Sabre last week signed a long-term Global Distribution System subscriber agreement with Priceline.com as part Sabre's strategy to add partnerships with online travel agencies. With Priceline, Sabre now has relationships with three of the four top online agencies in the U.S., the company said. In addition, Travelocity's recently acquired lastminute.com, one of the leading online sites in Europe, announced plans to begin moving its bookings to the Sabre GDS. The company also recently renewed contracts with US Airways and Northwest.
More recommendations have stemmed from the U.K government's investigation into a February 2005 Virgin Atlantic flight that diverted to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport due to problems with fuel level indicators. The plane was on a scheduled flight from Hong Kong to London. During pre-flight inspections, a single failure appeared on each fuel control monitoring computer (FCMC 2, FCMC 1), but the crew reset the computers successfully. On the previous sector, both computers were reset at separate times.
The $765 million cut in FAA's Airport Improvement Program funding is the second-largest reduction for any program in the White House's Fiscal Year 2007 budget, the Airport Legislative Alliance says. The budget proposes funding reductions totaling more than $7.4 billion in 50 non-defense programs, and the elimination of 91 programs would save another $7.3 billion.
The General Aviation Manufacturers Association today is expected to announce that general aviation and business aircraft manufacturers had a record-setting year in 2005 in terms of billings, and they shipped more aircraft than they have in two decades. "It's been a fantastic year," said CEO Pete Bunce.
Boeing will close its Melbourne, Ark., MRO facility during the second quarter of this year, the airframer announced last week. "We have made a difficult decision to close the Boeing facility in Melbourne, which has seen its [workload] steadily decline...This decision reflects the unfortunate business realities facing the Melbourne operations," said Joy Romero, director of the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Salt Lake City facility which oversees the Melbourne operation.
U.S. airport delays in December were not isolated to the Northeast, as they normally are, with San Francisco reporting the worst on-time arrival rate of 57%. Newark and New York LaGuardia closely followed with 58.2% and 62.2%, respectively. South Florida also was hit hard as Miami saw only 64.7% of its flight arrive on schedule and Fort Lauderdale 65.7%.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary estimates his carrier will need about 300 pilots in the next 12 months. The airline also plans to outline the number of simulators it will own and operate "in the not-too-distant future."
Continental is stepping up the pressure on Virgin Nigeria's application for an exemption and permit for U.S.-bound operations (DAILY, Jan. 9), using the same tactics and asking for the same documents it is requesting of Virgin America to prove the Nigerian carrier's ownership.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing in PDF format.) FEB. 15-17 -- ACI-NA Finance Symposium, The Roosevelt Hotel, New York, N.Y., 202-293-3028, email [email protected] FEB. 18 -- Aircraft Rescue Firefighting for Structural Firefighters Seminar, Cheswold Fire Company, Cheswold, Del., 914-962-5185, www.aviationjournal.com
Cathay Pacific was forced to postpone the launch of weekly service to Moscow and Manchester as it's facing delays in getting regulatory approval for the service.
Air New Zealand is proposing to outsource its aircraft cleaning work overseas, which the carrier said could save it about NZ$1.5 million (US$1 million) a year. The airline plans to announce a decision on the outsourcing move today. The proposal would mean 120 job cuts for the carrier, most of them cleaners who service aircraft for ANZ and other airlines using New Zealand airports. ANZ already contracts out its aircraft cleaning at overseas airports.
Singapore-based low-fare airline Tiger Airways was fined PHP720,000 (US$14,000) by the Philippines' Civil Aviation Board for advertising its fares on the Clark Field-Macau route before its application for a permanent permit was approved. Tiger Airways had a temporary permit to operate flights between the two points until Jan. 26, said CAB Deputy Director Carmelo Arcilla. The carrier has since been granted an extension for another 30 days. Arcilla said the airline must pay the fine before its application for a permanent permit is approved.
Air Canada has been hit with some of the same hiccups as JetBlue in operating its new Embraer 190s and 175s, reports CEO Montie Brewer. "Things come up when you have a brand-new plane," he tells analysts. The airline has taken delivery of three 190s and has 15 175s. Brewer said the problems with the plane are minor and have had little effect on its operation. The carrier is working closely with Embraer to find a fix, he says.
SkyWest CFO Brad Rich says the timing of a comment letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission on a registration statement that SkyWest filed in November "made it impossible to complete the offering by yearend." SkyWest didn't receive the letter until Dec. 22, and now the airline "has no choice" but to wait to issue the offering until its quarterly filing is completed, Rich notes.
