UAL's board last week named John Walker as a new member to fill the position vacated by Jack Creighton when he became CEO. Walker is CEO of West Virginia-based Weirton Steel Corp. Walker joined Weirton in March 2000 as president and chief operating officer and was named to his present position in January 2001. The board met Thursday in Chicago at the company's headquarters and also heard an update on safety and security.
LanChile on April 4 will introduce service from Vancouver via Los Angeles as part of its code-share alliance with Alaska Airlines. The Latin carrier aims to offer passengers easier and quicker connections between Western Canada and Chile and other South American destinations. The code share includes reciprocal benefits and mutually accrued mileage in frequent flyer programs. To handle expanded operations in Western North America, LanChile named marketing executive Juan Ricardo Castillo sales director.
Delta, effective immediately, cut the recommended airport arrival time for passengers on domestic flights from two hours to at least one hour before departure. Beginning April 15, however, Delta will require that passengers be checked in and at the gate for their flights at least 15 minutes prior to departure, rather than the previous 10-minute limit. The new rule aims to improve the on-time departure rate. Customers are still required to complete baggage check 30 minutes before departure.
Data Systems&Solutions (DSS), the Rolls-Royce/SAIC joint venture, will provide its real-time, web-accessible engine data trend monitoring for ExpressJet Airlines' fleet of AE 3007s, DSS said. The agreement covers all engines on ExpressJet's fleet of Embraer ERJ135s and 145s for "up to 15 years," starting May 1. ExpressJet operates some 140 ERJs and has more than 100 on order.
Leaders from US Airways" pilots union yesterday blasted new CEO Dave Siegel for warning that the airline's compensation formula is too expensive. In reference to the airline's parity plus 1% pay formula, Siegel told staff Monday, "Continuing to tie our compensation plan to those of the four largest U.S. carriers does not make a lot of sense in today's airline industry environment.
Michigan Gov. John Engler (R) yesterday signed legislation that creates a new, independent seven-member authority to run Detroit Metropolitan Airport. Engler, after signing the bill at the airport's new midfield terminal, said, "A well-run airport sends a signal across the world that Michigan is the right place to travel and do business." The authority will have full control over all airport facilities and operations, including maintenance and security, as well as construction or expansion projects.
Shareholders of Cintra, the holding company that controls AeroMexico and Mexicana, has approved its own restructuring to pave the way for the separate sale of these major carriers, plus their subsidiaries and affiliates, through a scheme that will safeguard their economic value and strategic position.
Hong Kong-based Dragonair will increase services to 14 of its 17 destinations in China with the summer schedule. Shanghai will rise to 56 flights a week from eight and Beijing to 42 from 37. Xiamen will increase to 11 from daily; Hangzhou and Nanjing to 10 a week from daily; Guilin to nine a week from daily, and Chengdu to eight a week from daily. Kunming and Qingdao will go up by one to five weekly, Chingqing doubled to four weekly, Changsha, Dalian and Ningbo from twice weekly to three a week and Wuhan to twice weekly.
Oneworld named Filip Lemmens corporate sales manager, in line with the alliance's plans to aggressively pursue corporate contracts. In his new role " which follows a shuffling of responsibilities among the alliance's central sales team " Lemmens will be responsible for developing a strategy for the group's corporate sales product and oneworld global sales. He will continue to report to Maunu von Lueders, VP-sales, working from the Vancouver offices of the oneworld management company. Before joining oneworld, Lemmens worked for American in his native Belgium.
There were 531 fatalities attributed to U.S. scheduled airliner crashes last year, with half occurring in the four aircraft hijacked on Sept. 11, according to National Transportation Safety Board statistics. Last year's total was the highest since 1977, when a KLM Boeing 747 collided with a Pan Am 747 in the Canary Islands.
