European turboprop manufacturer ATR aims at delivering 20 aircraft in 2003 and hopes for a similar amount of orders, though conceding "2003 should also be a difficult year for the air transport market." ATR is launching a long-term study, dubbed Regional Aviation Market Prospective Study (RAMPS), on the future of regional aviation. Initial results of the survey will be published at the Paris Air Show in June. ATR hopes the study will enable it "to look at several scenarios in the years to come."
American has proposed merged seniority lists and new regional fleet limits to its pilot union in an attempt to resolve the debate over scope restrictions that has been a sticking point in their long-running contract negotiations.
After several years of lobbying in Washington, AirTran yesterday won the rights to launch nonstop service from the city's National Airport to three Florida cities, beating out five other carriers. DOT awarded AirTran four slot exemptions to start service to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers or West Palm Beach, Fla. The agency also awarded Smyrna, Tenn.-based Corporate Airlines two DCA slots to provide nonstop service to Wilmington, Jacksonville or Fayetteville, N.C. Privately held Corporate Air started service in December 1996.
SAS has deferred the delivery of four Airbus A321s. The aircraft will be taken in 2005 and 2006 instead of 2004 and 2005, the company said. SAS ordered 12 A321s in 2000, of which eight are in operation.
Air New Zealand flights attendants, through the Flight Attendants and Related Services Association (FARSA), have served notice for a proposed 24-hour strike over rostering issues on Feb. 5, followed by 48-hour strikes Feb. 7-8, Feb. 10-11 and Feb. 13-14. ANZ Senior VP-Customer Services Brendan Fitzgerald said the proposed strike by the majority of the airline's long-haul flight attendants has the potential to disrupt the plans of thousands of passengers during a busy time of the year for travel.
Swiss International Air Lines will shift its charter flying by early next year to Airbus A320s flown by former Swissair pilots, setting up yet another conflict with former Crossair pilots it absorbed through its merger. Swiss plans to phase out the seven ex-Crossair Boeing MD-83 narrowbodies in its charter operations fleet in favor of four A320s with former Swissair pilots as flight crew. The airline already took over 25 former Swissair A320s, including crews, and is looking for operational efficiencies.
The Hong Kong Air Transport Licensing Authority (HKATLA) today will begin a five-day public hearing to decide whether Cathay Pacific should be given rights to resume passenger flights to China that were suspended in 1952. Cathay has applied to operate four daily flights to Shanghai, three-times-daily service to Beijing and daily to Xiamen.
Dragonair will commission its first aircraft with the upgraded cabin yesterday, after an investment of HK$195 million (US$26 million) to upgrade cabins in its fleet of nine Airbus 330-330s, eight -320s and four -321s.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chair of the powerful Commerce Committee, and Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), chair of the Commerce aviation subcommittee, told The DAILY yesterday they are confident the airlines know they must make substantial internal changes to pull out of the economic crisis. "I think the airlines recognize they will have to make fundamental changes if they are going to survive," McCain said, noting the industry also realizes the funding sources available after Sept. 11 are "no longer there."
The DOT's Inspector General (IG) today will release its annual report on DOT's top management challenges, and sources say most of the 10 items relate to safety and mobility thanks to TSA and the Coast Guard being shifted out of DOT. In addition to the transition to the new Homeland Security Department, other challenges include reducing operational errors and runway incursions, reversing FAA's spiraling operating costs, improving system capacity, and reauthorizing AIR-21.
The French government will table a bill preparing the privatization of Air France at the French Senate on Feb. 12, French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien said in a television interview this week, but the airline will not be privatized immediately.
Southwest yesterday posted a $42.4 million fourth quarter profit and its 30th consecutive year of full-year profitability, proving yet again it is the strongest carrier in a struggling industry. The airline's quarterly profit was down 33.2% from last year but still topped the average analyst estimate. Excluding special items, the profit was $32.4 million. For the year, Southwest reported a $241 million profit, down about 53% from 2001. Excluding special items in each year, the 2002 profit totaled $198.1 million, down from $412.9 million in 2001.
International Lease Finance Corp. has leased three Airbus A330-200s to Malaysia Airlines for a term of three years for each aircraft. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in February. Pratt & Whitney PW4168A engines power the -200s.
American parent AMR Corp. yesterday posted a deep $529 million fourth-quarter loss and a staggering $3.5 billion in red ink for the full year, results CEO Don Carty bluntly declared "unsustainable." Noting American's cost structure is still "out of step" with the revenue environment facing U.S. domestic airlines, Carty said, "We can't continue to post losses of this magnitude."
SN Brussels Airlines plans to code share with Iberia on routes between Brussels and Barcelona, as well as Madrid, beginning March 30, replacing "the previous code-share partnership with Virgin Express on both routes." The Belgian carrier and Iberia already code share on the Brussels-Bilbao route. SN Brussels recently announced plans to add three Airbus 319s to its 32-aircraft Avro fleet in February. The aircraft will enter service in March, at the start of the summer timetable. -MT
Congress is backing off efforts to push through legislation to force the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) to restructure a pilot pension payment plan that bankrupt US Airways can live with. But US Air pilots say they will keep looking for a legislative solution because they don't trust the company to come up with a plan that will preserve their pensions.
US Airways and Delta have dropped their frequent-flyer alliances with tarnished communications giant WorldCom in favor of AT&T and Sprint, while America West Airlines yesterday announced a partnership with Sprint. American and United Airlines already revealed plans to terminate their relationships with WorldCom. Airlines have been distancing themselves from WorldCom since it filed for the largest U.S. bankruptcy last July after hiding expenses and misstating more than $9 billion in profit. The programs award miles for phone minutes used.
The Thai government plans to turn Phuket Airport into a major international hub. The upgrade would require an investment of 30 billion baht (US$750 million), according to Thai Airways International President Kanok Abhiradee. The Thai Airways development plan reveals a major expansion from its present infrastructure, under which the facility would almost double its existing capacity of 5.1 million passengers a year to 10 million.
The Peruvian government said last week it would soon grant AeroContinente and Lan-Peru authority to operate between Lima and Madrid, the only two local carriers that have shown interest in serving this route. It is estimated this will increase monthly seat capacity by 2,000. TACA-Peru operates between Peru and Europe through code-sharing agreements with two European airlines.
United and US Airways this week expanded their code-share partnership as part of their broad marketing agreement. US Airways added its code to 188 new flight segments to the West and Southwest through Denver, including the first-time destination of Tucson, Ariz. United customers now can travel on 79 new flight segments, including single-carrier access from Pittsburgh to Latin America, via Miami. More code-share flights will be introduced in February and beyond.
China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, the first operator of CFM56 engines in China, set a time-on-wing record with a CFM56-3 powering one of its Boeing 737-300s. CFM said the engine logged more than 20,000 flight hours without a shop visit.
