FAA's Southern Region proposed a civil penalty of $90,000 against Plane 1 Leasing Co. for flying passengers without requisite FAA authority. FAA said Plane 1 operated 30 flights for hire in the Feb. 23-May 25, 1999, period from its Naples, Fla., base.
Nation of Islam recently contacted DOT regarding its concerns about "potential embarrassment, especially to female Muslims," during airport security and safety procedures.
JetBlue yesterday registered for a $125 million initial public offering of common stock, a move the carrier expects will help finance aircraft acquisitions and support its consistent growth plan. As part of the prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the airline revealed that it posted a full-year 2001 net profit of $38.5 million and operating income of $26.8 million on $320.4 million in revenue. The operating profit excluded $18.7 million of federal compensation it received.
Airlines will hire up to 6,000 pilots this year, AIR Inc. predicts following its fist Airline Pilot Career Seminar Jan. 26 in Dallas, which drew more than 400 pilots and 50 representatives from 16 airlines.
Robert Orr was named president of Boeing Japan. Orr, who was VP and director of European affairs for Motorola, will be based in Tokyo. He has lived and worked in Japan for 16 years.
DOT Secretary Norman Mineta continues his recuperation from hip replacement surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he is "vigorously pursuing" rehabilitation exercises, DOT spokesman Chet Lunner told The DAILY. Mineta is regularly visited by Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson and Chief of Staff John Flaherty, Lunner said, stressing that the secretary is "actively involved in the management of the department," with frequent phone and computer contact.
Travelocity.com signed a distribution agreement with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in which Travelocity.com will package Disney tickets and onsite hotels. Travelocity Vacations will launch the Walt Disney World Resort product by the end of the quarter.
Syracuse, N.Y.-based startup Northern Airlines has hopes that an ambitious $1.8 billion retail and entertainment center planned for the city's lakefront will boost the odds of getting the new carrier airborne. Northern and mall developer The Pyramid Cos. say they are holding talks about a possible investment in the airline by Pyramid, according to DAILY affiliate AviationNow.com. If a deal is cut, Pyramid would provide a major portion of the $60 million the airline is trying to raise to begin service.
Only eight months old, FAA's 10-year plan to update the air traffic system's procedures and technology already is behind budget and faces continued shortfalls, an FAA official said yesterday. "We're short [on cash] now, and we will be short the next eight years," Charles Keegan, FAA's program manager for the Operational Evolution Plan (OEP), said during an Aerospace Commission hearing yesterday.
SAS yesterday reported a pre-tax loss of 1.14 billion Swedish crowns (US$108 million), compared with a 1.72 billion crown profit in 2000. SAS also forecast that its "income before taxes, excluding capital gains, is expected to be negative for the full year 2002 but better than in 2001." Last year, the loss before capital gains was 1.79 billion Swedish crowns, which corresponds to the Group's earlier forecast of losses in the range of 1.5-2 billion crowns.
United Hub Profile San Francisco Origin and Destinations, Segment Summary and Top Nonstop Markets Origination and Destination Data 12 Months 12 Months Ended June Ended June 2001 1997 San Francisco Total (All Carriers) O&D Passengers 20,929,170 21,706,780 -3.6%
IATA said yesterday that it "withheld from publication" a passenger forecast initially scheduled for release in the same month as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and now has replaced it with a "new interim edition." IATA said the interim forecast for 2001-2005 "reflects the sharp impact on the aviation business of the global downturn and Sept. 11." The new forecast, completed with the help of IATA members between November and January, also compares current views with the initial September five-year forecast.
An official of the U.S. Contract Tower Association disagreed with a NATCA interpretation of a court order that FAA complete a report on its decision to contract the operation of the towers instead of using its own air traffic controllers (DAILY, Feb. 12). Spencer Dickerson, executive director of the association and executive VP of the American Association of Airport Executives, said the court order "simply requires FAA to complete a study.
Delta Technology's President and CEO Robert DeRodes resigned after serving with the company since 1999. DeRodes is leaving the Delta wholly owned subsidiary to become executive VP and chief information officer of Home Depot. Delta announced that Curtis Robb will serve as acting chief information officer of Delta and acting president and CEO of Delta Technology. Robb, who previously served as Delta Technology's senior VP and chief technology officer, assumes these new responsibilities effective immediately.
An Iran Air Tours Tupolev Tu-154 crashed into fog-shrouded mountains 15 miles west of Khorramabad, Iran, yesterday morning, apparently killing all 105 passengers and 13 crewmembers. The pilots reportedly lost contact with Khorramabad's control tower shortly before the accident. The flight originated in Tehran.
Virgin Atlantic plans to increase total capacity by 5% in the coming months following signs of improving demand in various markets. Specifically, the airline will add one weekly service between London and Las Vegas (limited to August) and two flights to Newark. As of July 2, Virgin adds a weekly flight to Shanghai, which is then served four times. As of March 19, weekly services to Lagos, Nigeria, will be increased from four to five and in April Virgin introduces a second weekly service to Antigua.
DOT this week will issue a final rule transferring FAA's rules governing civil aviation security to the Transportation Security Administration, effective Feb. 17. On that date, TSA assumes oversight, from U.S. carriers, of contracts for screeners of passenger and carry-on baggage. The rule, to be issued without prior notice or public comment, amends present regulations to enhance security as required by the legislation that established TSA.
NetJets Europe named Mark Booth as the managing director and CEO of its NetJets Europe fractional aircraft ownership program. Booth was appointed co-chairman of NetJets Europe Limited in September 2001. Until August 2001, Booth was the General Partner of epartners, a subsidiary of News Corp. formed in June 1999.
Negotiations on the $200 million Bangalore International Airport Project (BIAP) will find focus as its shareholders' agreement nears completion. The Karnataka state government, under which the airport falls, and the consortium of Siemens, Larsen&Tubro and Zurich Unique Airport will resume their bilateral talks for the eighth round since they struck a common ground August last.
Bush administration is waiting for voting results on the contract for United's machinists -- who may reject the terms -- before considering next steps, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday. Asked if the White House would get involved, Fleischer said, "I don't think it's wise to judge the outcome of an election. Certainly we've learned that lesson from 2000 about judging outcomes of elections."
Bombardier, despite Sept. 11 events, delivered 370 aircraft during its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, equaling the 370 it delivered the previous year and in line with company expectations announced Nov. 28.
Delta on May 1 plans to start code sharing on Air France flights from Newark and Houston to Paris. Air France uses Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s on the Paris-Newark flights and 777s on the Houston flights. Currently, Delta code shares with Air France beyond Paris on 383 flights to 61 destinations. The two already code share from 10 U.S. cities to Paris. Continental and Air France plan to end their code share on March 31.
BAA's seven U.K. airports last month handled a total of 8 million passengers, a drop of 3.9% against the same month last year. The company's traffic results have showed month-over-month improvement every period since October. "The gradual recovery extends across all major markets," the company said. North Atlantic and domestic traffic showed the strongest improvement and were down in January by 10.1% and 2.7%, respectively. Heavy discounting by airlines on Irish routes resulted in strong Irish traffic growth of 10.9%.
A near-collision between an Ansett Boeing 767-300 and a Southern Australia Airlines BAe 146-200 last April underscores how small procedural changes can alter flight deck human factors enough to cause big problems, a recently released report shows. The Ansett crew was cleared to taxi to Brisbane's Runway 01 for departure, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) accident brief said. Instead of taking the assigned route, the Ansett plane made a wrong turn and ended up near the end of a rapid-exit taxiway being used by the arriving BAe 146.
