DOT has received 67 proposals for $10 million in funding under the Small Community Air Service Development (SCASD) program for 2006. The program's funding, a victim of budget cuts, was cut by $10 million for 2006. The deadline for submitting grant applications was April 7. Applications were received from a mix of airports, airport authorities, cities, community alliances and consortiums.
With no other proposals in sight, the U.S. Transportation Dept. was free to select incumbents Harris Air and 40-Mile Air to operate essential air service at Port Alexander and Healy Lake, Alaska, respectively. Harris Air received $35,206 per year for Port Alexander EAS. The airline uses three-seat Cessna 185s to operate two weekly nonstop roundtrips to Sitka. As part of the new term, the carrier will receive $48,746 per year until Feb. 29, 2008, to operate the same service [OST-1999-6244].
The U.S. Transportation Dept. is accepting proposals from carriers interested in operating essential air service at DuBois, Pa. Mesa subsidiary Air Midwest receives $643,818 annually to operate 19 weekly roundtrips from DuBois to Pittsburgh with 19-seat Beech 1900Ds, and its term will expire on July 31.The new carrier's term will start Aug. 1 and will expire July 31, 2008 [OST-2004-17617].
Virgin Atlantic is testing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology developed by Symbol Technologies, The Enterprise Mobility Co. and Peak Technologies to track repairable aircraft parts through the airline's supply channels.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. is requiring Trans States to keep flying in a market the airline wanted to exit next month in a push to retire its BAE Jetstream 41 turboprops this fall. Trans States told DOT two months ago it would exit five markets it flies as AmericanConnection -- Columbia, Mo; Decatur Ill.; Joplin, Mo.; Springfield, Ill., and Springfield, Mo. -- on May 11.
The Irish government's plan to sell a majority stake in flag carrier Aer Lingus is drawing heavy criticism, with opponents arguing that the move will not generate sufficient funds for the development of the airline.
Qantas plans to eliminate the Australian Airlines brand in July, opting for a two-pronged strategy focusing on a major thrust by offshoot Jetstar into six Asian markets from Sydney and Melbourne. Airline CEO Geoff Dixon commended the job Australian had done since its launch in 2002, but said Australia's flag carrier is "determined to take full advantage of Jetstar's success, with its highly competitive cost structure and service standards."
Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings will sell 1.75 million shares in US Airways Group to PAR Investment Partners LP, already a US Airways investor.
TAP Portugal is watching closely developments at financially struggling alliance partner Varig and is "keeping an interest in Varig," CEO Fernando Pinto told The DAILY at the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa. Pinto said any decision to invest in Varig would have to be preceded by shareholder agreements. Varig is facing the threat of aircraft seizures, as it failed to pay due bills to Brazil's airport operator Infraero, among others.
Swiss has taken over operations between Zurich and Santiago with five weekly frequencies formerly flown by Lufthansa. The airline will operate the route with Airbus A340-300 aircraft configured for eight in first class, 48 flat-bed seats in business and 172 seats in economy. Flights continue on from Santiago either Zurich or Frankfurt as gateways to Europe. -JF
Workers at Bolivian carrier Lloyd Aereo Boliviano suggested that LAB President Ernesto Asbun discount from his $3 million asking price for his 50% equity in the carrier the $3.6 million he owes them for three months of unpaid salaries and fringe benefits. Thus, instead of workers depositing $3 million at the National Bank to show their serious intent about buying the equity, he would deposit $3.6 million "on account of owed salaries."
Northwest's 8,500 flight attendants on Friday were thrown into a tug-of-war between the Professional Flight Attendants Association (PFAA), which represents the group and the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), which is trying to win representation of the airline's flight attendants for the third time in the past 20 years.
SkyWest warned late last week that it anticipates a squeeze on first-quarter earnings, citing "atypical" factors. Net income should fall between $33.9 million and $37.8 million. The airline said performance incentive payments this quarter would be below what it earned in the fourth quarter of 2005. Startup costs of putting 10 CRJ-700s into service will be reimbursed by SkyWest's partners throughout 2006, instead of at the time of delivery.
The U.S. State Dept. has imposed a $15 million fine on Boeing to settle a violation of arms exporting restrictions that occurred more than three years ago. The violation stems from a chip that Boeing included in exported commercial aircraft between 2001 and 2003. The QRS-11 chip is part of the cockpit standby instrument system (CSIS), and it was on a restricted munitions list that required a U.S. State Dept. license for export. The chip has since been taken off that list, and Boeing still uses it in CSIS equipment on exported aircraft.
Spirit AeroSystems received a data license from Boeing to build PMA parts and distribute them directly to operators. The former Boeing subsidiary will build spares for fuselages, nacelles, thrust reverses pylons and flight control systems for 737s/747s/757s/767s/777s.
Vietnam Airlines aims to launch nonstop service to the U.S. with Boeing 777s in the second half of 2007 as part of a larger, 10-year growth plan that includes a significant fleet expansion.
American Airlines and China Eastern Airlines last week won a blanket exemption from the U.S. Transportation Dept. for code sharing on flights from points in China and any behind, intermediate and beyond points in third countries. China Eastern initially plans to carry the AA code on its flights from Shanghai to other Chinese points, with code sharing on flights to Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Shenyang and Xian expected to launch as soon as possible [OST-2005-23471, -23473]. -ARS
Scenic Airlines will receive $696,788 annually for the next two years to operate essential air service at Merced, Calif., the U.S. Transportation Dept. announced last week. Scenic beat Air Midwest for the flying, which will see Scenic using a 19-seat Beech 1900 connecting Merced to North Las Vegas 14 times weekly. It's the same amount of service the incumbent has been offering since its selection in 2004 [OST-1998-3521].
The imminent threat that Brazil's Varig might have to stop flying for lack of cash flow to meet short-term liabilities (DAILY, April 7) led Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva to call meetings of all key players to again discuss possible rescue options for the carrier.
Goodrich Corp. last week named industry veteran Bill Ashworth as division president-Aviation Technical Services, putting him in charge of the company's airframe and component overhaul and modification facility in Everett, Wash.
A bankruptcy judge granted a joint request by Comair management and flight attendants to extend ruling on the rejection of the flight attendant contract. The new date for the court to issue a ruling is April 17. Comair has reached deals with pilots and mechanics, and claims it needs $8.9 million in savings from flight attendants to help parent Delta exit Chapter 11.
Consorcio Aeromexico S.A. will auction off its major asset, Mexican airline Aeromexico, in the third quarter, the company said. The Consorcio expects to find a better buyer this way instead of trading shares in the open market, as originally planned. In documents submitted to the Mexico City Stock Exchange, Aeromexico says its shareholders decided to find a strategic buyer with enough resources to expand the airline's long-term operational and financial capacity.
Travelocity and longtime partner AOL last week renewed and expanded their marketing partnership for two years. Under the terms of the agreement, Travelocity will continue to serve as the "exclusive provider" of flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises and vacation packages for AOL Travel. The companies have also agreed to share "technologies and resources" moving forward with Travelocity integrating its editorial content and video, traveler reviews, RSS alerts and other features into AOL Travel. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. -SL
