Confederation of Olympic Airways' staff union canceled stoppages planned for March 5 after a Greek court declared the strike "illegal and abusive," the union said yesterday. Last week, the union claimed that rescue plans drafted by the government would amount to "destroying the Olympic Group and violating labor, pension and insurance rights."
Pan American Airways, through affiliate Boston Maine Airways, yesterday became the first carrier to enter scheduled service in the Atlantic City market since Sept. 11, but the carrier known as Pan Am 3 has plans to re-enter markets once served by its namesake. The Portsmouth, N.H.-based airline plans to start Pan American World Airways, which would serve the Caribbean and South America (DAILY, Feb. 19), Pan Am President David Fink told The DAILY yesterday in Atlantic City.
Venezuela's airline industry would decline and die if the government proceeds with imposition of a value added tax, according to Humberto Figuera, VP of Venezuela's Airline Association. In a letter to the chairman of the finance committee of the National Assembly, he said the tax would have immediate negative effects on load factors, with subsequent reductions in frequencies, services and schedules.
The attorney general's office of the state of Rio Grande do Sur has demanded that the Ruben Berta Foundation (FRB), the employers holding company that controls the Varig group, explain by Thursday "the complex business re-engineering plan" it started two tears ago to achieve financial health. The presentation will come on the eve of an extraordinary stockholders' meeting to decide on a capital increase by the holding entity and announce a strategic partnership that would bring in new resources while diminishing FRB's control of the group.
U.S. carriers expect this week to launch an airline-funded insurance group to provide an alternative to war risk insurance coverage now offered by the U.S. government slated to end March 20. The plan to establish the Risk Retention Group, under the auspices of the Air Transport Association, comes as carriers face the end of the government coverage, intended to be a short-term solution after private insurers invoked a seven-day cancellation clause following the Sept. 11 attacks, leaving carriers without coverage after Sept. 24. But the real issue comes down to cost.
Southwest, the long-time profitability king, yesterday warned for the second time in six weeks that the company's streak may end this quarter if traffic and revenues do not return this month. As part of its monthly traffic report, Southwest reiterated a previous statement that it is "unable to predict whether or not it will record a profit for first quarter" based on results for the first two months of the year. In January and February, Southwest's traffic fell 4.7% as capacity increased 4.3% from the 2001 level.
United in February saved $20.5 million by having dramatically fewer cancellations, according to an internal message. The carrier posted a 99.4% completion rate. Also last month, 86% of United's flights arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, which is seven points above the airline's internal goal and the highest level since October 1994. By arriving on time, the airline saved $25 million in delay minutes.
Ansett Australia ceased flying yesterday after the Tesna syndicate abandoned its takeover bid of the troubled carrier. The Tesna group, led by Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox, withdrew its offer last week to acquire the Ansett mainline operations, prompting the suspension of flights. The grounding could erase an airline name that has been associated with Australian aviation for 66 years. Ansett and Qantas dominated airline business on the continent for decades until the arrival of new discount carriers, Impulse and Virgin Blue, in recent years.
The lead Airbus A340-600 has been grounded for nearly three weeks because of damage suffered during a rigorous braking test required for certification, but the manufacturer still expects to deliver the first planes to launch customer Virgin Atlantic in June, as scheduled. "This will not affect the certification and delivery schedule of the aircraft," an Airbus spokeswoman said. "Everything is a go, as scheduled."
Airbus and the General Accounting Office are $1.6 billion apart on the estimated costs of preparing the first 14 U.S. airports for the A380. A GAO report released yesterday projects that 14 airports likely to service the Airbus superjumbo by 2010 must pay nearly $2.1 billion to upgrade infrastructure, such as runways, taxiways and terminals. The GAO report included a stinging rebuttal from Airbus Deputy VP Didier Puyplat, who argued airports must pay only about $520 million to complete A380-related improvements.
