Craig P. Coy, the Massachusetts Port Authority CEO, who oversaw implementation of a model 100% baggage screening program at Boston Logan Airport, is leaving to join L-3 Communciations. Coy last week was appointed president and chief operating officer of L-3's new Homeland Security group, which is scheduled to begin operating on July 24. In his new post, he will coordinate the company's far-flung homeland security operations in fields such as airport security, port and cargo security, bomb detection, and simulation training for first responders.
United is not likely to return the Miami schedule to its former glory, as its Latin American routes from Washington Dulles have done better than expected, reports CEO Glenn Tilton. "Our relative competitive position in Miami would make it doubtful that we would want to return assets on the ground" in the city to battle American, he told The DAILY in Tokyo. United in the summer of 2001 had 147 weekly departures to 14 destinations from Miami but now has 42 weekly flights to three cities.
Airbus on Friday filed a court challenge that would remove a law firm representing Boeing from the high-stakes World Trade Organization subsidies case, with Airbus claiming that a member of the law firm previously worked for Airbus and knows Airbus' legal strategy in the long-running subsidies dispute.
Aeroflot expects to make its widebody aircraft decision after the Farnborough air show, late this summer, says the Russian flag carrier's CEO Valery Okulov.
Prospects for passenger and cargo growth at the three New York area airports are dim unless the region addresses surface transportation issues soon, warned panelists at an airport symposium sponsored by NYU's Wagner Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management and the Port Authority.
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Long-time Goldman Sachs analyst Glenn Engel is leaving the company after 22 years, leading the financial firm to terminate coverage of nearly 20 North American airlines, effective immediately. He is leaving to "search for other opportunities in the financial sector." Goldman Sachs' auto analyst Robert Barry plans to assume coverage of the airlines later in the year.
Code shares, e-ticketing and interlining are emerging as key business strategies for low-cost carriers looking to move into hybrid business models to differentiate themselves from fellow LCC com- petitors, said the head of Sabre Airlines Solutions. JetBlue, Frontier and WestJet have all hinted at an interest in potential code shares, while Southwest estimates earning $40 milliion-$50 million from its code share with ATA this year.
Continental saw unit revenue grow 8.5%-9.5% in May, which was driven by the strong yield trends the airline -- and the industry -- has been experiencing this year.
30 Years Ago June 8, 1976 -- Supreme Court rules in Nader vs. Allegheny Airlines that airlines may be sued in U.S. courts for fraud by passengers who are not notified that a flight may be overbooked and are then bumped from the flight. 20 Years Ago
United has stopped expanding its low-fare Ted operation because CEO Glenn Tilton wants to keep the unit flying in line with its original business plan of serving only leisure routes.
Appointed Steve Greenhalgh finance director for the U.K. and Ireland, based at London Heathrow, and promoted Chris Rix to general manager of WFS' Building 550 at heathrow.
The U.S. government last week made $6.6 million after the Air Transportation Stabilization Board sold the nearly 3.5 million warrants it received in connection with the issuance of a loan guarantee to Frontier.
ALMA, a fourth low-cost Mexican carrier, should take off in two weeks (DAILY, May 30) to join three others already operating, Mexico's Director of Civil Aviation Gilberto Lopez Meyer confirmed last week. In an interview in El Financiero, Meyer said ALMA will join AVolar and Volaris with four aircraft each and Interjet with seven. He also said two more LCCs, Aeroenlaces and Prosea, should be ready to operate in about eight months.
Korean Air on Friday began three-times-weekly flights on the Incheon-Hakodate route, using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Hakodate is the airline's 14th destination in Japan. The other 13 are Sapporo, Tokyo (Haneda and Narita), Osaka, Fukuoka, Aomori, Akita, Nigata, Nagasaki, Komatsu, Okayama, Oita, Kagashima and Nagoya. Korean Air also offers flights from Jeju and Busan to several Japanese cities.
RegionsAir will be allowed to exit the St. Louis-Paducah market it served with American Connection service on July 27, after recently winning DOT approval. The Kentucky community will still received air service through Mesaba's Paducah-Memphis Northwest Airlink service (DAILY, May 4).
Alaska Airlines and Boeing recently launched a partnership to brainstorm ways to battle high fuel prices, including cutting aircraft weight and flying more efficiently. Dubbed the Fuel Efficiency Collaboration Project, the effort "represents the first time an airline and major aircraft manufacturer have joined forces on such a broad scale to tackle the problem of jet fuel costs," Alaska told employees in a message. For several years, Alaska has been working through a list of more than 150 fuel conservation ideas developed by IATA.
Frontier plans to increase engine thrust on CFM International engines powering 10 of its owned Airbus A319s, as well as boosting the maximum takeoff weight. The accord with CFM raises the thrust from 22,000 to 23,500 pounds per engine. Frontier reached a deal with Airbus to elevate the base of the A319's MTW from 70 tons to 75.5 tons. "The improved operational performance allows us to serve longer-haul markets, such as Denver to Anchorage," Frontier says.
DigEcor recently reported that it plans to manufacturer the new DigEplayer XTs itself rather than outsource the production of inflight entertainment systems, to avoid delays and problems.
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China Airlines will launch twice-weekly freighter flights to Osaka on July 4, using Boeing 747-400F. It will be the carrier's third freighter destination in Japan, after Tokyo and Nagoya.
IATA will increase its loss forecast for the industry at the group's annual general meeting in Paris, IATA CEO Giovanni Bisignani said in an interview last week. He attributed the worsened figures to the rise in fuel costs. According to IATA predictions, airlines will spend $110 billion on fuel this year, up from $90 billion in 2005. Bisignani did not specify IATA's financial forecast. In March, IATA forecast a $2.2 billion loss in 2006.
