Latest proposal from United calls for concessions worth $100 million a year by its flight attendants. Specific pay cuts were proposed, but the Association of Flight Attendants said it wants to decide how the total should be achieved. United is seeking $1.5 billion in concessions from its labor groups.
The American Association of Airport Executives and its affiliate, the International Association of Airport Executives, plan two international meetings this fall. The first, scheduled Oct. 6-8 in Marrakech, Morocco, is the North Africa/Middle East/U.S. Aviation and Airport conference, and the second, set for Nov. 17-20 in Istanbul, Turkey, is the 8th Annual Central Europe/U.S. Airport Security/Safety/Infrastructure Workshop and Trade Mission. Co-sponsors include American, Delta, Turkish Airlines and the Istanbul Sabiha-Gokcen Airport.
Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing today for Marion Blakey, the White House nominee for FAA administrator. Little opposition is expected to Blakey's confirmation, which is also subject to approval by the full Senate. Acting Administrator Monte Belger has agreed to stay on until mid-September.
FAA tomorrow unveils a special link on its web site -- www.faa.gov -- highlighting the agency's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, with profiles of FAA employees who undertook tasks unimagined before then, including the Nashville controllers who got the Air National Guard to transport an organ for transplant when the skies were closed to civilian flights, and the team in Alaska who worked to reopen their skies to retrieve 800 stranded hunters and fishermen.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the City of Newark have approved the name Newark Liberty International Airport for EWR. The port authority also extended its lease of the airport from the city to 2065. The new agreement calls for appointment of an airport administrator.
Delta's customers and travel agents in Canada can purchase tickets at the carrier's web site, delta.com, Delta said last week. The carrier recently upgraded the site to enable passengers with a Canadian or U.S billing address to purchase tickets on delta.com for travel originating in either country.
British Airways has taken delivery of its 50th Airbus A320 -- the first aircraft in Europe fitted with a newly designed cockpit door. Features of the door include reinforced attachments, a reinforced and bullet-proof main door panel, an escape panel and electrical door latching. BA has an additional 29 Airbus aircraft on order.
Boeing says the growth share for aircraft the size of its 747 and larger will fall from 7% to 4% over the next 20 years, while the share of intermediate size aircraft will increase from 18% to 22%. Growth share of regional jets will increase from 10% to 17%.
Smarte Carte today will unveil a biometric-based airport locker keying system, which the TSA will allow to be tested under a pilot program at Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport. Passenger use of airport lockers has been prohibited as a security risk since Sept. 11. TSA will review the program, which uses fingerprint-recognition technology, for possible changes to the prohibition, a TSA spokeswoman said.
EgyptAir has shelved its plans to start Cairo-Kuala Lumpur-Sydney service. The airline, which suspended the twice-weekly Airbus A340-300 Cairo-Singapore-Sydney flight July 5, had planned to reroute the flights to Kuala Lumpur two days later and simultaneously relocate its regional operations to Malaysia. The start of Kuala Lumpur operations was postponed to November, once the airline's office in Singapore shuts down Oct. 31. An official at the EgyptAir office in Singapore said only that the office would close as planned but that the Kuala Lumpur service is on hold.
Ground workers and cabin crew for U.K. no-frills airline EasyJet are voting on a possible strike this week and next after the carrier refused to recognize the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) as a negotiating partner. EasyJet has offered a 1.3% increase, but TGWU made clear it does not consider the offer sufficient. The strike ballot results are expected at the end of September. A total of 110 ground workers and 300 cabin crew at various bases could be involved.
American's Different Approach By Tim Doke, VP-Corporate Communications, American Airlines Regrettably, in yesterday's Aviation Daily, Mike Miller wrongly attributed to American Airlines Chairman and CEO Don Carty an inference that the airline's parent, AMR Corp., might follow others in this industry along a domino path to bankruptcy. Miller is just plainly mistaken about American. While bankruptcy might be the answer for some carriers, it is not something AMR has even contemplated.
Frontier plans to announce as early as today that it will launch new service from Denver to Oakland, effective Oct. 22. Frontier JetExpress, operated by Mesa Air, will provide the service with 50-seat regional jets. Frontier already said it will start mainline service the same day to Tucson, Oklahoma City and Fort Myers, Fla.
DOT Secretary Norman Mineta yesterday named eight federal security directors (FSDs), responsible for the Transportation Security Administration's oversight at 25 U.S. airports. This group of FSDs includes a 15-year FAA civil aviation security veteran who was a federal air marshal for five years and a 20-year Drug Enforcement Administration agent who "led an enforcement group that immobilized the Crips and Bloods street gangs."
The Thai government wants the Airports Authority of Thailand (AAT) to review fees charged airlines and passengers at Bangkok International Airport. According to Transport Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha, fees levied on airlines that fly to Bangkok are far too numerous. Muhamad said three airlines have rerouted some of their flights on the Europe-Australia route to Singapore. Muhamad did not name the carriers but said they were major airlines.
United pilots say a new concession proposal presented Wednesday night by the airline is unacceptable, and they have called for negotiations to reduce the amount. United has asked its major union groups for $1.5 billion a year for six years in concessions and will attempt to trim another $1 billion a year through other measures. Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Steven Derebey told The DAILY the amount of concessions proposed took the union by surprise.
American is expected to continue its daily flights from Long Beach, Calif., to Chicago O'Hare and New York Kennedy under a preliminary deal reached between the city and several airlines involved in a slot dispute. Long Beach City Attorney Robert Shannon told The DAILY yesterday that all the parties have reached a "settlement in principle" after at least three face-to-face mediation sessions attended by FAA, JetBlue, American, Alaska Air and city officials.
Alitalia has taken delivery of its first Boeing 777-200ER. The aircraft is the first of six on order from Boeing. Alitalia plans to use the aircraft on nonstop flights to the U.S., Canada, South America and Asia. The carrier also has six options to buy the -300, a stretched version of the -200ER.
National Airlines this week told a bankruptcy court it has made "a lot of progress" on an alternate plan for "up to $30 million" in financing after its application for $50.5 million in loan guarantees was denied by the Air Transportation Stabilization Board, a National spokesman confirmed. "We're 80%-90% done," he said, explaining that the amount of the loan package is lower because the carrier has had "additional concessions negotiated since the ATSB turned down our application," with concessions coming mostly from creditors and lessors.
United yesterday became the latest U.S. major carrier to signal its intent to move to full electronic ticketing. The carrier will stop issuing paper tickets within the U.S. by July 2003, and it plans to issue only electronic tickets for all eligible itineraries, at all locations by January 2004. Effective Sept. 1, a $20 fee will apply to all customer-requested paper tickets issued in the U.S. for E-Ticket eligible itineraries, including those issued by travel agencies.
United next month plans to finish scaling back its special meal offerings by more than 50%. The project, which was started last year, reduces the company's special meal costs while still accommodating passengers' religious and dietary needs.
Note To Readers: Because of the Labor Day holiday, Aviation Daily will not publish an issue dated Monday, Sept. 2. The next issue will be dated Tuesday, Sept. 3.
The Thai government is bracing for a minimum delay of two years for the opening of the New Bangkok International Airport. It has stepped up upgrading the existing facility in Don Muang. The project includes refurbishing 80 aerobridges at the two terminals, new carpeting and resurfacing the apron and both runways, including one for military operations that is used for commercial service. Construction is under way for an additional concourse with 10 aerobridges to meet growth over the next five years.
