Midway Airlines last week won preliminary approval from a U.S. bankruptcy court to operate as a US Airways regional affiliate. The airline still must fulfill several requirements before it flies again, including the acquisition of at least five RJs and a $5 million loan. According to the Associated Press, a court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19 to finalize the deal.
Iberia and Aer Lingus will extend their code-sharing agreement Oct. 27, sources from the Spanish company said. The carriers will code share on Aer Lingus routes between Dublin and London, as well as from Shannon and Cork to Dublin and London. -MT
TSA won't be able to buy and install enough baggage screening machines by Dec. 31 -- it would have to place one every 38 minutes -- or hire and train one screener every seven minutes, Atlanta Airport General Manager Ben DeCosta said. The equipment needed to screen 100% of checked baggage is "at least three times the amount of equipment currently deployed worldwide," said DOT Assistant IG Alexis Stefani.
Delta this fall plans to make some significant shifts in its regional jet flying to improve the financial results of its Connection operation. The carrier told employees in an internal communication obtained by The DAILY that the moves are also designed to "streamline operations and better match equipment with market demands in the Northeast." As part of the changes, Atlantic Coast will no longer fly for Delta out of New York LaGuardia.
Boeing last week started production on larger bins for its 757-300s. The company claims the new BigBins will increase stowage capacity by more than 60% and allow 58 more roll-aboard bags on a typical 757-300. Previously, stowage bins could accommodate a 10 x-15 x 25-inch roll-aboard bag loaded only in the forward-to-aft direction. The deeper bins enable roll-aboard bags to be stowed in a wing-to-wing direction, thereby increasing capacity from three to five bags per bin. BigBins are offered for retrofit on all in-service and production 737 and 757 airplanes.
United decided to expand its movie selection on international flights by 50%. The carrier cut its movie offering in half to save costs after Sept. 11, driving customer satisfaction ratings down as well.
Skyway Airlines, operating as Midwest Express Connection, plans to resume nonstop service between Grand Rapids, Mich., and Washington National on Oct. 1, offering two nonstop roundtrip flights each weekday with Fairchild Dornier 328JETs. The service between the cities had been suspended following the Sept. 11 attacks.
New York jet fuel spot prices ended last week at $0.70 per gallon, down 1.4% from the beginning of the week and down 8.7% from a year ago, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association says the Texas DOT is making significant progress in its efforts to build a new general aviation airport near Austin. FAA granted TxDOT $500,000 for airport planning, and the state is reviewing seven proposals for the facility.
Frontier this fall plans to cease service on the Denver-Boston route, succumbing to intense competition with United. After serving the route for five years, Frontier will stop its two daily roundtrip flights between the two cities, effective Oct. 22. "Frontier's service between Denver and Boston has not met our profitability expectations and that, coupled with ongoing facilities and ground-handling issues, requires that we make this difficult decision," said CEO Jeff Potter.
Alaska Air's EasyBiz online booking tool created for small- to medium-sized businesses is saving the airline about $20,000 a month in distribution expenses. Created three years ago, the product is gaining momentum as the airline signs up one to two more companies every day. Since the launch of the program, the carrier has enrolled 700 businesses -- nearly half in the state of Alaska.
Leaders of the New York/New Jersey Port Authority last week said they are seriously considering a land swap proposal that would see the port authority gain ownership to the land occupied by LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, and the city of New York gain the site of the World Trade Center (WTC).
Spirit Airlines, in the midst of lobbying to win a federal loan guarantee, has forgone more than $1 million in revenue as part of its Sept. 11 anniversary ticket promotion, the company confirmed. The carrier this week gave away 13,400 tickets for all seats on its Sept. 11 flights. Before the promotion, the carrier only sold about 1,000 tickets for Sept. 11 travels.
Virgin Atlantic has told Air-India that it will terminate its code-share agreement with the Indian flag carrier on the London-New Delhi route, effective Aug. 12. In terminating the pact, Virgin Atlantic, which started the service two years ago, said operating the flights twice weekly was not economical. The carrier wants to increase its frequency and start services to Mumbai.
Confirming previous reports (DAILY, Aug. 5), American Falcon purchased from the DeSimone family Salta-based Dinar Airlines for an undisclosed amount and the commitment to assume the latter' s $30 million debt. Deeply affected by the country's economic troubles, unable to obtain credits for restructuring, and under protection from bankruptcy (equivalent to Chapter 11 in the U.S.), in the past year Dinar reduced its fleet from eleven to one aircraft. American Falcon is controlled by Argentine businessman Fayez Cheehab (53%) while a group of U.S.
Eurowings' yet-to-be-named no-frills subsidiary will start services Oct. 28 with routes from Cologne/Bonn Airport to major European centers, according to a report in tourism publication FVW International. Eurowings will fly to London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Zurich, Milan, Mallorca and Malaga with fares starting at EUR10 (US$9.8). The airline did not comment. The company's supervisory board is due to meet next Wednesday to make a formal decision on launching the airline. Eurowings is 24.9% owned by Lufthansa.
Delta yesterday wasted little time implementing its low-cost strategy, naming insider John Selvaggio to head the effort. Selvaggio, previously senior VP-airport customer service, will lead the development of "a new product that meets customer demand for low-price service and build on Delta's strengths to compete more aggressively with low-cost carriers." Before joining Delta, Selvaggio worked at US Airways and served as CEO of Midway Airlines from 1994 to 1997.
Lockheed Martin says a new tower display system designed for smaller airports will likely be certified by November. The contract tower industry and airports are anxious for the ARTS IE system to be certified, and FAA said the system is one of two under consideration for a large contract.
French carrier Corsair, a subsidiary of leisure group Nouvelles Frontieres, was forced to cancel three flights and to charter out another eight on Aug. 8, as personnel staged a 24-strike strike in protest against planned layoffs. The French carrier intends to cut 170 jobs out of a total of some 1,500 in reaction to the setback of the French tourism market. Nouvelles Frontieres is controlled by German tourism giant TUI, which owns 40% of the capital and awaits antitrust clearance to complete the takeover. -MT
Airlines operating into Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) have taken the Malaysian police to task for not prosecuting a passenger, who threatened to harm a Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight attendant with a metal fork on a flight from Zurich to Kuala Lumpur on July 22. The 43-year old German passenger, identified as Heinz Bellershein, became unruly after he was advised by the crew not to smoke in the toilet and not to sleep in the aisle.
American CEO Don Carty yesterday told employees that the current business fare war with Northwest is "true madness," but he gave no indication that he intends to back down. "We're in a period of particularly intense competition right now, with even the low-cost carriers starting to complain about all the discounting that's going on," he said in his weekly internal message. "When you see $19 fares on the West Coast, you have to wonder if someone turned the clock back to 1965 when you weren't looking."
US Airways yesterday held a meeting in New York for investors holding bonds backed by non-Airbus aircraft, The DAILY has learned. The carrier also discussed the estimates of its financial adviser, Seabury Advisors, as to the current aircraft values of the airline's Boeing fleet. For example, 737-300s are valued at $7.5 million to $8.5 million and the 767-200s are valued at $18.5 million to $19.5 million.
