Qantas ordered four more Boeing 737-800s for $240 million, which will bring the Australian carrier's next-generation 737 fleet to 19 after deliveries are complete next July. The aircraft will be fitted with winglets built in Melbourne by Hawker de Havilland.
Northwest this fall plans to upgrade jet service between Bismarck, N.D., and Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., on one more of its six daily nonstop flights between the cities. Northwest offers DC-9 service on four flights between the cities. The upgrade will bring the total number of jet flights to five. Effective Oct. 27, the upgraded flights will be operated by Airlink partner Pinnacle Airlines with 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jets.
FAA officials say decisions affecting aviation system security will be made much faster if another event like the Sept. 11 hijackings occurs. FAA established a number of initiatives that have improved its communications with the military as well as other government and law enforcement agencies during security alerts.
National Airlines, seeing its bookings for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks as very light for a Wednesday in September, is offering coach tickets for $1 on its 74 flights that day. The costs to the carrier are "negligible," a spokesman told The DAILY. "We were looking at one of the softest days we've ever had," based on booking trends.
BMI British Midland's founder and Chairman Michael Bishop will maintain control of the airline, even if Lufthansa increases its stake to 30%. BBW Partnership Ltd. -- Bishop, Stuart Balmforth and John Wolfe -- will keep 50% plus one share in the airline, BMI stated. Currently, both Lufthansa and SAS hold 20% in the carrier, but Bishop has a put option to sell another 10% to Lufthansa. Germany's competition authority has approved the possible deal.
America West last week signed a new, multi-year deal with Vegas.com, the official travel web site for Las Vegas. Vegas.com claims to be the only Las Vegas travel web site with direct access to America West flights. The airline is one of the largest airlines serving Las Vegas, operating a hub with 83 flights per day from 33 cities, including all major California gateways. AWA's Vacations division has renewed its agreement with Vegas.com to sell vacation packages on the site, including air transportation and hotel accommodations.
More than three million passengers have used American's self-service check-in kiosks since the machines were deployed, the carrier reports. American has installed more than 200 machines at 30 airports across the U.S. The latest installation was in Phoenix Sky Harbor's Terminal 3.
Defunct AeroPeru's former routes from Lima to Argentina, Brazil and Mexico will be offered for bidding before the end of the year. Peru's Secretary of Transportation Javier Reategui announced last week that LanPeru, AeroContinente and Taca-Peru, which are operating some of the routes temporarily, are expected to participate in the bidding, according to DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America & Caribbean.
Air Canada's maintenance division, Air Canada Technical Services, is expanding its revenue stream beyond normal maintenance, repair and overhaul through a new training business provisionally called Tracor. "We thought it would be smart to treat it as a separate business to raise capital on its own," said Air Canada Technical Services President Robin Wohnsigl. Tracor will have its own chief operating officer, with the rest of the staff coming from the current training division of Air Canada Technical Services.
The Vicente Fox administration's decision not to build Mexico City's new airport in the Texcoco area is drawing intense interest from other states to have the $3 billion project built in their domains. States closest to the federal district -- Hidalgo, Mexico, Puebla and latecomer Morela -- already have thrown their hats into the ring. Specific options, which include long-standing plans for Tizayuca in Hidalgo, as well as expansion of the Santa Lucia air force base, do not imply closing or limiting facilities at the current Mexico City airport.
EVA Air plans to expand its cargo capacity with a fourth new Boeing 747-400 freighter to be placed in service Sept. 1. The carrier has signed a contract with the Atlas Air to dry-lease the aircraft. The freighter will be used to add one more cargo flight on the Taiwan-Hong Kong route, enabling the carrier to provide the full 600 tons per week capacity EVA was granted under a recent traffic rights agreement. EVA also will use the new aircraft to add capacity on mid- to long-haul flights to Singapore, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta.
The Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7Q3 engine that caught fire on an Iberia flight from New York to Madrid Aug. 11 was fully overhauled in February and had logged less than 2,000 flying hours, Iberia said on Aug. 12. The Boeing 747's last complete maintenance overhaul was in June 1999. More recent routine inspections included a Type C in April 2001 and an A2 in June 2002. Iberia took delivery of the aircraft in 1982. Pilots returned the aircraft to Kennedy Airport after takeoff when one of the 747s engines caught fire.
