IATA yesterday named Giovanni Bisignani director general and CEO, succeeding Pierre Jeanniot. Bisignani will assume his post after IATA's general meeting June 3-4. Bisignani recently was CEO of Opodo, online travel agency in Europe, and is a former CEO of Alitalia.
A bill to expand Chicago O'Hare, develop an airport at Peotone and keep Meigs Field open, introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) late Wednesday, came before the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday with strong support from some of the Illinois delegation but with calls from others for greater consideration for regional airports that could handle overflow from Chicago O'Hare.
In a significant blow to Pratt&Whitney, Frontier Airlines yesterday changed its Airbus A318 engine order to CFM56 equipment due to growing delays in the new PW600 engine. Frontier previously ordered five A318s, plus five options, that were to be powered by the PW6000 engine. However, the P&W engine has hit performance delays that would delay deliveries until mid-2006, the airline said. Frontier plans to take the same number of A318s in the revised order, although with different engines.
Following a brief loss of momentum late last year, Boeing's Sonic Cruiser program is back up to full speed, moving toward final design decisions later this year and an entry into service -- assuming it's ordered and launched -- in late 2008. Following a brief slowdown as the industry shifted priorities following Sept. 11 and the subsequent traffic downturn, Boeing has resumed "very in-depth discussions" with most of the world's major international carriers in the last month, Sonic Cruiser program VP and GM Walt Gillette said yesterday.
Airbus A380 work at the company's Bremen, Germany, plant got underway recently with the joining of two pieces of metal that will form a connector between frames, stringers, and the aft-wing fuselage. A380 production started in January at the company's Nantes, France, facility (DAILY, Jan. 24).
International Lease Finance Corp. placed aircraft with several international airlines. ILFC plans to lease a used Boeing 767-300ER to Air Holland for six years, with delivery scheduled in May. Italian carrier Volare Airlines signed a deal with ILFC for five Airbus A330-200s. Volare will dry-lease four used A330s and one new A330 for 10 years. The new aircraft are scheduled for delivery in November 2004. Cape Verde Islands-based TACV inked a deal to lease a used Boeing 737-300 from ILFC for five years.
The U.S. Aerospace Commission is calling on Washington to ensure that key air traffic modernization projects are fully funded in 2003 "and beyond," and wants to see a "multi-agency" task force charged with charting the evolution of the National Airspace System (NAS).
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic Results By Month Change in Traffic, Capacity and Load Factor Percent Chnage From Previous Year - Revenue Passenger Miles October November December January February 2001 2001 2001 2002 2002 Alaska -7.3 -4.7 -5.1 0.5 3.0 America West -11.7 -17.9 -15.0 -16.7 -14.4 American -27.9 -25.0 -17.4 -15.6 -13.7
Continental Connection will begin service March 25 between Allentown and 12 northeastern cities via its new micro-hub in Albany, N.Y., operated by CommutAir. The carrier will operate service to Syracuse, Rochester, Long Island/Islip, Pittsburgh, Saranac Lake/Lake Placid, New York LaGuardia, White Plains and Buffalo, New York; Burlington, Vt.; Portland, Maine; Manchester, N.H., and Providence, R.I. John Sullivan, CEO of CommutAir, said passengers have asked for shorter flight times, "and that is exactly what we offer with our Albany hub."
Larry Nagin, US Airways executive VP-corporate affairs and general counsel and long-time confidant to Stephen Wolf, said yesterday that he will retire at the end of the month. Sources said Nagin was planning to retire last November but stayed on when former CEO Rakesh Gangwal suddenly resigned. Nagin, 61, has served as US Airways general counsel since February 1996 and now will be a consultant to the airline. Separately, Wolf yesterday chaired a US Airways board meeting as a non-executive of the airline.
Bombardier's regional aircraft division has shown surprising resilience during the commercial aviation downturn, company executives report, and a healthy backlog should help bridge the gap between continued tough times and the projected economic rebound in late 2002.
SkyTeam alliance is about 90% complete, according to Delta CEO Leo Mullin. He told The DAILY this week that he would still like a partner in Southeast Asia and Brazil, but "loading up with partners is not what we're about at all." He added there is currently no need to establish a independent management structure for SkyTeam, similar to those of Star and oneworld. Instead, SkyTeam will use a "collaborative model."
