AirTran plans to launch service from White Plains, N.Y. later this year, at a time when the airport has seen service drop more than 15% in the past 12 months.
Spain's Air Europa and Venezuelan flag carrier Conviasa replaced Aeropostal as the Spanish carrier's Venezuelan code-share partner as part of a strategic agreement inked last week. Air Europa will increase its Madrid-Caracas frequencies initially to six per week and later to a daily service. Conviasa will code share with Air Europa on the flights.
Europe's efforts to accommodate long-term traffic growth will be stymied irrespective of progress in overhauling its air traffic management infrastructure, if it fails to adequately address airport expansion, European aviation officials warned last week. While there has been palpable success in improving air traffic management, airport capacity is becoming the choke point, Eurocontrol Director General Victor Aguado and Airports Council International-Europe Director Gen- eral Roy Griffins said during a joint presentation in London.
EasyJet says its revenue from intra-European flights jumped 78% in 2005 from GBP138 million to GBP247 million. Fourteen new routes are slated for debut, starting in March, including three new points from Milan.
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Flight Plan International President and CEO Mike Metcalf died Jan. 15 of complications from cancer. Metcalf founded the Fort Lauderdale-based company in 1984 and was president and CEO until the time of his death. He was also a founding member of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT).
Air Berlin recently named Ulf Huettmeyer as its CFO. Huettmeyer joins Air Berlin from Commerzbank, where he headed the corporate clients customer service unit in Berlin. Huettmeyer is the first CFO Air Berlin has had in its history. Finances to date were handled by Managing Director Joachim Hunold. Air Berlin as of Jan. 1 changed its legal status to a British Public Limited Company (plc). The naming of a CFO is seen as the latest sign that Air Berlin is planning to launch an initial public offering or find a strategic partner. -JF
Northwest's yearend cash balance is forecast to drop to $700 million without permanent labor cost cuts, warns CFO Dave Davis. He reports there is no debtor-in-possession financing available and without labor concessions, there is a high risk of liquidation. He adds that Northwest has the second-highest CASM of major U.S. domestic airlines.
Comair management got a significant win in its quest to gain concessions from labor groups late last week after pilots voted on a concession deal to save the carrier about $17 million annually. Negotiators from the Air Line Pilots Association didn't endorse the proposal that was sent to members, and the deal won a narrow approval of 50%. ALPA decided to send the company's proposal to its members for a vote due to the unusual circumstances surrounding it.
Named Yvonne Daverin managing director-maintenance planning and material control and elected Kevin Finan and Glenn Johnson as executive VP-operations and senior VP-customer service for airports, respectively.
Named the members of its reorganized board: Richard Almeida, retired chairman and CEO-Heller Financial, Inc.; Walter Isaacson, president and CEO-The Aspen Institute; Janet Langford Kelly, partner-Zelle, Hofmann, Voelbel, Mason & Gette LLP; Robert Krebs, retired chairman of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., and David Vitale, chief administrative officer-Chicago Public Schools.
Domestic passenger yields for the major network carriers increased 1.9% last year, with declines in the first four months of the year balanced by strong growth in the second half, the Air Transport Association reported last week. In international markets, U.S. carriers' Atlantic yields grew 7.5%, Latin American yields increased by 1%, and Pacific yields rose 5.5%. The yield data cover the seven reporting ATA carriers.
All Nippon Airways plans to retire its last Boeing 747SR-100 (JA8157) on March 10 after the final flight from Kagoshima to Tokyo Haneda. The aircraft type entered service in 1979, and ANA's 747SR was the world's first aircraft to carry 500 people in an all-economy configuration, the airline says. At the plane's peak in 1989, ANA had 23 747SRs in its fleet.
Boeing is starting final assembly of the 5,000th 737 aircraft to come off its Renton production line. The aircraft, a 737-700, will be delivered to Southwest next month. Sales for the 737 passed 6,000 last month and now stand at 6,099.
Varig's creditors last week got their first look at the carrierís model for a long-term financial restructuring plan, presented by CEO Marcelo Bottini.
An upturn in ticket prices in 2005 and the recent retreat of fuel prices from levels in September and October prompts "cautious optimism looking into 2006 for North American airlines," says Standard & Poor's analyst Philip Baggaley. "Still, even the reduced fuel prices are at levels well above those seen at the start of 2005, and five U.S. airlines are in bankruptcy." Of the 11 North American airlines rated by S&P, five have stable outlooks, three negative, and three bankrupt carriers are rated 'D'.
US Airways recently named Tony Grantham managing director of its Philadelphia hub, replacing Suha Arkan, who left the airline. Grantham, a 22-year veteran of US Airways/America West comes from the Las Vegas hub, where he was also the managing director. Grantham has worked in numerous positions in Denver, Boston, Columbus, Pittsburgh, New York Kennedy and Las Vegas.
U.S. general aviation advocates last week voiced opposition to FAA's proposal to make the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) permanent over Washington, but many are still unsure whether those comments will make much difference.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. finalized its tentative decision to award Delta four U.S.-Ukraine frequencies and quashed United's claims that its tentative decision was based on an incomplete record (DAILY, Dec. 23).
One Mexican economist believes that the lower cost structure of low-cost carriers will translate into lower salaries and labor woes for Mexican workers.
Southwest is eager to add to its eight gates at Philadelphia, says CEO Gary Kelly, declaring that he "firmly believes" the airline will be successful in obtaining more gates at the airport.
