America West set web site sales records on three separate days last week, posting more than $2 million in sales April 28 - 30. Its web sales have soared since it launched a new booking engine last July.
US Airways launched its new service between Philadelphia and Dublin on Sunday, followed by the launch of Philadelphia-Shannon service today. The carrier will operate the seasonal summer service through the end of October, using 199-seat Boeing 767s, offering seating for 23 passengers in business class and 176 in coach class.
American reached a milestone in its effort to go paperless by implementing "interline" e-ticketing agreements with 10 other domestic U.S. carriers, eliminating paper tickets for domestic travel.
United parent UAL Corp. on Friday reported a huge $1.3 billion first-quarter loss, the airline's second-worst ever, including one-time items, but claims it has a strong cash position and has already recorded significant cost cuts. The loss included $248 million in reorganization items and $137 million stemming from the write-down of United's investment in and guarantee of Air Canada's debt. The loss compares with a $510 million deficit posted a year ago, including special items. The company's operating loss was $813 million for the first quarter.
Flight attendants brought their battle over FAA certification to Capitol Hill last week, where Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.) introduced a bipartisan bill that would make the certification mandatory; Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is expected to introduce a companion bill in the Senate. Kelly said she has spoken with Republican House leadership about the issue and while she declined to say whether they supported the measure, she told The DAILY leaders "understand...we are in a different world" from pre-Sept. 11.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) wants to preserve small airports, whose rapid disappearance is hurting general aviation. Lautenberg presented, but then withdrew, an amendment at Thursday's Commerce Committee FAA markup to let DOT use Airport Improvement Program money to buy small airports and sell them to private operators with the caveat they remain airports. Committee Chair Sen.
Lufthansa will start a twice-daily service from Frankfurt to Stavanger/Norway on June 1. The flights will be operated by Lufthansa CityLine's CRJ700s. Stavanger is an important center for the oil and gas industry.
Delta's pilots are likely to approve management's proposal to cut their hourly wages 22% after some early resistance, predicts JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker, "for the simple reason that it could have and should have been a lot worse...Delta should be asking for more."
Regional jets account for about 20% of GECAS' portfolio -- 232 out of about 1,100 aircraft -- and the leasing giant likes it that way, says GECAS Senior VP Ed Sun. "We feel more confident investing in small airplanes than an A380," Sun told a regional airline conference last week.
New York jet fuel spot prices ended last week at $0.81 per gallon, according to Deutsche Bank Securities. This decreased 5.0% from the beginning of the week and was up 15.7% from a year ago.
French enginemaker Snecma and Russia's NPO Saturn recently said they have won a contract to power the new Russian Regional Jet family being developed by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, AK Ilyushin and Boeing.
The first of the satellite landing aids known as the local area augmentation system (LAAS) could be operational by late 2006, FAA says. Chicago O'Hare, Houston Intercontinental, Juneau, Alaska, Memphis, Phoenix and Seattle are first in line, though the agency hasn't determined the order for deployment.
Malaysia signed a new air services agreement with Australia, which will let Malaysia Airlines (MAS) add 3,000 seats to the current 12,000 for flights to four major Australian cities -- Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. This would enable MAS to operate twice-daily flights to Sydney and Perth. The airline currently operates 11 flights a week to Sydney, twice daily to Melbourne using Boeing 747-400 aircraft and 10 flights to Perth using a mix of Airbus A330-300s and 777s.
Air Canada last week closed its previously announced debtor-in-possession deal, giving it access to the US$700 million secured financing facility with General Electric Capital Canada Inc.
Swiss International Airlines will split up mainline and regional operations and set up Swiss Express as its new regional arm. The decision comes against the background of a CHF1 billion (US$743.5 million) loss in 2002 and an estimated CHF300 million (US$223 million) loss in the first quarter, a deteriorating general economic situation and unresolved internal issues stemming from the integration of parts of defunct Swissair into former regional carrier Crossair. CEO Andre Dose, who was rumored to be stepping down, will stay on for now.
The new owners of the Fairchild Dornier 328JET program, AvCraft Aviation, snagged their first order from a scheduled airline carrier. New regional carrier Air Omega, based in Augsburg, Germany, ordered two and also signed a lease agreement with Ozark Management, Inc., for two additional aircraft previously flown by another carrier. The combined value of both agreements is $44 million.
ExpressJet Holdings yesterday filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating that Continental is now able to sell its 34 million shares of ExpressJet common stock.
Meeting Wednesday in Rio, 216 of 220 deliberating members of the Rubem Berta Foundation (FRB), which controls Varig, approved by 95.8% the ongoing merger with TAM Brazil on the basis of the business plan presented by Banco Fator (DAILY, April 25 and 28).
US Airways CEO David Siegel yesterday took a sharp jab at airports by declaring that many facilities are far too expensive because of their heavy debt, and the industry needs to scrutinize the cost of any plans for U.S. airport expansion projects.
United this weekend plans to start a second test of selling food to customers in United Economy on flights that normally do not include meals. May 4-10 the company will partner with LSG Sky Chefs, offering menu items developed in conjunction with the restaurant T.G.I. Friday's. The company last month tested inflight food sales on selected flights between Denver and Seattle. That test, conducted with Gate Gourmet, featured menus designed by Eli's Cheesecake Co.
Senate Commerce yesterday reported out the Aviation Investment and Revitalization Vision Act (AIRV) funding the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) through 2006 and a provision for Essential Air Service (EAS) that authorizes $50 million to set up a fund for pilot programs to enhance small community service. It also gives war risk insurance to aircraft manufacturers and extends it to airlines through 2006.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines will join fellow Delta Connection carrier Comair at Cincinnati "at some point this year," VP-Finance Richard Fymire said in Washington. He joked that ASA should change its name since it expanded its DFW service to Salt Lake City, and plans to start CRJ-700 service to Orange County in September and Oakland in June and August.
