American Vacations is offering 10,000 Aadvantage bonus miles per booking on vacations to Hawaii reserved through May 31 for travel between April 15 and Dec. 15. Specially priced airfares are available along with Alamo car rentals, transfers for Waikiki hotels and optional sightseeing tours. The offer applies to new bookings only and requires a five-night minimum stay. Miles are awarded per booking.
Lauda Air this week took its first winglet-equipped Boeing 737-800. A second new-build 737-800 with winglets will be delivered in July 2003, and the carrier plans to retrofit four in-service planes --two -700s and two -800s -- with the wing-tip additions, which cut fuel burn by up to 4% and add about 150 miles in range, Boeing says. European carriers are flying 110 737s with the winglets, and another 71 aircraft are slated for retrofits
Midwest Express on Sunday resumed nonstop service between Des Moines, Iowa, and Washington National Airport. Also on April 7, Midwest Express resumed nonstop service between Des Moines and Kansas City. The service between Des Moines and Washington National reinstates service that had been suspended following Sept. 11.
Raytheon's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) Early Display Configuration (EDC) entered initial operational capability (IOC) at Bradley International Airport in late March, achieving the goal seven weeks ahead of schedule. Bradley joins Memphis, El Paso and Syracuse as airports where controllers are using the EDC for controlling air traffic.
At a National Mediation Board meeting tomorrow, the International Association of Machinists will request for the United ramp and public employees a release from the contract mediation process. This would initiate the 30-day cooling-off period that could lead to strike action, but IAM told The DAILY it believes the release will spur further talks with the airline. "In the past where we have set a deadline, it made the stakes a little higher," said IAM spokesman Joseph Tiberi. "An atmosphere is created where it is more likely that we will come to an agreement.
The share of hub-based operations as a percentage of total U.S. domestic flying increased last year, reversing a trend of the past two years, according to Salomon Smith Barney analyst Brian Harris. He described the trend as a structural improvement in the airline industry, and a "potentially bullish indicator for the next cycle."
FAA's primary big-airline certification and surveillance initiative, the Air Transportation Oversight System (ATOS), will be a hot topic in Washington this week with today's release of a DOT audit of the program, followed by a hearing tomorrow on the subject.
JetBlue's initial public stock offering is expected to be launched Friday, and is slated to raise $132 million from 5.5 million shares at an estimated price of $22-$24.
Olympic Airways' domestic market share rose to 58% in the first three months of 2002, up from 49% the year before, the troubled Greek carrier said yesterday. For the first time its 50-year history, the company shows figures that are clearly above the European average, the carrier said, adding that improvement in its situation is "evident." Olympic said that its passenger load factor during the first quarter of 2002 was 76%, compared with a European average of 72.6%.
US Airways President and CEO David Siegel has told employees that his new management team will prepare a first draft of a new business plan for the airline within three weeks, and will consult union leadership throughout the process. The Air Line Pilots Association concedes that they are getting more information out of management than they had previously but says that only the final version of the plan will determine whether management is taking a different approach to negotiations.
AirTran yesterday added new daily nonstop service from Akron-Canton to Orlando. It currently operates four daily flights to Atlanta and a Saturday-only nonstop to Orlando from Akron-Canton.
KLM Cargo, following several other airlines including American and Air Canada, will reintroduce a worldwide $0.05 fuel surcharge per kilo of freight fuel, starting May 1. Last year, lower fuel princes prompted the Dutch carrier to withdraw a $ 0.17 per kilo surcharge.
At a National Mediation Board meeting tomorrow, the International Association of Machinists will request for the United ramp and public employees a release from the contract mediation process. This would initiate the 30-day cooling-off period that could lead to strike action, but IAM told The DAILY it believes the release will spur further talks with the airline. "In the past where we have set a deadline, it made the stakes a little higher," said IAM spokesman Joseph Tiberi. "An atmosphere is created where it is more likely that we will come to an agreement."
Scheduled commercial flights at Washington National airport will be permitted at 100% of DCA's pre-Sept. 11 level as of April 15, but plans to restart general aviation operations -- prohibited there for nine months -- are not by any means finalized, according to a DOT spokesman. Statements made Monday by Lee Longmire, Transportation Security Administration civil aviation director, at a briefing with the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) were "premature," the DOT official said.
Note To Readers: We welcome Adrian Schofield as The DAILY's newest reporter. He primarily will tackle the FAA and labor relations, along with some general aviation duties. Adrian joins us from Phillips Publishing, where he was in charge of Commuter/Regional Airline News and World Airline News. Prior to that, he was in charge of Inside FAA at Inside Washington Publishers. We're thrilled to have him aboard and he can be reached at [email protected]. --Michael Miller, Editor-in-Chief
Boeing plans to market its 717 jet to airlines that will need to replace DC-9s and 737s when the industry returns, according to Nicole Piasecki, VP-business strategy and marketing. Piasecki told The DAILY there are customers in Australia that have expressed interest in the 717, which has faced weak sales.
Read Van de Water, DOT assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, speaks to the International Aviation Club at its April 16 luncheon meeting, 12:30 p.m. at the Metro Marriott Hotel, 12th and G Sts. N.W., Washington, D.C. A printable registration form is available at http://www.iacwashington.org, under "Events."
FAA's primary big-airline certification and surveillance initiative, the Air Transportation Oversight System (ATOS), will be a hot topic in Washington this week with today's release of a DOT audit of the program, followed by a hearing tomorrow on the subject.
JetBlue's initial public stock offering is expected to be launched Friday, and is slated to raise $132 million from 5.5 million shares at an estimated price of $22-$24.
Voters in Zurich have refused to allow the city to invest CHF50 million in Switzerland's new airline, Swiss. The money was planned to be part of a CHF2.7 billion recapitalization for Swiss, which emerged out of Crossair and Swissair this month. Swiss stressed that the decision "won't have any impact on our operations." But it is a sign that public opinion is slowly becoming more critical of the airline, which is in an unsolved dispute with former Crossair pilots over seniority issues.
Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) yesterday filed with the National Mediation Board (NMB) seeking to represent Horizon mechanics, now represented by the Transport Workers Union. To file with the NMB, AMFA had to collect a minimum of 50% plus one signature cards from the 450 mechanics and related employees at Horizon. After an NMB review of the cards, which is expected to take about a month, the Horizon employees will vote on the matter.
Read Van de Water, DOT assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, speaks to the International Aviation Club at its April 16 luncheon meeting, 12:30 p.m. at the Metro Marriott Hotel, 12th and G Sts. N.W., Washington, D.C. A printable registration form is available at http://www.iacwashington.org, under "Events."
