Aerolineas Argentinas in September will expand its European hub being developed in Madrid to include service to Vienna, Athens and Istanbul with 150-seat MD-80s, according to Antonio Mata, CEO of the revamped carrier. Route agreements are being negotiated with destination countries.
Continental last week lost patience with US Airways and decided to break off alliance and code-share talks with the carrier. Continental previously reported on several occasions that it was interesting in forming a domestic alliance with US Airways, but Continental decided to end discussions "after it determined that an agreement would not be reached in the near future." US Airways had no comment on Continental's decision. US Airways has said it has discussed a domestic code-share with all U.S.
Flight Safety Foundation elected Charles Barclay, president of the American Association of Airport Executives; Joan Garrett, president and CEO of MedAire; Michael Jeffery, retired director of flight operations for British Airways, and Deborah McElroy, president of the Regional Airline Association, to the board of governors. Mead & Hunt named Vick Valley administrative assistant, Jeff Anderson and Doug Van Leuven project engineers, and Scott Hager and Nathan Engelby electrical project engineers.
Delta will be the first commercial airline to install on its fleet the arc fault circuit breaker (AFCB) jointly developed by the Navy's Aging Aircraft Integrated Product Team (AAIPT) and the FAA. The carrier has requested a supplemental type certificate (STC) from FAA to begin installing the Eaton Aerospace model on its Boeing 737s, according to FAA Program Manager Ron Pappas. The AFCB is designed to detect and prevent electrical arcing, caused by breaks in wire insulation, before that arcing leads to a fire or other catastrophe.
Swiss air traffic provider Skyguide came under severe public pressure last week as more details about the mid-air collision between a DHL Boeing 757 and a Bashkirian Airlines Tupolev Tu-154 emerged. Zurich ATC's Short Term Conflict Alert (STCA) system was down for maintenance during the time of the crash. STCA is supposed to guide controllers' attention to an upcoming potential collision. According to industry sources, the system warns of a developing situation about 45 to 60 seconds before possible impact.
US Airways reported last week that its unit revenues in June were down about 10.5-11.5%, compared with the same 2001 period. "While we saw load factor improvement again this month, we are seeing unit revenues decline at an unacceptable rate, which partially is attributable to slumping business demand and some weakening in leisure demand," said Ben Baldanza, senior VP-marketing and planning. The load factor for June was 77.3%, an increase of 0.5 percentage points. Traffic dropped 19.1%, generally in line with a 19.6% drop in capacity.
Air Jamaica last week celebrated the first all-female flight crew to pilot an international flight in the airline's history. Capt. Marlene Smith and First Officer Melvina Anderson flew the carrier's service from New York Kennedy to Antigua. Both pilots are Jamaican.
European Commission last week cleared the German government's EUR71 million aid package designed to compensate losses incurred by German airlines in the four days after the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. The EC earlier approved similar schemes set up by France and the U.K. -MT
Employees of private French security firm Asa delayed some 80% of all flights departing from Paris Orly South terminal by up to two hours last week as they worked to rule to demand pay increases and additional staff. The employees, who are in charge of screening baggage and passengers, claim their work load has increased fourfold since Sept. 11. Asa employees at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport were threatening a similar action.
Continental reported that its June unit revenues fell 5-7%, compared with last year, as a result of lower yields, but the carrier ended the second quarter with a $1.3 billion cash balance. The June RASM figures are on par with the May decline of 6.3% compared to the same 2001 month. Continental reported a mainline load factor of 78.7%, up 0.7 points above last June, which analysts believe resulted a small monthly profit. The carrier's regional ExpressJet operation was likely the "primary contributor" to any modest monthly profit, said JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker.
Continental plans to start all-jet flying between Gulfport/Biloxi and its Houston hub, effective immediately, when the last ATR-42 turboprop serving the route is upgraded to a Continental Express Embraer ERJ-145. Continental and Continental Express offer four daily nonstop flights on the route. Also today, Continental will start RJ service from Houston to Jackson, Miss. Currently, the airline offers three daily flights with ATR-42 turboprops.
JFK IAT LLC, the manager and developer of the new Terminal 4 at New York Kennedy, reported that two new airlines have selected Terminal 4 for their New York operations. Pace Airlines and Cabo Verde Airlines recently launched service to New York, and existing tenants Varig, EgyptAir and LanChile have increased frequency from the new 1.5-million-square-foot Terminal 4 at JFK. With the addition of the new carriers, Terminal 4 now houses 45 airlines, representing 32 countries from around the world.
Federal security director at Louisville, Ky., airport is "under investigation" for a screening checkpoint irregularity, a transportation security official confirmed to The DAILY. Bruce Brotman attempted to bypass screening procedures, sources said. The incident occurred last month prior to the screener federalization rollout at the airport, which began under an interim security manager.
Standard & Poor's yesterday lowered its ratings on selected public and private equipment trust certificates of US Airways to 'D' from single-'B'-minus following the carrier's announcement that deferred interest payments due July 1. Although there is a grace period to cure payment defaults, the ratings were lowered because it is not expected that payments will be made in that period, S&P said. The ratings of paying securities remain on CreditWatch with developing implications.
SN Brussels Airlines and Continental Airlines signed a commercial agreement allowing them to sell tickets on each other's networks, the Brussels-based carrier announced yesterday. A SN Brussels Airlines described the agreement, which falls short of a full-fledged code-sharing agreement, as "a win-win situation." Continental operates a daily Boeing 767-200ER nonstop service between Brussels and Newark, as well as connecting services to North American, Latin American and Caribbean destinations. SN Brussels serves European and 11 African destinations.
U.S. and European regulatory authorities yesterday certified the latest variant of the Rolls-Royce BR710 turbofan, the exclusive powerplant for the new, extended-range Gulfstream V-SP business jet. Rolls-Royce and Gulfstream signed a deal in February for up to 600 BR710 engines for the GV-SP. The engine business is worth an estimated US$2 billion for Rolls-Royce over the next 10 years.
US Airways met with the Air Line Pilots Association into the night yesterday and is scheduled to meet with the International Association of Machinists today as concession negotiations gather speed. As of press time, there had been no agreement in the pilot talks. The negotiations with the pilots were temporarily derailed this week after ALPA walked out. The union believed the airline wanted to withdraw a small jet agreement reached previously. According to ALPA, the airline has clarified that the agreement had not been withdrawn.
China Southern Airlines hired its first international, Japanese-native flight attendants for its new Boeing 777 daily service between Guangzhou and Tokyo and Osaka. In late May, China Southern inked the employment contracts of more than a dozen Japanese flight attendants who joined China Southern's inflight team. "This marked the first time that China's largest airline has gone outside of China to retain full-time flight attendants from another country," the airline said.
Airbus and a group of 22 other partners have launched Aircraft Wing With Advanced Technology Operation (AWIATOR), a four-year project that aims to develop and test aerodynamic performance-enhancing ideas. "A large variety of technologies will be investigated, down-selected, developed and finally flight-tested on Airbus' flying testbed A340, MSN 001," the company said.
