Northwest plans to start seasonal daily nonstop service between Seattle and Osaka, Japan, from June 1 through Oct. 5. The flight will be operated with a DC-10-30 aircraft, with 26 seats in business class and 243 seats in coach. Northwest also announced it has connected the schedules of its Seattle-Honolulu and Honolulu-Osaka flights, providing travelers with a year-round option on Northwest between Seattle and Osaka.
South African Airways on Friday took delivery of its first of nine new Airbus A340-600s, marking the start of a 41-aircraft, 10-year fleet modernization program. The airline this month will start operating the long-range A340-600 on routes from Johannesburg to Frankfurt and Hong Kong. SAA said it chose a "very spacious layout," seating 48 passengers in a premium business class and 291 in economy. Four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines power the aircraft.
Lufthansa no longer expects 2003 profits to exceed 2002 levels, with airline CFO Karl-Ludwig Kley saying, "There is no way 2003 will be better than 2002." The airline expects an operating profit of EUR700-750 million (US$753-806 million) for 2002 and has not issued any previous guidance for the current year.
U.S. domestic departure rates for Airbus A320 family aircraft have soared 48% in the past two years based on OAG schedules, the manufacturer reports. Boeing Next Generation 737 departures are up 32%. Rates for all other narrowbodies dropped between 15% for 757s and 94% for 727s.
Petroleum Air Service (PAS) based in Cairo, has ordered a Bombardier Q300 turboprop. Bombardier said the order was worth about C$22.2 million (US$14.8 million). PAS already flies two Q300s, and the latest order represents a conversion from one of two existing options. Bombardier's backlog for the Q300 as of Dec. 31, 2002 was at 16. -LR
Pensacola, Fla.'s financial incentives to AirTran to start service have paid off so far, airport officials tell the U.S. General Accounting Office. As of August, walk-up fares for Pensacola-Atlanta were $300, about 70% lower than in 2001. AirTran offers four daily flights from Pensacola, using a mix of mainline and regional jets.
Air Transport Association said it continues to work with the federal government, defense, law enforcement and transportation security with regard to potential threats from shoulder-fired missiles. Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) plans to introduce a bill this week that will require DOT to certify a missile defense system for all U.S. commercial aircraft, DAILY affiliate Homeland Security & Defense (HS&D) reported.
Austrian Airlines Group boosted traffic 3.3% to 8.83 million passengers in 2002, "an extremely challenging year for all the aviation industry around the world," boasts the company. Scheduled flights carried 7.3 million passengers, up 1.2%, while charter traffic jumped 14% to 1.56 million. AUA cut its scheduled capacity in 2002, while increasing charter capacity. Available seat kilometers were up 2.7% from the previous year, while revenue passenger kilometers rose 6.3%. Load factor grew 2.4% to 72.6%.
Aircraft leasing specialist Boullioun Aviation Services placed 27 aircraft in 2002, but not one with a U.S. operator. The company added nine new customers and inked financing facilities totaling more than US$2 billion.
FAA has "heeded everything we had to say" about the controversial STARS system, operating smoothly in Philadelphia, says DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead. But, he adds, this is only the first of many deployments and STARS still needs to be monitored. The agency's En-Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) program also "deserves to be closely watched" as it gets underway because any complicated effort like this is prone to budget or schedule slips, Mead says.
SN Brussels Airlines will operate four weekly Airbus A319 flights to Tel-Aviv, beginning June 1. Mideast unrest didn't discourage the Belgian carrier, which sees significant demand for business and family travel between Belgium and Israel. An SN spokesman noted the route links Antwerp and Tel Aviv's diamond industry. The airline hopes to feed incoming Tel Aviv passengers to its African routes, also in relation with the diamond trade.
Thai Airways International will launch a cargo airline in October, starting with two Boeing 747-200Fs. One aircraft will operate between key points in Asia and the U.S., while the other will fly to Europe. Identified destinations are Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The airline is evaluating aircraft lease proposals from Air France, Lufthansa and Atlas Air.
"Naked Air," featuring the "first nude flights in history" aboard 170-seat aircraft flying between Miami and Cancun, will launch its first flight on May 3, targeted to the nudist market, said James Bailey, of Houston-based tour operator Castaway. Passengers will be fully dressed at the airport and during takeoff but will shed their clothes when the plane reaches cruising altitude. The crew will remain in uniform. Bailey, who says 80% of the flight is already sold, adds, "No improper behavior will be tolerated." The tour includes seven days in Cancun.
The $390 billion appropriations package approved by the Senate last week includes $13.5 billion for FAA, but Congress still must find a way to cut 2.9% across the board that may mean job losses for FAA operations, Hill sources told The DAILY on Friday. Transportation got $64.6 billion. FAA operations were funded at $7.047 billion, $30 million less than it requested, and the agency must pay out 3.4% in raises. Hill sources were skeptical Friday that the agency can meet that obligation without cutting staff.
Delta's board declared a cash dividend of two and one-half cents per common share at its regular meeting in Atlanta. The dividend is payable on March 1 to shareholders of record on Feb. 5. Delta's board also set April 25 as the date for the annual shareholders meeting, to be held at The Plaza Hotel in New York.
DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead last week predicted business travelers will continue to look for low-fare alternatives to full business fares for the next three or four years, and that with network carriers facing an "unsustainable cost structure" the airline industry will need some intensive self-help to remedy its financial travails.
FAA said it has completed the installation of an important new weather display system at every en route control center in the contiguous U.S., and the agency says it will help mitigate the large percentage of delays caused by severe weather.
Alaska Airlines, expected to report a fourth-quarter loss Thursday, recently established a work force-wide "Simplification Task Force" to "simplify seven decades of accumulated complexities." The mission is to "examine how and why processes and procedures are in place, and if they are relevant today." EVP-operations George Bagley leads the group.
Japan Airlines System Corp., the new JAL Group holding company set up in October to oversee the merger of Japan Airlines and Japan Air System, announced plans to take direct control of subsidiaries JAL Sales Company Ltd. and JAL Capital Ltd., once part of Japan Airlines. It's part of the company's "strategic reorganization of subsidiary companies, aimed at improving the financial and competitive strength of the new JAL Group."
Sabena Technics has signed a two-year contract with Virgin Express to perform C-checks on the airline's 14 Boeing 737-300s/400s. The first 10 checks are scheduled from January to June 2003.
The Air Transport Association (ATA) vigorously objects to Immigration and Naturalization Service attempts to spread some of the blame for glaring deficiencies found in a follow-up audit of INS airport inspection facilities. The Justice Department found INS still failed to require employees to address problems found in a 1999 audit. DOJ also faulted INS for failing to penalize airlines or airports, even when adequate inspection facilities had not been provided at new terminals.
Correction: ExpressJet is taking delivery of 48 aircraft this year under a contract signed last year for 104 ERJ 145XRs. The DAILY on Jan. 22 mischaracterized the status of Continental Express carrier ExpressJet's Embraer orders.
