The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) of Taiwan has pushed back to April 1 a proposed airfare hike for domestic flights, initially slated for Jan. 1. Taiwanese carriers, including China Airlines and EVA Airways, had proposed a 20% increase with the New Year in light of escalating operating costs. But CAA Director Billy Chang said the proposed increase was too high and would hurt domestic travel. "Oil prices have also dropped slightly, and this has to be taken into account before an increase in airfares is approved," Chang said.
American said yesterday it would "broadly match" the new Delta fare structure by reducing its highest fares and walk-up tariffs, and eliminating Saturday-stay limits in most markets; it also cut the number of fare levels. The move "clearly will have some impact" on revenue, American spokesman Al Becker told The DAILY, but it is too early to estimate what that will be. Any change in revenue will depend on how much extra business the lower fares attract. -AS
JetBlue today plans to unveil two new cities to be served nonstop from Boston, ending a week in which it battled with Delta's Song for media coverage in the city.
The effects of the tsunami catastrophe on six provinces in south Thailand is also taking a toll on Bangkok International Airport (BIA) -- tourist arrivals plunged 27.4% to 31,505 for the first five days of the year, compared with the same period last year. While noting that the drop is a clear sign that the destruction caused by the tsunami has an effect on people wanting to visit Thailand, Thai Tourism Minister Sontaya Kunplone believes arrival figures will return to normal within three months. "This is a temporary setback," Sontaya pointed out.
Harmony Airways of Vancouver announced a five-year deal with Cascade Aerospace for line and heavy maintenance of the airline's three Boeing 757-200s. The carrier plans to expand its fleet soon. Harmony is privately owned and offers scheduled service between Vancouver and Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Honolulu and Maui. The airline also offers package vacations through its Companion Holidays affiliate. Cascade is headquartered at Abbotsford International Airport.
Aviall's wheel and brake technicians in Atlanta recently won FAA's Diamond Award, the highest award technicians can earn. The award requires at least 100 hours of aviation maintenance training including 40 hours of college-level courses. Aviall's Atlanta center recently started offering repair and overhaul of NiCad batteries built by Saft Inc. and MarathonNorco Aerospace. Atlanta is the company's eighth battery center in the U.S. and Europe.
Chile's civil aviation department (DGAC) heralded 2004 as a banner year for aviation safety as its annual report highlighted some of the cutting-edge technological advances to ensure maximum safety in air traffic and airport facilities throughout the country.
Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corporation (EGAT) opened its second aircraft maintenance hangar Dec. 31 at Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport. The 127,484-square-foot hangar can house both a widebody and a narrowbody aircraft. EGAT, which is a joint venture of EVA Air, GE and part of Taiwan's Evergreen Group, maintains and repairs aircraft, overhauls jet engines and has an engine test cell. The new hangar enables EGAT to perform airframe conversions, the company said.
Indian low-fare airline Air Deccan placed a huge order for ATR 72-500s in an effort to expand its presence on regional routes. The airline is buying 30 new ATR 72-500s, as well as three used ATR 42-500s and 72-500s. Deliveries will start this year and spread out over a five-year period. Air Deccan will take between six and eight aircraft per year, ATR said. The order is a welcome boost for the ATR backlog, as orders have dribbled in over the past few years.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) signed a maintenance deal with GE covering 12 GE90-115B engines powering the carrier's six Boeing 777-300ERs. The value of the seven-year "Material By The Hour" agreement is $25 million, GE said. Under the agreement, GE will provide on-site support and ANA will pay GE under a fixed schedule on a cost-per-engine-flight-hour basis.
CPI Aerostructures relocated its headquarters to a 75,000-square-foot building in Edgewood, N.Y., that is twice the size of the company's former headquarters. CPI is a major supplier to the U.S. government for military projects and a subcontractor to companies including Vought, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. The company also officially changed its name to CPI Aero. CPI's projects include the C-5A Galaxy Cargo jet, the T-38 Talon jet trainer, the A-10 Thunderbolt jet, the E-3 Sentry AWACS jet and the MH-60S mine countermeasure helicopter.