Northwest plans to start nonstop service between its Minneapolis/St. Paul and Jackson Hole, Wyo., on July 1. The new service will be operated on a seasonal basis through Sept. 30. Northwest will fly the route with an Airbus A319. In addition to being a new route for Northwest, the Jackson Hole nonstops are the carrier's first service to the state of Wyoming.
Valores Bavaria, majority shareholders of Avianca, and the National Federation of Coffee Growers, which holds similar control in Aces, have confirmed the appointment of Juan Emilio Posada, current president of Aces, as president and CEO of the alliance formed by the two carriers, plus Avianca's subsidiary SAM. As the largest airline in Colombia with ample fleet capacity and positive cash flow, the alliance projects revenues of $800 million and a 67% market share, made up by 1.8 million international and 4.5 million domestic passengers, for the first year.
The travel industry ought to be concerned about the "Homeland, Incorporated" power, money and civil liberties grab. This looks like the biggest financial give-away and civil liberties distortion in history, set to impose new expenses on, and drive revenue away from, the industry it is ostensibly designed to save.
Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways are holding talks to review aspects of joint cooperation in flight schedules at the airports of Gulf Council countries. Talks are also on to spread the tie-up on a wider scale at a global level in the future, Ahmed Al Janahi, public relations manager of Gulf Air said.
Money to fund the Transportation Security Administration may have to come out of general appropriations or higher user fees, but Congress "will be willing to spend what it takes" to ensure TSA has enough money to carry out its mission, David Heymsfeld, minority staff director for the House Transportation Committee said. He speculated that money also could come out of the aviation trust fund that has been earmarked for other programs.
FAA is extending is waiver of slot usage at the four slot-controlled airports -- Washington National, New York Kennedy and LaGuardia, and Chicago O'Hare -- until Oct. 26, which it said is "necessary to assist carriers" whose service was disrupted or reduced after Sept. 11.
In an unprecedented move, SAirGroup plans to sue its former regional subsidiary for the use of "Swiss" and "Swiss Air Lines Ltd." as its new brand. Executives at the bankrupt aviation concern believe that rights they hold in the Swissair brand are violated. According to SAirGroup, the brand is worth CHF660 million. Karl Wuethrich, SAirGroup's administrator, said he agreed with the view.
The Brazilian Association of Airlines (SNEA) has issued figures for January that reveal how its members are reacting to the worldwide aviation crisis. While domestic demand grew 1.3% from the same period last year, international demand dropped 5.2%, reflecting consumers' fear to fly. Internationally, Varig registered 81.2% market share in January, followed by TAM with 18.8%.
Continental will not bring its DC-10-30s back into service but will take an $83 million pre-tax charge to retire the leased aircraft from the fleet. The airline took a similar charge for its owned DC-10s in the fourth quarter. The retirement affects all 24 DC-10s Continental owned or leased as of Dec. 31, the carrier said. The airline is advertising five GE CF6-50C2-powered DC-10-30s for sale on its web site and plans to return all leased DC-10-30s to lessors. The DC-10s flying in its system were parked as part of the airline's post-Sept.
U.S.-Hong Kong negotiations ended Friday with no liberalization of the aviation accord, for which there had been much optimism before the three days of meetings. "While both sides said that they would be flexible and that they were open to negotiation, neither side was willing to be the first to put forth a realistic, concrete proposal that could lead to substantive negotiations," according to a U.S. industry source who was among the nearly 30 U.S. government and industry officials attending the talks in Hong Kong.
Aerolineas Argentinas, continuing to resume domestic flights after its financial and labor crisis, in mid-March will start flights to Santiago del Estero and Jujuy, operating four times a week to each destination.
Security, while critical, is not the most important issue in aviation this year, said Sam Whitehorn, Senate Commerce minority counsel -- it's selection of a new FAA administrator. With Jane Garvey's five-year term ending Aug. 4, Whitehorn said finding someone to "fill her shoes is an enormous task." Asked about the absence of a deputy administrator, he said it "would be nice" if the Bush administration "sent up two people" to fill the top two FAA posts.
