Delta Connection carrier Atlantic Southeast in April will increase its Delta Connection service between Dallas/Fort Worth and Shreveport and Baton Rouge, La., Memphis and Columbia, S.C., as part of a larger hub expansion at DFW. On April 6 ASA will add one daily roundtrip regional jet flight. Service will be aboard the Bombardier CRJ200, which will add capacity to the Shreveport market. ASA will also add two daily roundtrip CRJ flights to Memphis on April 6 using the CRJ, increasing capacity 33%.
Adrian Hunt, CEO of German low-fare airline DBA (Deutsche BA), is stepping down ahead of the company's possible sale to easyJet. Hunt told The DAILY his reasons for leaving are mainly personal and he planned the move for months. Hunt will leave by the end of the month and will be succeeded by Martin Wyatt, who has most recently been responsible for British Airways' London Gatwick operation.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) signed a five-year contract to use Carmen Systems' cockpit and cabin crew scheduling software. Carmen Crew Pairing, Rostering and Roster Maintenance software will help the airline roll out and maintain crew schedules. The software also considers crew preferences while also meeting operational targets.
Brazil's low-cost, no-frills Gol Airlines has been negotiating the sale of a 20% share package with the major U.S. insurance group AIG, which handles its insurance business in Brazil with Unibanco.
Air Berlin is adding new routes to the network of its low-fare operation City Shuttle, introduced late last year as a defensive measure against no-frills airlines. City Shuttle services will be started on routes from Hamburg to Vienna, Berlin to Rome, Zurich and Vienna, Duesseldorf-Moenchengladbach to London, Vienna, Bergamo and Zurich, as well as several more routes from German regional airports. City Shuttle fares start at 29 euros (US$30.90) one way. -JF
Atlantic Coast Friday took delivery of its 76th Canadair Regional Jet for its United Express operation, even as it awaits a bankruptcy court ruling on its petition to force United into making a decision on whether it plans to continue a partnership with ACA, which does 85% of its business as United Express.
Qantas ordered three Dash 8 Q300s, which beginning in May will be progressively added to the QantasLink regional fleet. The 50-seat Dash 8s, to be deployed on routes in New South Wales, Queeensland, Victoria, Tasmania and Canberra, will replace the three earlier-leased aircraft. QantasLink, which flies to 55 destinations within Australia, offers more than of 400 flights daily. The carrier currently operates a fleet of 32 Dash 8s and 29 jet aircraft. -WD
SN Brussels Airlines is launching three new routes to destinations throughout Italy. Beginning Jan. 28, SN Brussels will fly Milan-Linate under code share with Italy's Gandalf Airlines, and April 12 will begin flying to Catania and Palermo throughout the summer months. The Belgian airline says it now serves 54 destinations. -MT
Austrian Airlines (AUA) pilots, protesting management plans to cut the wages of newly hired pilots, are expected to approve strike actions in a vote scheduled to end today. Tension is mounting. AUA CEO Vagn Soerensen warns the strike would be like "shooting oneself in the knee," in an interview published by Austrian magazine News. A strike would cost the company EUR1 million (US$1.1 million) per day, he said. -MT
Air Line Pilots Association this week failed in its attempt to win representation of Chicago Express pilots. Needing 75 of the 149 pilots to vote in its favor, ALPA received 65 ballots.
Australia's low-cost Virgin Blue Airlines yesterday said it would purchase 10 Boeing 737-800s, with options for 40 more, as it aims to grab market share from Qantas Airways and begins offering international routes. The company accepted bids from Boeing and Airbus, but in the end chose Boeing for its "cost, quality and reliability," CEO Brett Godfrey said in a statement. All 10 aircraft will be delivered by August 2004, taking Virgin Blue's fleet to 40 aircraft.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) member John Goglia said yesterday that while he hasn't personally heard the recording from the cockpit voice recorder recovered from last week's Air Midwest crash in Charlotte, N.C., the recorder's initial reading indicates "something was wrong or different with the tab that drove the elevator."
Note To Readers: Because of the observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, Aviation DAILY will not publish an issue dated Monday, Jan. 20. The next issue will be dated Tuesday, Jan. 21.
The National Transportation Safety Board made 21 recommendations to FAA after investigating the 1988 crash of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 caused by cracks in the fuselage. The last of those recommendations wasn't officially closed until last year.
Atlantic Coast Airlines is asking a bankruptcy court to force partner United to decide by Feb. 28 whether it wants to continue using the regional carrier. The filing, which took place several weeks ago, is part of a procedure under bankruptcy law that sets a time frame for UAL to establish ongoing relationships with its code share partners, sources said. ACA declined comment.
Boeing said its subsidiary Preston Aviation Solutions, a unit of the company's Air Traffic Management division, has entered a "strategic relationship" with a university research program established by the FAA. Preston will supply its ATM simulation product, the Total Airspace and Airport Modeler (TAAM), to the University of California, Berkeley's National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research.
Cardinal Technologies Inc. and Sabre Holdings Corp. launched a new service that lets passengers at Washington National Airport order meals online -- at www.carryoncuisine.com -- and have the food ready for pickup before boarding their flights.
KLM on June 1 will stop offering free train tickets to its passengers, allowing them to travel to Amsterdam from anywhere in The Netherlands. The Dutch airline said the program, introduced in 2000, proved disappointing, as it did not increase the share of passengers (30%) who travel to Schiphol by train. It is also understood that KLM and the Dutch railways failed to renew their agreement on financing the program. Scrapping it would enable KLM to reduce its costs by several million euros a year. -MT
Pan Am this spring plans to boost its schedule from Orlando Sanford to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Executives in Orlando said the airline in May would increase its frequencies from Sanford to San Juan, P.R. and add a nonstop flight to Aquadilla, P.R., and Santo Domingo, D.R. The carrier will offer direct flights to Punta Cana, D.R. The airline will not change its "traditional routes" from Orlando to Portsmouth, N.H., and Bangor, Maine.
Delta yesterday reported a net loss of $363 million for the fourth quarter 2002, but there were plenty of positive aspects for the company -- it bettered Wall Street expectations for the period and its cash flow was better than the company predicted.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), ranking member on governmental affairs, said yesterday the Bush Administration is "trying to shortchange homeland security by denying adequate funding, especially to state and local governments and first responders." Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), departing chair of the Appropriations Committee, tried to pass an amendment adding $5 billion to homeland security.
In a message to pilots yesterday, US Airways CEO David Siegel stressed that pilots will not be left without pensions even if failure to obtain legislative relief forces the carrier to terminate the existing plan. Siegel said a solution to the pension issue is necessary for the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB) to approve the carrier's revised business plan, which is necessary for US Airways to draw the final $200 million in debtor-in-possession financing.
