The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security today plans to publish a proposed rule that would require airlines operating U.S.-bound flights to send passenger information to the Customs Service before the flight leaves the ground to cut back on the number of planes that have been diverted in recent years because of a security risk.
House lawmakers yesterday voiced their support for a compromise deal that will eventually eliminate flight restrictions at Dallas Love Field, and it appears likely that the House will approve the deal despite some concerns that it includes anti-competitive elements.
Embraer added another operator it roster of airlines flying its larger planes after Taipei-based Mandarin Airlines opted to lease eight planes - three Embraer 190s and five Embraer 195s - from GECAS. Those planes are part of the leasing company's existing backlog. Data from aircraft tracker Airclaims show Embraer has logged about 16 orders for its 170/190 aircraft family since January, excluding an order swap by US Airways to convert is 57 undelivered 170s into 25 firm 190 orders and 32 additional firm orders.
Air New Zealand on Oct. 2 will suspend its daily Auckland-Singapore flights, after 40 years of operating the route, and has abandoned plans to reintroduce twice-weekly summer season flights between Christchurch and Los Angeles. ANZ Group General Manager Ed Sims said the decision to suspend the Auckland-Singapore service was made because less than 5% of the customers flying the route are traveling to and from Singapore, resulting in heavy losses for the airline.
The operating authority of former ATA subsidiary Chicago Express was formally revoked this week for "reason of dormancy," the U.S. Transportation Dept. said. The carrier ceased operations in March 2005, after ATA put the regional subsidiary up for sale when its routes were cut during restructuring. ATA sold the carrier's operating certificates, aircraft parts and ground equipment to CSC Investment Group for $1.25 million last June (DAILY, June 23, 2005), but not much has happened with the defunct airline since.
Fort Myers' Southwest Florida International Airport is adding an in-line explosives detection baggage-handling system less than a year after opening a new $435 million terminal. The Lee County Port Authority' board of commissioners approved $13.3 million to add 1,130 feet of conveyor belts, 180 new drives, three new electronic bag tag readers and 41 bag diverters, said spokeswoman Susan Sanders.
The two largest unions representing Brussels International Airport Company staff have called for a strike starting tomorrow in support of their demands over pay and conditions. Union representatives did not rule out wildcat strikes, which may paralyze the airport "in the coming hours or days." BIAC is last-ditch talks to avert the strike, which would affect the airport during its peak summer holiday season.
Boeing yesterday boosted its 20-year market outlook for new aircraft by more than 1,800, explaining that the replacement of older planes will occur at a faster rate than predicted last year.
ATA Airlines, Continental and United sank to the bottom of the U.S. Transportation Dept. rankings for on-time arrival rates in May as their hub airports were all hit by rough weather during the month.
UPS won a U.S. Transportation Dept. exemption for its planned seasonal cargo service between El Paso, Texas, and Chihuahua, Mexico (DAILY, June 9). In the off-season, UPS will serve the market in conjunction with its other Mexico services [OST-2006-24977].
Chinese and Japanese air transport officials will meet in Beijing today in hopes of concluding an enhanced aviation agreement that would increase passenger and cargo flights between the two countries with no restriction on aircraft type. The proposed new bilateral would also increase the number of airlines operating and the number of routes. Currently, a total of 450 flights are operated a week by All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines and six Chinese carriers.
Correction: Because of an editorial error, changes in an Air Line Pilots Association proposal to ASA management were incorrectly attributed (DAILY, July 12). The statement should read, "But when discussions concerning salaries opened, ALPA claims management's proposal contained pay reduction for CRJ-700 captains and first officers and pay freezes for CRJ-200 pilots. ALPA noted it reduced proposed pay rates that it had in its original proposal four years ago, explaining they were high in light of current industry conditions."
Rio Bankruptcy Judge Luiz Roberto Ayoub, in charge of Varig's financial restructuring, postponed to July 18 the second auction to sell the airline for some $500 million and rescheduled to July 17 a creditors meeting to approve the only proposal now on the table, from Volo de Brasil/VarigLog (DAILY, July 10). Ayoub also reduced the amount of the starting bid from $125 million to $24 million.
Spanish pilots union Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Lineas Aereas (SEPLA) yesterday lifted its strike order (DAILY, July 11) after securing an agreement with Iberia that guarantees pilot jobs within the company until the end of 2010.
While low-cost carriers GOL and Ryanair led the Aviation Week & Space Technology's Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study, many would assume that the well-known U.S. LCCs -- JetBlue and AirTran -- weren't very far behind.
The newly elected, left-wing Slovak government wants to cancel the sale of 66% of the country's two major airports, Bratislava and Kosice, to a consortium led by Austrian airport company Flughafen Wien.
The newly scheduled start date for Varig's second auction, July 14, remains in doubt, even as the judge handling the airline's bankruptcy in Rio's courts seeks to keep the process on schedule.
Lufthansa shares dropped by 3.6% yesterday after the company reported a significant drop in transatlantic traffic. Transatlantic demand fell 5.8% and capacity 6.5%. By contrast, traffic in Europe grew 5.4% as the airline benefited from the soccer World Cup in Germany and rising demand for its low-fare offerings. Systemwide capacity was down 0.7%, with demand declining 0.5%. The overall load factor was 78%, up 0.2 percentage points. -JF
