American plans to start nonstop service between Chicago Midway and New York LaGuardia on Sept. 4, offering three daily roundtrips with Fokker F100 jets. The new LaGuardia flights complement AA's existing five daily roundtrips between Midway and its Dallas/Fort Worth hub. The service will compete with American Trans Air's six daily flights from Midway to LaGuardia.
NTSB Chair Marion Blakey is willing to serve as FAA administrator and an announcement from the White House is expected within the next week, several sources tell The DAILY.
Deutsche BA is on track to make its first profit late next year, according to CEO Adrian Hunt. The airline, which was transformed into a low-fare carrier three months ago, boosted passenger numbers by 13.7% in the first quarter and improved its load factor by 7 percentage points to 64%. Hunt said Deutsche BA is working closely with EasyJet toward completion of the anticipated purchase next year. According to Hunt, EasyJet and British Airways will imminently sign the agreement, providing the low-fare airline with an option to buy DBA within a year's time.
Senior aviation officials told Congress yesterday recently created FAA advisory committees should be restructured and should be chaired by the FAA administrator. But officials differed on whether the Management Advisory Committee (MAC) and its Air Traffic Services Subcommittee (ATSS) should be made more autonomous or combined into one entity.
Bankrupt regional aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier will try to sell a license for others to build the 728/928 regional jets, after efforts to attract a strategic investor have failed. CEO Thomas Brandt said a last chance to save the program would be to sell it to Russia or China for instance, where new regional jet programs are already on the drawing board.
American Trans Air pilots yesterday ratified a contract agreement with the carrier that will give them an 89% wage increase over the contract's four-year term. Air Line Pilots Association ATA spokeswoman Stacy Platone told The DAILY the first year of the contract will see increases of 36-60%, with a weighted average of 40%.
EVA Air Cargo last week took delivery of its third new Boeing 747-400 freighter. The carrier will use the aircraft to increase capacity and frequency between Asia and North America, and will rotate it with its MD-11 fleet "to serve growing demands in other markets." The new freighter is the third of three 747-400s purchased by carrier, and will be placed in service today.
United plans to begin new seasonal weekend service between Washington Dulles and Aruba. The new service will operate Dec. 14-April 26 and will use Airbus A320s.
Argentina has been downgraded under FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment. It "has been given a Category 2 rating following a reassessment of the country's civil aviation authority," which found that the country does not comply with International Civil Aviation Organization standards.
Three-hour delays for processing passengers with checked baggage are likely if short-term means of meeting the congressional mandate for screening all checked baggage for explosives by Dec. 31 are implemented, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) said yesterday, outlining her legislative proposal to provide more time to meet the requirement. Granger's 25 co-sponsors -- 16 Republicans and nine Democrats -- include John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee.
Mexican President Vicente Fox, responding to violent protests by communal farmland holders against the construction of Mexico City's new alternate international airport in Texcoco, yesterday opened the possibility of studying other alternatives. "We are not about to suppress anyone's rights. There are options considered from the very beginning for this airport, which are still open," he told CNN. "A lot depends on the negotiations which are about to begin in Texcoco or elsewhere."
China Southern Airlines has sealed a deal to acquire a 49% stake in China Postal Airlines, the national freight and mail carrier, for 150 million yuan (US$20 million). The State Postal Bureau, part of the Ministry of Communications, owns the remaining 51%. The acquisition is part of the airline's plans to extensively expand its domestic freighter network and position the carrier as "China's answer to Federal Express," according to Wang Changshun, China Southern president.
German airship manufacturer Cargolifter was dealt another blow last week, when the only CL75 AirCrane prototype was destroyed in a huge storm that hit the Berlin area. The AirCrane is a transport balloon intended to carry up to 75 tons of cargo. It was first sold earlier this year to HeavyLift Canada for delivery next year. Winds of up to 100 miles an hour were too much for the balloon's hull. The AirCrane was "parked" outside of its regular hangar for tests. Cargolifter said forecast weather was well within the design limits of the balloon.
Continental yesterday reported a $139 million second quarter net loss, including one-time items, and warned that yields are showing no signs of improvement due to a weak economy and domestic overcapacity. Without the previously announced fleet charge and write-down of its government grant receivable, the net loss was $35 million, compared with a $42 million profit in the same quarter last year. The results still topped analyst expectations, and the airline eked out a 2.2% operating margin thanks to strong cost control and consistent operations.
CEOs of Lufthansa, SAS, KLM, British Airways and BMI British Midland wrote to European Union Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio to protest the European Commission's recent clearance of a EUR1.4 billion capital injection into Alitalia. In their letter, they underline the "extraordinary size of the financing package" and stress the fact that 62% of the package was provided by the Italian state.
Felipe Ramirez, communications director for Venezuela's Avensa, last week denied press reports that the carrier had suspended services. He said service continues normally between Caracas and Madrid, Tenerife and Santiago de Compostela, Spain, as well as to Quito and Bogota. Ramirez admits, however, that flights to Miami and Margarita, Venezuela's resort area in the southeastern Caribbean, have been suspended for three months due to poor demand.
ExpressJet Holdings, in its first earnings report as a publicly traded company, yesterday reported second quarter net profit of $20.5 million, a 62% over last year's results. The former Continental wholly owned subsidiary topped analyst expectations and attributed the earnings growth to a higher mix of regional jets, strong cost control and lower interest expense. The company also reported a record 99.9% controllable completion factor, which excludes cancellations due to weather and air traffic control. ExpressJet's overall completion rate was 99.1%.
Startup Air Euroamerica has received authority from Uruguay's civil aviation department to launch operations shortly from Punta del Este to Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo and Rio in Brazil, and from Montevideo to Cordoba, Mendoza, and Mar del Plata in Argentina. The carrier will use new Embraer 145 regional jets for all flights.
FAA awarded its key FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) contract to Harris Corp., the agency announced yesterday. Lockheed Martin and WorldCom led the other two competing teams. The FTI contract involves the modernization, operation and management of the agency's next-generation voice and data communications network. The performance-based contract is for five years and with options could be extended to 15 years. FAA estimates its value at $1.7-3.5 billion.
