Alaska Air plans to start the process to get extended-range twin-engine operations certification for its Boeing 737-800s, reports CEO Bill Ayer. The primary reason for this certification is to fly the planes long distances over water, most likely to Hawaii. Ayer said there are no plans for that service in the near future, "but we will have that capability."
Air New Zealand on May 1 will increase all domestic routes and outbound international fares by 10% in response to a significant rise in jet fuel prices. As local consumer laws do not allow fuel surcharges to be made separately from airfares, the fuel surcharge will be reflected in increased fares.
Boeing Friday signed a deal to help a European consortium draft a blueprint for Europe's future air traffic management system. Boeing will lead a U.S. team -- also including Honeywell and Rockwell Collins -- that will work on issues such as global standardization. The two-year contract is worth about $750,000, but Boeing said this amount will probably not cover the resources it will contribute. The strategic value of the effort is worth much more to Boeing than the dollar amount, Boeing executives told The DAILY.
Airbus North America CEO Barry Eccleston admits the A350 is "attracting a lot of attention in the industry, and not a little skepticism." Eccleston notes that Airbus "has been in this position before" with other programs, and the company "strongly believes that the A350 will be a great solution for airlines that need an efficient long-range aircraft." Some prominent potential customers recently called on Airbus to make changes to the A350's design (DAILY, April 12).
Aeromexico plans to launch twice-weekly service between Durango, Mexico, and Los Angeles, hoping to give Continental a run for its money on the route. Aeromexico would operate the service nonstop with Boeing 737-700s [OST-2006-24558].
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Comair management and flight attendants seemed far away from reaching a deal late last week as the judge overseeing their dispute is expected to rule this week on rejecting the attendants' collective bargaining agreement. Delta's subsidiary claimed that it asked flight attendants, represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to return to the bargaining table after IBT went directly to Delta management with its settlement proposal. Delta declined to get involved in the negotiations for "legal and business reasons."
Canada and the U.K. on Friday finalized an open-skies deal allowing carriers from both countries to offer almost unlimited passenger and cargo flights to and from third countries through Canada and the U.K.
Brazilian press report that Brazilian aviation regulator ANAC, which last week "vetoed" the sale of $400 million in Varig equity shares to former cargo subsidiary Varig Log (DAILY, April 20), is moving to approve the proposal.
The Chinese government last week told U.S. negotiators it in no rush to sign an open-skies agreement because it first wants to sort out several concerns, such as the challenges the Chinese face to get a U.S. entry visa, according to sources familiar with the talks. The planned two-day meeting in Beijing last week follows the 2004 liberalization agreement. The first round of talks last week was not expected to yield any agreement, but instead was supposed to "set the framework" for future meetings, the U.S. said.
Canadian charter carrier Flair Airlines is licensed for operations to and from the U.S., thanks an exemption and foreign air carrier permit from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. The airline, which began intra-Canada charters last August, will use its two Boeing 757-200 aircraft for proposed services to Vegas, Reno, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Miami from Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Kelowna [OST-2005-23219, -23220].
Bombardier continues to tout the economics of its 74-seat Q400 turboprop, claiming the aircraft needs only 28 passengers to break even on a 200-nautical mile trip. "The other 46 seats are profit," the airframer says.
The Manchester, N.H., board of aldermen recently voted 10-4 to change the name of the local airport to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. The airport did a survey of 15 major markets west of the Mississippi River that are candidates for nonstop service, said Director Kevin Dillon. "Only 3% of respondents had any name recognition of our airport. We asked the same respondents where Boston is and 90% could locate it," he said.
Mexicana will soon carry American's AA code on flights between Guadalajara and Fresno, if the carriers can win the needed exemptions and authorizations from the U.S. Transportation Dept. [OST-2004-16945]. Mexicana uses Airbus A318s for its five weekly flights.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association last week formally requested to reopen contract negotiations with FAA. The talks reached impasse last month and FAA sent its contract proposal to Congress. FAA said it will review the NATCA request, but it is currently following the statutory process that allowed it to send the impasse to Congress.
Brazil's GOL and TAM will be the beneficiaries of traffic and market share as Varig continues to face a liquidity crisis, according to analysts at Raymond James. If Varig shuts down, GOL is in a "unique" position to capitalize because of its untapped balance sheet liquidity, fleet compatibility with Varig's narrowbodies and the ability to rapidly increase service to other South American cities.
U.K. charter carrier Flyjet won exemption authority for charter flights between the U.S. and the U.K. Flyjet will use 233-seat Boeing 757-200s for its service, planned to start in June [OST-2005-20396].
TAG Espana won an exemption for its charter flights from Spain to the U.S. (DAILY, Nov. 21, 2005). TAG operates one Dassault Falcon 900EX, and plans to use half of the 10 business jet aircraft it will add to its fleet next year for the flights, which will be operated on an ad hoc, on-demand basis [OST-2005-23073]
