Brazil's Embraer is preparing to bid against its major competitor, Canada's Bombardier, for an order of 70 regional jets from US Airways, one of the largest purchases of this type of aircraft ever made by a U.S. carrier. Some analysts see in the $1.4 billion deal a new threat to negotiations now going on between Brazil and Canada within the framework of the World Trade Organization, which ultimately seeks to discard trade retaliations for government subsidies to both carriers.
Worldspan offers electronic ticketing functionality for flights booked in Brazil on American, Continental, Lufthansa and United. E-ticketing in Brazil will be extended to additional carriers "in the near future," the company said.
American will meet with Long Beach Municipal Airport officials on April 29 to discuss the airline's dispute with the airport over its slot allocation policy. The airport has granted American temporary use of four slots, but the carrier is seeking to gain their permanent use. JetBlue has been allocated 27 slots, but will not use all of them until May 2003. According to American, only 17 of the airport's 41 slots are in use.
The functional integration that Avianca and subsidiary SAM, plus Aces, will start implementing in Colombia May 20, will operate under the brand name of Summa Alliance. Meaning "summit" in Latin, Summa has been chosen to convey passengers an optimum travel experience. Summa's own logo, a winged, butterfly-like stylized image serves as umbrella for the smaller Avianca, SAM and Aces logos and will be used in aircraft livery and all alliance communications and documents.
American recently began installing new seats in the first-class cabin of its Fokker 100s. The seats have a larger cocktail tray table and have the first lumbar support pillow installed on AA's domestic, narrowbody aircraft. The seat pitch in the first-class cabin of the F100s will grow from 38 to 40 inches after the installation is complete. The airline spent several months testing the seats and seeking input from employees and frequent flyers. BE Aerospace manufactured the seats, and the first aircraft with the new seats entered service last month.
Latin America's aviation industry, still under pressure from the aftermath of Sept. 11, will recover in 18 to 20 months and traffic will return to 8.3% annual growth, the highest rate in the world, said Daniel Da Silva, Boeing's deputy VP-sales for Latin America.
Pan Am Airways wants rights to operate flights between points in the U.S. and points in Costa Rica, requesting grant of the authority by May 15. It plans Miami-San Jose daily nonstops beginning July 10, using Boeing 727-200 aircraft in a 149-seat "spacious 'Clipper Class'" configuration. The request is consistent with U.S.-Costa Rica open skies, Pan Am noted in its application. LACSA, American and Iberia fly daily nonstops in the market, with three-times weekly service by Martinair; TACA and COPA offer one-stops via points in Central America.
Argenbright, replaced by other firms at 29 U.S. airports, continues to operate security screening on a temporary basis at six airports -- Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Grand Rapids, Orlando, New York Kennedy and San Francisco -- until a replacement can be installed, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokesman.
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.
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.
The Wayne County Commission filed a lawsuit Monday in an effort to stop control of Detroit Metropolitan Airport being handed over to a new independent authority. A hearing for a temporary restraining order is scheduled for Tomorrow. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, names the County Executive Ed McNamara, Michigan Gov. John Engler (R), and the FAA. Engler recently signed a state bill that creates a seven-member authority that will take over airport oversight from Wayne County. A spokeswoman for Gov.
All Nippon Airways' international bookings for its "Golden Week" holiday period are down 12%, largely due to reduced capacity. Golden Week, April 27-May 6, includes a series of national holidays, such as the emperor's birthday, now Green Day, Constitution Day, Citizen's Day and Children's Day. ANA's transpacific flights "continued a recovery" trend as bookings declined 21% in contrast to a 28.5% reduction in available seats.
There is no short-term recovery in sight for Mexican airlines, deeply affected by the worldwide aviation crisis, Mexican industry analyst Jose Luis Montemayor Jasso told daily El Universal. Mexico must nonetheless renew its aging aircraft fleet and acquire 391 new aircraft over the next 20 years worth $21 billion.
United in June plans to temporarily suspend its daily service between New York Kennedy and Buenos Aires largely due to weak demand in the region. The carrier currently offers Boeing 767-300 service on the route but will suspend the flight between June 7 and Oct. 31 because of "economic uncertainties" in Argentina, according to a spokeswoman. The airline will continue to offer daily Miami-Buenos Aires flights with 777s. United last year battled other U.S. major airlines to gain additional route authorities to the region.
Pan Am Airways wants rights to operate flights between points in the U.S. and points in Costa Rica, requesting grant of the authority by May 15. It plans Miami-San Jose daily nonstops beginning July 10, using Boeing 727-200 aircraft in a 149-seat "spacious 'Clipper Class'" configuration. The request is consistent with U.S.-Costa Rica open skies, Pan Am noted in its application. LACSA, American and Iberia fly daily nonstops in the market, with three-times weekly service by Martinair; TACA and COPA offer one-stops via points in Central America.
United in June plans to temporarily suspend its daily service between New York Kennedy and Buenos Aires largely due to weak demand in the region. The carrier currently offers Boeing 767-300 service on the route but will suspend the flight between June 7 and Oct. 31 because of "economic uncertainties" in Argentina, according to a spokeswoman. The airline will continue to offer daily Miami-Buenos Aires flights with 777s. United last year battled other U.S. major airlines to gain additional route authorities to the region.
Southwest recently took delivery of a pair of new Boeing 737-700s, bringing its fleet total to 364. So far this year, the carrier has accepted delivery of 12 new aircraft from Boeing, while retiring three -200s.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals March 2001 to February 2002 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 2001 March Domestic 1,239,732,882 985,447,481 79.489 International 466,698,380 389,288,810 83.413
All Nippon Airways' international bookings for its "Golden Week" holiday period are down 12%, largely due to reduced capacity. Golden Week, April 27-May 6, includes a series of national holidays, such as the emperor's birthday, now Green Day, Constitution Day, Citizen's Day and Children's Day. ANA's transpacific flights "continued a recovery" trend as bookings declined 21% in contrast to a 28.5% reduction in available seats. On the domestic front, reservations for ANA and its subsidiaries remained level at about 1.3 million bookings, rising 0.5% from the previous year.
Bombardier's regional jet production lines remained silent yesterday as some 7,400 workers extended their strike to a ninth day. No talks have been held since the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 712 rejected the company's last offer on April 13, and none are scheduled. The union's latest contract expired Nov. 30.
Star Alliance last week at Tokyo's Narita Airport started running an airside transfer bus between Terminals 1 and 2 for the alliance's international-to-international connection customers. Alliance carriers currently serving Narita are United, Singapore Airlines and Varig in T1 and ANA, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Thai Airways, SAS, Austrian and Air New Zealand in T2. The shuttle "Star Bus" will have a logo of the 10 Star carriers in Narita.
Latin America's aviation industry, still under pressure from the aftermath of Sept. 11, will recover in 18 to 20 months and traffic will return to 8.3% annual growth, the highest rate in the world, said Daniel Da Silva, Boeing's deputy VP-sales for Latin America.
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.
