House Transportation Committee today will hold a markup on air traffic control contract towers legislation, a bill to fund the NTSB and legislation on environmental streamlining. Republicans and Democrats yesterday were trying to work out differences in the environmental streamlining bill. Sources said transportation subcommittee Chair John Mica (R-Fla.) likely will introduce a manager's amendment to the NTSB bill to replenish emergency funding beyond the current $2 million level.
US Airways recently added priority airport security lines for frequent flyers at four of its gateway airports -- Boston, Charlotte, New York LaGuardia and Pittsburgh. The expansion follows the airline's development of experimental priority security lines at Philadelphia, which became a permanent feature this month. "We are currently evaluating additional airports in US Airways' network where it would be practical and beneficial to our customers to offer priority lines," said Alan Crellin, executive VP-operations.
United continued to meet with the International Association of Machinists yesterday in an effort to reach agreement on a new contract for the carrier's ramp and public contact workers before a formal arbitration meeting tomorrow. Because the contract has not yet been resolved, IAM said it would not participate in a separate meeting with labor groups called tomorrow by management, which is expected to propose employee concessions. Other major union groups said they will attend, but are unlikely to be interested in concession proposals.
Cathay Pacific and its wholly owned subsidiary Air Hong Kong this week announced plans to restructure their cargo operations by transferring aircraft and routes to Cathay. Starting July 1, Air Hong Kong will stop serving Brussels, Manchester and Dubai, while Cathay plans to add Manchester and Brussels to its cargo destinations, subject to government approval. Air Hong Kong operates three Boeing 747-200 freighters leased from Cathay, two of which will be returned to resume operations with Cathay.
More than 100 workers at three Washington-area airports were arrested yesterday for providing fraudulent information that was used to obtain identification that allowed access to restricted areas of the airports.
Lufthansa, which had 10 aircraft carrying 2,100 passengers diverted to Canada following the closure of U.S. airspace on Sept. 11, will christen a new Airbus 340 the "Gander Halifax" at a May 16 event. The carrier will fly in 20 people from each of the two Canadian cities, which provided hospitality for stranded passengers for 75 of 240 aircraft grounded in Canada.
Despite reports by auditors KPMG that cast doubt on Great Lakes' ability to survive, CEO Douglas Voss said he is pleased with fourth quarter results "all things considered." Auditors last week in a securities filing noted Great Lakes suffered "significant losses and has current liabilities in excess of current assets, which raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern."
Security screening performed by Argenbright at most of the about 40 U.S. airports where it held contracts is being taken over this week by other contractors providing those services under contract with the Transportation Security Administration, a TSA spokesman confirmed. TSA, required to have an all-federal employee screener work force in place by Nov.
In yet another turn of events, Switzerland's new airline, Swiss, has dropped plans to rename the company "Swiss Air Lines." Instead, the administrative board has proposed "Swiss International Air Lines" as the new official name, but the airline will still use the brand "Swiss." The decision is subject to approval by the annual general assembly on May 13. The company stated that while it was convinced it had the right to use the originally planned name, the brand could suffer in a potential lawsuit and funds would be bound unnecessarily.
A two-day meeting between the IATA Japan User Charges Board (JUCB) and the Narita Airport Authority (NAA) on user charges reduction ended in a stalemate. This is the fifth round of pricing negotiations in a process that began last July in preparation of the opening of Narita's second runway, which opened to traffic on April 18. During the discussions, IATA JUCB revised the earlier proposed landing charges by 100 yen to 1,950 yen per ton. NAA, however, insists on maintaining an inflated price of 2,400 yen per ton.
CMC Electronics Inc., formerly Canadian Marconi, will upgrade up to 34 Japan Airlines Boeing 747 Classic flight decks with its CMA-900 flight management system and CMA-2012 satellite communications (satcom) antenna, the supplier said. The deal covers 18 aircraft and gives JAL 16 options. Deliveries will start next year and run through 2004. Some 61 airlines and several more corporate customers have ordered the CMA-2102. Forty carriers -- including four with 747 Classics -- have ordered the CMA-900.
Boeing's acknowledgement that some upgraded cockpit door designs won't meet decompression regulations is evidence that the secure flight deck effort should include bulkheads and floors around the doors, the Air Line Pilots Association said. ALPA, in comments to DOT, emphasized that it continues to believe that more than just doors must be redesigned to improve aircraft security.
American Trans Air parent Amtran, despite a 4.9% drop in revenues, reported a $10.1 million operating profit in the first quarter as unit cost fell by more than 12%. The carrier eked out a slim $1.5 million profit, only the second U.S. major airline behind Southwest to report a gain in the quarter, compared with a $4.8 million loss last year. CEO John Tague gave credit to the efficiency and reliability of its scheduled fleet, which is undergoing a renewal, for reducing unit costs 12.5% to 7.44 cents per mile.
U.S. and Russia incorporated formally for the first time in their aviation agreement cross-polar routings that traverse Russian airspace, including in an annex what had been extrabilateral rights. During talks held in Moscow April 9-11, the U.S. and Russia also renewed through April 11, 2004, the annexes to their aviation agreement, according to a DOT spokesman. Those annexes had lapsed over a year ago. Additionally, the two sides achieved agreement on increasing from 28 to 42 the number of U.S.
The majority of corporate travel buyers are planning to cut airline travel expenses even further this year, according to a new business travel survey. The report, expected to be released today, notes that 60% of the 182 participating corporate/organization buyers of air services are try to further reduce expenditures on airline services in 2002. This is not good news for airlines, following a year in which large organizations reduced air travel spending by 16.5%, compared with 2000. The report, which focused only on air travel, was sponsored by The Unisys Corp.
After a six-month hiatus, DOT reopened its efforts to establish market-based initiatives that airports can use to address congestion and delays. Yesterday, DOT set a new 90-day comment period to gauge industry views on a list of questions relating to airport demand management. The responses to these questions will help the government decide its policy on demand management.
Smiths Aerospace will produce the landing gear deployment system for the Airbus A380, the fourth contract the company has snagged for work on the superjumbo. Smiths also has subcontracts for work on wing flaps and slats, landing gear actuators and wing structure assemblies.
Bulgaria's troubled carrier Balkan Airlines plans to set up a co-operation agreement with Air One, the low-cost Italian carrier. "It was decided that both sides should prepare by May 15 a plan, which should lead to signing a contract for cooperation," Balkan said. The agreement is expected to pertain to Balkan's international destinations.
American Trans Air parent Amtran, despite a 4.9% drop in revenues, reported a $10.1 million operating profit in the first quarter as unit cost fell by more than 12%. The carrier eked out a slim $1.5 million profit, only the second U.S. major airline behind Southwest to report a gain in the quarter, compared with a $4.8 million loss last year. CEO John Tague gave credit to the efficiency and reliability of its scheduled fleet, which is undergoing a renewal, for reducing unit costs 12.5% to 7.44 cents per mile.
Delta plans to launch summer service from Cincinnati to Rome in addition to new weekend service to Cancun, Mexico. Daily MD-11 Rome nonstops will start July 1 and run through September. SkyTeam partner Alitalia will offer code-share service on the new flight. Rome is the largest transatlantic destination not already served nonstop by Delta from Cincinnati, carrier officials said.
Boeing is not going to invest in insolvent regional aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier, according to Boeing Vice Chairman Harry Stonecipher and Boeing Commercial Airplane Group CEO Alan Mulally. Stonecipher told The DAILY in Chicago that Boeing has studied the move but concluded that it would not go ahead with an investment.
