Pratt & Whitney (P&W) signed a deal with Rolls-Royce to provide parts and repair support in 11 Rolls shops on various engine models, including the International Aero Engines V2500, the P&W JT8D and industrial gas turbines. In a separate five-year deal, Pratt & Whitney's Connecticut Airfoil Repair Operations in East Hartford, Conn., agreed to repair V2500 high-pressure turbine airfoils to support the Rolls-Royce maintenance facility in East Kilbride, Scotland.
Former Varig President and CEO Fernando Pinto, who now holds the same positions at TAP Air Portugal, said his former carrier could still be successful, and he announced plans to start code sharing and other joint programs with the troubled Star Alliance partner. "Varig is viable, as shown by its operational figures, and I am sure a way out will be found for its full recovery," he told an industry meeting this week in Rio.
Avianca's pilots this week formally submitted two new restructuring proposals to the committee of creditors for consideration, one week before a formal New York bankruptcy court hearing to confirm a final restructuring plan. Both proposals are aimed at blocking the only bid now on the table, from Brazil's Sinergy/Oceanair group. Pilots oppose the Sinergy bid because they believe the group lacks enough capital resources to guarantee Avianca's pension fund liabilities, which total some $100 million.
UPS expects to deliver more than 340 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and is temporarily adding more than two dozen aircraft to its fleet to handle the traffic increase. The biggest day is expected to be Dec. 21, with more than 20 million air and ground package deliveries forecast -- 6 million more than the average daily volume. Dec. 22 is expected to be the busiest air package delivery day, and the forecast 5 million global deliveries 2.5 times the normal average.
Honeywell is readying to build the heat sink brake products featuring the carbon friction material used in Embraer ERJ-145LR brakes that recently won FAA certification. Honeywell completed 10 days of flight testing in July and late August with launch customer Trans States Airlines. Honeywell estimates the carbon heat sink should provide a 20% improvement in brake life, and the product is easy to install since it is interchangeable with existing wheels and brakes.
United's request for proposal for flying done by Express partner Air Wisconsin was an unexpected boon for Independence Air, sending the carrier's stock up about 16% after it fell on bankruptcy warnings. Yesterday, Indy Air's stock closed at $1.52 after closing at $1.30 the previous day.
Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport AG raised its forecasts for full-year 2004 profit and sales after nine-month EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) rose 10.5% to EUR409 million (US$527 million) in the third quarter. For the full year, Fraport now expects sales revenues to grow at least 7.5% and EBITDA by "slightly more than 10%".
Philadelphia International Airport is spending $22 million in federal airport grants toward $25 million in airfield improvement contracts for runway and taxiway rehabilitation. The airport will also use the Airport Improvement Program grants for a special airfield lighting system. "This federal funding is critical in offsetting costs that would otherwise be incurred by the airlines, which are facing serious financial challenges at this time," said Airport Director Charles Isdell. -KJ
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) moved swiftly to release recommendations stemming from closure of its investigation into the crash of American Flight 587 in November 2003, urging FAA to adopt certain design and training regulations to ensure industry is aware of the sensitivity of rudder and other control inputs below maneuvering speed.
Air Plus Comet in December will start three weekly nonstop services between Madrid and Colombia. Spanish civil aviation authorities have already granted the carrier authority for this route, and its counterpart in Colombia, Aerocivil, is expected to follow suit after a public hearing. Maria Eugenia Rey, Air Plus CEO for Colombia, said that in the meantime special permission has been requested to market the route before the start of operations, which may happen by yearend. -LZ
With a pending highway bill, changes in key chairmanships, a push for an energy bill and a tough budget environment facing the 109th Congress it should not come as a surprise that aviation issues will likely not be on the front burner next year, speakers at the Regional Airline Association's legislative briefing said this week.
With VASP's survival on the line, airline owner and President Wagner Canhedo this week admitted that at the government's insistence he would be willing to cut back or even close down the airline.
Sabena Technics signed a three-year deal with Thomas Cook Airlines of Belgium to provide line and light maintenance for the carrier's six Airbus A320-200s. The carrier started charter flights in March 2002 and low-cost service in January.
US Air wrapped up deals with nearly all of its aircraft lenders and lessors that will let the airline keep flying most of its mainline and Express planes while it works through its bankruptcy reorganization.
Basil Papayoti moved from director of technical operations, sales and marketing at Delta to VP and chief operating officer at Air Canada Technical Services. Papayoti's responsibilities include leading ACTS in its new role as an independent MRO (see related story) and the company's market strategy.
Plans by Air Canada Technical Services (ACTS) to become an independent MRO provider were abruptly put on hold when Air Canada entered bankruptcy protection in April 2003, but ACTS has used the 18 months to emerge as a stand-alone business ready to compete on a global scale. ACTS is now a separate entity under ACE Aviation Holdings and has to earn the business it does with carriers in that group, including Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz.
Delta's pilots yesterday, by an overwhelming majority, ratified a new agreement that cuts pilot wages by one-third and goes a long way toward keeping the airline out of bankruptcy.
L-3 Communications Security and Detection Systems extended its partnership with LaBarge, signing a new $6 million deal for the contractor to continue making parts of L-3's explosives detection systems.
The launch of Virgin America is expected to slip to the end of 2005 at the earliest but, more realistically, the carrier will not start up until 2006, as it has yet to finalize its financing deals, The DAILY has learned.
America Online today plans to unveil a deal with startup Kayak Software Corp. to create a new web-based travel search portal that will launch early next year and that promises to be more than just a "screen scraper" for travel deals. AOL also will make a minority investment in Norwalk, Conn.-based Kayak. Former Orbitz executive Steve Hafner is Kayak's CEO, and former Travelocity CEO Terry Jones is chairman.