Despite a slowdown in air travel after Sept. 11, Dubai Airport handled 13.5 million passengers last year, an increase of 10% over the previous year. Cargo grew 9.1% handling 633,000 tons. Both segments fell short, however, of the forecast of 14 million and 650,000 tons, respectively, but the airport's performance surpassed that of most facilities in the region.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals February 2001 to January 2002 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 2001 February Domestic 1,129,463,047 957,914,090 84.811 International 398,478,937 347,767,733 87.274
FleetWatch Air India AircraftMarch March 1997 2002 747-200B 9 4 747-300 SCD 2 2 747-400 6 6 A300B4-100/-200 3 3 A310-300 11 13 TOTAL 31 28 AOM French Airlines Aircraft March March
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) yesterday introduced bipartisan legislation to expand Chicago O'Hare, build a third airport at Peotone and keep Chicago's Meigs Field open. The bill has 24 bipartisan co-sponsors and stresses the importance of increased air service in the Gary, Ind., and Greater Rockford airports, he said. Durbin, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Transportation subcommittee, said O'Hare is "as much the nation's airport as it is Chicago's."
DOT yesterday imposed scheduling filing requirements on Japanese all-cargo carriers in retaliation for Japan's new roadblocks to Delta's plans to return borrowed Tokyo Narita slots to FedEx. DOT says Japan's action violates the terms of the landmark 1998 U.S.-Japan bilateral agreement.
In another surprise move, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) granted domestic carrier Xiamen Airlines the rights to operate international flights. Xiamen is the ninth Chinese carrier to have such rights. The others are China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China, China Southwest Airlines, China Northern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Xinjiang Airlines and China Northwest Airlines.
Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier is not interested in buying rival Fairchild Dornier, the company's President and CEO Robert Brown told analysts in Toronto. The concern had been named by industry sources as one potential strategic partner for Fairchild Dornier, which seeks additional funding for the development of its regional jet family centered on the 728, which is being officially rolled out at the company's headquarters in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, today.
Air Canada and Spanair yesterday inked an alliance that will coincide with the April 7 launch of Air Canada's new service between Toronto and Madrid. The Air Canada-Spanair agreement covers reciprocal participation in frequent flyer programs, schedule coordination, through check-in, lounge access and, subject to government approval, code-sharing on select routes.
Quiet Climb System -- Reduces community noise and pilot workload during takeoff. Vertical Situation Display -- Displays vertical profile of aircraft flight path, indicating potential terrain conflict. Navigation Performance Scales -- Minimizes flight delays and increases airspace capacity by navigating through narrower flight path with higher accuracy. Global Positioning Landing System -- Satellite-based landing system that opens new airports and runways. (Honeywell, Rockwell products)
Expedia promoted Erik Blachford to president of Expedia, North America. In his new role, Blachford will oversee North American engineering, sales and marketing initiatives. Richard Barton remains president and CEO.
Orbitz CEO Jeff Katz yesterday said he "welcomes" DOT's informal study of the online travel marketplace, noting that the report should produce similar results as the 2001 study. "The DOT review is nothing new," Katz said. "In fact, in a previous regulatory reviews Orbitz was cleared of any competitive issues," adding that he is confident that "this study will reaffirm our pro-competition, pro-consumer position."
Franz Guns, CEO of Asur, the airport consortium that manages several airports in southeastern Mexico, said the group's plans did not call for turning Cancun into an international hub. This has surprised government authorities directly involved. Authorities in the state of Quintana Roo, where the airport is located, are requesting Asur to reconsider this strategy within its long-term development plan "because its geographic and physical features make Cancun an ideal natural location for a passenger hub."
Despite a travel downturn, Taca Peru closed 2001 with an increase of 58% in passenger traffic from 2000 and a 64% load factor, according to Sol Aramburu, sales director of Grupo Taca for South America. The most profitable routes were from Lima to Buenos Aires, Caracas and Sao Paulo. Aramburu said that since Taca Peru made major adjustments before Sept. 11, it is now profitable. The carrier is only 2.5 years old and has the youngest fleet in South America, with Airbus A320s and A319s. The airline expects continued growth in 2002.