Mesa Air Group has recalled all employees furloughed after Sept. 11, adding 44 pilots on Aug. 12. "With this action we have now made employee opportunities available to all of our workers furloughed," said CEO Jonathan Ornstein. Mesa furloughed 700 employees after the attacks and began recalling them in late 2001. The airline also announced a 3rd installment of restoration pay to more than 750 non-union employees who took a 10% pay cut for 90 days after Sept. 11. Mesa said the last payment is scheduled in September 2002 when the carrier announces its quarterly results.
Leasing company CIT Aerospace completed 39 aircraft transactions with 21 customers worldwide in the first half of 2002, parent CIT said, noting that a regulatory quiet period imposed for CIT's pending public offering prevented reporting figures earlier. Most of the aircraft placed were 737s -- CIT delivered 20. The company also placed a Boeing 757, five Airbus A320s, four A319s, an A321, two A330s, four Fairchild Metro 23s, a de Havilland Dash 8-300 and an ATR-42-300.
DOT, prompted by "numerous consumer complaints" stemming from problems following Vanguard's July 30 cessation of service, issued guidance on carriers' responsibility to accommodate passengers of airlines that have ceased operations "to the extent practicable." The Aviation and Transportation Security Act requires that a carrier serving a route for which a passenger holds a valid ticket on an airline that stops flying due to insolvency or bankruptcy "provide transportation on a space-available basis."
Foreign airlines have so far declined to pick up the Malaysian government's offer of cash for introducing new services to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
DHL CEO and President Joe O'Gorman died Saturday of a massive heart attack at the age of 59. O'Gorman was recruited in March 2001 to lead the newly restructured DHL Airways, and he quickly established a Chicago headquarters and hired a new management team for the cargo airline. Prior to joining DHL, O'Gorman was the most senior operations executive of both United and US Airways, and CEO for Air Cal, Frontier Airlines, Aloha Airlines and Reno Air. The DHL board named Senior VP-Operations Vicki Bretthauer as acting CEO. -SL
Lufthansa's new no-frills subsidiary will be named German Wings, according to industry sources. Official launch of the airline will take place tomorrow at a Eurowings board meeting. Lufthansa has a 24.9% stake in Eurowings with an option for 49%. Eurowings plans to reallocate five Airbus A319s currently used in a charter role to a low-fare operation based at Cologne/Bonn Airport. Lufthansa bought the right in the "German Wings" brand in the early 1990s after its then-competitor German Wings went bankrupt.
Transportation Security Administration "consultants have come to town with a predetermined approach" on using lobby-based trace detection for checked-baggage screening, says Ben DeCosta, Atlanta airport's general manager. Atlanta airport officials are cooperating with TSA, "but with mixed results," he says, noting TSA "will not discuss or consider our recommendations" for in-line screening. "They don't have time, they say."
US Airways' Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing, while having little near-term effect on passengers, could bring behind-the-scenes profits and power for Texas Pacific Group and short-term losses for Mesa Air and other shareholders. US Airways executives yesterday attended their first bankruptcy court hearing at an Alexandria, Va., federal courthouse with an aggressive goal to complete the carrier's restructuring on a "fast-track" basis by the first quarter of 2003.
BAA reported yesterday that 12.9 million passengers used its seven U.K. airports in July, a 0.4% increase from the same period last year. Total aircraft movements were down 0.8%, but cargo movements increased 2.6%, driven by a 6.5% gain at London Heathrow.
In the wake of legal problems with its pilots union (DAILY, Aug. 8), Brazilian carrier Varig faces a tough job convincing new investors that it can successfully restructure its $900 million debt and get back to profitability. The aid package being orchestrated by BNDES, Brazil's public sector development bank, involved in a series of meetings last week between Varig and its main creditors, GE Capital, Boeing, BR Distribuidora, Banco do Brasil and Unibanco.
