Elected new directors to its board: Kees de Koning, recently president and CEO of Stork Aerospace Industries; Boeing's Elizabeth Otis, and the Hon. John Reynolds, a senior strategic adviser at Lang Michener LLP.
To list an event, please send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] MAY 22-25 -- RAA Annual Convention, Anatole Hotel, Dallas, 202-367-1170, www.raa.org/2006conference, email raa.org JUNE 1 -- Critical Issues Facing Aviation and the New York/New Jersey Region's Airports: Airport Capacity and Surface Transportation, New York University, New York, N.Y. 212-998-7545, www.wagner.nyu.edu/rudincenter
Passengers flying out of Orlando Airport could be paying a $4.50 PFC if the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority board approves a $1.50 increase. "Orlando is the 12th busiest airport in the nation and the busiest in Florida. All the airports above us are charging $4.50 in PFCs," said spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell. "We need this money to fund infrastructure capacity projects, including putting in an explosives detection system, a new baggage system and renovating two of our airsides."
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
International travel to the U.S. will continue to rise this summer as declines in the value of the dollar make the U.S. "an international travel bargain and as airlines more vigorously pursue international markets and add capacity," says a new report from the Travel Industry Association of America. The bad news is TIA forecasts travel volume growth among Americans will be less than 1% this summer, largely due to high fuel prices.
Allegiant Air claims it has "one of the most productive work forces in the U.S. airline industry," with about 35 full-time-equivalent employees per aircraft at the end of last year, compared with an industry average of 60 to 100 employees per plane. Recently, Southwest said its headcount per aircraft dropped from 74 at the end of 2004 to 71 at yearend 2005 (DAILY, April 17).
Mesaba is continuing negotiations with three unions after the bankruptcy judge denied the carrier's request to void the contracts; meanwhile, the airline is searching for debtor-in-possession financing to secure its exit from Chapter 11. The airline pointed out that its motion was denied "almost on a technicality," a spokeswoman said. Those issues included labor groups not receiving Mesaba's working financial models until after testimony was complete, and the airline's modeling of work force attrition, issues that should be resolved shortly.
Servant Air will receive $19,740 per year for the next two years to operate essential air service at Alitak/Lazy Bay, Alaska, with a Cessna 185. Servant will operate three weekly roundtrip flights to Kodiak in the peak season and a weekly roundtrip during the off-season. Servant Air was the only carrier to bid for the EAS service. Island Air opted to terminate its unsubsidized service last August [OST-2000-6945].
British Airways beat analyst expectations with a pre-tax profit of GBP620 million for the year ending March 31, more than GBP100 million higher than the previous year's profit.
The number of modern aircraft parked in the Mojave Desert is down 3.7% to 576 planes in mid-May, compared with last month, according to the Airclaims fleet database. As a result, the number of aircraft in storage is back to mid-January levels, reports Merrill Lynch analyst Ronald Epstein. The Airbus A320 family is down 17% to 35 planes due to various carriers and leasing companies finding homes for the planes. ERJs are down 50% to six aircraft.
Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry Co., the joint venture between Embraer and China's Harbin Aircraft and Hafei Aviation, is in contract talks for the sale of enough ERJ-145 regional jets to keep the factory busy for another five years, according to AVIC II Vice Director Hong Ruomin. He says the sale is expected to be announced at November's Zhuhai Air Show. Harbin Embraer has delivered 10 of the 16 ERJ-145s ordered since the program opened two years ago.
Northwest and the International Association of Machinists reached a tentative concession deal covering 5,600 equipment service and stock clerks (ESSC), but the union is still moving ahead with strike vote in case members reject the agreement.
FAA says the Minneapolis en route ATC center has handled more than a million operations without recording any controller operational errors. The only other en route center to achieve this mark previously was Seattle. Systemwide, FAA has logged 399 Category A and B operational errors in the current fiscal year, just below its target limit of 408.
The judge coordinating Varig's restructuring clarified last week that there is no risk in transferring the company's fiscal debts to buyers interested in bidding for Varig Domestic or Varig International (DAILY, May 16), clearing a potential hurdle for investors and assuaging the fears of local industry.
US Airways won a U.S. Transportation Dept. waiver to extend the dormancy period of its Pittsburgh-Cancun service to June 15 from May 20 (DAILY, April 28). US Airways will resume the Saturday-only service on June 4 and plans to operate the first flight on June 10.
Chicago O'Hare's airport bonds are in danger of being downgraded because of potential cuts by hub carriers United and American, along with the escalating costs of its modernization program, said a report by Merrill Lynch analyst Phillip Villaluz. The city sold $1.5 billion in third-lien bonds to help fund the $2.88 billion Phase One costs to reconfigure the runway under the O'Hare Modernization Program (OMP), said the report. The ratings outlook on the bonds are A2 (stable) from Moody's, A- from Standard and Poor's (stable) and A from Fitch (negative).
Colombian regional carrier Aires last week launched international operations from Pereira to Panama. The airline will serve Panama City four times a week with 37-seat Dash 8 aircraft. Aires also recently started service from Bogota to Armenia and Manizales, Colombia.
