Travelocity.com and Expedia recently turned down an offer to list a special online fare offer from Northwest, according to an airline source. The carrier offered both sites a restricted fare from the U.S. to Frankfurt, but the two online agencies refused the offer allegedly because it conflicted with existing preferred partnerships with European carriers. The Northwest fare is now listed on Orbitz.
NTSB Bar Association will present a symposium on safety enforcement proceedings May 7 at the NTSB auditorium in Washington. The program will bring together representatives from NTSB, FAA, DOT and the Transportation Security Administration. For more information, visit NTSBA's web site at www.ntsbbar.org.
American recently launched "Brazos" a new television, print and radio advertising campaign in the U.S. Hispanic market as part of AA's promotion of "More Room Throughout Coach." The commercial aired for the first time over the weekend during the Spanish-language show, Sabado Gigante. "Ponte Comodo" is the tagline of the campaign and focuses on peace of mind, harmony, confidence and trust.
AeroMexico will code share with Japan Airlines between Mexico City and Vancouver, B.C., providing the only available nonstop service between the cities. Operated on Mondays and Fridays with Boeing 747 equipment, this new service opens new options for Canadians to visit Mexico and Mexicans to fly to Vancouver and beyond.
Omni Air International has leased two DC-10-30 freighters and plans to have them available by late summer for charter or long-term wet lease work. The move puts Omni back in the cargo-hauling business for the first time since 1998, when it left the package-hauling market after five years. The carrier will maintain its five-plane passenger aircraft fleet -- which is all DC-10s -- and grow its cargo fleet "conservatively," Omni said.
Daniel Montgomery has been named executive director of the Air Transportation Stabilization Board, replacing Joseph Adams, who will continue as a consultant to the Treasury Department-based board.
World Airways signed three deals that will bring in about $8.5 million this year, the carrier announced. One deal, valued at $3 million, is for weekly DC-10-30 flights between New York Kennedy and Dakar, Senegal from mid-May through September. A second contract, worth about $1.5 million, calls for twice-weekly MD-11 services between Kenney and Port of Spain, Trinidad from late June through September. World also signed a $4 million deal with Homeric Tours to operate an MD-11 services between Kennedy and Athens.
AeroMexico will code share with Japan Airlines between Mexico City and Vancouver, B.C., providing the only available nonstop service between the cities. Operated on Mondays and Fridays with Boeing 747 equipment, this new service opens new options for Canadians to visit Mexico and Mexicans to fly to Vancouver and beyond.
After long negotiations, Frankfurt Airport, the Board of Airline Representatives in Germany (BARIG), German airline association ADL and Lufthansa have reached a five-year deal on landing fees for the country's most important airport. According to the framework agreement that will be retroactive to Jan. 1, the airport will link landing fees to traffic development. According to a newly invented pricing formula, fees will be less if the airport benefits from stronger-than-expected traffic growth but can rise if passenger numbers are below an agreed-upon lower limit.
European Commission Transport Minister Loyola de Palacio today meets with DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and House Transportation Committee Ranking Member James Oberstar (D-Minn.). Aviation security in the post-Sept. 11 era will be at the top of de Palacio's agenda with Mineta, an EC official confirmed. Another topic expected to be broached is open skies, although the official said the state of aviation liberalization might not be talked about as substantively as security issues.
Cyprus Airways has taken delivery of its first Airbus A319 powered by V2500 engines. The aircraft will be deployed on routes to Europe and the Middle East. Cyprus has a second A319 on firm order and already operates six A320s, also powered by V2500s.
Northwest plans to add two weekly seasonal roundtrip flights between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Tokyo, starting July 5 and ending Sept. 28. A third additional weekly roundtrip will be added to the schedule, starting Aug. 4 and operating through Aug. 25. With the additional flights, Northwest's service to Tokyo will reach a record high of 149 weekly passenger flights during the summer peak season. Northwest will operate the additional flights with Boeing 747s.
