Boeing announced 30 new aircraft orders for the week ending Oct. 12, including an unidentified order for 10 787s. The manufacturer now has 753 net orders for the year to date, compared with Airbus' order total of 226 through Sept. 30. Boeing's latest 787 orders bring the year-to-date total for this type to 141 net orders, of which 39 are for unidentified customers.
Northwest pilots are pledging their support for fellow Air Line Pilots Association pilots at Mesaba by refusing to perform "struck work" in the event of a strike at the regional carrier. After opting not to deliver a verdict last week, a judge is set to decide today on Mesaba management's request for permission to void contracts with pilots, mechanics and flight attendants
President Bush last week signed into law legislation settles the dispute over the future of Dallas Love airport. The legislation was based on a compromise deal hammered out between the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth, with the involvement of rival Dallas airlines American and Southwest.
Alitalia last week denied it was in danger of going bankrupt any time soon. The airline stated it has EUR823 million in liquidity available. It posted a loss of EUR221 million in the first half of 2006. Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi said last week that Alitalia was "out of control" and needed a rescue plan by the end of January.
Singapore Airlines tomorrow plans to unveil a new first- and business-class product, which will start flying on its new Boeing 777s by yearend and will likely set the bar high for others trying to match.
Startup Silverjet set Jan. 25 as its launch date for its new all-business class service from London Luton to New York and last week started taking reservations. "This is a very exciting time for the transatlantic airline market," said CEO Lawrence Hunt. "For the first time in history, a British all-business-class, low-fare airline will take to the skies and will launch in record time." The airline has started taking bookings through its web site and said the average roundtrip fare will be GBP999. The service will be flown with 100-seat Boeing 767s,
Delta next summer plans to have two daily international banks of flights at its New York JFK hub, which should ease congestion, says Glen Hauenstein, executive VP-network and revenue management. He told The DAILY that the carrier in recent months also had to maneuver its planes around some ramp construction near its terminal, which slowed arrivals and departures.
Comair filed a lawsuit in a federal district court in Kentucky against the Lexington Airport Board and other airport officials asking for a declaratory judgment that those parties share in the responsibility for the crash at the airport in August.
FAA is preparing an airworthiness directive mandating software revisions for GE CF6-80C2 engines that power Boeing 747s and 767s to prevent engine flameouts triggered by ice accumulation.
Odinsa, awarded a 20-year, $650 million to expand, modernize and manage Bogota Eldorado Airport, employs a model it calls the "fortress": Odinsa doesn't construct its own works but jobs them out to partners or third parties. "We have no equipment, warehouses, repair parts or operators. Our strength is management," Odinsa President Fernando Jaramillo-Correa, the former foreign minister of Colombia, told El Tiempo. Last year, the company billed more than $1.5 billion. -LZ
GE says a software modification to combat engine thrust rollback at takeoff on its GE90-110B/115B engines powering Boeing 777-200LRs and 777-300ERs should be available in mid-November.
By Ira Gershkoff, JIT Airline Resources Imagine that an automobile manufacturer routinely scrapped one out of every four cars it produced. How successful would that company be? It may sound crazy, but that's what the airline industry has been doing since the Wright Brothers. If an airline runs a 75% load factor, then 25% of its productive capacity ends up in the trash can, and the cost of that production becomes a deadweight loss.
Eclipse Chief Operating Officer Margaret Billson has joined SkyWest's board and will also serve on the board's Compensation Committee. Previously, Billson was VP Of Honeywell's Airframe business and VP-engineering for engine systems.
Aerolineas Argentinas in November will resume service on the Buenos Aires-New York route, with three weekly Airbus A340 flights, the carrier said. The flights were temporarily suspended last month.
The European Commission has issued the second update of its no-fly black list and put several carriers on notice that they had better improve operations or find themselves placed on that register.
FAA will give airlines that buy, sell or lease slots at Chicago O'Hare Airport until Jan. 27, 2007, to start the new flights. The change is an adjustment to the current rules governing slot allocation that expire at the end of the month and require flights to start by Dec. 31.
