Northwest and two of its largest unions will have one more week to hash out new agreements after Judge Allan Gropper postponed his decision in the Section 1113 case until Feb. 24. Gropper was previously expected to decide today whether to abrogate existing contracts with pilots and flight attendants. "We appreciate Judge Gropper giving the parties additional time to work out their differences," Northwest said.
French Transport Minister Dominique Perben asked the European Union to include Air Comores Services in the black list of carriers banned from operating in the European Union. The airline "had been under surveillance since mid-November, which caused the suspension of its operations in France," said the French ministry, and so far has not "provided the responses which demonstrate the safety of its aircraft."
OnAir recently hired Adrian Gane as commercial director and as a member of the management board. Gane has responsibility for all commercial aspects of the business for the new mobile telephony, web and managed network services, as well as existing services, the company said. Gane spent 17 years at Cathay Pacific in different roles, including having responsibility for the U.K. and Europe at a time of a route restructuring, and running the operations in Japan and Korea as SARS struck. -SL
Italy signed a memorandum of understanding with India aimed at expanding traffic between the countries. The agreement allows seven weekly frequencies between Italy and Kolkata, in addition to existing routes serving Mumbai and Delhi. Both countries also decided to provide for the designation of additional carriers, aside from Alitalia and Air-India.
Note To Readers: Because of observance of the U.S. Presidents Day holiday, Aviation DAILY will not publish an issue dated Monday, Feb. 20. The next issue will be dated Tuesday, Feb. 21.
SAS unilaterally decided to implement new contracts for its pilots after talks with unions broke down, and the carrier could face social unrest in the spring as a result. "The danger of a strike after April 1, when the current [collective labor] agreement expires, is far greater today than it was yesterday," said Jack Netskar, head of the Norwegian SAS Pilots Union.
Embraer's 170 won approval from Brazilian and European authorities for Category IIIa autolanding operations. To win the certification, the plane's autopilot system has to safely land the aircraft at low visibility - 600 ft or 200 m Runway Visual Range in adverse weather conditions. Embraer expects certification by the U.S. FAA shortly. -LR
Qantas yesterday reported a 9.6% drop in net profit for the first six months of its fiscal year to A$352.6 million due to restructuring charges and high fuel prices, and executives warned that profits will likely drop further in 2006.
China Eastern picked EADS EFW to convert three Airbus A300-600 passenger planes to freighters. The first plane is scheduled to enter the EADS EFW Dresden center in December, and the second and third conversions are set for completion next year.
Etihad Airways plans to launch daily service between Abu Dhabi and Manchester on March 26, giving the airline its third U.K. destination. Etihad also serves London Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The new route will be the airline's 25th destination. "Demand for air travel between the north of England and the U.A.E is growing every year," says Geert Boven, VP-commercial. Competitor Emirates has two daily flights from Dubai to Manchester, along with Heathrow, Gatwick and Glasgow. The carrier on June 1 plans to start Birmingham service. -SL
The Airbus A380 wing "ruptured" during ultimate load testing this week, just before reaching the desired structural benchmark. In what was the final of about 12 static tests, the wing was gradually being exposed to up to 1.5 times its limit load. Just before reaching the ultimate load level, the wing failed symmetrically on both sides, with the break occurring between the two engines. The limit load is the maximum strain an aircraft should encounter in flight, with ultimate load representing a 50% safety margin.
The FAA's Air Traffic Organization is achieving its goal of reducing its unit costs -- despite higher employee salaries -- and helping airlines increase fuel efficiency, ATO head Russell Chew said this week. ATO cut its labor cost per controlled flight by 1.5% in Fiscal Year 2005, Chew said at the Jane's Maastricht Air Traffic Control conference. ATO absorbed a 5% wage increase, although productivity for controllers and first-line supervisors rose 3%. Productivity was up 4% in terminal facilities and 2% in en route centers.
All Nippon Airways on April 11 plans to start operating of its new Boeing 777-300ERs on its Tokyo-San Francisco route. The new aircraft has new first- and business-class seats, as well as a different menu. The plane also has a new Premium Economy class with 20% more seat pitch than economy class. All passengers have access to the Internet through the Connexion by Boeing service. The 777-300ER is currently serving ANA's New York-Tokyo and Los Angeles-Tokyo routes, with the Washington-Tokyo starting in July. -SL
FAA proposed mandating installation of upgraded flight management computer system software on McDonnell-Douglas (Boeing) MD-10s/MD-11s. The new rule would supersede an existing one requiring flight manual revisions and would add MD-10s to the applicability list. FAA estimated cost is $130 per aircraft for 117 U.S.-registered aircraft.
Sister carriers Caribbean Sun Airlines and Caribbean Star tapped Decision Strategies to determine if the airlines should expand outside the Caribbean. The companies are looking at technology, route structures, marketing and distribution. Former Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) President Skip Barnette took the helm of Caribbean Sun and Star last year before Delta sold ASA to SkyWest. Airline affiliate Caribbean Aircraft Leasing has ordered four Bombardier Q300 turboprops. -LR
America West won two-year exemptions from the U.S. Transportation Dept. for scheduled service from the U.S. to points in Spain, Ireland and the U.K. The exemptions cover service from the U.S. to the co-terminal points of Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca via the Azores and Lisbon; via intermediate points to Dublin/Shannon and via intermediate points to the U.K., excluding Heathrow and Gatwick.
Republic Airways Holdings managed to grow its profits for the fourth quarter despite encountering what the company's CEO dubbed as "costs headwinds" of about $2 million. Net income reached $15.9 million, compared with $14.8 million for the last three months of 2004. Including a one-time non-cash gain of $2.5 million related to a settlement reached with aircraft lessors on turboprop leases, net income for the quarter was $18.5 million.
Low-fare carrier SkyEurope will set up a base in Prague -- its fifth systemwide -- in April, the company said this week. Sky Europe will launch seven routes from the Czech capital, including Amsterdam, Paris and Rome. SkyEurope is based in Bratislava, Slovakia, and has additional bases in Budapest, Warsaw and Krakow.
Sensis Corp. this week announced it has won a contract to supply its surface surveillance and tracking system to India's New Delhi Airport. The Advanced-Surface Movement Guidance and Control System (A-SMGCS) system will give controllers at the airport increased visibility on runways, taxiways and apron areas, and will also reduce fog delays in the winter. A-SMGCS has been commissioned by FAA and is being deployed to 35 U.S. airports.
