US Airways is weighing its options for potential CRJ-900 flying after pilots at wholly owned subsidiary PSA rejected pay rates for the planes. The carrier has been in talks with Bombardier about switching an order for about 37 CRJ-700s placed before its merger with America West to a deal for 20 firm orders and 20 options for 86-seat CRJ-900s.
Northwest's flight attendants pushed off the potential strike deadline for 10 days because of last week's terrorism threat and subsequent travel disruptions. The Association of Flight Attendants threatened to strike as early as tomorrow but moved the deadline to Aug. 25, citing that security concerns "take precedence."
JetBlue revived relationships with Galileo and Sabre as part of its strategy to garner additional business from corporate travelers and travel agents. The airline has been hinting that it was in final negotiations to broker deals with global distribution system (GDS) providers (DAILY, June 19), and previously CEO David Neeleman has said deregulation of GDS companies has made the economics of using those systems "work for us now," by allowing the carrier to remain within its cost parameters.
Sun Country Airlines this fall plans to launch service from Minneapolis to the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Airport with daily flights beginning Nov. 20. The airport, which is nine miles from Tampa Airport, "will be joining Sun Country in a cooperative advertising effort to familiarize the traveling public with the airport as a convenient alternative to access attractions" in and around the area.
Tapped Mike Van de Ven, executive VP-aircraft operations, to become chief of operations, effective Sept. 1. The airline expanded VP-Inflight Daryl Krause's duties by naming him senior VP-inflight and provisioning, and promoted Scott Halfmann to VP-provisioning.
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
Alaska Air sees a mixed blessing from the closing of the Prudhoe Bay oil field. Even though fuel prices jumped, "we have had very high passenger loads and demand for cargo after the oil spill last spring" at the same oil field, said Matt Yerbic, managing director-cargo. "The latest events in Prudhoe Bay could drive even more demand." The carrier is considering adding extra flights and changing configurations on its Boeing 737-200 Combis.
British Airways' flight schedule last week bounced back much faster than the airline expected following Thursday's bomb scare, and the security delays that bedeviled U.S. airports had subsided to normal levels by Friday morning. BA operated 83% of its London Heathrow-based European and domestic flights Friday, and 81% of its international flights. On Thursday the carrier had warned passengers that only 60% of its short-haul flights would be operating out of Heathrow Friday, and 75% of its international flights.
Airlines and airports in Latin America reacted quickly and strongly to the latest terrorist threat to flights from the U.K. to the U.S. and at once implemented stringent security measures.
Delta is preparing to launch a significant Los Angeles expansion this winter, The DAILY has learned, with weekly departures soaring 40%. The carrier today is expected to announce plans to start two daily flights to Las Vegas in December, as well as international flights to Acapulco, Guatemala City, La Paz and Liberia. In early 2007, the carrier will start flights from LAX to Sacramento, San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland, plus more Mexican and Latin markets.
Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings on Friday reported a 40% jump in second-quarter profits, thanks to strong results at the airline and nearly every other unit of the company, which gave the board confidence to move ahead with an initial public offering of a minority stake in the airline by yearend.
Delta on Nov. 15 plans to launch new point-to-point service from Orlando to Atlantic City, giving Spirit new competition on the route. Delta already serves Atlantic City from Atlanta and Cincinnati. Delta's new flights to Orlando will be operated by Delta Connection carrier Comair with 50-seat regional jets.
Maxjet this week reached an agreement in principle to acquire two additional Boeing 767s that will be delivered early next year to accommodate the carrier's network growth plans.
Southwest recently signed an agreement with transatlantic startup airline Maxjet to facilitate connections between the two carriers. The deal is termed a "linkage agreement" that will see Maxjet posting a link on its web site to Southwest's reservations site. "This is not a code-share or marketing agreement," and the Southwest pilots' union told members there is no investment by Southwest in Maxjet "to support this linkage agreement."
Mesaba's fleet of Avro RJs continues to shrink, with just 13 planes left in the operation after partner Northwest opted to cut the 35 aircraft Mesaba was flying under the major's banner from its fleet. The remaining planes are slated to exit Mesaba's fleet by the end of November.
Just 18 days short of one year from the date when a Boeing 737-200 operated by state-owned TANS Airlines crashed in the jungle near Pucallpa, Peru's Ministry of Transportation issued an official investigative report blaming the accident on human error.
ABX saw its net profit and revenue drop in the second quarter due mainly to the loss of DHL line-haul arrangements, but ABX should regain some of the lost revenue through two new contracts it won from the U.S. Postal Service. Net profit fell by $300,000 to $6.5 million, and revenue was down $47.7 million to $303.6 million. The truck line-haul business contributed only $17.5 million in the second quarter, down from $72.2 million last year.
Expedia yesterday signed a new five-year agreement with US Airways, which will allow the online travel agent to sell all US Airways' published fares and inventory, as well as special package inventory. "Our new contract with Expedia delivers valuable marketing and merchandising opportunities for our product with commercial terms that align with our interests for the long term," said Scott Kirbu, executive VP-sales and marketing. -SL
CFM International will begin a two-month flight testing program next week of its Tech Insertion package for the CFM56-7B engine series for Boeing's 737 Next Generation family.
A day before the uncovering of the terrorist plot at London's Heathrow Airport, the Arab Air Carriers Association noted that Lebanese flag carrier Middle Eastern Airlines (MEA) resumed flights to the airport as it attempts to rebuild its network from Syria's capital of Damascus.
Consorcio Aeromexico (AMEXICO) said the specs lists for auctioning off its assets are ready, but no date has been set for the sale. Originally scheduled for the second week in July, AMEXICO's equity holders recently decided to postpone the auction until market conditions improve after being adversely affected by high fuel prices. On the new competition posed by several low-cost carriers in the domestic market, AMEXICO said the startups have not cut into its market share but have jeopardized smaller airlines.
