Irish charter carrier Eirjet received U.S. Transportation Dept. approval for wet-lease operations to help out Air Jamaica during the holiday season. DOT deferred a decision on the carrier's application for an exemption for charter service from the U.S. to Ireland and third-country points. Eirjet itself made the wet-lease application a priority, given the timeliness of its application. The wet-lease exemption will expire Jan. 15 [OST-2005-23124]. -ARS
ALPA union leaders at Comair are preparing to present a concession proposal from airline management to pilots after union negotiators deemed the company's "last, best and final" offer unacceptable. Union leaders say the "unusual circumstances" led them to take the company's proposal directly to the pilots. Road shows are set to start in early January.
Singapore Airlines is moving closer to a decision on new aircraft, and sources say the carrier is leaning toward a significant deal with Boeing for new 777s and 787s. CEO Chew Choon Seng told The DAILY this month at a Star Alliance meeting that a final decision had not been made but an announcement would come in the first quarter, and he is aiming for late January or February.
Virgin Nigeria plans to begin service to the U.S. in May with four weekly Airbus A340-300 flights from Lagos to New York or Newark, the carrier told the U.S. Transportation Dept. in its exemption application. The carrier will wet-lease the aircraft, given Nigeria's Category 1 status in FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment Program [OST-2005-23461].
Aer Lingus last week unveiled plans to launch six new routes from Cork and Dublin to Europe this summer, only a day after competitor Ryanair said it would expand its Dublin network.
Aberdeen, Scotland-based BMI regional next year plans to start three daily flights linking Aberdeen with Amsterdam. The service will start March 27 and will be operated with Embraer regional jets. "Amsterdam is the most popular international destination out of Aberdeen, and we are very pleased that our passengers now have more choice through the new BMI regional service," said Andy Flower, Aberdeen Airport managing director. He added that the airport has posted record growth in passengers this year, as well as a record number of new routes and services.
Orders for ATR's 70-seat turboprop are up sharply year over year, from 11 in 2004 to 73 so far in 2005. Avitas analyst Nelson Klug estimates that carriers are flying 400 70-seat turboprops built by airframers targeting that market, with 90 firm orders on the books and just five parked. He doesn't predict as huge a jump in 2006, but noted he wouldn't be surprised to see a "sustained level of demand."
The Senate last week unanimously passed a bill that would make it illegal for anyone to shine a laser into an aircraft cockpit, but with a few exceptions. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, amended H.R. 1400, the Security Aircraft Cockpits Against Lasers Act that was introduced in the House by Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.). Keller's bill makes it illegal knowingly to point a laser at an aircraft. A perpetrator could face a fine and up to five years in prison.
Air Canada plans to operate its new Embraer 190s primarily in Canada-U.S. transborder markets, including Toronto to Boston, Newark and New York LaGuardia. The planes will also fly Calgary-New York Kennedy, Ottawa-Fort Lauderdale, Ottawa-Orlando and Montreal-Denver. The 190 will fly some domestic routes from Toronto and Montreal. The carrier took delivery of the first two 190s this month (DAILY, Dec. 14).
Members of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee will hold a hearing when Congress reconvenes to scrutinize FAA's oversight of non-certificated repair stations after a report issued last week by the DOT Inspector General raised red flags about work the stations were performing without oversight or adequate training, and at least one member said he's considering legislation to address the problems.
AVIATION WEEK Conferences & Exhibitions You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.AviationNow.com/conferences or contact Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) APR. 5-6 -- U.S. Defense Budgets and Programs Conference, Arlington, Va. APR. 25-26 -- MRO Military Conference, Phoenix APR. 25-26 -- MRO USA Conference & Exhibition 2006, Phoenix MAY 17-18 -- MRO Military Europe, Berlin SEPT. 19-21 -- MRO Asia, Xiamen, China
MAIR Holding elected James Lee to its board of directors. Lee previously served on the board of MAIR subsidiary Big Sky Transportation. His term runs through 2006.
Frontier opposes Delta's proposal to relinquish its Los Angeles-Guadalajara designation to Atlantic Southeast Airlines (DAILY, Nov. 30), and asked the U.S. Dept. of Transportation to launch proceedings that would let it and other carriers apply to serve the route. "Delta is not the department," Frontier said in its petition. "It cannot assign its authority to another carrier." Frontier also notes the route is controlled by the Delta "family," since Delta code-share partner Aeromexico also serves the city-pair.
British Airways and American told the U.S. Dept. that they intend to begin code sharing on the U.K. carrier's flights from London to Chennai and Bangalore, both in India, within 30 days [OST-2002-13861].
Qantas Freight plans to add Christchurch to its trans-Tasman cargo network, starting Jan. 9 The Qantas Boeing 767-300 Auckland-Sydney freight service operates four times a week, departing Auckland on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Starting next month, the service will include Christchurch with an Auckland-Christchurch-Sydney routing. The Qantas Sydney-Auckland overnight express freight service remains unchanged, departing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
United is fighting the U.S. Dept. of Transportation's show cause order that tentatively awarded Delta four available U.S.-Ukraine frequencies (DAILY, Dec. 15), arguing DOT made the "tentative decision without a shred of evidence comparing the relative benefits" of both carriers' service proposals.
Eclipse Aviation yesterday said the FAA certification of the Eclipse 500 would slip about two months to June due to supplier delays. Last week, Eclipse said it was still hoping to win certification in March and FAA issued the Albuquerque company its first Type Inspection Authorization.
Continental expects to sign interline e-ticket agreements with 24 more airlines in the first half of 2006, complementing 33 signed already. The carrier said it will eliminate paper tickets "well ahead" of IATA's deadline of the end of 2007. The carrier recently canceled 12 interline ticketing and baggage agreements with airlines that were "either unwilling or unable" to introduce electronic interlining.
Vernal, Utah, is in danger of losing its subsidized air service, warns the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, which is urging the community to work with the next essential air service (EAS) carrier to boost traffic and help keep the per-passenger subsidy within authorized limits.
Aeromexico is aiming for a Feb. 1 launch of service between Mexico City and San Antonio pending approval from the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. The carrier will offer three weekly roundtrip flights with Boeing 737-700 aircraft [OST-2005-23435].
Emirates this week signed a $265 million financing deal with the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) for two Boeing 777-300ERs, scheduled for delivery in February and March.
