Passengers can now use the Air France-KLM combined Internet check-in service that the carriers have established. Of all KLM passengers using e-tickets at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, about 30% already use Internet check-in. From May, KLM will accept all e-tickets issued by its SkyTeam partners and vice versa. This means passengers will need only a single e-ticket for flights operated by the SkyTeam carriers.
Delta will have until Dec. 16 to introduce service between New York/Newark and Cozumel, thanks to a second dormancy waiver from the U.S. Transportation Dept. The carrier in January won a dormancy waiver that pushed the start date back to June, but Delta appealed to DOT for an extension on the grounds that unlike Cancun, hotels in the smaller Cozumel market have yet to recover from Hurricane Wilma and are still under construction [OST-2005-22243]. -ARS
United's new technology project, dubbed "Horizon," will replace the Apollo system in the next few years. Horizon will be used only within the company to refer to the United-specific projects "necessary for the company to move to the Star Alliance's broader shared platform delivering a quality customer service." Last year, United, Lufthansa and Star signed a deal with Amadeus to install the new system (DAILY, Sept. 9).
Thomas Horton resigned from the company's board of directors, effective March 29. Horton was recently named CFO and executive VP-finance and planning at American Airlines' parent AMR Corp.
Chilean carrier Sky Airlines in June will expand internationally to Peru, to be followed by Ecuador and Brazil. Jurgen Paulmann, the carrier's controlling shareholder, said Sky ended 2005 with 18% domestic market share in Chile. The goal of taking 25% of the market has proved difficult to achieve due to the recent entry of Aerolineas del Sur, an affiliate of Marsans/Aerolineas Argentinas, into the market. -LZ
Airlines demanded the regulation of airport charges in the European Union, at an industry meeting convened last week by European Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot. Before the meeting, Barrot said "modulating charges could be very helpful" but insisted that "the dialogue between various stakeholders should also bring diverging positions closer to each other."
Regional Aviation Partners is asking the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to correct its measurement of the distance between Alamogordo/Holloman AFB and Albuquerque, N.M., a move that could ensure the community's eligibility for essential air service subsidies and qualify it for more subsidies.
Mexican scheduled carrier Azteca -- Lineas Aereas Azteca -- wants the U.S. Transportation Dept. to deny Mexican air taxi Azteca -- Aero Servicios Azteca --the right to use the name Azteca, should the department award the air taxi company an exemption for U.S.-Mexico charter operations (DAILY, March 1).
Tampa Airport has become the latest facility to sign on with Smarte Carte's Mail Safe Express, which lets travelers mail items not allowed through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. Smarte Carte introduced the product at Houston Intercontinental Airport in September 2004, said spokeswoman Christy Bipes. Currently, 12 airports, including Dayton, Fort Lauderdale, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York LaGuardia and Washington Dulles, use Mail Safe Express, she said, with 20 more locations to be added this year.
While the question of Venezuela's Category 2 status in the FAA's safety oversight program is being settled (DAILY, April 4), the Venezuelan civil aviation institute barred a request by American for a fourth daily Miami-Caracas frequency that would have resumed service today with some 260 passengers. American continues to operate its other flights on this route.
DigEcor last week unveiled its new inflight entertainment system, the digEplayer XT, featuring a larger hard drive to store more movies and music. The unit sports an eight-inch TFT screen and has DVD-quality video. It also has a 60-gigabyte hard drive, USB 2.0 host port, two independently controlled headphone mini-jacks and optional 802.11 a/b/g wireless capability.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly says it's unlikely the airline will add another city this year due to the limitation of the number of planes in its fleet. The airline has taken delivery of six Boeing 737s so far in 2006, and 27 more are set to enter service. Southwest has no plans to retire any planes this year or in 2007. Flights from Washington Dulles, Southwest's second new city this year, start in the fall.
A clean and roomy restroom is the feature passengers want most in a flight, says a new survey of 2,300 travelers from web travel information site TripAdvisor; a clean blanket or pillow was chosen by 27% of passengers. TripAdvisor found that 54% of respondents would pay for larger seats and more legroom. Bottled water was the most valued complimentary food or beverage, while fruits and vegetables came second. With onboard entertainment, 47% chose a video screen at every seat as the most important feature.
Wizz Air strengthened its component support agreement with Lufthansa Technik, extending the deal for five years to cover the carrier's expanding fleet of Airbus A320 planes.
Delta Connection carriers Comair and Atlantic Southeast Airlines won exemptions from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to use CRJ-700s on flights from Atlanta and Cincinnati to Toronto, starting in June (DAILY, March 21). Comair will fly to Toronto daily from Atlanta and will operate 33 of Delta's 40 departures from Cincinnati. ASA, meanwhile, will operate the Atlanta-Toronto service three times daily except on Saturday [OST-2006-24220, -24235]. -ARS
Newark and New York LaGuardia airports in February posted the worst on-time arrival of the major U.S. airports tracked by the U.S. Transportation Dept. Newark reported a dismal 60.9% rate, followed by LGA with only 64.1% of flights arriving on schedule. Neighboring Kennedy Airport did better with a 70.3% on-time performance. San Francisco and Seattle also posted rates under 70% largely due to weather delays.
EADS is one step closer to gaining full control of Airbus now that BAE has said it wants to sell its 20% stake of the airframer; late last week, BAE said it has started talks with EADS about the sale.
Lloyd Aereo Boliviano President and majority stockholder Ernesto Asbun has set a condition for his proposal to sell 50% of his equity in the rapidly deteriorating airline (DAILY, April 6). The condition calls for a deposit for $3 million in Bolivia's National Bank in the name of LAB's workers to confirm their serious intentions to acquire the 50% equity. Labor leaders reported later they were already negotiating credits with European banks for the $3 million, plus additional funds for operating capital.
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) APRIL 25-26 -- MRO Military Conference, Phoenix APRIL 25-26 -- MRO USA Conference & Exhibition 2006, Phoenix MAY 17-18 -- MRO Military Europe, Berlin SEPT. 19-21 -- MRO Asia, Xiamen, China OCT. 24-26 -- MRO Europe, Amsterdam NOV. 13-15 -- Aerospace & Defense Programs, Phoenix
Aerocalifornia, grounded by the Mexican government (DAILY, April 4) for aircraft safety issues, could be on the sidelines longer than the 90 days it was given to make improvements, a possibility that could leave some passengers stranded this summer.
