Alaska Airlines management held an emergency meeting late last week with ground-handling company Menzies Aviation after a ramp agent damaged another aircraft, the latest in a string of costly problems with the company. The airline hired Menzies in May and cut hundreds of its own staff after the carrier's union refused to give concessions. During the past six months, however, the airline has been dogged by problems that can be traced back Menzies.
Lufthansa last week signed a deal with Honeywell for a runway safety system that will be installed in the Lufthansa fleet, beginning in the second quarter. The Honeywell Runway Awareness and Advisory System (RAAS) will "provide us with an extra margin of safety during ground operations" and should reduce the risk of runway incursions, Lufthansa said. RAAS compares the aircraft location -- using GPS -- to a database of airport runways, and provides audible warnings.
EasyJet plans to double passenger figures on its Gatwick-Cologne route once it adds capacity in September. The airline launched the route in September 2004 and carried more than 150,000 passengers between the two points in the past 12 months. Air Berlin also is strengthening its markets between London and Germany after recently establishing a hub at Stansted and launching flights to several German cities, including Berlin and Duesseldorf. -LR
The U.S. Transportation Dept. approved Delta's plan to shift seven of 21 U.S.-Brazil frequencies used for flights from Atlanta to launch flights to Sao Paulo out of New York Kennedy (DAILY, Dec. 23). The carrier will start the daily nonstop service on June 1 {OST-1997-2338].
Scotland-based carrier Flyglobespan on May 1 will launch service to the U.S. with flights from Glasgow to Orlando pending regulatory approval. It appears the carrier wants to cater to Europeans hoping to tour Florida -- Flyglobespan is selling Orlando-area theme parks tickets, as well as passes to the Kennedy Space Center and a two-day jaunt to the Bahamas, on its web site.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing in PDF format.) JAN. 7-8, 2006 -- 2006 Midwest Aviation Conference & Trade Show, Busch Student Center, St. Louis University, 636-532-5638, fax 636-532-0656, www.macts.org JAN. 8-12 -- American Association of Airport Executives Aviation Issues Conference, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, Kona, Hawaii, 703-824-0504, www.airportnet.org
The U.K.'s National Air Traffic Services says it needs to hire 100 controllers to meet growing traffic demand. NATS is launching a controller recruitment campaign and expects to get at least 2,000 inquiries. The selected recruits will begin training in March.
Alaska Airlines thinks decisions on changes to foreign ownership legislation should be argued and decided in Congress, "not imposed unilaterally by the executive branch" as part of regular U.S. Dept. of Transportation procedures. The DOT-proposed rule, aimed at changing the interpretation of foreign owership legislation, sparked a debate that is increasingly pitting the department against Congress.
Mexico's Toluca Airport has airline suitors lining up for the opportunity to grab a piece of the Mexico City market, but one aviation official is concerned the facility lacks the infrastructure to handle the growing demand. Jorge Luis Moya, president of the Mexican Air Transport Chamber (Canaero), says Toluca -- recently authorized to handle international traffic as a short-term option to aid heavily congested Mexico City International Airport (AICM) -- lacks the infrastructure to handle some 12 low-cost carriers and legacy airlines now ready to use it.
Ecuador's Aerogal last week took delivery of two Boeing 737-200s to expand domestic services from its base on the Galapagos Islands to the Ecuadorian mainland. Aerogal also announced the acquisition of additional aircraft, yet to be identified, to start operations between Ecuador and New York in June of this year (DAILY, Dec. 21, 2005). -LZ
Colombian transport regulator SPT directed that Medellin-based West Airlines apply for protection from bankruptcy. Under such protection, the company and its creditors, mostly suppliers and workers, have eight months to agree on restructuring or face bankruptcy. The carrier suffered nagging financial and operational problems after last August's crash of an MD-80 that killed all 60 on board (DAILY, Aug. 17). -LZ
American reported that its full-year traffic was up 6.3% on a 1.2% capacity increase, with the carrier holding to its goal of shrinking domestic capacity slightly while boosting international seats.
A sales surge in December enabled Boeing to beat analyst expectations and achieve its largest-ever annual aircraft order total, and it should also be enough to exceed rival Airbus' orders for 2005.
Sun Country will operate its first flight from Minneapolis/St. Paul to St. Maarten this Friday after winning a two-year exemption from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (DAILY, Dec. 1, 2005). The airline failed, however, to secure authority in time for its originally proposed Dec. 23 launch. The service will operate on Fridays throughout January and will fly three times weekly in February and March. Sun Country will scale back the service to a weekly flight in April [OST-2005-23153]. -ARS
ATA returned to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation four designations that it used to hold out charter service to Mexico. The airline operated flights from Chicago Midway to Cozumel and Ixtapa/Zihuatenejo as part of a charter contract with Funjet, while flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to Cancun were contracted with Pleasant Hawaiian. ATA terminated those contracts, telling DOT it wouldn't object to the agency's awarding the designations to other carriers. -ARS
SR Technics won new business from Spanish carrier Vueling Airlines with a five-year contract covering fleet management and component support. Vueling flies nine Airbus A320s from Madrid and Barcelona to the Western Mediterranean and European destinations. The carrier plans to add 50 planes to its fleet in the next three years.
AirTran yesterday posted record December traffic and a new high for full-year 2005, while executives reported strong unit revenue. For December, AirTran's traffic increased by 22.1%, which was outpaced by a 23.9% capacity increase. Load factor dipped one point to 70% for the month. The airline carried 500,000 passengers, up 23.3% and a new record for December. For the year, AirTran traffic increased 33.3% from 2004 on a 28.3% capacity hike. The airline set new annual records for traffic, capacity and passenger enplanements.
Singapore Airlines on March 1 will launch three-times-weekly Boeing 777-200 service to Abu Dhabi. The flight will proceed to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. With the introduction of the service, SIA will be the only airline to operate from Singapore to Abu Dhabi.
Spain's Aena, Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, Houston Airport System, Mexico's Asur and Brazil's Andrada Gutierrez Group are some of the potential bidders for a 17-year concession to manage Bogota's Eldorado International, sources close to the project say.
Washington's airport authority is criticizing Independence Air's plans to handle the wind-down of its operations, claiming it could lose revenue from landing fees as the carrier's fleet sits idle at Dulles Airport.
Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer's February attempt to beat Voyager's 20-year-old record of the longest flight by an aircraft or balloon is postponed indefinitely due to significant damage to the wing after the aircraft hit a fuel truck. The plane today was supposed to be repositioned from Salina, Kan., to the Kennedy Space Center in preparation for the flight. "This could be a real setback," said Steve Fossett.
Aeromexico will become the first carrier to offer scheduled service between Cleveland and Mexico City, if the U.S. Dept. of Transportation awards the airline exemption authority. Aeromexico would launch the flights on April 1, using Boeing 737-700s for the twice-weekly service. Mexico's civil aviation department earlier designated the carrier for the route [OST-2006-23510].
United asked the U.S. Transportation Dept. to add Air Canada to its pending application to extend antitrust immunity to its bilateral agreements with LOT, TAP and Swiss (DAILY, Nov. 21) to cover Star Alliance activities.
