Nav Canada this week opened its new CDN$5 million (US$3.26 million) control tower and operations center at Kelowna International Airport. The new tower provides controllers with a better view of the airport, which handled some 80,000 local aircraft movements last year. The new tower "will improve the safety and efficiency of air traffic services as controllers now have better visibility and use the latest technology in voice communications and radar displays," said Dave Griffin, Nav Canada General Manager of Airport Operations-Pacific.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Juergen Weber is urging the airlines of the world to unite to solve the problem of escalating insurance costs, which he contends are out of control. Speaking at the World Air Transport Summit in Shanghai, Weber contended airlines could create their own insurance fund, either on a regional or global basis, to cover war and terrorism-related risks. Government support would be an advantage, he added. Insurance firms like Europe's Eurotime or U.S. Equitime program could pave the way for worldwide coverage.
Emirates yesterday firmed up its order for GE-P&W Engine Alliance GP7200s to power its Airbus A380s. The carrier earlier this year signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to buy 88 GP7200s to power 22 A380s on firm order (DAILY, March 1). Emirates also has options for 10 of the superjumbos. The 88-engine order includes 80 GP7270s rated at 70,000 lbs. of thrust for 20 passenger versions, and eight GP7277s rated at 76,500 lbst. for two freighters. Emirates is slated to take delivery of its first aircraft in September 2006. -SB
Continental and eBay launched a co-branded web site to let Continental frequent flyer members bid on sporting events, performing arts shows and Continental package vacations using frequent flier miles. Continental also will list vacation packages and other items on eBay Travel available to any eBay bidder.
Transavia reported after-tax profits of EUR11.2 million (US$10.58 million) for its financial year which ended in April -- the airline's 24th consecutive profitable year, but down from a profit of EUR12.1 million (US$11.4 million) in the previous year. Total sales were EUR476.5 million (US$450.5 million), up 2% from the previous year.
Aerolineas Argentinas is regaining financial health despite the Argentine economic crisis, cutting its former US$35 million monthly deficit to US$8 million in just half a year, CEO Antonio Mata told the daily La Nacion in Buenos Aires. Six months after taking over as CEO of the revamped former flag carrier in a country whose air traffic has tumbled 60%, Mata said his airline improved its deficit number by 40% even as many major carriers worldwide suffered billions in losses.
United and Rockwell Collins will put a cabin surveillance system to the test onboard one of the carrier's Boeing 747-400s, the companies said this week. Rockwell will install its Video Intelligence System (VIS) on the plane this summer for a trial period that is expected to last about six months.
US Airways later this year plans to add Grenada to its growing Caribbean network with the start of weekly nonstop service linking the island with Philadelphia. Subject to foreign government approval, US Airways will start Saturday-only service on Dec. 21 with Airbus A319s. Grenada is located in the eastern Caribbean at the southern point of the Windward Islands. The new service will operate from the new international terminal at Philadelphia airport, currently under construction.
AFL-CIO officials are preparing a legislative proposal that they say will address concerns about the way airline employee background checks are being conducted. AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Executive Director Edward Wytkind told The DAILY yesterday that entire employee background files should not be given to airlines, and employees should have access to due process if they are fired as a result of information obtained.
Qantas yesterday denied a report that it has offered to buy 25% of Air New Zealand from the New Zealand government. The report claimed that the Australian carrier offered 35 New Zealand cents per share. New Zealand owns 82% of its flag carrier. Qantas said talks with ANZ haven't moved beyond the preliminary stages that were revealed last week (DAILY, May 31).
US Airways systemwide traffic for May declined 17.1% from the same month last year to 3.65 billion revenue passenger miles, the airline reported yesterday. Capacity was down 20.6% to 4.96 billion available seat miles, and load factor was 73.6%, an increase of 3.1 percentage points. Domestic traffic dropped 19.6% with a 23% capacity decline, and international traffic was down 6.2% with an 8.4% capacity reduction. Traffic declined 17% for the first five months of this year, compared with a 19.5% drop in capacity.
NTSB Chairman Marion Blakey wants her agency to get its "products" out faster, and is confident that things like major accident reports that are "taking too long" can be expedited "without cutting corners." Juggling increasing demands will make the goal a challenging one, however: Since October 2001, NTSB representatives have participated in 14 aviation investigations outside the U.S., as well as several big ones domestically, notably American 587.
FAA wants to significantly im-prove the accuracy of weather forecasting over the next decade, agency officials said this week at a National Academy of Sciences workshop on the role of forecasting in traffic flow management. Improving forecasting would help mitigate the weather-related delays that cause major system disruptions and additional costs, airlines say.
American and United are pleased with their on-time performance in May, touting their Memorial Day completion records of 99.9% and 99.6%, respectively. AA CEO Don Carty recently told employees that with month-to-date on-time arrivals at 84.3%, he hoped AA would "lead the pack" among majors, with United expressing similar expectations. For May 2001, AA ranked eighth and United ninth, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report.
U.S. government draft proposal circulated yesterday for liberalizing aviation rights with Hong Kong would expand cargo and passenger carrier rights and would allow bilateral, same-country and third-country code sharing while seeking a commitment from Hong Kong for talks on further liberalization next year. Negotiators for the two countries are scheduled to meet in Washington June 18-19.
Lockheed Martin's Common Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) is up and running at the newly commissioned St. Louis Gateway Tracon, helping the facility increase capacity by a factor of 10, compared with the old TRACON. The new Gateway Tracon, located in St. Charles, Mo., will control more than 600,000 flight operations annually around St. Louis. Gateway provides air traffic control services to five control towers, including St. Louis Lambert Airport. The new system has 10 times the capacity of the 30-year-old ARTS IIIA system at the former St. Louis Tracon. The St.
Lufthansa's CEO Juergen Weber expects a dramatic distortion with regard to security costs in the international airline industry. Weber said at IATA's recent annual general assembly that he expected mushrooming costs for his airline and others that -- unlike the U.S. carriers -- will have to pay for all of the upgrades themselves. Security improvements such as cockpit door monitoring cameras could be as much as $200, 000 per aircraft or around $50 million for Lufthansa's mainline fleet alone.
Oneworld members plan to deepen their alliance through cooperative initiatives that will net $1 billion in expected savings and efficiencies. The eight carriers -- Aer Lingus, American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LanChile and Qantas -- will launch a "major extension of alliance activity," to include cargo, engineering and maintenance, insurance, flight operations training and revenue accounting that will bring substantial savings.
U.S. DOT Inspector General (IG) Kenneth Mead, citing a number of unresolved issues and an increasingly challenging schedule, is skeptical that FAA can meet its goal of getting the first full version of STARS in operation this November in Philadelphia.
A salvage plan is emerging for Transbrasil to give it new ownership and some breathing room to raise capital, nearly six months after the airline, on the brink of bankruptcy, was grounded. An agreement signed last week in Sao Paolo between the Transbrasil Foundation and the family of airline founder Omar Fontana, along with former president and equity holder Antonio Celso Cipriani, transfers the equity shares to the foundation for a single real. The deal gives the foundation 71.58% of the airline and allows it to take over management.
Deep cuts in U.S. airline fares aimed at jump-starting traffic are not working as planned, resulting in lackluster traffic and poor revenues for many of the major operators. Continental's May traffic report, a key indicator of industry trends, showed passenger traffic off 8.3%, compared with May last year. But more damaging in its report was the 6-8% decline of passenger unit revenues. It was a sign that the revenue picture, which worsened in April after gradually improving each month since last September, is getting darker.
