AirTran will not initiate service in the Tampa-Cancun market, the carrier revealed last week, citing continued increases of operating and launch costs. AirTran planned to launch the flights, a year later than planned, on Dec. 16, but delays in getting Mexican approvals forced AirTran to push the launch back from Dec. 15, 2005, to March 4. The launch was later postponed to June 30, with AirTran citing Hurricane Katrina's devastating effects to Cancun and the vacation spot's infrastructure as the reason for the delay [OST-2005-21134].
The Association of European Airlines is calling for "regulatory investigation of the jet fuel market," as it suspects that recent price-fixing disputes in Austria and Italy may also arise in other countries. "Details emerge of questionable competitive practices in the market for jet fuel," said the AEA. "The industry is suffering already from today's exceptionally high fuel costs," noted AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus. "The last thing we need is for those costs to be further inflated by unfair commercial practices," he added.
DFW International can spend up to $2.39 million to reimburse airlines under its Air Service Incentive Program (ASIP), thanks to approval it received Aug. 3 from its board. American could receive up to $1.3 million -- $1 million in landing fee rebates and $300,000 in marketing -- subject to U.S. Dept. of Transportation approval of its application to serve DFW-Beijing, said Ai-Phuong Dang, the airport's VP-air service.
Northwest executives, confident that the airline's restructuring is making progress thanks to a $295 million second-quarter operating profit, will recall 40-50 pilots sooner than scheduled.
Star Alliance last week signed a deal with agency DDB to handle the group's global communications. The appointment, effective immediately, follows a three-month search for an agency to handle Star Alliance communication, responsible for all global marketing and loyalty com- munications for the Star brand. All work will be produced and distributed from Europe.
EasyJet's shares dropped 2.4% yesterday after the company revealed some key figures for its fiscal third quarter. Revenues were up 34% at GBP460 million (US$876.8 million), and revenues per seat improved 17.3% to GBP45 million (US$85.8 million). But the airline also said that unit costs for the full year are now expected to be slightly higher than previously envisioned.
The Nyingchi Airport in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region which started operations on July 28 will remain open only for 100 days a year due to poor visibility caused by extreme cold weather conditions.
Eos Airlines plans to launch six weekly Boeing 757 flights between New York Kennedy Airport and Zurich, Switzerland, on April 1, and needs the U.S. Transportation Dept. to amend its certificate to extend its operational authority to include Switzerland. The current certificate covers the U.K. (for the carrier's Stansted operations), the Netherlands and Germany. Eos also wants to be designated to serve the U.S.-Switzerland market under the open-skies agreement between the two countries.
Mesaba parent MAIR Holdings is stepping up efforts to diversify and garner new business for its other air carrier, Big Sky, and plans no further investment in Mesaba as that airline continues to cast about for labor deals that will sustain its business with Northwest. MAIR opted not to become Mesaba's debtor-in-possession financier earlier this year after it twice extended the deadline for the court to approve its $35 million financing package.
Precision Air yesterday placed an order for six ATR 72s and 42s. The Tanzanian regional airline, which currently operates four ATR 42-320s and two ATR 72-210s, will take delivery of the aircraft from 2008 to 2010. ATR valued the deal at $97 million.
The Massachusetts Port Authority last week made acting executive director and CEO Thomas Kinton's appointment permanent, officially taking over for Craig Coy, who left June 30 to lead L-3 Communications' new Homeland Security Group.
American saw its consolidated traffic drop in July, mainly due to drastic domestic capacity cuts, although load factors continued to improve. Overall, traffic was down 2.3% on a capacity cut of 4.5%, leading to a 1.9-point load factor increase to 87%. Domestic traffic decreased 4.9%, with capacity plunging 7.6%, and load factor increasing by 2.4 points to 88.2%. International operations saw slight growth, with traffic up 2.7% on a 1.3% capacity hike. International loads were up 1.2 points to 85%.
Strong passenger demand outweighed cost headaches for British Airways in the June quarter, with the carrier's pre-tax profit climbing 57% to GBP195 million ($372.2 million). Revenue rose 12.5% to GBP2.3 billion, driven mainly by "record [load] factors and better cabin mix," said CEO Willie Walsh. Operating profit rose to GBP211 million, compared to GBP176 million last year, and passenger yield grew 6%. Traffic increased 7.7% on capacity growth of 4.1%, and load factor rose 2.7 points to 78.3%.
Indian revealed plans to lease 12 aircraft -- a mix of Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 767-300s -- as part of its plan to add capacity and expand its network. The airline expects to decide on the number of each aircraft type to be leased and the terms by next month. The carrier also has 43 Airbus aircraft -- 20 A321s, four A320s and 19 A319s -- on order. Deliveries will start in October at the rate of one a month through April 2010. The airline will be the first in India to operate the A321.
Senate leaders last week vowed to return to the airline pension debate after the August recess, allaying concerns from some Senators that the pension legislation passed late Thursday night gives an unfair advantage to Northwest and Delta.
Mesaba should know the fate of the debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing it secured from Marathon Structured Finance Fund on Aug. 15 when the judge overseeing the carrier's Chapter 11 case is scheduled to make a ruling on the deal.
The NTSB moved closer to its full complement of board members after the Senate last week confirmed Robert Sumwalt to be a board member. Sumwalt was nominated by President Bush in June to fill the seat vacated by Richard Healing last year. The Senate also confirmed Mark Rosenker as chairman after being nominated in April. The board still has one vacancy on its five-member panel.
