Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) this week will introduce legislation returning Lancaster, Pa., and other communities to the Essential Air Service (EAS) program. A spokesman for Specter's office said he had not yet dropped the legislation, called the Essential Air Service Eligibility Fairness Act of 2003. Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pa.) is expected to introduce companion legislation in the House.
FAA yesterday awarded a $16.7 million contract to Honeywell for the development of a satellite landing aid known as local area augmentation system (LAAS). Honeywell will design the asoftware and hardware for Category I LAAS. Options for the second and third phases of the contract will total an additional $340 million.
SkyWest is stretching its reach to Houston in a code-share agreement with Continental to serve smaller markets with 30-seat Embraer Brasilia turboprops. The St. George, Utah-based carrier aims to start service from Houston to Victoria, Texas, once ExpressJet abandons the route May 31. SkyWest plans to fly aircraft just seven seats shy of the 37-seat Embraer ERJ 135 jets ExpressJet is pulling from the route.
Analysts are challenging warnings by Wall Street that the regional jet revolution is drawing to a close, arguing that the jets introduced 11 years ago continue to serve as offensive weapons to U.S. majors attempting to regain profitability. Speakers at the Commercial Aviation U.S. Regional Airline Conference this week in Washington countered a report released by J.P. Morgan predicting a declining attractiveness for what it identified as high unit costs of RJs now that some of the major carriers have won wage concessions from pilots (DAILY, April 22).
LanChile's reported net profits of $21.6 million in the first quarter, a 26.6% increase from the same period last year. Management attributed the results to the carrier's austerity policies and its positioning in Peru and Ecuador.
Citing the "collection of 'perfect storms'" endured by airlines and business-jet operators alike during the past year, Honeywell Aerospace President Bob Johnson suggests recovery might finally begin to take hold next year.
Alaska Airlines soon plans to expand a modified version of its "Anchorage Airport of the Future" concept to more than a dozen rural Alaska airport stations to help boost efficiency. The "Alaska Two-Step," expected to be finished this summer in 13 communities, is taking aim at the airline's goal of improving productivity through boarding process changes while reallocating limited lobby space to meet TSA needs. The $2 million project is expected to save the airline up to $8 million in remodeling costs, the carrier said.
Argentina said its restructuring plan for LAPA will include sponsoring a new state-operated airline to fly the grounded carrier's routes. (DAILY, April 25 & 28). The new airline will use the infrastructure of Intercargo, the government airport ramp operator, with a fleet of five to six aircraft, and all of its 850 employees. Labor unions applauded the move, as did politicians who want to offset the alleged Aerolineas Argentinas/Austral monopoly in the domestic market. The government will not assume LAPA's liabilities, however, nor take over its shares.
Clarification: Robert Sturgell was nominated as FAA deputy administrator in November, was confirmed March 19, and sworn in during the first week of April. The April 29 issue of The DAILY failed to note Sturgell's senate confirmation.
FAA faces fresh accusations that inadequate staffing is jeopardizing air traffic control in one of the nation's busiest airspace sectors, with Chicago controllers claiming that short-staffing, coupled with increased aircraft activity, is causing an alarming number of operational errors.
The Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation have concluded a new air services agreement, which paves the way for carriers of both countries to operate to six destinations in each country instead three. A new agreement was needed to accommodate the increasing air traffic between the two countries. The first agreement was signed in 1991. Currently, nine airlines from Korea and Russia operate 22 scheduled passenger services and eight freighter flights a week. -WD
Singapore Airlines (SIA), trying to maintain its operational health in the wake of the SARS pneumonia, announced plans to further reduce frequencies and asked its cabin crew to take seven days' unpaid leave every two months, starting yesterday, until the financial year ends March 31, 2004. The decision will affect more than 6,600 cabin crewmembers, and SIA plans to broach a similar plan with the Air Line Pilots Association Singapore, which represents its pilots.
Mesa Air yesterday reported a $12.0 million profit for its fiscal second quarter, including one-time items, more than double the earnings it posted last year as it continues to grow its regional jet flying. Without four special gains and charges related to the ceasing operations of CCAIR and the return of Beech 1900s, Mesa posted a $4 million profit. The earnings far exceeded analysts' consensus expectations. CEO Jonathan Ornstein told analysts yesterday he believes the current operating environment is getting "marginally better."
Spirit Airlines today plans to retire the last four DC-9s from its fleet, which is a "pivotal move for our airline," said Chairman Ned Homfeld. The DC-9s had an average age of 30 years and were part of the fleet when the airline started 12 years ago. Spirit will be left with a much younger fleet of 27 MD-80s, according to the Airclaims CASE database.
TSA plans to cut 6,000 airport screeners from its total work force by the end of September, while lifting the requirement that law enforcement officers be posted at airport checkpoints.
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), co-sponsor of a bill with Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to arm commercial aircraft with anti-missile defense systems, told The DAILY yesterday that the legislation is gaining support and moving forward.
Continental this week on its Web site launched ITA Software's international search engine that includes worldwide pricing for the airline and its network of alliances.
WestJet eked out a slim C$778,000 (US$543,000) first-quarter profit, down sharply from C$7.1 million last year but still an accomplishment as the airline dealt with high fuel taxes and a drop in demand.
Emirates, which yesterday posted a $286 million net profit on revenue of $2.8 billion in its Fiscal Year 2003, confirmed it plans to announce large orders for a variety of long-haul aircraft at the Paris Air Show next month.
US Airways is poised to begin flying Embraer 170s/175s as part of its mainline network through its MidAtlantic Airways division, Senior VP of Employee Relations Jerrold Glass said in Washington yesterday. Glass gave the US Airways pilots credit for understanding "our vision of the product, provided we reach some sort of provision with Embraer," he told attendees at the Commercial Aviation Events Regional Airline Conference.
