CSA Czech Airlines plans to sell its entire catering division and a cargo terminal at Prague Airport to ease its financial situation. The units will be on the seller's block until February 2007. The Czech government would like to privatize CSA, but losses have worsened recently, given increased competition the airline faces from low-fare airlines and Western European carriers, such as Lufthansa and Austrian, that feed bigger hubs in Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna.
European flight numbers were up by 4.1% during summer -- boosted by the soccer World Cup -- but air traffic management delays increased only slightly, according to Eurocontrol.
Some maintenance companies are in danger of being forced to sever ties with long-term partners as a result of what the Aeronautical Repair Station Association argues is vague and ambiguous language concerning the definitions of maintenance and preventive maintenance in new drug and alcohol testing regulations mandated by FAA and due to take effect Oct. 10.
Northwest this week predicted it will post a loss for the last four months of the year, excluding reorganizing items, but a strong summer will keep the airline's full-year results in the black.
The lease for the privatized Newburgh, N.Y. Stewart Airport is being put up for sale by U.K.-based National Express Group (NEG) after only seven years of a 99-year deal, as the company wants to focus on its core businesses of buses and trains.
EgyptAir converted options for six Boeing 737-800s into firm orders, the airline confirmed on Sunday. The options were part of an initial order for six 737s in 2005. The first of the 12 aircraft was delivered to EgyptAir last weekend.
Frontier is moving to cement its role as a major player in the West Coast-Mexico market with plans to serve San Jose del Cabo from San Jose and Sacramento. The airline serves the Mexican point from Denver and will bring its Kansas City and Los Angeles services on line in December.
Boeing wholly owned subsidiary Alteon Training yesterday launched operations at its Singapore Training Center. Airlines from Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Taiwan are among the first to use its training services. An official opening for the center will be held early next year. Located near the Changi Airport, the Singapore Training Center can train more than 6,000 student pilots and flight attendants per year.
Airbus is launching a company-wide overhaul to offset the losses incurred by new delays in its A380 program, and while customers' patience is surely being stretched to the limit, Airbus claims no cancellations are imminent.
Northwest and Priceline.com yesterday finalized a distribution agreement, which will lead the airline to resume its relationship with the online travel agent. Effective immediately, Northwest will make its schedules and fares available to Priceline.com and Lowestfare.com. "Priceline.com has developed a supplier- friendly distribution structure and offers marketing opportunities that meet our needs and allows us to broaden the online base of travelers we serve," said Al Lenza, Northwest's VP-distribution and E-commerce.
Comair executives expect parent Delta to unveil new flying for its regional system in November but argue that lack of an agreement with pilots forced Comair to bid higher for the business, which could prohibit it from preserving its current Delta flying and picking up more from its parent company as it restructures in Chapter 11.
FAA awarded Raytheon a contract potentially worth $185 million to upgrade the U.S. long-range radars. Under the FAA Long Range Radar Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), Raytheon will make, test and deploy up to 68 new solid-state transmitter systems. These new systems will replace the tube-based transmitters currently used in the radars. SLEP is being conducted under a memorandum of understanding among FAA, the Defense Dept. and the Dept. of Homeland Security, all of which use the long-range radar network.
Airbus is expected to unveil a far-reaching restructuring plan to cope with its current production problems and deeper industrial issues. The EADS board of directors met Friday and will meet again today to discuss details of the restructuring proposed by Airbus CEO Christian Streiff. Airbus is also expected to tell its customers this week about the updated A380 delivery schedule.
Officials from Brazil's Ministry of Defense, airline regulator Anac and airport authority Infraero cautiously theorized that a run-in with a small Embraer Legacy executive jet may have played a role in last Friday's crash of GOL Airlines Flight 1907.
Rep. Charles Dent (R-Pa.) is urging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to talk with the Air Force about expanding the Civil Air Patrol's (CAP) mission along the Mexican and Canadian borders.
Before Congress recessed Saturday, lawmakers confirmed Mary Peters as the next DOT secretary and Andrew Steinberg as DOT's assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs. President Bush described Peters as "an innovative thinker" who will work with state and local leaders to reduce highway and aviation congestion.
FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive late last week covering Boeing 777-200LRs powered by General Electric GE90-110B and Boeing 777-300ERs equipped with GE90-115B engines after receiving two reports of engine thrust rollback during takeoff on -300ERs; only one engine was affected in both cases.
The European Commission yesterday decided to scrap the so-called "block exemption" that shields IATA interlining agreements on European routes from European Union antitrust rules, effective Jan. 1.
British Airways and its unions are preparing for serious arm-wrestling over pension benefit changes, after a long-awaited review revealed the size of the airline's pension plan deficit to be larger than expected. Interim results from an actuarial review showed BA's main pension plan is underfunded by nearly GBP2.1 billion (US$4 billion). Market analysts had predicted the deficit would be closer to GBP1.8 billion, and a BA source admitted that the deficit was "at the high end of our expectations."
