London Stansted Airport is to get a second runway, according to an Evening Standard report. The paper quotes "sources close to the Transportation Department" as saying that Stansted is "virtually certain" to be picked.
Mohammed Fahim Rayan, Chairman of Egypt's state owned carrier EgyptAir was fired on Monday by the country's new Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafeeq. Rayan was replaced by Ahmed al-Nadi, a long-standing airline pilot. Rayan was scheduled to retire in seven months.
Union leaders representing United pilots will decide by tomorrow whether to approve a tentative concession agreement drafted by negotiators from the union and the airline last week. Even if pilots accept the deal, however, it will be canceled if United cannot persuade other major unions to agree to similar deals.
European airlines are preparing themselves for severe disruptions in air transport on Wednesday as a result of the planned strike by air traffic controllers. ATC unions are protesting the planned introduction of the European Single Sky harmonization project, which is intended to increase capacity and ease delays. ATC staff in Italy, Spain, France, Greece and several more Southern European states are expected to allow only a minimum off flying.
Southwest was the only U.S. major carrier that saw increases in both block hours and fleet size in the fourth quarter 2001, compared with 2000. According to new data obtained by The DAILY, Southwest's operational fleet grew by 5.6% and total block hours increased by 3.2% (see chart, page 7). Alaska's fleet grew by 8.8% -- the most of the major airlines -- but block hours dropped 6.2%. US Airways' block hours dropped 27% due to the elimination of several fleet types.
Comair and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters an-nounced yesterday that they have reached a tentative agreement a new contract for the carrier's flight attendants. No details of the agreement will be released until next week, according to a joint statement by the carrier and union. Informational meetings for the attendants will be held in the last week of June, and will be followed by a ratification vote.
FAA this week will publish a rule requiring foreign carriers that serve the U.S. to have upgraded cockpit doors by April 9, 2003 -- matching the deadline already in place for U.S. carriers -- and to install temporary door-strengthening devices within 60 days.
European Union transport ministers yesterday asked the European Commission to continue studying the European airlines' project to set up a mutual insurance fund for war risk. But they failed to endorse the project, dubbed Eurotime, proposed by the Association of European Airlines and requiring initial government support. For the time being, EU governments are considering extending the current insurance coverage, which was installed after Sept. 11 and is due to expire at the end of June, by another two months. -MT
Alaska Airlines recently developed an automated system that promises to cut the airline's fuel tax bill by as much as 10%, or $2 million per year. Dubbed the Fuel Accounting System (FAS), the system allows station employees to enter fuel loading, aircraft routing and other information into a central database via the Internet to better track usage. Just as at a local gas station, taxes are embedded into the price of every gallon of fuel Alaska buys, the airline said in an internal message.
Two air crashes involving an Air China Boeing 767-200 on April 15 and a China Northern Airlines MD 90 three weeks later will not deter the Chinese government from going ahead with the planned mergers and reforms for the local airline industry.
Fairchild Dornier is expected to announce deep job cuts at a briefing for employees today, according to industry sources. The company's insolvency administrator, Eberhard Braun, and CEO Thomas Brandt are expected to lay off 1,200 employees, around one-third of the company's staff. The layoffs will become effective on July 2. Fairchild Dornier has been operating under preliminary insolvency since April 2. Permanent insolvency proceedings are slated for early July, following a decision by a regional court.
Boston Logan Airport soon will begin work on a project to redesign the airport's checked baggage system for in-line explosives detection system (EDS) screening after gaining Transportation Security Administration approval. The $100 million construction project will include infrastructure and reconstruction costs for enhancing, expanding and creating new areas to screen checked baggage, according to a Massport spokesman, who added that the project may come in under budget, at around $80 million.
American yesterday launched its four new daily nonstop flights from Long Beach, Calif., but the future of the routes is still uncertain. American, as previously announced, started two daily flights from Long Beach each to Chicago O'Hare and New York Kennedy. The Long Beach-Chicago service is being operated with MD-80s and the JFK flight with Boeing 757s. The new Long Beach routes are in addition to American's existing four daily flights to and from Dallas/Fort Worth.
Airport company BAA announced last week that traffic at its seven U.K. airports increased 0.8% from the same month last year. Heathrow recorded a 1.4% increase, while Gatwick traffic was down 11.7%, still suffering from the transfer of routes to Heathrow. Stansted traffic was up 16.9%, Edinburgh 16.2% and Glasgow 11%.
FAA has awarded NovAtel a contract to develop the next generation Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) receiver. The 21-month contract covers receiver development and qualification work, and includes an option for the development of a new broadband WAAS antenna. The basic contract is worth $2.4 million, and the option is worth $835,000. NovAtel has supplied WAAS receivers to FAA for the past seven years, and the next generation receivers will be available at either the end of 2003 or the beginning of 2004. -AS
SAS President and CEO Joergen Lindegaard will take on the additional role of chief operating officer for SAS Airline until a replacement for Marie Ehrling is found. Ehrling, who previously held the position, is leaving the airline. Lindegaard also will head the Airline Support business until the position is filled. Gunnar Reitan will be responsible for the Subsidiary Airlines and Hotels division and serve as interim chief financial officer. -JF
A new union announced a campaign yesterday to represent Northwest's flight attendants, replacing the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Professional Flight Attendants Association has been formed exclusively to represent Northwest attendants, the group said.
Billing their company as a "hybrid of business and commercial aviation," ShAirForce LLC officials last week unveiled the latest twist on fractional-share flight programs. Instead of buying shares of privately owned aircraft, participants buy shares of flight hours on one or more specific city-pairs flown by ShAirForce aircraft. The company plans to operate a fleet of new Boeing Business Jets in some 250 domestic U.S. city-pair markets and 53 international city-pairs, reports DAILY affiliate AviationNow.com.
U.S.-Hong Kong talks beginning today in Washington may yield the liberalization that has eluded negotiators, but some U.S. stakeholders are counting the cost that may result as a disincentive to full open skies. A senior U.S. official expressed optimism "that we can come to an agreement this week," during the June 18-20 negotiations. "I think that Hong Kong is anxious to do it, too," he told The DAILY, adding that both sides, who have met in several rounds, "have an understanding of the issues" keeping them apart.
Worldspan plans to launch a new version of its Trip Manager program that will include "exclusive" Web airfare search technology. The new version will be available early in the third quarter and compare special fares available through airline web sites with published and negotiated fares.
American in August plans to boost its service out of New York and Boston. The carrier plans to start new nonstop service Aug. 1 between Kansas City and New York LaGuardia. Each of the two daily roundtrips will be flown with MD-80s. AA has served Kansas City for 20 years and currently offers 25 weekday departures to Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago O'Hare and St. Louis. AA's Boston service will grow Aug. 1 with the addition of new nonstop service to Raleigh/Durham and Fort Lauderdale.
The European Union nations intend to reorganize European Union air traffic management and set up a "single sky" in Europe by the end of 2004, EU transport ministers confirmed yesterday in Luxembourg. The ministers hammered out a set of broad "guidelines" despite strike threats from air traffic controllers. The single sky initiative is aimed at fighting congestion in Europe, which costs airlines EUR5 billion annually, according to the European Commission.
