Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is asking DOT Transportation Security Administration Under Secretary John Magaw and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey to clarify airport passenger security screening procedures following complaints and allegations by female passengers and flight attendants of improper contact by male security guards.
Northwest plans to start new seasonal nonstop service between Detroit and Calgary on July 1. Service to Calgary will bring the total number of nonstop destinations served by Northwest and its partners from Detroit to 130 worldwide. The new Detroit-Calgary service will be operated on a seasonal basis from July 1, through Sept. 2 with Airbus A319s. From Calgary, Northwest currently offers two daily nonstop flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul, with a third to begin June 7.
AeroMexico plans to install automated heart defibrillators on every aircraft in its fleet, making it the first Mexican carrier to equip its planes with the devices. Defibrillators already have been installed on the carrier's 757s and 767s. In addition to investing $350,000 on defibrillator installation, AeroMexico started training all inflight personnel on the equipment last October.
By Paul Stifflemire, Senior Poicy Analyst, Allegheny Institute
"We are asking that United pay rates that are consistent with the wages paid to its other employees and comparable to employees at other airlines -- to create a level playing field," said IAM VP Robert Roach. The IAM was representing 15,000 employees at United who wanted a raise before the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) was brought in to resolve the dispute. Roach and the IAM must want us to believe that they are either terminally stupid or blissfully unaware that their employer is on the verge of financial collapse.
Air China's international network is being reviewed with the aim of dropping more unprofitable international routes. The review, conducted by the airline's management and the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), will determine how many routes should be dropped. According to an air transport official in Beijing, the review is necessary in the wake of the carrier's continuing losses on international routes.
Alitalia last week launched electronic ticketing for passengers that are booked through the Sabre and Amadeus reservation systems for U.S. originating flights. The airline expects to add the same capability for Worldspan and Apollo users later this year.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic last week began trials using iris recognition to speed people through passport control at busy London Heathrow Airport. Passengers sign up by getting an image taken of their eyes, using EyeTicket's JetStream Travel Manager system. Once in the system, looking into a camera nearly a foot away identifies participants. The iris pattern is compared with the stored digital code. If the unique iris details match, a ticket is printed and a barrier opens, allowing the person to bypass lines for manual passport checks and enter the U.K.
US Airways and its pilots union have not yet come to an agreement on how many regional jets or their size the company can add to its operations, a spokesman for the company's Air Line Pilots Association unit said last week. US Airways ALPA spokesman Roy Freundlich said the company is proposing to fly up to 420 RJs, of which 135 would be 70-seaters. The union is offering 245, all of which would have a maximum of 50 seats. The two sides also have not yet reached an accord on furlough protections.
Mesaba will begin new nonstop Memphis-Moline, Ill. service April 7. Operating as Northwest Airlink, Mesaba will operate 34-seat Saab 340 turboprops. The flights will increase the number of Northwest flights out of Moline from eight to 10 daily.
Swissair Group has concluded the sale of its ground-handling subsidiary Swissport to Candover Investments. The U.K.-based private-equity firm bought the second largest company in its market for CHF580 million ($347 million). Swissport's revenues in 2001 were $1.2 billion ($718), and the company employs 13,000.
LanChile and Ultramar opened the most modern cargo terminal in South America for perishable goods on Feb. 7 at Santiago Airport. The facilities include 53,820 square feet of air-conditioned reception areas and 32,292 square feet of cold chambers.
Cintra, the Mexican holding company that controls AeroMexico and Mexicana, said both airlines have concluded negotiations to meet their financial obligations punctually with all creditors. While not issuing any figures, Cintra said Mexico's Institute for the Protection of Bank Savings (IPAB) could recover $500-800 million from the bidding for these assets. Outstanding debts also will be canceled prior to any sale and a credit line was arranged with Banco Inbursa for this purpose.
Rapid, successive rudder movements, combined with other factors, can break airplane tails, and NTSB wants carriers and manufacturers to develop training that makes the dangers clear to transport-category pilots. NTSB on Friday urged FAA to order the training. NTSB's French equivalent, the Bureau Enquetes Accidents, will send identical recommendations to the Direction Generale d'L'Aviation Civile.
Delta Connection is adding service out of Cincinnati to Toledo, South Bend, Ind., and Albany April 7. Each city will have one additional nonstop roundtrip served by Atlantic Coast Airlines. ACA also will add service May 1 between Boston and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Comair will begin Atlanta-Wilkes Barre/Scranton service May 16 and last Friday began Dallas/Fort Worth-Indianapolis and Corpus Christi service.
Azteca gained quick DOT approval for Mexico City-Laredo, Texas, service, which the carrier will launch today. It will operate daily roundtrips using Boeing 737-300/700 aircraft in its fleet. The Mexican startup this year began its first flights to the U.S. on a Mexico City-El Paso, Texas, routing (DAILY, Feb. 4). It also has rights from DOT to serve Albuquerque, N.M., from Mexico City and Chihuahua and plans to expand U.S. service to the Dallas and San Juan, Puerto Rico, markets. (Docket OST-02-11463)
American Hub Profile Chicago, O'Hare Origin and Destinations, Segment Summary and Top Nonstop Markets Origination and Destination Data 12 Months 12 Months Ended June Ended June 2001 1997 Chicago, O'Hare Total (All Carriers) O&D Passengers 26,547,540 26,719,090 -0.6% Passengers Per 36,366 36,601
Maurice Strong, under secretary of the United Nations, told an IATA conference last week that "not enough attention is paid" to how critical air travel is to society. "There is a need for a re-education of the public.
Ryanair's marketing costs fell 45% in the last quarter thanks to its Internet sales, which now account for more than 90% of ticket sales, according to Howard Millar, the airline's chief financial officer. Ryanair, which claims its web site is the largest among European airlines, anticipates an average 35% growth in passenger volume this year and 25% in 2003.
National Business Aviation Association believes 4,500 to 5,000 individuals have applied for Olympics credentials packages to permit them to fly into the Salt Lake City area during the games. NBAA said government security officials were supposed to have started putting those packages in the mail last week, and the association was waiting to learn if any of its members had received the necessary credentials.