United next month plans to start implementing a new type of corporate contract agreement while launching a new software program to more accurately track the deals. "We believe that share-based measurement of our corporate volume agreements versus revenue based is the way the industry has to go," said President Rono Dutta. The airline has contracted with New Mexico-based Prism Group to implement the Corporate Solutions product.
American continues to repaint the 136 TWA aircraft operating in its system. As of March 22, 77 aircraft have the AA livery and eight have the TWA interim livery.
Swiss has signed an agreement with American on a bilateral alliance that is expected eventually to lead to full membership in oneworld. The carrier said the two sides are targeting code-sharing services around their respective hubs in the U.S. and Switzerland, as well as reciprocal frequent flyer program recognition and other typical alliance features. Swiss also plans to replace its13 MD-11s with 13 Airbus A340-300s in a deal worth $1.3 billion, with deliveries starting in summer 2003. Swiss CEO Andre Dose said he expects to join oneworld this year.
The European Union will launch a four-year development of Galileo, the European satellite global positioning system, EU transport ministers announced in Brussels yesterday. "We now have a `yes' for Galileo," said triumphant EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, adding that Europe will consequently expand its presence on the global research and technology scene.
Atlantic Coast will increase regional jet service from Raleigh/Durham to New York LaGuardia June 1. The Delta Connection airline will offer two additional daily roundtrip flights to LGA and Boston, for a total of five nonstops to LGA and four to Boston. Service will be aboard Fairchild Dornier 328JET regional jets.
American Eagle will reinstate its Burlington, Vt., service in May with two regional jet roundtrips from Chicago O'Hare. Senior VP-Marketing and Planning Tom Bacon said it is the first time Eagle has brought RJ service to Vermont. Eagle is an all-jet operator at O'Hare.
Continental Express will begin daily nonstop Lexington, Ky.-New York/Newark service on June 14. The airline will fly 37-seat Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft under its ExpressJet operation.
FAA recently issued its annual commercial aviation forecast. We all know the bad news. Last year's recession, followed by the terrorist attacks, delivered a one-two punch to commercial aviation. Traffic, yields, revenue " are all down. The good news is next year's recovery, with traffic returning to more normal growth rates by 2004.
DOT yesterday issued its 2001 Federal Radionavigation Plan (FRP), underscoring the government's commitment to push on with GPS modernization and pledging to operate Loran-C "in the short term" while it evaluates the system's long-term benefits.
Pilots at American Trans Air are voting to determine whether they will support a strike if contract negotiations with management fail. Results are expected Apr. 5-6. After 19 months of negotiations, the ALPA unit and ATA are split on scope, pay, retirement and insurance, according to union spokesman Matt Ellis. The talks entered mediation under the National Mediation Board in November.
United this quarter will record a one-time $45-55 million charge because it is closing its Avolar subsidiary. The charge is due to payments on aircraft purchases, termination fees and other costs for its business aircraft unit. On the bright side, UAL recently received a $450 million tax refund due to a new law allowing companies to carry back losses five years instead of two.
Avianca's board, meeting recently before the operational alliance now being implemented with Aces, issued the company's balance sheet for 2001. On operational revenues of $582.5 million, it posted net losses of $125.4 million, or $60.9 million less than $185.8 million in 2000. As part of cost cutting, Avianca canceled long-haul flights from Bogota to Paris, Frankfurt and London, and added one daily frequency to Madrid.
Delta Connection will begin regional jet flights from Midland/Odessa-Texas to Dallas/Fort Worth, starting June 9. Service will be operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines, which will inaugurate three daily ASA flights with 50-seat Canadair RJs.
Starting July 1, Qantas will code share on services operated by oneworld partner LanChile between Sydney and Santiago. The three-times-weekly service will operate via Auckland. Qantas General Manager-Sales and Marketing John Borghetti said the Santiago service will replace the airline's flights to Buenos Aires. Borghetti said the change is due to a drop in the number of passengers traveling between the Argentine capital and Australia as a result of Argentina's political and economic turmoil.