Mesaba plans to start two daily Northwest Airlink flights between Detroit and Charlottesville, Va., April 4 with 34-seat Saab 340 turboprops. The schedule is set to increase by one flight on Aug. 23. Northwest flew the route from August through October 2001. Charlottesville is Northwest's sixth destination in Virginia, after Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk, Washington Dulles and Washington National. -LR
The U.S. Transportation Dept. gave its blessing for Southwest's code-share agreement with ATA, part of a larger $117 million deal reached last month under which Southwest will acquire some ATA assets (DAILY, Dec. 17). "The department saw no reason to believe that the proposal would violate any of the laws that it administers, and it waived the remaining waiting period," a DOT statement says.
Bombardier won it first order in 2005 from Japan Airlines (JAL) for two 50-seat CRJ-200s for its wholly owned subsidiary J-AIR. Bombardier said the latest order boost the number of CRJ-200s JAL has ordered for J-AIR to eight. Bombardier said eight operators in Japan have ordered 10 CRJ-200s and 35 Q series turboprops.
United in April plans to launch Ted service at Chicago Midway Airport with service to its Washington and Denver hubs, even though the airline already offers mainline service from the two hubs to O'Hare Airport.
The Embraer-EADS consortium Airholding SGPS S.A. plans to take a 65% stake in OGMA, a maintenance firm Portugal is privatizing, for EUR11.4 million (US$15 million). Embraer holds 99% of Airholding, and EADS can expand its current 1% stake to 30% in the future. OGMA offers maintenance and repair of civil and military aircraft engines, structural component production maintenance and engineering support. OGMA has worked with TAP, Portugalia, British Midland, Luxair, Embraer, Rolls-Royce, the U.S. Navy and Air Force and the Norwegian and Dutch navies.
Continental yesterday sent a strong warning signal that it needs to achieve its target of $500 million in labor cost cuts by the end of February or it may have "inadequate liquidity to meet its obligations."
Lufthansa Technik won another deal from an unnamed Arab customer to equip and service a Boeing 747-400, beginning in February with a targeted completion in mid-2006. The deal includes installing sleeping quarters, conference and work compartments and communication and airborne entertainment systems.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will reduce its 15 weekly flights to Phuket to a daily service, starting Sunday, in what one airline official says is the result of a significant drop in passenger load following the destructive late-December tsunami. MAS, which uses Boeing 737-400s on the route, will monitor the situation closely with the possibility of reducing the number of flights further because forward bookings are extremely poor, the official added.
Delta and Dallas/Fort Worth Airport yesterday reached a deal under which the airline will return all but two of its gates for $7 million, and the airport introduced a hefty incentive scheme to lure other airlines into the empty gates. Under the agreement, DFW will regain control of 24 Delta gates in Terminal E in the next few months, with Delta keeping four gates for its drastically reduced DFW operations. Delta plans to cut its DFW flights from 258 to 21 by Feb. 1.
United's pilots yesterday ratified the tentative concession agreement that will give the airline about $180 million in annual labor savings. The Air Line Pilots Association reported that 88.5% of the eligible pilots cast votes on the new agreement, which was approved by a vote of 76.8% to 23.1%. Separately, the bankruptcy court yesterday approved an 11.5% temporary pay cut for United's mechanics.
AAR boosted its second-quarter net profit to $4.8 million in 2004 from $0.9 million in the same 2003 period, helped by a 12% sales increase. Those results also included a $1.6 million federal income tax benefit. Sales during the second quarter reached $178 million, compared with $159 million for the same three months in 2003. Sales to commercial aviation customers rose 14%. AAR's inventory and logistics services business segment topped sales in the second quarter at $66 million, followed by MRO at $53.6 million.
Vought Aircraft Industries named Lloyd Sorenson executive VP and chief financial officer. Sorenson was previously with Dell as controller in the Corporate Business Group. He also has aerospace industry experience, serving as VP of finance for AlliedSignal's Aerospace Equipment Systems business, and has worked for McDonnell Douglas.
