The U.S. will continue to pursue its complaint with Belgium regarding hushkits while withdrawing its complaint against the 14 other European Union member states. At an ICAO Council meeting on Wednesday, the U.S. said it was dropping its complaint, filed with ICAO in March 2000, following the April 2002 repeal by the EU of its hushkit regulations. The EU issued a directive to manage noise at European airports after it repealed the regulation, whose design-based standard was the crux of the U.S. complaint.
China will invest US$3.64 billion during the next six months to expand four airports and build two new ones. Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA), Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, Hotan in Xinjiang Province and Chongqing's Jiangbei Airport are slated for expansion; new airports will be built in Changchun and Hanzhong.
New facilities comprising phase one of the master development plan being developed at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas (Maiquetia) were opened Tuesday. These will ease and accelerate the flow of embarking and disembarking passengers in the international terminal and have involved investments of $730 million.
American Trans Air yesterday filed an application with the Air Transportation Stabilization Board for a $165 million, fully secured, federal loan guarantee to boost the airline's cash position. ATA claims it is an "appropriate applicant" for the federal loan program because of "its solid business plan" that produced profitable results through August 31, 2001. Since Sept.
Air Transport Association President and CEO Carol Hallett plans to step down from her position, effective April 30, 2003. Hallett, who was named president and CEO in April 1995 of the U.S. airline industry's largest trade association, said she plans to retire from ATA to spend time with her family at their farm in Virginia. "I will continue to make myself available to the aviation community as an adviser and consultant," Hallett said. The ATA board plans to retain an executive search firm to begin the process of selecting a successor.
AeroMexico has been chosen to carry Pope John Paul II from Mexico City back to Rome on Aug. 1, after he concludes his visit to Mexico. The carrier is developing special inflight menus and reconfiguring a 767-200 to accommodate the papal entourage. AeroMexico is reconfiguring its 767 for the special flight with three classes of service.
Swiss International Air Lines plans to file for antitrust immunity with American by the end of June but does not expect to join the Oneworld alliance for another 12 months. CEO André Dosé told The DAILY in Washington that while there may not be much opposition to a Swiss-AA antitrust immunity application, DOT has told the airline that it may take five to seven months before they gain approval. The partnership with AA is crucial for Swiss as one-third of its long-haul traffic is the U.S but it is also working on bilateral partnerships with the oneworld carriers.
First international workshop on airport infrastructure and services is being held this week in Buenos Aires, sponsored by Argentina's ministry of transportation. Besides civil aviation authorities from several Latin American countries, other attendees include Lockheed Martin, KPMG, and Argentina's air force and Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, the private consortium that develops and manages 33 airports throughout the host country. During the two-day session, panels of experts are discussing airport privatization, modernization and development. -LZ
Midwest Express, which in January will change its name to Midwest Airlines, decided to undergo a major change in its branding after it became evident the company was losing about $10 million a year in bookings because some passengers booked away thinking it was a regional airline and possibly a turboprop operator. Midwest Express Senior VP and marketing chief Tom Vickers told The DAILY yesterday that research and customer feedback showed that the "Express" label was costing the airline revenue.
Air Algerie yesterday took delivery of two new Boeing 737-600s as part of its fleet renewal program. Air Algerie's overall plan includes the addition of seven new 737-800s and five new 737-600s. The final airplane in the order is scheduled for delivery this month.
American has denied any wrongdoing in a whistleblower complaint regarding the shoe bomb incident aboard American Flight 63 in December, but the Allied Pilots Association believes the complaint is well-founded.
Kazakhstan-based startup Air Astana has taken delivery of its third Boeing 737, a 737-800. The aircraft complements a fleet of two 737-700s that were delivered in May. The aircraft will be used on regional and domestic services. Air Astana flies the 737-800 in a 156-seat, two-class layout. -JF
United has given the International Association of Machinists a proposed recovery plan that includes wage concessions for mechanics and ramp workers, IAM announced yesterday. No formal response has been sent to the airline, but IAM told members that it does not support the plan and at this stage will not take part in negotiations.
Delta CEO Leo Mullin said yesterday that the airline is experiencing a "slow but steady improvement" in its performance indicators, although "the rate of the industry's recovery has slowed." Mullin predicted that for the second quarter, Delta's net loss, excluding special items, would be about $170 million, an improvement on the first quarter loss of $397 million.
U.S. and Thailand yesterday concluded two days of negotiations without achieving an open-skies accord for cargo. Aviation officials from the two nations met in Washington June 11-12, with the two sides affirming their shared commitment to liberalization, according to a DOT spokesman, who added that both countries emphasized the "increasing importance of air cargo services as a generator of economic growth" and how market services could be impacted by an all-cargo, open-skies agreement. "We knew there were some issues, and we got through some of them," a senior U.S.
U.S. homeland security efforts are at risk of becoming uncoordinated, leading to duplication of effort, coverage gaps, misallocated resources and poor monitoring of spending, General Accounting Office evaluators warned. The agency said it's too soon to make specific recommendations about the government's continually evolving homeland security policies but cautioned that progress seems stalled in certain key areas.
Though American is working on a range of "quick-hitting" steps to provide "immediate financial relief" in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the market may have changed enough to demand broader changes in fundamentals, such as hub schedules and the complicated pricing models generated by yield management, Chairman Don Carty told a Wall Street conference.
Midwest Express and its regional affiliate Skyway plan to introduce a new corporate symbol and simpler names for both airlines in hopes of increasing passenger traffic.
Comments made yesterday about the state of the U.S.-U.K. aviation relationship by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to the House of Commons have U.S. and British officials in Washington scratching their heads. Blair, who said the two sides were in "intensive discussions," seems to have overstated the state of play between the two sides, officials said. "I know of no intensive discussions," a senior U.S. negotiator told The DAILY. "The situation today is the same as it was last week and the week before," he said, with the U.S. and the U.K.
Although Southwest does not plan to add any more cities to its network this year, it will be "connecting the dots" and adding new routes between cities it already serves, CEO Jim Parker said yesterday. Among these will be Southwest's first nonstop transcontinental route, beginning in the fall, between Baltimore and Los Angeles. Routes from Chicago to West Coast points also will be added. Capacity will be increased on routes where strong demand exists, primarily in East Coast markets.
