatient with Delta's creditors' committee, which is struggling to evaluate its options, decided to up the ante and boost his Delta offer by $1 billion in cash.
Delta this month will expand its code share with Aeromexico to include Hartford, Montreal and Syracuse. Aeromexico's code will be carried on flights operated by the mainline carrier and Connection carriers Comair and Atlantic Southeast Airlines from Aeromexico's authorized U.S. gateways to the three cities [OST-2001-10833].
Existing and new airlines will have more access to gates at Los Angeles Airport after the Los Angeles World Airports' board announced a plan to pay off the special facility bonds on Terminal 2 and 5 and end their long-term leases.
The European Commission has been misleading in its information to airline passengers regarding compensation for flight cancellation, long delays or overbooking, said EU Ombudsman Nikiforos Diamandouros, who is urging the commission to correct the errors. The case was initiated in April 2005 by a complaint from the International Air Carrier Association and the European Regions Airline Association.
Air transport officials from Malaysia and Singapore will return to the negotiating table in March to debate whether the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route should be opened to low-cost airlines. This will be the second round of talks between the countries. A first round held in November ended in a stalemate.
The Senate Commerce Committee on Jan. 24 plans to hold a hearing on the "potential impact of airline mergers and industry consolidation." US Airways CEO Doug Parker predicts he'll be asked to testify, "which we would welcome." He believes the proposed merger deal with Delta is something "Congress will be supportive of," he tells analysts.
Mesa and bmi won from the U.S. Transportation Dept. authority to begin code sharing on Mesa's United Express services, though the nod came later than both carriers preferred. Mesa in the August filing asked DOT to waive the 45-day advance filing requirement, "so that Mesa/bmi code-sharing services may be introduced without delay" (DAILY, Aug. 31). Mesa will carry bmi's code on flights Mesa operates as United Express in the U.S. and Canada [OST-2006-26092, -25733].
The U.S. Transportation Dept. is seeking carriers interested in operating "within perimeter" service at Washington National Airport with two slot exemptions previously held by Spirit. Spirit used the exemptions to operate nonstop service between Washington and Detroit. The carrier suspended the service on Jan. 9 (DAILY, Dec. 22).
House Democrats and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have delivered on their promise to pass homeland security legislation that addresses the bulk of the Sept. 11 Commission's unmet recommendations early in the congressional session, but the White House says it can't support the legislation that was passed by the House Tuesday night.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. is accepting proposals from carriers that want to serve several Midwestern cities in June 2007. Burlington, Iowa, Cape Girardeau and Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.; Jackson, Tenn.; Marion/Herrin, Ill.; and Owensboro, Ky., are all up for grabs. RegionsAir receives more than $6 million in annual subsidies to serve the cities under the AmericanConnection banner, with the flying concentrated on American's St. Louis hub. Regions-Air's term will expire on May 31 [OST-2001-8731]. -ARS
