US Airways pilots yesterday ratified the concession agreement proposed by the airline. Out of 4,331 pilots who voted, 2,824, or 75.7%, favored the deal, with 908, or 24.3%, voting against. The airline's flight attendants are scheduled to vote on their own concession agreement today.
The government will intervene and decide whether the fare war on domestic flights in Peninsula Malaysia between low-cost private carrier Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines should be allowed to continue. According to Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik, his ministry will meet officials from both carriers to ensure the drastic discounts offered constitute "fair and healthy competition."
Korean Air posted a hefty profit of US$156.3 million for the first half of the year ended June 30, a stark contrast to the US$276.8 million loss for the same period last year. Passenger traffic grew 4.1% despite a slowdown of Korean and Japan-based traffic during the World Cup soccer tournament May 31-June 30. Cargo traffic gained momentum since March and increased 15% year over year.
Workers of bankrupt aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier staged a protest rally at the company's Oberpfaffenhofen headquarters, demanding more support by Germany's and Bavaria's governments, as well as local aerospace giant EADS. Backed by Germany's association of trade unions, DGB, they vowed to fight for keeping Oberpfaffenhofen as an aerospace center.
All Nippon Airways' holding company, ANA Holding Pty Ltd. yesterday signed a deal to sell the ANA Harbor Grand Hotel Sydney for A$206.5 million to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. "This transaction follows on the heels of the sale of the ANA Grand Hotel Wien and is in line with the ANA Group's corporate strategy of focusing resources on core operations," said CEO Yoji Ohashi.
British Airways joined the Amadeus global distribution system's Electronic Ticket Server operation. ETS registers flight tickets and lets airlines save at least 80% of the maintenance costs associated with existing electronic ticket systems. Amadeus says electronic tickets account for nearly 60% of British Airways' issued tickets.
The airline industry reiterated support for a proposed FAA rule reducing aircraft separation, but operators and makers of small jets say the rule would impose unacceptable aircraft modification costs, and should therefore be phased in gradually. Pilot groups have called for mandatory collision avoidance systems on all aircraft before the rule is implemented.
About 250 Comair pilots have asked to join a lawsuit filed by three of the airline's pilots last year against the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) that accuses the union of predatory bargaining. The RJ Defense Coalition, a non-profit advocacy organization formed by pilots from Comair and Delta's other subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA), defines predatory bargaining as ALPA's more powerful members restricting the use of regional jets and "to unfairly manipulate the employment opportunities they create."
Bangkok Airways will acquire two Boeing 717-200s in October. The airline, which operates two other 717s, eight ATR 72-200s and one ATR 72-500s, will use the aircraft to increase services on the Singapore-Koh Samui and Bangkok-Chiangmai-Xian routes.
American Trans Air founder and Chairman George Mikelsons unexpectedly resumed the duties of president and CEO, replacing John Tague as part of a reshuffle at parent ATA Holdings. The company's four operating units will be reworked into five divisions -- ATA Scheduled Service, ATA Charter, Chicago Express Airlines, ATA Training Corp. and Ambassadair Travel Club. "It has long been recognized that the efficiencies desired in scheduled service are difficult to achieve with a large component of charter and military charter in its mix," Mikelsons said.
Mesa Air subsidiary CCAir is losing its contract with US Airways for flying out of Charlotte to Piedmont Airlines beginning in November. CCAir President Carter Leake told The DAILY Piedmont is taking over CCAir's four Dash 8 turboprops and its current routes. "The time has come for us to concentrate on more hub flying to support US Airways with connecting passengers through CLT," Piedmont President John Leonard said in a letter to his staff obtained by The DAILY. "With the November schedule we assume the flying previously performed by CCAir."
A special legislative committee in Brasilia approved a bill to create a National Civil Aviation Agency for Brazil, and the measure now goes to the Senate, where approval is expected. The new agency, ANAC, replaces the Civil Aviation Department, or DAC, which historically the air force has controlled.
Mexicana will stop operations to Buenos Aires on Sept. 1 due to Argentina's severe economic crisis, reports DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America & Caribbean. Mexicana was the only carrier to link Mexico directly with Argentina five times a week.
Santiago, Chile, and Sydney, Australia, are now linked three times a week via Auckland, New Zealand, by code-share flights operated by LanChile and Qantas. Immediate connections are available in Santiago to all points in Latin America and at Sydney to destinations in the Asia/Pacific region.
July traffic results at British Airways and KLM suggest recovery of European air travel continues to stagnate. BA's traffic was down 12.9% from July 2001 levels, while KLM's traffic dropped by 6%. KLM's load factor was 83.6% and BA's stood at 76.5%.
Finance and politics are overshadowing technical specifications as negotiations begin with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for 11 widebody aircraft. "The strong political element is [the U.S.] may or may not be [Pakistan's] ally, but it's important to match the other guy's finance," says Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Fairfax, Va.-based Teal Group Corp.
Attorneys for Varig, Brazil's and Latin America's largest airline, quickly appealed a judge's asset-freezing injunction sought by the carrier's pilots. The order handed down by judge Marlene Landvoigt in Porto Alegre at the request of Varig's Pilots Association, Apivar, freezes the assets of Iutaka Imawaga, chairman of the Rubem Berta Foundation, which controls Varig; Ozires Silva, president of Varig, and George Ermakoff, president of its subsidiary Rio Sul, plus other eight directors of the Varig group.
Air France continues to suffer from weak demand in its domestic networks but still hopes to achieve first quarter profits exceeding initial expectations. The airline reported a drop in revenues of 1.7% for the three months ended June 30, in line with its own forecasts, but the company will disclose profit figures only later this year. Air France stated revenues were affected by a calendar effect of the Easter holidays, an air traffic control strike and the economic downturn.
Mexico's airports raised fees 3.68% Aug. 1 for landings, parking for both embarking and disembarking or overnight, passenger processing and airport use tax. That tax rose 4.5% for international passengers. AeroMexico and Mexicana have already said they'll hold off on fare increases. For its part, Mexico's government agency in charge of airports, ASA, said it was simply updating fees and taxes that had not been adjusted since 2000.
EasyJet and Go, recently combined to form Europe's largest low-fare airline, continued their rapid growth in July. EasyJet's traffic was up 61.7% while Go grew at 58.8%. Ryanair's figures were lower, at 41%. The large increase was due to the launch of several more routes, the airlines stated. EasyJet's July load factor was 86.6% while Go's aircraft were 81.9% full. The carriers continue to operate as separate entities until integration is more advanced, which should be early next year. -JF
British leisure group MyTravel -- formerly Airtours -- launched its own low-fare airline into what is becoming an increasingly crowded field. The company, MyTravelLite, will start flying two Airbus A320s from Birmingham Airport in October. The airline will serve Malaga, Alicante, Paris-Beauvais, Belfast and Geneva. MyTravelLite will put 180 seats on the aircraft, which, along with crews, are provided by the parent company.
