Allegiant Air plans to debut new service from Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., and Orlando Nov. 14 with four weekly flights. Allegiant is offering the service on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Greenville is Allegiant's 17th destination from Orlando.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] AUG. 29-31 -- SAE's General Aviation Technology Conference & Exhibition, Wichita (Kan.) Hyatt, 724-776-4841, fax 724-776-0790, www.aerospace.sae.org SEPT. 6-7 -- 18th FAA/Air Transport Association's International Symposium: "Human Factors in Maintenance and Ramp Operations." Orlando, Fla., 202-626-4134, www.airlines.org
New Zealand and Australian regulators in six to eight weeks are expected to make a draft determination on the Qantas-Air New Zealand trans-Tasman code-share request, ANZ CEO Rob Fyfe says. A final ruling will likely come in late November or December. This code share is "vital to the viability" of this market, which has significant excess capacity, Fyfe says.
Virgin America last week revealed that the additional $53 million in financing the carrier recently finalized is coming from the U.K.-based Virgin Group, but the carrier vows that the money is only a loan and does not represent a new equity investment.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) SEPT. 19-21 -- MRO Asia, Xiamen, China OCT. 24-26 -- MRO Europe, Amsterdam NOV. 13-15 -- Aerospace & Defense Programs, Phoenix
Dean Bruce Smith was named the recipient of the North Dakota National Guard State Meritorious Service Medal for "his outstanding services as a member of Gov. John Hoeven's Task Force MIND (Military Issues in North Dakota)."
Island Air on Sept. 5 will launch daily flights connecting West Maui's Kapalua Airport to the island's main hub, Kahului Airport. The flights "will make travel easier for West Maui residents and visitors traveling to an onward destination from Kahului by allowing them to bypass the more crowded security lines at Kahului Airport and freeing them from worries about traffic congestion on the heavily traveled road to Kahului," Island Air Chief Operating Officer Les Murashige said.
Ten months after the Oct. 18, 2005, flight of a Hawker 1000 business jet into Washington National Airport -- the "first" private jet to land at DCA since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- the number of business jet flights into the airport is still minuscule. Officials have logged only about 60 business jet arrivals at DCA since last fall despite the approval of additional gateway airports in recent months, according to DAILY affiliate The Weekly of Business Aviation.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. on Friday gave Delta the go-ahead for administrative activities in preparation for the New York Kennedy-London Gatwick service the carrier plans to launch in November. The department stressed, however, that it had "yet to act upon" the joint route transfer application from United and Delta. The carriers inked a deal to transfer the route rights from United to Delta for $21 million (DAILY, July 31).
US Airways this fall plans to reduce capacity in Las Vegas, with cuts in Southwest and non-Southwest markets. While the largest declines came in non-Southwest markets -- Atlanta and Minneapolis -- the carrier also will trim capacity from Las Vegas to Washington Dulles, which SWA will enter in the fall. US Airways also made small reductions in Southwest markets, including Austin, Albuquerque and Portland, Lehman Brothers notes.
FAA has awarded a $10.6 million grant for runway improvements at O'Hare Airport. In Phase one, the money will be used to resurface Runway 4R/22L. Phase two will see the design and installation of an engineered materials arresting system (on each end of the runway.
Maine Aviation Aircraft Charter is growing its operations to include scheduled business jet flights between Morristown, N.J., and Bedford, Mass. Maine would operate 10 weekly flights between the two cities for an unnamed charter operator upon receipt of a comuter operating certificate from the U.S. Transportation Dept [OST-2006-25711].
The U.S. Transportation Dept. scrapped an earlier decision to end the subsidized air service eligibility of Kirksville, Mo., (DAILY, June 30) after Air Midwest submitted a proposal for an improved schedule that would rein in the per-passenger subsidy that caused DOT's concern.
Aerolineas Mesoamericanas (ALMA) received an additional investment of $16 million to increase its fleet by 12 CRJ200s and expand its route network, CEO Guillermo Heredia said, as reported by DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America & Caribbean. Expansion plans include the start of Guadalajara-Puerto Vallarta service on Sept. 15 and Guadalajara-Chihuaha, -Tijuana and -Ciudad Juarez flights on Oct. 1. The Mexican LCC has received financial support from the state of Jalisco and the Mexican Council for Tourism Promotion. -LZ
Partner Aviation Enterprises won a tentative nod from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to fly as a commuter carrier under the Empire Airways name despite objections from Idaho-based Empire Airlines (DAILY, May 15). DOT found there was "no evidence" to conclude that the flying public would be confused by similarly named carriers. Empire Airways wants commuter authority to operate Jetstream 31 casino charter flights to Atlantic City Airport from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, N.Y. [OST-200624223]. -ARS
The chorus of calls to break up BAA's monopoly of London-area airports became a lot louder yesterday, with heavyweight British Airways recommending separate owners for Stansted and Heathrow airports.
Dragonair CEO Stanley Hui resigned this week and new owner Cathay Pacific tapped Kenny Tang as the carrier's new leader, following separate shareholder votes by four different companies to approve the complex deal involving Air China, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair.
Amadeus yesterday lost U.S. Federal Court ruling that would have blocked an attempt by American to implement a $3.50-per-segment booking fee, effective Sept. 1.
United plans to close its reservations center near Washington Dulles Airport in October as part of its overall strategy to cut costs. "After a thorough analysis, we determined that it is no longer cost-effective to operate that reservations office," a spokeswoman said. "We will consolidate the IAD reservations work at our other reservations offices, which are currently underutilized." The Sterling, Va. office has about 500 employees, which include about 400 reservations and customer service staff.
Mexico's transportation department (SCT) said it will spend $47 million on improving air space use at Mexico City Airport to help airlines save fuel and flying time, with the goal of enabling them eventually to lower airfares.
Madrid is set to become EasyJet's 17th base in February with the carrier's launch of several new routes from Barajas Airport. Barajas is also EasyJet's first Spanish base. The carrier plans to detail its new service from Barajas in September. Currently, EasyJet flies from Madrid to the U.K. points of Bristol, Gatwick, Liverpool and Luton.
Northwest today faces the moment of truth in its showdown with the Association of Flight Attendants, as it tries to win an injunction from a New York district court to block random union walkouts that could start as early as tonight.
