Air France plans to resume its Paris-Cincinnati flight this spring for the third time in about three years. The flight will operate seasonally between May 9 and Oct. 29, a spokeswoman said. The route has operated on and off for years and ended most recently in September, primarily because of high fuel costs and a "structural deficit on the route."
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is expected to consider in the coming weeks an antitrust immunity (ATI) request from American and Lan Peru, which the airlines submitted late last month with hopes of adding new benefits to the existing alliance between American and Chile's Lan Airlines. Citing the consumer benefits resulting from the American/Lan alliance established in 1999, American and Lan Peru said they want ATI as well as permission to coordinate activities with the American/Lan alliance.
U.S. private equity investor Carlysle Group is understood to have submitted a EUR7-a-share bid for Amadeus Global Travel Distribution. European industry sources said the Carlysle bid, in connection with Citigroup Venture Capital (CVC), competed with offers made by BC Partners and Cinven Group. None of the companies was prepared to confirm its bid officially, and Amadeus shareholders declined comment.
German domestic and low-fare airline DBA will hire 50 additional flight attendants in the next few weeks to make its planned growth possible. The airline plans to increase frequencies on its existing routes and add more international and domestic destinations. DBA is finalizing a 24-aircraft order for either Airbus A319s or Boeing 737-700s and is expected to announce its choice within the next few weeks. -JF
While praising Chile's efforts to reach an open-skies accord with Argentina (DAILY, Dec. 22), the chairman of the LAN Airlines group says long-term priority should go to negotiations for more access to China. Jorge Awad said Latin America continues to lag in liberalizing its airline market despite attempts to sign open-skies agreements. "Now we must look at China as a much larger market looming on the horizon that should have top priority in our future negotiations," he added.
Panamanian carrier COPA Airlines and equity partner Continental have big plans for their operations next year, including fleet expansion and e-ticketing initiatives.
FAA is considering cutting the hours of nighttime ATC operations at 34 towers. These towers have little or no traffic between midnight and 5 a.m., and FAA says any flights occurring when the towers are unstaffed can be handled by the appropriate terminal radar approach control facility or en route center.
Continental has a $3.2 million deal from the state of Texas to carry nearly 13,000 state employees flying on business to 17 new city-pairs. The airline already is a contract carrier for Texas employees, but the latest deal boosts the contract through Nov. 30. The award is capacity-controlled, giving Texas a special "V" fare for every coach seat in the 17 markets.
A bankruptcy court judge can cancel the International Association of Machinists contract with US Airways in January if negotiations don't result in concessions from the union. The airline has tentative deals with all other unions, and the Communications Workers of America has ratified its deal.
Alaska Air recently discovered a "clerical error" in its calculation of deferred Mileage Plan frequent flyer revenue that it collected as of Sept. 30 and decided to refile its third-quarter results.
Republic Airlines is set to become the first Delta Connection carrier to offer first class in its aircraft when it starts flying the Embraer 170 for Delta next year. Republic sister carrier Chautauqua Airlines also has a first class in the Embraer 170s it flies as United Express.
A group representing controllers who were fired during the 1981 air traffic controller strike is asking a Tennessee federal court for an expedited ruling on its request to stop FAA from hiring any more controllers until it changes its hiring policies. Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization President Ron Taylor says FAA has hired only 846 of the 5,000 fired controllers who reapplied for jobs.
Alitalia plans to rework its marketing strategy in Argentina to emphasize business and corporate travel to Europe, instead of its image as a leader in tourist traffic. "Positioning ourselves in this market won't be easy," Alitalia's regional CEO Marcelo Grimaldi told Buenos Aires' La Nacion. "Up to now, this segment has been dominated by Lufthansa and British Airways, yet we operate an excellent business class. It all boils down to a different marketing approach, a change in airline culture."
Midwest Air Group's long-time board member Jack Weekly died last week at age 73. Weekly, chairman and CEO of Mutual of Omaha Insurance, had been hospitalized since falling earlier in the month. Weekly had served on the Midwest board since 1995, when Midwest Airlines became a publicly held company. In April 2004, he was re-elected to serve a fourth consecutive three-year term as director. He was also a member of the board's compensation committee.
By Jim Gotcher, EDS The U.S. airline industry is in an unprecedented period, where the Big 6 network carriers face competition from each other and low-cost carriers (LCC) for market share and their very survival.
Delta quickly took advantage of portions included in a deal it reached with its pilots granting increases in the number of large regional jets it's allowed to fly, and it inked an agreement with Republic Airways Holdings for its subsidiary to start Embraer 170 flights under the Delta Connection banner next year. Pilots at Delta in November ratified a deal increasing the limit of 70-seat jets to 82 by the end of 2005, 106 in 2006 and 125 in 2007.
U.S. airlines competing for new China frequencies available in March face a tightening window to launch the proposed service as the U.S. Dept. of Transportation continues to deliberate on the complicated route case and is not expected to reach a decision until January. DOT previously said it would select a carrier quickly to allow enough planning time (DAILY, Nov. 22). The department had no comment about the case Friday.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ron Brown at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing in PDF format.) JAN. 9-13, 2005 -- American Association of Airport Executives, Aviation Issues Conference, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, Kona, Hawaii, 703-824-0504, www.airportnet.org JAN. 13-14 -- Airports Council International-North America, Insurance/Risk Management Seminar, The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, New Orleans, 202-293-8500, e-mail [email protected], www.aci-na.aero
