By: Steve Lott, Aviation Daily While Southwest executives have won well-deserved praise for the company's fuel hedging policy that has saved millions of dollars, they have used other strategies to keep costs in line that attract much less notice.
A showdown is emerging between officials heading Bolivia's intervention at Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (DAILY, March 15) and executives at the carrier, leading Inspector Angel Zaballa to say that removal of the airline's executives is an essential prerequisite to LAB's long-term survival.
As the Easter traffic season approaches and Venezuela and the U.S. talk of tit-for-tat suspensions of flights from the other's country (DAILY, March 17), some carriers have begun contingency planning in the event that negotiations to upgrade Venezuela in FAA's IASA program do not pan out. El Universal reports Continental will try to meet the needs of passengers to and from Caracas through its extensive route network in the region. American and Delta are optimistic and expect the crisis to be solved without jeopardizing passengers.
Air Canada launched a six-week test of lightweight galley carts, which would trim aircraft weight and fuel burn. Compared with current carts, each full-size cart saves 10 kilograms of weight, while each half-size cart saves 5.5 kg. Flight attendants will provide feedback on the handling of the new carts, after which management will decide the next step. The trial is on flights between Montreal and Cancun. Star Alliance partners Singapore and Austrian Air use the same type of cart.
Boeing yesterday named senior company executive Shephard Hill to a newly created post overseeing the company's business development and strategy. Hill will be promoted to senior VP, reporting to Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, and will join the Boeing Executive Council. Hill will be responsible for "analyzing and developing plans to drive the company's growth and nurturing developing businesses," Boeing said. He will also oversee mergers and acquisition plans, including equity investments and joint ventures.
Gordon Bethune, former head of Continental and industry veteran, this week was named chairman of Cendant Corp.'s Travel Distribution Services division. Cendant plans to spin off the TDS unit to shareholders in the fourth quarter, but Bethune will remain as non-executive chairman. One of his first jobs will be to select a new CEO for TDS from a list of finalists.
Renewed negotiations between Aerolineas Argentinas management and its pilots and flight engineers (DAILY, March 6) exposed rifts among labor unions at the carrier, as the national union of stewardesses and pursers (AAA) went public to defend AR. While the in-house flight engineers union (APTA) and the pilots union (APLA) condemned management for not hearing their claims and "gutting" the company, AAA sang the airline's praises.
The Turkish State will cut down its stake in Turkish Airlines from 75.18% today to some 50%, Özellestirme Idaresi Baskanligi, the Turkish privatization administration, said yesterday. "The decision was reached to sell 25% of Turkish Airlines' shares by public offering within 12 months," OIB said in a statement to the Istanbul stock exchange. The offering will include an option to sell off an additional slice of the airline's capital, said the privatization authority, without providing any details.
Results of safety audits by ICAO of its member states will be made public two years from now, giving countries ample time to put corrective measures in place, the organization said.
The major U.S. pilots union praised FAA for tightening restrictions on a runway use procedure known as taxi into position and hold (TIPH), but the controllers union said traffic flow may be slowed at some small airports due to TIPH rule changes that came into effect yesterday.
Startup all-cargo carrier Cargo 360, which this week won operating certificates for interstate and foreign scheduled cargo services, is now asking the U.S. Transportation Dept. for an exemption to carry revenue cargo on its FAA proving flights. Under DOT code, a carrier cannot accept payment for service until its certificate authority becomes effective; however, the certificates only become effective once the airline completes its proving flights. Cargo 360's proving flights will begin April 1.
Spain's Globalis, which supplies ground support at airports for carriers and their passengers, took a big step forward in its international expansion with its entry into the lucrative Brazilian market through a joint venture with Varig. Globalis handling affiliates Groundforce and Sata and Varig will set up a joint venture to help Brazilian airports that will cover commercial and marketing strategies, operational procedures, resource planning, better use of database tools, and joint bulk purchases. -LZ
Finnair yesterday became the launch customer for the Rolls-Royce Trent 1700, which will be used to power the airline's new Airbus A350s due for delivery in 2012.
The Greek government is scrambling to draw up yet another rescue plan for Olympic Airlines, as the European Commission is threatening to take the issue to court again.
Lima-based startup Wayraperu hopes soon to start international service after yesterday launching service to six domestic cities with three Fokker 100s. Wayra's initial equity investment is shared by Peru's Fonda de Inversions Sustentables, headed by Peruvian entrepreneur Peter Koechlin, and Brazil's Sinergy Aerospace, owned by German Efromovich.
GOL launched a perpetual bond offering through its finance subsidiary as a financing tool for its Boeing 737 planes to complement financial support the airline is receiving from the U.S. Exim Bank. GOL and its other subsidiary, GOL Transportes Aereos S.A., are guaranteeing the notes, which are senior unsecured debt with no fixed final maturity date. The notes will be callable after five years and are exempt from registration under the U.S. Securities Act.
ASA plans to upgrade its Atlanta-Toronto Delta Connection service to 70-seat CRJ700 aircraft in June [OST-2006-24220]. The carrier needs an exemption from the U.S. Transportation Dept. for the upgrade because flights using 70-seat aircraft do not qualify as small aircraft operations.
Express giant DHL last week dealt a blow to U.S. cargo carrier ABX by cutting back some valuable line-haul and hub services that ABX was contracted to operate, and DHL also introduced more incentive clauses to its ABX agreements. The changes mean DHL will take over responsibility for the truck line-haul network that ABX has been managing. DHL will also no longer require ABX to operate its Allentown hub, after DHL opens a new facility at Allentown in the second quarter. Allentown is the largest of DHL's 18 regional hubs.
