Garuda's foreign creditor, the European Credit Agency (ECA), will consider restructuring the airline's debts only if the Indonesian government guarantees that the carrier will not default in payment and will not go bankrupt.
WestJet's pilots approved a new three-year contract negotiated between the non-union WestJet Pilots Association and the airline's flight operations leadership.
The SkyTeam alliance recently became the latest group to start evaluating alternate ways to distribute its channels as a means to cut costs for its members. SkyTeam recently heard presentations from new distribution providers at a meeting in Prague. The airlines are also reviewing ways to cut "unproductive booking expense" through the existing distribution systems. SkyTeam member airlines spend about $1.2 billion on distribution costs annually and estimate that up to 15% of external distribution cost is generated from "unproductive booking" procedures.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. will reallocate two within-perimter slots for Washington National Airport that Spirit returned to DOT after discontinuing its service to Myrtle Beach. Interested airlines must propose service to small or non-hub airports within the 1,250-mile perimeter at DCA [OST-200-7182]. Separately, Spirit named Scott Allard as chief information officer. Allard's most recent position was head of technology at Travelworm.
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is joining the Registered Traveler bandwagon. The 215-hotel chain is teaming with Verified Identified Pass Inc., operator of the nation's only Registered Traveler voluntary passenger screening program at Orlando Airport. Hyatt plans to extend a complimentary membership in VIP's Clear voluntary credentialing service to its Gold Passport Diamond tier members. The hotel chain also plans to make Clear membership available to other Hyatt guests through promotional offers later this year.
Ryanair founder Tony Ryan is reportedly working with Mexican bus company IAMSA to launch a low-fare carrier in Mexico this year. According to Irish press reports, RyanMex will take a 49% stake in the carrier, AeroBus, with IAMSA being the majority shareholder. It's the latest in slew of airlines attempting to capture market share in Mexico's emerging LCC segment, including Vuela, Volaris, Click Mexicana, and an unnamed airline partly back by Brazil's GOL. -LR
Speculation is growing about a second potential player in a hostile takeover of U.K. airport operator BAA, even after British aviation regulators warned that any potential purchaser will have to honor BAA's substantial infrastructure investment commitments.
Air France and its subsidiaries Brit Air, City Jet and Regional late next month will carry the code of SkyTeam partner Delta on flights from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Birmingham, England, Verona, Italy and Eindhoven, The Netherlands [OST-2000-6939].
Delta executives and schedule planners yesterday were sent scrambling to fix a major schedule distribution error that showed the airline was going to slash 20% of its available seats at New York LaGuardia, starting in May.
TAM, Brazil's second-largest airline, earlier this month registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S. to raise as much as $928 million from the sale of 40,960,813 preferred shares by the carrier and some of its shareholders, reports DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America & Caribbean.
The Cape Town Convention -- which becomes effective tomorrow -- will have a positive effect on aircraft-backed debt and leases in the long term but won't change ratings in the short term, Standard & Poor's said. So far, the U.S. and eight smaller nations have ratified the Cape Town Convention, which creates an international electronic registry of interests and lien-holders on aircraft, and provides remedies for lessors or creditors in the event of default or insolvency.
Airbus Germany plans to create 1,250 jobs this year, the Airbus subsidiary said yesterday. The workers are necessary to boost narrowbody production at the Hamburg plant as well as interior and component work for the entire product range. Airbus employed 21,100 staff in Germany at the end of last year.
The ICAO Council yesterday voted to reappoint Taieb Cherif as ICAO secretary general for a second three-year term. The only other nominee on the ballot was William Voss, director of ICAO's Air Navigation Bureau and former FAA official. Sources familiar with the voting process said Cherif won a second ballot 19-17, after the first ballot was deadlocked at 18-18.
FAA says it is now meeting its fiscal 2006 goal of an average daily airport capacity of 101,196 arrivals and departures at the top 35 airports. The average was below this target until a few weeks ago, and the agency attributed the improvement to better weather, new runway openings at Minneapolis and Cincinnati, and improved runway use at Fort Lauderdale.
The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) will carry out trial runs at Terminal 3 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport at the end of next month. MIAA expects the trials to run for three moths before it receives the clearance from the Civil Aeronautics Board to open the facility for commercial operations.
Venezuela last Sunday opened a 1.5-mile stretch of road that will help alleviate transport problems between Caracas and Maiquetia (DAILY, Feb. 21), just in time for the Carnival weekend. "We urge users to take advantage right away of the emergency by-pass, which they may do without any type of interference," said President Hugo Chavez. -LZ
Delta won from the U.S. Transportation Dept. seven weekly frequencies that it will use to launch service between Atlanta and Johannesburg via Dakar, Senegal (DAILY, Feb. 10). The carrier is expected to launch the flights on or about Dec. 4 [OST-2006-23924].
Mesaba's pilots have voted to strike if the carrier's management gets the contract changes it wants through the bankruptcy court. Management has asked the court to reject collective bargaining agreements with pilots, flight attendants and mechanics to achieve cost reductions needed to keep flying 49 Saab turboprops for partner Northwest.
