The 500 Air New Zealand pilots who had voted for a 48-hour strike to start last Friday have withdrawn the notice through the Airline Pilots Association (APA), while ANZ withdrew its application to the Employment Court to have intended actions by the pilots declared illegal.
Southwest this week is the only major airline expected to post a second quarter profit. For the nine major carriers, Merrill Lynch forecasts an industry quarterly loss of $1.3 billion versus $400 million in 2001's second quarter. "Any upside surprises will be thanks in part to better expense control," said analyst Michael Linenberg.
Expedia, as part of its efforts to make inroads with corporate customers, signed a definitive agreement to purchase all the assets of Metropolitan Travel Inc., a closely held Seattle-based corporate travel agency. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the transaction is anticipated to close this month. Expedia expects the acquisition to be "slightly accretive" to earnings, beginning with the third quarter.
SN Brussels Airlines is entering an alliance with British Airways and consequently dropping its cooperation with Virgin Express on the Brussels-London route. SN Brussels Airlines, set up on the remains of Sabena, will code share on all BA services between Brussels and London, starting Oct. 27, provided the European Commission clears the accord. BA operates to both London Heathrow and Gatwick, making the latter "a new destination available to SN Brussels Airlines customers," the Belgian airline said.
Freedom Air, Air New Zealand's subsidiary, will add Brisbane to its network, offering services from Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. From Christ-church, it will offer a daily service, three times weekly from Auckland and six flights a week from Wellington. Freedom Air also will introduce three-times-weekly flights from Christchurch to Coolangatta in the Gold Coast and increase its existing, five services a week on Auckland-Coolangatta to daily fights. All flights will use Boeing 737-300s.
Oakland International Airport this month will begin operating its new ground runup enclosure, or "hush house," which is designed to restrict aircraft noise during engine testing. The three-sided structure is located near the center of the airfield and cost $4 million in passenger facility charges to build.
Virgin Atlantic will add a fifth daily frequency between London and New York in October. CEO Steve Ridgeway said a recent GBP25 million capital injection by shareholders Virgin Group and Singapore Airlines "has enabled the airline to build on the gradual improvement in market conditions and to strengthen the company's return to growth and profitability." Virgin also will add a second daily service to Washington Dulles in June 2003. The flights will be operated with Airbus A340s. -JF
50 years ago July 15, 1952 -- Argentina has accepted an ICAO-devised standard form of air travel documentation, including the simplified passenger list and cargo manifest that cuts documentation requirements by 50%, with visitors no longer needing a police information landing card. 10 years ago
American cut its reported aircraft damage to 90 instances in the first six months of the year, down from 120 in the same period of 2001. AA told employees that the Customer Services unit led all operational departments with a 30% improvement. Tim Ahern, VP-safety, security and environmental, credited the members of the Aircraft Damage Task Force for much of the improvement.
American over the weekend removed the "Operated by TWA" statement from many AA flight bookings effective Aug. 1. The tag will be removed from flight numbers 2500-3199 in airline reservations systems. "It's the last major step from the customer's perspective of the most successful integration in airline history, done in the midst of a very difficult operating environment with tremendous support from employees across all departments and functions," said Mike Gunn, executive VP-marketing and planning.
DOT Secretary Norman Mineta last week told Congress that unless it grants FAA's request for $100 million in extra funding, the agency will have to temporarily furlough 35,000 Air Traffic Services (ATS) employees in September -- likely disrupting the air traffic system during the summer travel season. Congressional observers expect lawmakers to agree on at least $46 million, which they regard as the minimum needed to avoid furloughs.
Sigma Aircraft Management, LLC, recently arranged an operating lease for a DC-8-73F (S/n 46133) on behalf of U.S. Bank National Association to Cygnus Air. At the same time, Sigma executed the early termination and return of the aircraft from Emery Worldwide and arranged financing for the transaction with United Bank of Kuwait. Sigma currently manages a portfolio of 40 aircraft valued at more than $300 million.
New York jet fuel spot prices ended last week at $0.72 per gallon, up 1.1% from the beginning of the week and down 1.9% from a year ago, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown.
Raytheon announced last week that the seventh early display configuration version of its Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System is operational in Albany, N.Y. Initial operational capability was achieved 18 days ahead of schedule.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers designated the Hughes Flying Boat, aka the Spruce Goose, a historic mechanical engineering landmark. Aviation Suppliers Association named Peter Gallimore, director-regulatory coordination, manufacturing, maintenance and repair of The Boeing Co., this year's recipient of its Edward J. Glueckler Award, given for "outstanding commitment, dedication and contribution to ASA and the aviation industry."
AirTran last week launched a new Guaranteed Ticketing product that enables travel agents to book, change and cancel ticketless reservations electronically through the carrier. Previously, travel agents booking their clients through Worldspan using e-tickets had to place a phone call to the airline. This new product "eliminates the need to phone the airline and streamlines the travel agents' selling process." Travel agents will be able to transmit payment information electronically via Worldspan.
To list an event, fax information to Donna Thomas at 202-383-2438. (Blue type indicates new calendar listing.) JULY 15-16 -- American Association of Airport Executives, Summer Legislative Issues Conference, Washington, 703-824-0504, www.airportnet.org JULY 16-19 -- Transportation Systems Consulting Corp., Aircraft Maintenance Planning & Control Seminar/Workshop, Radisson Hotel, Clearwater Beach, Fla., 727-785-0583, fax 727-789-1143, www.tsc-corp.com
Mesa Air pushed back launch of its Bombardier CRJ700 service to Sept. 4 largely due to the recent strike at the manufacturer. Mesa is taking delivery this week and will lease the aircraft back to Bombardier so the company can take the CRJ to the Farnborough Air Show. Once in service, the CRJ will operate from Phoenix to LAX, Fresno, San Francisco and Reno.
United and Rockwell Collins this month began installing a cabin surveillance system for a test period. Rockwell's Video Intelligence System will be in place on a United Boeing 747-400 by September and will be tested at least through yearend.
Social unrest sparked by Mexico's decision to build a new international airport in Texcoco area near Mexico City exploded Friday morning in the town of San Salvador Atenco as 60 ejidatarios -- or communal land holders -- confronted 300 policemen from the State of Mexico. In the ensuing struggle, 25 people were injured, 15 were arrested and 10 judicial agents and police officers were taken hostage by the rebellious locals.
In the wake of recent high-profile incursions into restricted Washington, D.C., airspace, FAA is urging general aviation pilots in a letter to obey and familiarize themselves with Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) imposed for security purposes. FAA also stressed the importance of flight service station briefers providing this information to pilots.
KLM signed a deal with Thales Training & Simulation (TT&S) to acquire a Boeing 777 full-flight simulator. This is the first simulator TT&S will have supplied to the Dutch carrier. The FFS will be the latest in TT&S simulation technology using C2000X architecture and will be fully qualified to FAA Level D. The new simulator will be ready for training on Sept. 1, 2003, and will be installed in the KLM training center at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The FFS will feature the new Evans and Sutherland EP1000 visual system.
Orbitz and other supplier-owned travel web sites will again be the focus of a congressional hearing this week. The House Energy subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection plans a hearing July 18 that will ask, "Are all online travel sites good for the consumer?" DOT recently told Congress that it still has some concerns about Orbitz but said the site has mostly fulfilled what was promised in its business plan and has provided competition in the online travel marketplace (DAILY, June 28).
