The White House late last week nominated Mark Rosenker to chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board after serving as active chairman for more than a year.
Boeing yesterday announced 900 layoffs at its Wichita facility, and the company said it will change the focus of the Wichita operation. The layoffs are mainly salaried and management support workers in the Integrated Defense Systems division, and some hourly employees. Of the total, 360 will be cut by June 19, with another 240 by the end of July and 300 in November. Boeing will employ 2,700 people in Wichita by the start of 2007.
Singapore Changi Airport yesterday reported that total passengers passing through the facility jumped 8.3% in March, compared with the same month last year. A total of 2.85 million passengers traveled through Changi in March, the busiest month in the first quarter. Daily passenger numbers topped 100,000 during the weekends of March 11-12 and March 18-19, the start and end of the local school holidays.
World Air subsidiary North American Airlines on June 4 plans to begin weekly scheduled flights from Baltimore/Washington airport to Gambia and Ghana. The service will fly nonstop from Baltimore-Washington International to Banjul in Gambia, and Accra in Ghana. The flights will use Boeing 767-300ERs. The BWI flight -- and an additional flight from New York Kennedy airport beginning June 3 -- will give North American three weekly flights between the U.S. and West Africa.
To list an event, please send information in calendar form to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] APRIL 19 -- Wings Club Luncheon featuring Barry Eccleston, President & CEO Airbus North America, Yale Club, New York City, 212-867-1770, email:[email protected]. APRIL 24-26 -- ATCA/FAA/NASA Technical Symposium & Golf Outing, Atlantic City, 703-299-2430, Fax 703-299-2437, email [email protected]
Air China intends to launch nonstop service in the Beijing-Dallas market May 11 with the start of three weekly Boeing 747 freighter flights. The carrier is seeking an exemption from the U.S. Transportation Dept. that, if approved, would give Air China the authority to carry passengers and cargo between Beijing and the Texas city. Air China also operates cargo flights that stop over in Anchorage. No other carrier serves the market with nonstop service [OST-2006-24486]. -ARS
The U.S. Transportation Dept. calls the Virgin America certification application "unusual, given the complexities of its filing," because of the "substantive updates" the carrier made to its December filing and the fact that it has been contested by several airlines and unions. DOT, however, said it "is committed to completing its review in as timely a manner as possible," and notes that last week's information request represents a step forward (DAILY, April 14).
Alaska Airlines last week unveiled plans to spend $3.5 million to upgrade and expand its Nome Airport, Alaska, terminal. Construction is scheduled to begin in early June and be completed in March 2007. The project includes renovating and expanding the lobby, secured passenger area, cargo facility and ground service equipment area, as well as paving the parking lot and connecting the terminal building to city water and sewer lines. The airline built the existing Nome Airport terminal building in 1985.
Former United CFO Doug Hacker plans to resign from his full-time job at the airline May 1, the carrier revealed in a securities filing Friday, but he will stay on as a consultant for several years.
The investigative branch of the U.K.'s Dept. of Transport issued four recommendations to Airbus after the crew of an Airbus A319 reported that the plane's flight and navigation displays had failed. Investigators with the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) noted the plane, registered to British Airways, lost information on a number of displays as it approached a flight level of 20,000 feet on a flight from London to Budapest last October.
Today is the deadline for a bankruptcy judge to rule on rejecting the Comair flight attendant contract. Comair claims it needs $8.9 million from the group to help parent Delta out of Chapter 11. Management and attendants ask the judge to extend the original April 10 deadline for a ruling, and an airline spokesman says, "Comair continues to stress its preference for a consensual agreement." Attendants, represented by the Teamsters, voted in favor of a strike authorization, saying they're prepping for "possible job actions" as early as this week.
Menzies Aviation, Alaska Airlines' ramp service company in Seattle and other airports, "is meeting most of its performance objectives" after some early problems, the airline says. "On average, Menzies is achieving our goals for bag delivery times, first flights of the day departures and overall on-time performance, but it is still falling short on baggage-handling," the airline tells staff. In terms of aircraft damage, Menzies has had zero incidents in Seattle for two months and none anywhere on the carrier's system during March.
FAA has approved plans for a new $2 billion, 33-gate terminal and infrastructure improvements at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. "In the last seven years, we've made tremendous investments in Sky Harbor," said David Kreitor, aviation director for the city of Phoenix. "This new plan allows us to balance our landside and ground facilities with airfield capacity."
Selected Randall Shealy to succeed John Lee as senior VP and CFO following Lee's retirement, effective April 1, and named Chris Warden director-internal audit.
Southwest's headcount per aircraft continues to fall, dropping from 74 at the end of 2004 to 71 at the end of 2005. Since the end of 2003, the airline's headcount per plane has dropped 16.5%. That corresponds with rising fuel costs the airline is logging in its operating expenses. Net of hedging and taxes, fuel costs constituted 19.8% of Southwest's operating expenses last year, up from 15.2% in 2003.
Air Canada plans to save about $120,000 annually in fuel costs related to a decision by the Toronto airports authority to waive a morning curfew restriction. Flights at Toronto normally arrive and depart between 6:30 a.m. and 12:30 a.m., but when the winds are favorable, Air Canada's flights from South America arrive before 6:30 a.m., and crews have to cut speed or put planes in a holding pattern. Aircraft will now be allowed to land early "under certain specified conditions."
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines will launch flights to Frankfurt on June 30, offering five services a week using Airbus A340-600. It will be the carrier's fifth European destination. The others are Munich, Madrid, Paris and London. China Eastern will expand its network this year to another nine international destinations. It currently operates 403 routes, including 99 international, with a fleet of 136 aircraft, including 10 freighters.
Brazilian carrier GOL and Mexican low-cost carrier Click last week joined the Latin American Airline Association, growing airline membership to 29 carriers. "This shows AITAL is active and growing, uniting all carriers in the region under one umbrella so that we may collectively tackle many ongoing Latin American and Caribbean aviation issues," said AITAL Executive Director Alex de Gunten.
Star Alliance appears close to signing up its first members from China, an area the group has been targeting for years. "Our strategy is to pursue two carriers because of the size of the market," said Star CEO Jaan Albrecht in Johannesburg. "We believe they are about to be ready to make a decision" that could come "in the next few weeks." Star has been lobbying Air China and Shanghai Airlines to join the group.
