To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] DEC. 19 -- The European Aviation Club's Christmas reception at EUROCONTROL Headquarters featuring Victor Aguado, Director General of EUROCONTROL and Daniel Calleja, European Commission, Director DG TREN, +322 3730913, email: [email protected] JAN. 23-25, 2007 -- Terrapinn, Asia Pacific Low-Cost Airline Congress 2007, Singapore, +65-6322-2710, fax: +65-6223-3554; email: [email protected], www.terrappin.com
American has found precedents to support its request to revise its China frequency application after the deadline, according to a DOT filing Friday. Some of the other carriers that have objected to American's request have previously received permission to revise route applications, American claims. The carrier wants to add a Chicago stopover to the outbound leg of its proposed Dallas/Fort Worth-Beijing flight.
Board of directors elected James Langelotti to succeed Kenneth Drucker as VP and treasurer, effective Jan. 1. Drucker decided to retire at yearend 2006.
AirTran's proposed takeover of Midwest Airlines won't stop it from pursuing other assets that may become available as a result of other mergers, says AirTran CEO Joe Leonard. As for its pursuit of Midwest, Leonard claims that many analysts and investors "have asked us over the past eight years, 'Why haven't you done something with Midwest?'" He adds that "to the outside observer this is natural."
A malfunction of the primary radar at Chicago O'Hare Airport caused major delays Friday, and the controllers union said the outage highlights the need for backup radar at the airport. The primary ASR-9 radar first went down at 3:30 a.m. local time Friday, due to a defective switch, FAA said. The radar was brought back on line at about 9 a.m., but it failed again at 9:35 a.m. Technicians had the radar operating and stable by 11:30 a.m.
Royal Jordanian is on track to privatize by the end of 2007, and executives reported last week they are moving ahead with a fleet and network expansion. The moves to privatize and restructure have been in the works for nearly six years. Several phases already have been completed, including the formation of the Royal Jordanian Airline Public Shareholding Company, which has capital of more than JD72.5 million (US$102 million).
U.S. major airlines intend to hire about 2,300 pilots in 2007, according to pilot hiring consulting firm AIR, Inc. The major carriers hired 2,170 pilots through November this year, and overall airline pilot hiring reached 7,653. As of Dec. 10, 6,911 major-airline pilots were on furlough, or 12.8% of the pilot work force.
Alaska Airlines told many employees in Seattle not to report to work on Friday because four buildings didn't have electrical power due to a powerful storm that hit the city.
Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber says too few of Germany's airports are building needed runways, hurting the carrier's growth. He says it doesn't make sense that to build a new runway at Frankfurt takes 12 years, but to plan and build the Airbus A380 it takes just eight.
TAM last week took delivery of a new Airbus A320, which was placed in operation on both domestic Brazil routes and routes throughout South America. The aircraft was the 14th Airbus A320 or A319 added to TAM's fleet this year. At the same time, the carrier returned a Fokker 100, maintaining a total fleet at 94 aircraft. Of the total, 73 are Airbus aircraft -- 14 A319s, 49 A320s, and 10 A330s -- and 21 are F-100s. TAM expects to add two more planes before the end of the year.
Air France and Bangkok Airways last week signed a code-share deal, which should go into effect in about a year. The agreement is subject to government approval and IOSA certification being granted to Bangkok Airways. Under the agreement, Air France would put its code on flights from Bangkok to several destinations in Thailand and in Southeast Asia. Eventually Bangkok Airways would add its code to Air France flights from Paris to Bangkok and on other European flights.
JetBlue can remove one row of seats from two Airbus A320s in one night. The airline says no rewiring of the inflight entertainment systems is necessary to complete the change. The carrier estimates that it can make the modifications across the Airbus fleet by March.
Elected FAA Chief Acquisition Officer Jim Washington, former FAA Associate Administrator for Airports Woodie Woodward and ITT's Dick Eckert to its board of directors.
Canada last week signed its first air transport agreement with the republics of Croatia and Serbia for scheduled air service. Under the agreements, carriers from both countries are allowed to serve destinations of their choice in the other country. This agreement will provide rights for each country to designate any number of carriers to operate scheduled air services between the two countries. "The agreement also includes a flexible pricing regime, and strong safety and security provisions," said Transport Canada.
United next year hopes to generate $40 million in revenue from selling upgrades to business or first class. Upgrades to just "Economy Plus" should bring more than $100 million in revenue in 2007.
