AWAIR's inaugural service to Singapore never got off the ground, and now the carrier may scrap plans to operate the flights altogether. The Jakarta-based carrier has yet to receive the approval from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) to operate the route. Daily flights to Singapore were supposed to start on Jan. 19, but the service was called off at the last minute. All seats for the Boeing 737-300 flight were sold out.
Lufthansa and the SAS Group are considering selling their stakes in BMI British Midland, industry sources said yesterday. Continuing losses at the U.K.'s second-largest, short-haul legacy carrier, an unfavorable joint-venture agreement and the potential sale of Chairman Michael Bishop's majority stake are seen as key factors behind the scenes.
Pratt & Whitney won a three-year $60 million maintenance contract from easyJet to maintain the CFM International engines powering 36 Boeing 737-300s at its Norway Engine Center. P&W said the contract covers about 47 CFM56-3 engines.
American Friday asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for broader authority to serve India "either nonstop or via intermediate points, and either with its own aircraft or by code sharing with any partner," in light of the recently initialed India-U.S. open-skies deal. American currently holds authority that expires March 31 to serve points in India via Zurich through a code share with Swiss [OST-2001-9167].
SAS wants the governments of Denmark, Sweden and Norway to pay SEK28 million (US$4 million) for the rescue flights it operated after the recent tsunami catastrophe in Southeast Asia. SAS says it dispatched 23 unscheduled flights to the region to bring back about 3,600 vacationers to Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. It also had to convert some of the aircraft for transport of the injured at its own expense, SAS argued. Some aircraft were diverted from regularly scheduled services to fly the routes.
The LAN group of airlines continued growing in December, with a 14.8% gain in RPKs systemwide for the month and a 22.8% gain for the year. December's capacity exceeded traffic by three percentage points, which dropped the system load factor for the month to a still-profitable 69.9%. Year-to-date traffic exceeded capacity by 3.9 percentage points, pushing the system load factor for the year up to 71.5%. Passenger traffic grew 25.7% in December and 19.4% in the year.
Nav Canada is asking for airline industry comments on its charging system, and later this year may consider changing the way it charges carriers. The charging system has been in place for five years, and "it is good business practice to review these with our customers," Nav Canada spokeswoman Michelle Bishop told The DAILY. A discussion paper has been circulated to airlines and other industry groups, and Nav Canada will accept comments through the end of April.
Fraport AG is compensating Frankfurt-area residents for hardships associated with a planned northwest landing runway at the city's airport that will increase low-altitude flights above neighboring homes.
Brazil's VASP unexpectedly grounded all flights as of midnight Saturday, a move which at first surprised both employees and passengers, but which the carrier Sunday night contended was its "normal procedure" when load factors dip below 50%.
A winter storm delivered the worst hit in years at U.S. northeastern airports over the weekend, with many closing and airlines canceling thousands of flights. Snow disrupted airports all weekend, although Sunday was the worst day, and most were still recovering Monday morning. Chicago O'Hare and Atlanta were also hit by bad weather on Saturday.
Oliver Martins is set on Feb. 1 to become American's VP of Engineering Quality Assurance and Planning in maintenance and engineering, based in Tulsa, Okla. He replaces Randy Phillips, who recently retired.
On Thursday U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta will address the next Aero Club of Washington luncheon, at noon at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. wants small communities to apply for their share of $20 million for projects to attract airlines and improve air service. Proposals are due April 22 for DOT's Small Community Air Service Development Program, which was set up in 2000 to help communities with high airfares and insufficient service.
Latin American economic recovery could put a large South American country, such as Chile or Brazil, in line to acquire the Airbus A380, Airbus's president for Spain and Latin America told reporters at last week's unveiling of the giant plane. Rafael Alonso acknowledged that for now the plane might seem too big for Latin American airlines, but noted that rapid recovery could put "a Brazilian or Chilean airline" in a position to buy and operate the plane within about five years.
Gol Airlines this month signed a letter of intent to build a maintenance center at Tancredo Neves International Airport serving the city of Confins (Minas Gerais). The airline will work with the local Minas Gerais state government and get support from federal airport regulator Infraero for the center, which is expected to generate 250 jobs, attract new businesses and boost traffic to the airport.
Alitalia flight attendants represented by the Sult union plan to stage four eight-hour strikes in February and March to protest stricter work rules and longer work hours. Sult represents 1,200 of Alitalia's 4,000 cabin crew.
Southwest declared a quarterly dividend of 0.45 cents per share on all shares issued and outstanding at the close of business on March 3. The 114th consecutive dividend will be paid on March 24.
U.S Homeland Security Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson resigned yesterday, just a week before department chief Tom Ridge is scheduled to leave his office. Hutchinson was widely rumored to have been on President Bush's short list of nominees to replace Ridge but was passed over twice. Formerly a three-term congressman from Arkansas, Hutchinson is said to be mulling a run for governor of the state.
U.S. negotiators plan to meet Wednesday and Thursday with South African officials for government-only consultations to update the air services bilateral between the two countries, says an airline source familiar with the talks.
Workers at 13 airports across Indonesia have called off a three-day strike set to start today over the government's plan to allow a private insurance firm to manage their pensions. Instead, the workers say they'll wear black arm bands as a protest and continue negotiations with the Ministry of State Enterprises through labor union chairwoman Itje Yulinar.
GoJet, the new airline being formed by executives of the parent company of Trans States Airlines, has hired dedicated employees to ensure the carrier starts United Express flights in August. Trans States Holdings told the U.S. Transportation Dept. it wanted to create GoJet to fly 70-seat Bombardier CRJ-700s this summer and launch flights with two aircraft. GoJet signed a letter of intent with Bombardier to buy up to 30 CRJ-700s (DAILY, Dec. 13).
