Hamilton Sundstrand will supply the ram air turbine (RAT) system to the Airbus A380 program, the supplier announced. The deal could mean $120 million in revenues over the program's life. The RAT system will provide emergency electrical power to the aircraft if primary electrical power is lost. The RAT swings down from the plane's fuselage when needed. Its wind-driven blades act as a generator to provide emergency power for flight controls and other essential electrically powered functions when primary electrical power sources are lost.
The German state of Hesse's criminal investigation agency has warned in an internal report that members of the al Qaeda network could plan an attack on aircraft in Germany. The report stated that jets could be attacked by ground-to-air missiles or drones, according to press reports. A government spokesman confirmed the existence of the warning but made clear that intelligence agencies did not have concrete evidence of a planned terrorist act.
The European Union transport ministers are expected to issue guidelines aimed at setting up a single European sky, at their meeting June 17 in Luxembourg. The ministers will be subject to strong contradictory pressures in relation to their plans to reorganize Europe's air traffic management. Air Traffic Controller European Unions Coordination (ATCEUC), an association of 13 European ATC unions, is calling for a Europe-wide strike on June 19 to protest the project, which is meant to enhance the efficiency of ATC in Europe.
Lufthansa has cut some of the fares on its German domestic routes from EUR143 to EUR111 in an effort to attract more budget travelers and fend off similar initiatives by competing Deutsche BA (DBA). DBA is offering some seats in off-peak times for as little as EUR24 one way. Lufthansa recently revamped its web site offering passengers an overview of flights and corresponding fares for the requested city-pair, effectively following what DBA has done when the British Airways subsidiary relaunched its own web site earlier this year. -JF
IATA has questioned Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAH) rationale for increasing the passenger services tax (PST) for domestic and international flights to finance Express Rail Link (ERL), the operator of the express train service from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to the city.
Belgian World Airlines (BWA) has won a tender to take over charter airline Sobelair, a former subsidiary of bankrupt national carrier Sabena, Sobelair's administrator Christian Van Buggenhout said this week. BWA withdrew a first bid last April due to union opposition. The second offer entails a cost-cutting agreement with personnel representatives. Apart from leisure services, BWA is considering starting scheduled operations, in competition with SN Brussels Airlines, which was set up on the remains of Sabena. -MT
European parliament has taken an initial step toward revamping slot regulation in the European Union. The parliament voted in favor of a proposal by the European Commission that would make slots a concession rather than the property of the airlines. The planned legislation also sets a framework for how slots can be traded.
Top airline officials yesterday identified unreasonable ticket taxes, airport security requirements, the need for war risk insurance coverage and "unfunded mandates" from the government as the four key public policy issues on which the industry will focus its lobbying efforts. The officials said that a group of airline CEOs met with White House senior staff last week to propose a list of changes that would address these issues, and to outline the actual costs of government actions since Sept. 11.
The House Transportation aviation subcommittee next Wednesday will hold a markup on a bill that would give airline pilots the right to carry firearms in the cockpit. The legislation, which enjoys strong support among pilot labor groups, was introduced by Transportation Committee Chair Don Young (R-Alaska) and subcommittee Chair John Mica (R-Fla.) after the Transportation Security Administration failed to act on a provision in the Aviation Transportation Security Act giving TSA the authority to allow guns in the cockpit.
British no-frills carriers EasyJet and Go have continued their rapid expansion in May and will become Europe's largest low-fare airline in July, when the EasyJet completes the takeover of its rival next month. EasyJet carried close to 900,000 passengers, an increase of 43%. The carrier's load factor fell by 1.5 percentage points but remained at a high 81.5%. Meanwhile, Go's traffic was up 89% from May 2001, with passenger numbers rising to about 530,000. The airline improved its load factor to 75.9%, still significantly below EasyJet's. -JF
DOT Secretary Norman Mineta yesterday said that although DOT is preparing to establish a new performance-based Air Traffic Organization (ATO) within FAA, it would not at this stage propose further privatization moves for the agency. The Mineta statement comes after substantial criticism of last week's White House executive order that deleted an earlier guarantee by the Clinton administration that air traffic control is inherently a government function.
Sinex Aviation Technologies will provide consulting and training to Alaska Airlines to support the airline's MD-80 maintenance program transition to Maintenance Steering Group, Version 3 (MSG-3) recommendations. Among other things, Sinex will use its FleetCycle Tracking Manager software to document the status of existing approved maintenance program elements and to plan the conversion to the new program.
Vanguard last week reported a 41% increase in May traffic compared with the same month last year, for a total of 132.1 million revenue passenger miles. Capacity was up 51% to 202.1 million available seat miles. Load factor was 65.4%, down 4.5 points. Year-to-date traffic increased 27%, with capacity for the same period up 25% and load factor up 1.1 points to 65.3%. The airline is "particularly pleased that the bottom-line load factor is holding strong while we focus on strengthening passenger yield," said airline CEO Scott Dickson.
The U.K.'s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) plans to begin testing controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC) for transatlantic flights using Nav Canada-developed software, and is considering adapting other Nav Canada technologies. NATS reached an agreement with Nav Canada to begin operational testing this summer of CPDLC, using a satellite-based e-mail system rather than high-frequency voice communications. A contract is being finalized and tests should begin in late summer, said NATS Chief Operating Officer Colin Chisholm.
Delta claims that it can use the Embraer Regional Jet's low operational cost as a weapon against rivals in Florida as it seeks to protect the $2.8 billion annually it garners to and from the Sunshine State in domestic revenue. In an analysis of Delta's regional partner restructuring obtained by The DAILY, Delta claims that it will see "higher ERJ value driven by lower aircraft ownership costs versus [Bombardier's] CRJ and better revenue capacity that FRJ," referring to Fairchild Dornier's competing 328JET.
US Airways has reached an agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association that will allow its wholly owned subsidiary PSA Airlines to operate regional jet aircraft.
Ecuador's Tame, run by the nation's air force as a commercial airline, will open bidding tenders soon for the purchase of a Boeing 737-700 or Airbus 319 and a Fokker F28-4000 to be operational by the end of the year. The purchase budget is $34 million and $270,000 per month for leasing. Startup Air Ecuador, based in Guayaquil, will operate initially on domestic routes with two ATR 42s.
Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.) has been named vice chairman of the 46-member House Transportation aviation subcommittee, chaired by Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.). Hayes, who has been a licensed pilot for more than 30 years, has a Commercial Pilot's license and is a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. "Aviation impacts my top two priorities for this session of Congress -- economic security and national security," Hayes said.
After receiving much criticism over an Executive Order deleting a guarantee that air traffic control should be a government function, the White House said yesterday that the move was intended to rectify a conflict between the guarantee and the contract tower program. Observers believe that the order has a much wider significance than merely clarifying existing language, however.
FlightSafety Boeing Training International named Bill Gardner VP-Asia based in Seoul, reporting to Pat Gaines, president of FlightSafetyBoeing. He will be responsible for training operations in Korea and China, as well as expanding FSB's training services in Asia. Prior to joining FSB in 1999, Gardner spent 10 years with Boeing.
