Colombia's civil aviation dept. (Aerocivil) and the Society of Colombian Architects awarded Javier Vera and Gabriel Giraldo first prize in the competition to design the façade of the new terminal building at Bogota's El Dorado International Airport. The airport is being modernized and expanded at a cost of $600 million. Aerocivil will select the concessionaires for the airport next month (DAILY, March 2).
Delta won approval from the U.S. Transportation Dept. to delay the start of its Cincinnati/Salt Lake City-Cancun, Mexico, and New York/Newark-Cozumel services to June 1 (DAILY, Nov. 29. 2005). The carrier argued that Hurricane Wilma and the resultant damage to the Cancun/Cozumel area "disrupted" its service plans [OST-2005-22243].
Star Alliance partners LOT and United will expand their European code share next month. The Polish carrier will put the UA designator code on flights from Krakow to London and Brussels and on Gdansk-Munich flights, starting April 6 [OST-2004-17468].
RegionsAir and Air Midwest submitted proposals to provide essential air service at Greenbriar/White Sulphur Springs/Lewisburg, W.Va., with Regions Air linking the community to Cleveland and Air Midwest proposing two options linking Lewisburg to US Airways hubs at Charlotte, N.C., and Pittsburgh.
Emirates this week formed a new hospitality division to manage and expand its hotel operation, which is adding several properties in the next two years. Emirates Hotels & Resorts will be part of the Emirates' Destination and Leisure Management Division. "It will develop its portfolio of exceptional properties in Dubai and other locations to support and enhance the growth of Emirates, providing travelers with seamless quality travel and hospitality experiences," the company said. The carrier plans to expand in Dubai and around the world.
WestJet lost another top executive this week after CFO Sandy Campbell said he plans to leave the carrier. Campbell started at WestJet in May 1996, three months after the airline launched flights. Campbell's departure follows the exit last fall (DAILY, Oct. 20, 2005) of founding executive and shareholder Tim Moran, who resigned as VP-operations for personal reasons. Campbell plans to vacate his post June 15 but said he would help CEO Clive Beddoe and the airline's board in the transition period of bringing a new CFO onboard. -LR
Airline and general aviation industry groups yesterday fired opening salvos at each other in the looming battle over air traffic control user fees, with the airlines unveiling a list of principles that would see GA paying for a larger share of the ATC system.
The president of Venezuela's civil aviation institute (INAC) expects FAA to re-examine Venezuela's status in the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program before March 30, the date when INAC would begin to restrict inbound flights by U.S. carriers (DAILY, Feb. 28).
The U.S. Transportation Dept. is taking proposals from carriers interested in flying essential air service to Pierre, S.D., and Adak, Atka and Nikolski, Alaska, for two years. The term would start July 1 for all the communities. Alaska Airlines' subsidized service connects Adak with Anchorage twice weekly, while Peninsula Airways operates subsidized EAS to connect Atka and Nikolski to Dutch Harbor.
FAA is investigating an ATC system shutdown in the New York en route center that caused more than 700 flight delays Tuesday. The center's HOST system was off line for about an hour, and controllers switched to the backup, known as DARC. Preliminary inquiries reveal that data from a flight plan was continuously looping, overloading and shutting down the HOST system.
Shuttle America on June 8 will begin code sharing with Air Canada on the Washington Dulles-Halifax, Nova Scotia, flights that Shuttle America operates as a United Express carrier [OST-2005-22989].
Ernesto Asbun, president of troubled Bolivian carrier Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB), last Friday missed a hearing that he was to attend under subpoena, resulting in the postponement of the meeting and renewed calls from pilots for more government intervention.
Labor negotiations at Aerolineas Argentinas (DAILY, Feb. 18) are not progressing despite the best efforts of management, the pilots union and government mediators, leading analysts to wonder whether wildcat strikes are on the horizon. The pilots union last week rejected an AR proposal that includes 20% "non-compensatory" salary increases for pilots and co-pilots and equivalent raises for flight engineers. The unions have been demanding a 45% increase in wages and benefits.
GOL amended its order deal with Boeing to add two 737s, bringing the airline's total number of planes on full order to 76. Options for additional aircraft fell from 36 to 34. GOL currently flies 43 737s and expects to fly 53 by yearend.
The Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO) added its first member group from Japan, the Air Traffic Control Association of Japan. ATCA-Japan, based at Tokyo Haneda Airport, was established in 1986 as a foundation for research and international cooperation in air traffic management.
Delta plans to add 44 short-haul flights to its New York Kennedy schedule this summer to 15 new regional destinations, many of which are within 425 miles of the airport, as it works to boost feed for its international flights.
Malaysia Airlines is evaluating the possibility of joining the SkyTeam alliance after abandoning plans in December 2000 to become part of any global partnership.
By Steve Lott, Aviation Daily Creeping along a taxiway waiting to take off rates as one of the most frustrating travel experiences for airline passengers and crew alike, but a new data analysis shows the taxi delays are not only inconvenient but also represent a significant operational cost to carriers.
Aeromexico applied to the U.S. Transportation Dept. for exemptions to fly the La Paz, Mexico-Los Angeles and Monterrey, Mexico-Las Vegas routes. The carrier would operate two weekly nonstop flights on the routes, competing with Aerocalifornia on La Paz-Los Angeles and Aviacsa on Monterrey-Las Vegas [OST-2006-24083]. The carrier already holds authority for the routes from Mexico's civil aviation department.