JetBlue yesterday exercised two more options on Airbus A320s, giving the airline 60 on firm order and keeping it on track to have one of the largest A320 fleets in a few years. Deliveries of the new orders are slated for December 2002 and May 2003. The carrier expects to receive 51 A320s through 2005 -- 12 more this year, 14 in 2003, 13 in 2004, and 12 in 2005. JetBlue operates 24 A320s -- including six that are leased -- and has options and purchase rights for another 48.
Clarification: SkyWest Airlines is under contract to operate all 84 aircraft on order for United, no matter if there is any United-Mesa agreement or not (DAILY, April 26). SkyWest's growth is assured, says VP-Finance Mike Kraupp, and profitability levels of existing service for United varies and rates are confidential.
UPS yesterday announced it will build major new facilities at Vancouver Airport that will make it the carrier's third-largest hub in Canada, after Toronto and Montreal. The 125,000-square-foot facility will open in 2004 and will have three times the sorting capacity of the current Vancouver operation. It will feature four acres of ramp space and will be situated on land adjacent to the north runway earmarked for airside commercial and cargo operations.
American yesterday operated its final Boeing 727 passenger flight. The carrier previously operated the largest 727 fleet, at one time flying 182 of the tri-jets. The last 727 flight was operated from Miami to Raleigh/Durham. The carrier has been retiring the 727s on an accelerated basis and replacing them with 737-800s. The 737 flies about the same number of passengers farther and higher, yet consumes about 60% less fuel per passenger than the 727, AA said.
Atlantic Coast Airlines likely will receive all 32 Fairchild Dornier 328JETS on order with deliveries to resume shortly, James Parker of Raymond James predicts. Germany and the State of Bavaria will guarantee funding to keep FD going, he says. ACA will continue to operate Jetstream 41s it had planned to remove as 328JETS were delivered.
European Commission Transport Minister Loyola de Palacio today meets with DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) and House Transportation Committee Ranking Member James Oberstar (D-Minn.). Aviation security in the post-Sept. 11 era will be at the top of de Palacio's agenda with Mineta, an EC official confirmed. Another topic expected to be broached is open skies, although the official said the state of aviation liberalization might not be talked about as substantively as security issues.
Delta yesterday got the green light from DOT to code share between the U.S. and Taiwan with China Airlines. Delta will start offering the new service June 1. Delta and China Airlines last year signed a marketing deal that included an opportunity to put Delta's code on China Airlines' daily flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York Kennedy to Taipei. China Airlines, in turn, will add its code to Delta flights from LAX and San Francisco to Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Salt Lake City, Tampa and Cincinnati.
Continental today starts its previously announced daily nonstop service between Houston and Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the third European city served nonstop from Houston by Continental, after London and Paris. Continental also operates daily nonstop service between Newark and Amsterdam, launched in 1999.
House Transportation Committee Chair Don Young (R-Alaska) and aviation subcommittee Chair John Mica (R-Fla.) yesterday introduced legislation to arm pilots in the cockpit. The bill in effect usurps a similar measure passed under the Aviation Transportation Security Act. Pilots contend that the Bush administration has done nothing to forward the issue, and the Young-Mica bill "puts teeth" into the Act, said Steve Luckey, a pilot with Northwest and chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association Security Committee.
JetBlue yesterday exercised two more options on Airbus A320s, giving the airline 60 on firm order and keeping it on track to have one of the largest A320 fleets in a few years. Deliveries of the new orders are slated for December 2002 and May 2003. The carrier expects to receive 51 A320s through 2005 -- 12 more this year, 14 in 2003, 13 in 2004, and 12 in 2005. JetBlue operates 24 A320s -- including six that are leased -- and has options and purchase rights for another 48.
A Raytheon-led team has finished the first phase of an air traffic management modeling and simulation system that NASA and FAA will use to assess concepts for improving the National Airspace System. The first phase included defining system requirements and developing a prototype. Team members include Seagull Technology, SAIC, Intelligent Automation, Metron, Booz-Allen&Hamilton, Titan SRC, SCATS, and representatives from several airlines and universities, as well as Raytheon.
