Lufthansa and Germany's public services union Ver.di accepted a mediation proposal Friday for the airline's 52,000 cabin crew and ground staff that includes significant wage hikes as well as precautions in case of an Iraq war. Wages will rise 3.2% from January 2003, by 1.8% in October and by another 1.2% in May 2004. Workers will also get one-time payments compensating them for post-Sept. 11 difficulties.
The DOT included Los Angeles airport on a list of transportation projects prioritized for accelerated environmental review. This is the second such list to be published in accordance with a White House executive order on environmental streamlining issued last year. As well as Los Angeles' master plan and environmental impact statement, the updated list of 13 projects also includes Philadelphia airport's runway construction effort. -AS
US Airways will no longer be the preferred airline of Universal's Orlando, Fla., resorts "due to a change in marketing objectives," Universal says. The airline's employees and customers were no longer eligible for discounts at Universal Studios Florida or Islands of Adventure theme parks as of Friday.
The global parked aircraft fleet totaled 1,835 planes as of mid-February, according to Airclaims, up slightly from the 1,816 planes parked at yearend. Last March remains the peak level when 2,013 were in the desert. Since yearend, 10 were retired, the number of out-of-production planes stored grew by 25 and the number of in-production aircraft in storage fell by six, Merrill Lynch reports.
Nav Canada would lose about C$360 million by fiscal 2004 at the hands of the current traffic downturn, compared with revenue projected before the Sept. 11 attacks, if fees remain unchanged, the agency predicts in its new three-year business plan. Nav Canada plans to boost charges so it breaks even, but stresses fees have risen only 1.5% since 1997 despite the consumer price index growing 10.6%.
The European Commission could move against integrating KLM and its U.S. partners Northwest and Continental airlines in the Skyteam alliance, wrote German business daily Handelsblatt Friday. "The integration of additional U.S. airlines in this alliance could make an approval in Brussels considerably more difficult," the paper quoted an EU official close to European competition commissioner Mario Monti.
New York jet fuel spot prices ended last week at $1.20 per gallon, increased from the beginning of the week and up 108% from a year ago, according to Deutsche Bank Securities.
Starting with the summer schedule, Thai Airways International will reroute its three times per week Bangkok-Athens-Geneva service, and will now operate a Bangkok-Zurich-Athens route using Boeing 747-400 aircraft. Four other non-stop Zurich flights on MD11s will turn around, in addition to the three times weekly Boeing 777-300 non-stop Athens service.
Indigo, the Chicago Midway-based business jet operator, today plans to restart operations between Chicago and Teterboro, N.J., outside New York City, and already has its eye on expanding to major hub markets such as Philadelphia, Atlanta and Denver.
Alaska Air during November, December and January was able to operate 113 flights in and out of Juneau that otherwise would have been canceled because of bad weather thanks to its new satellite-based Required Navigation Performance technology. RNP draws data from GPS and an onboard database to guide the aircraft along a defined, computer-plotted flight path.
Continental next month plans to start codesharing on Cape Air flights from San Juan and St. Thomas to other Carribbean destinations. Starting March 8, Continental will codeshare on Cape Air flights from San Juan to Ponce, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and Tortola. From St. Thomas, code-share flights will include St. Croix and Tortola. Cape Air offers more than 120 daily flights in the Caribbean, serving passengers on nine-seat Cessna 402s.
BAX Global named John Carr president of BAX Global Supply Chain. Bombardier appointed former Auditor General of Canada L. Denis Desautels to its board of directors. Continental Airlines named Dante Marzetta senior VP-airport services. Delta Air Lines promoted AnaMaria Favela to regional manager-Central America and Mexico, appointed Tony Torres to acting sales manager for Mexico City and named Gerardo Gomez as acting sales manager for Guadalajara.
Uruguay postponed bidding for privatizating Montevideo's Carrasco International Airport from last Wednesday to April 29. Bidders will have to submit proposals for the airport's long-term expansion, management, commercial exploitation and maintenance using government guidelines approved last September. The Central Bank of Uruguay and the Montevideo Stock Exchange will handle eventual incorporation of the selected private bidders and IPOs.
Former United and US Airways executive Larry Nagin last week joined the law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP as "of counsel." Nagin will work in the areas of strategic counseling, governmental affairs, as well as labor and employment law. O'Melveny & Myers maintains 14 offices around the world, with more than 900 attorneys. Nagin last week also was named as a member of the new board of directors of Laidlaw Inc., which is currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Aerorepublica will invest $7 million to expand its fleet, in a bid to increase its domestic market share from 27% to 35%. Colombia's number two carrier behind the Summa Alliance, Aerorepublica plans to lease more aircraft to concentrate on business travel and exploit profitable passenger and cargo combinations.
To list an event, fax information to Ron Brown at 202-383-2438. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) MARCH 3-4 -- Airport World, Creating Airport Cities, The Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai, 440-20-8831-7502, fax 440-20-8891-0123, [email protected], www.airport-world.com MARCH 7-10 -- Aeronautical Repair Station Association, Annual Repair Symposium, The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, Arlington, 703-739-9543, fax 703-739-9488, email [email protected], www.arsa.org
Air France will launch a new route to Canton, China, in September, operated five times weekly with a Boeing 777 or an Airbus A340 aircraft. The French carrier said last week it would expand its Asian capacity by 11% this summer. France already serves Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Long Island, N.Y.'s MacArthur Airport got the green light to start construction on a new four-gate concourse for Southwest, with more room and a concession area for its 23 daily flights.
Shareholders won in the past decade if they bet on regionals, Merrill Lynch says. Atlantic Coast Airlines and SkyWest have posted 10-year returns of 289% and 484%, the investment house estimates, while American, Delta and United all had negative returns -- 56%, 51% and 95%, respectively.
Correction: A DAILY story last Friday (Feb. 28) mistakenly referenced a representation bid by Hawaiian Airlines mechanics. ALPA endorsed a tentative productivity enhancement deal with Hawaiian, which will be put to membership vote March 2-6.
A new AIR, Inc., report said 68% of pilots airlines hired last year have a civilian rather than military background. New hires ranged from 23 to 54 years old, though the average was just over 35 for civilian pilots and 38.4 for former military pilots. Civilians averaged 6,014 flying hours, and 15% had corrected vision. Military pilots averaged 4,286 hours.
Midwest Express, on the eve of its rebranding and the delivery of its first Boeing 717, decided to cut its capacity by 12% and furlough 430 employees to further reduce its costs. At the same time, the airline plans to launch a new low-fare operation of five MD-80s in an all-coach configuration. "Our focus has always been business travelers," said CEO Tim Hoeksema. "But our customers have told us they would like to see a value-priced, leisure-oriented product."
