Virgin Atlantic is targeting six key hubs for its Airbus A380s set to start service in 2008, and predicts those planes will replace Boeing 747s within a decade as technology on Boeing's jumbo jet wanes and demand at capacity-constrained airports continues to surge. The carrier's initial routes for the planes are between London and JFK, Hong Kong, Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo.
Dallas and Fort Worth's top officials are openly disappointed that Southwest shunned DFW airport in last week's code-share announcement with ATA Airlines, but continue to hope to lure the low-fare carrier with a multi-million dollar incentive package. Southwest plans to code share with ATA in 11 markets, with all of the flights connecting through Chicago Midway. But notably missing from the list was DFW (DAILY, Jan. 14). The slight comes as the airport is aggressively searching for carriers to fill 24 Delta gates to be vacated at the end of the month.
Qantas ordered seven 70-seat Q400 turboprops from Bombardier for its QantasLink regional carrier, with deliveries set to start in the first quarter of 2006. Qantas also took options for 10 planes. QantasLink Executive General Manager Narendra Kimar said that the Q400 would give the carrier flexibility to build capacity on key routes while maintaining frequency. QantasLink already flies 34 Bombardier Q Series turboprops.
Swiss plans to cut costs by CHF300 million (US$254 million) beginning in 2007, including downsizing the regional fleet by 13 aircraft and cutting up to 1,000 jobs during the next 18 months. A previous rescue plan launched in 2002 would have slashed some 3,000 jobs from the 7,250-strong workforce and cut costs by CHF1.6 billion, but faced fierce opposition from unions.
The U.S. Transportation Dept. wants comments from the public and especially air travelers about its proposal to revise code share and wet-lease disclosure rules for print advertisements. DOT opened a 60-day comment period by publishing the notice of proposed rulemaking (NRPM) in the Federal Register earlier this month granting United's petition in September (DAILY, Sept. 13, 2004).
Varig executives are slated to meet Friday with representatives from BR Distribuidora (BR), a subsidiary of petroleum giant Petrobras, to renegotiate their outstanding US$33 million balance for fuel supplies. The struggling carrier has enjoyed modest profits in recent months but continues to be "smothered," in management's words, by an estimated $1.8 billion overall debt to creditors such as airport regulator Infraero, General Electric, Boeing, Unibanco and BR itself.
Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein says the carrier wants to acquire two spare CRJ-900 CF34 engines from GE as part of a larger deal with the manufacturer to upgrade Mesa's CRJ-700 engines so they're interchangeable with -900 powerplants.
After 16 months of bickering, China and Taiwan reached an agreement to operate non-stop charter flights between the two countries during the Lunar New Year Holidays next month (DAILY, Jan. 12), the first time since 1949 that direct flights will be operated. The agreement also signifies the first time that Taiwan agreed to Chinese airlines also operating the flights to its country. Six Taiwanese carriers last operated flights from Shanghai to Taipei and Kaoshiung via Hong Kong in 2003.
Qantas will deploy the first four of its planned 12 Airbus A380s between Australia and the U.S., operating the Melbourne-Los Angeles and Sydney-Los Angeles routes. The carrier, which also holds 10 options, will take delivery of the first aircraft in October 2006. The 12 Airbus A380s should let the airline operate at least 17 weekly services to Los Angeles and 14 weekly services to London via Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore, said Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon. Boeing 747-400 services would continue to bolster capacity on both routes.
America West proposed to start two daily Los Angeles-Mexico flights May 1, joining three other carriers vying for the opportunity after Delta exits the market Jan. 31 (DAILY, Jan. 11). The carrier, which serves Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Acapulco from LAX, wants to operate the new service using Airbus A319-100s configured with 12 first class and 112 coach seats.
JAT Airways, Serbia's national airline, was grounded last Thursday evening after all of its pilots went on strike. A spokesman for the union said pilots have not been paid wages by the state-owned airline for two months. Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica was expected to meet with pilot representatives shortly to resolve the issue. JAT could not fly for several years in the 1990s because of the Yugoslav air embargo, and the airline has been struggling since to build up a workable operation on the back of an aging fleet. -JF
The U.S. Transportation Dept. and FAA, working with the State Dept. and the Pentagon, sent a portable air traffic control trailer to replace navigation aids destroyed by the tsunami at Male airport in Maldives, west of Sri Lanka. Two FAA technicians accompanied the equipment, which DOD was scheduled to ship last week.
Talks between Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) management and the carrier's pilots, represented by ALPA, resume today. ASA management says "both sides have complained about the pace of negotiations" and accuses the ALPA of refusing "to acknowledge the uncertainty created by ASA's parent company's difficulties." Pilot talks at Delta's wholly-owned subsidiary began in 2002.
The international air freight market will likely see growth return to "a more modest" 6%-9% during the next two years, after most markets saw increases of 10%-14% last year, Air Cargo Management Group says. A conservative estimate shows the express sector's share of international air freight nearing 25% within 20 years, more than double today's share.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) is expected to deliver the keynote address at the Air Traffic Control Association's security conference Jan. 25 in Washington. Officials from FAA, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security and the Defense Dept. also will participate in the conference that will cover issues ranging from evolving ATC security procedures to border security and surveillance.
Lawyers from the U.S. Transportation Dept.'s aviation enforcement office and JetBlue met earlier this month to discuss the carrier's request to be exempted from DOT's requirement to provide space in the cabin to stow folded wheelchairs. According to a memo about the Jan. 6 meeting placed in the DOT dockets [OST-2004-19626-6], JetBlue said its new fleet of Embraer 190s "should be considered small aircraft, consistent with aircraft...currently not contemplated by or covered by" the wheelchair stowage requirement.
Asian and Middle-Eastern airlines can expect less torrid growth this year than 2004's unexpectedly high pace, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) says. The region's airlines moved quickly "from recovery to robust growth" last year, enjoying one of their most profitable years ever, CAPA says. Growth will continue in 2005, CAPA says, but more slowly.
