SkyTeam partners Korean Air and Northwest lined up additional code sharing the two carriers plan to implement in November, just in time for the Thanksgiving and December holiday season.
Manila-based commuter airline Southeast Asian Airlines (SEA Air) will launch a low-fare carrier at the end of the year, using Diosdado Macapagal Airport in Clark as the base. It will initially start with two 180-seat Airbus A320s leased from Singapore-based, low-fare airline Tiger Airways. The airline to be operated under the Tiger Airways brand name will fly to major domestic destinations in the Philippines.
JetBlue recently finalized the agreement to sell five of its original Airbus A320s, and the planes are all going to German-based Blue Wings, The DAILY has learned. A JetBlue spokeswoman would confirm only that the planes are going to a European airline and that there is single buyer for all five aircraft. Sources said, however, that Blue Wings will have all five A320s by the end of November. JetBlue in April reported it was looking to sell between two and five A320s as part of a plan to slow the growth of its fleet (DAILY, April. 26).
A draft accord reached during the weekend in Washington should clear the way for Europe and the U.S. to renew by Thursday a deal on transferring passenger-name records, despite negotiators' missing a court-imposed Saturday deadline.
Mesa Air's Hawaiian-based Go division yesterday signed a partnership deal with Pleasant Holidays to start selling vacation packages through its web site.
Boeing yesterday promoted Larry Dickenson to take over the top sales job in the Commercial Airplanes division, filling the position left vacant by new BCA head Scott Carson. Dickenson has led BCA's Asia/Pacific sales organization for more than 20 years. His team played a lead role in the launch of the Boeing 787 and 777 programs. Carson described Dickenson as understanding Boeing's customers, and "a proven leader in building and maintaining strong relationships."
Alitalia's decision to end its nonstop flight from Washington Dulles to Milan opens the door to other airlines that may be eyeing the route. Alitalia had the only nonstop service from Washington to Italy, but the route was short-lived, lasting only from March 2004 till last week. Alitalia served the route five to six days a week with Boeing 767s.
Lawmakers on Friday night were expected to confirm Andrew Steinberg as the Transportation Dept.'s next assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs and Mary Peters as transportation secretary.
United and US Airways last week made changes within the top executive ranks, including a contract extension and hefty 40% raises for United CEO Glenn Tilton and Chief Operating Officer Pete McDonald.
Pilots at Mesaba say they plan to "vigorously oppose" management's motion in the bankruptcy court for renewed authority to dissolve labor contracts, and predict a hearing on the motion could be held this week. Negotiations between management and pilots are set to resume Oct. 9.
Appointed Roger Larreur, director-sales and marketing for Canada and the Eastern United States at Swissport USA, to its board and named Calvin Humphrey to replace Rodolfo Dominguez as CEO and chairman of the board.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] OCT. 6-8 -- American Bar Association's Annual Meeting & Conference, Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries, New York, N.Y., www.abanet.org/forums/airspace OCT. 17-19 -- National Business Aviation Association 59th Annual Meeting & Convention, Orlando, Fla., 202-783-9000 OCT. 18-20 -- Air Transport Association e-Business Forum, Louisville, KY., 202-626-4039, e-mail: admin@ ataebiz.org, www. ataebiz.org/forum.
Elected Steven Loranger, chairman, president and CEO of ITT Corp., to its board for a one-year term. Loranger was also appointed to the board's audit committee.
European Union airports, airlines and airport retailers welcomed the new EU rules on the security of carry-on baggage, which were agreed last week by the EU Regulatory Committee on Aviation Security (AVSEC). The rules are scheduled to be formally adopted next week, said EU Transport commissioner Jacques Barrot. The EU will allow passengers to travel with liquids in containers of a maximum of 100 ml, which will have to be stored in a sealable plastic bag whose volume is one liter at the most.
GOL is working with regulatory authorities in the U.S. and Europe to win certifications by the end of next year as part of its strategy to capture third-party MRO contracts from airline customers in 2008. The airline has brought all its heavy maintenance in-house now that construction of its new maintenance center in Confins is complete.
Tapped Hans Hickler to succeed John Mullen as CEO for DHL Express in the U.S. Mullen was named to lead DHL Express' global operations earlier this month.
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) OCT. 24-26 -- MRO Europe, Amsterdam NOV. 13-15 -- Aerospace & Defense Programs, Phoenix
Appointed Dennis Ferguson as CEO-Mooney Airplane Co., succeeding Gretchen Jahn, who resigned Sept. 26. Jahn will stay on as an adviser to oversee certification of the Acclaim aircraft.
Armed with its air operator certificate, Canadian startup Porter Airlines should receive its second Bombardier Q400 within a week. The carrier plans to launch flights soon from Toronto City Centre Airport, and predicts flying four of its 10 Q400s on order by yearend.
Boeing has logged nearly 90 orders for its 737 family within the last two weeks -- to identified customers and Ryanair -- and there is a good chance the manufacturer will break its record for 737 annual orders. Last week Boeing posted an additional 26 unidentified 737 orders on its web site, and announced 32 orders by Ryanair. For the week of Sept. 18, Boeing had posted 31 unidentified 737 orders. This adds up to 89 orders over a two-week span.
