Air France pilots called off a strike planned this week after they reached an agreement with management over a pay raise. Neither side provided details, but the pilots demanded a 1.5% pay increase and the introduction of regular talks about salaries, according to wire reports. -JF
United's board yesterday decided not to waste any time to start an immediate search for a successor to current CEO Jack Creighton. The company's board hired Russell Reynolds Associates to conduct a nationwide search for candidates for the chairman and CEO position. The search should not come as a complete surprise as Creighton said last year when he started that he would only stay long enough to set the carrier on a path to recovery. "I was brought in for the short term to stabilize United and improve the relationship between management and employees," Creighton said.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has called on federal agencies to lift restrictions that prevent transient general aviation aircraft from using three small airports in the Washington, D.C., area. In a letter sent to the Transportation Security Administration last week, AOPA proposed a number of measures that could be applied to transient traffic at these airports to ease security concerns.
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.
Air France pilots called off a strike planned this week after they reached an agreement with management over a pay raise. Neither side provided details, but the pilots demanded a 1.5% pay increase and the introduction of regular talks about salaries, according to wire reports.
Atlas Air recently terminated Arthur Andersen as its independent auditors after seven years. "In light of the difficulties that they currently face, we believe it is in the best interest of our company and our shareholders for Atlas to make a change," said Chief Financial Officer Douglas Carty. At the same time it dismissed Andersen, the company chose Ernst & Young as its new independent auditor. To accommodate the change in auditors and "provide for an orderly transition," the company's release of its first quarter earnings will be delayed until early this month.
German regional carrier Eurowings has named Peter Kranich to serve as Senior Vice President Flight Operations. Kranich directly reports to President and CEO Friedrich-Wilhelm Weitholz. Kranich most recently was chief operating officer of Deutsche BA and previously worked for Lufthansa CityLine, German Cargo and the German armed forces.
The Czech government this week rejected a plan tabled by Transport Minister Jaromir Schling to compensate Czech airlines for losses incurred as a consequence of the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. The government estimated that the losses in question were not large enough to cause serious problems, the minister explained. The Czech authorities did support the airlines indirectly in 2001 by relieving them of customs duties on imported aircraft components.
An arbitrator released a decision Monday on a dispute between TWA and American mechanics' unions that defines how seniority will be affected by the integration of these two groups of workers. Arbitrator Richard Kasher said at the St. Louis and Kansas City airports, TWA employees will be allowed to exercise their full seniority. At cities or stations where TWA's capacity was more than 10% of the combined total of the two carriers, TWA employees will be awarded 25% of their acquired seniority.
French-Italian turboprop manufacturer ATR is making reinforced cockpit doors available as a retrofit to in-service aircraft. ATR said the doors will be able to withstand heavy gun bullets and can be locked from inside. ATR also said airlines can equip their aircraft with cockpit door cameras for pilots to be able to monitor the area immediately outside the door. According to the manufacturer, the doors comply with regulations on smoke, fire detection and cabin depressurization. ATR said the reinforced doors will be available in September.
Hungarian flag carrier Malev and Spain's third-largest airline Air Europa signed a code-sharing agreement for flights between Budapest and Madrid, announced both airlines yesterday. Joint operations start today, and the agreement will be extended to frequent flyer systems and ground-handling. "Since Hungary is one of the first candidates which will integrate an enlarged European Community, this agreement is of great importance to Air Europa' international development strategy", said Air Europa General Manager Manual Panadero. -JF
The transport committee in the Swiss national parliament has voted against ratification of the treaty between Germany and Switzerland regulating traffic to and from Zurich airport. The move will most likely spark another round of political tension and, possibly, lawsuits between the two countries.
EasyJet recently took delivery of a new Boeing 737-700, taking the current fleet size up to 31 aircraft. The new arrival is the 13th 737-700 in the fleet and will be based at Liverpool.
FAA this week proposed a $247,500 civil penalty against American for offering an unmarked oxygen generator to FedEx to be flown from New York Kennedy to Tulsa, Okla., a violation of federal hazardous material regulations. FAA alleges that a package containing the generator was not properly classed, described, packed, marked, labeled and in condition for shipment when it was offered to FedEx on Aug. 21, 2001. The shipment was carried onboard a FedEx flight from JFK to AA's Tulsa maintenance center, where the violation was discovered by AA personnel.
German regional carrier Eurowings has named Peter Kranich to serve as Senior Vice President Flight Operations. Kranich directly reports to President and CEO Friedrich-Wilhelm Weitholz. Kranich most recently was chief operating officer of Deutsche BA and previously worked for Lufthansa CityLine, German Cargo and the German armed forces.
A Chicago O'Hare watchdog group, Aviation Integrity Project, formed at the behest of Chicago's suburban mayors "to investigate waste and corruption" at the airport, is accusing Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) of taking $140,752 in campaign funds from contributors with contracts or economic interest in the airport. Durbin introduced the National Aviation Capacity Expansion Act to expand O'Hare, which is strongly opposed by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.).
LanChile, through its code share with American, has introduced service from five U.S. West Coast cities through its hub in Los Angeles to a number of destinations in South America with just one ticket and through-check to final destinations. The new gateways are San Jose, Oakland and San Diego, Calif.; Phoenix, Ariz., and Las Vegas, Nev.
The de facto ban on flight training of new foreign-national students in U.S. schools could drag on for months as the Department of Justice goes through a formal rulemaking process to set up an approval procedure for flight students, according to industry officials. U.S. schools stopped training foreign nationals in November after Congress included a measure in the Aviation Transportation and Security Act that requires up to a 45-day DOJ review of prospective non-U.S. students who seek training on aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds or more.
CCAIR, in an expedited ratification vote, yesterday accepted a contract proposed by management. A tentative agreement was reached between the Air Line Pilots Association's CCAIR Master Executive Council and the airline on April 17. In a statement, CCAIR MEC Chairman Brian Billups said the vote indicates that CCAIR pilots "are willing to make sacrifices to keep CCAIR alive."
United yesterday reduced preflight arrival time of passengers not checking bags to 60 minutes. Customers who have baggage to check should still get to the airport at least 90 minutes before they fly, and customers who are flying to an international destination should arrive at least two hours before departure.
American will finish April with an approximately 99% completion factor despite poor weather in Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago and St. Louis. As of yesterday, the airline completed 99.1% of flights, and 85% arrived on time. "Given the weather challenges, those are quite good numbers," CEO Don Carty said to employees.
Air Anatolia will lease two Boeing 757-200s from IEM Airfinance. Teams of the lease were not disclosed. The Turkish charter carrier also operates two 737s and three Airbus A300B4s.
Delta Hub Profile Dallas/Fort Worth Origin and Destinations, Segment Summary and Top Nonstop Markets Origination and Destination Data 12 Months 12 Months Ended June Ended June % 2001 1997 Change Dallas/Fort Worth Total (All Carriers) O&D Passengers 19,752,820 17,739,210 11.4%
American yesterday told officials from Long Beach, Calif., that JetBlue's current slot agreement with the city violates federal law it is "prepared to vindicate our rights," if the issue is not resolved.
