FAA is meeting with airlines to obtain cost estimates for security screening functions at airports where carriers now use their own personnel. In discussions Tuesday, FAA asked carriers to "submit current data, supporting and substantiating a rough order magnitude (ROM) estimate for the aviation security screening functions for U.S. airports for which air carriers currently provide the screening functions using their own personnel." It said that all levels of screening must be segregated, including checkpoint, gateway, baggage/ticket counter, catering and cargo.
American has no plans to ground its fleet of 34 Airbus A300s and maintains that shifting the aircraft to its Latin American network was part of a plan developed long ago. A spokesman told The DAILY yesterday that the carrier's long-range plan was to gradually replace the A300s with Boeing 777s and 767s through 2004. After it cut capacity 20% following Sept. 11, the airline found it had under-used 777s and 767-300s. "We decided to accelerate the replacement of Airbuses on the Atlantic and complete the process by the end of January," a spokesman said.
Officials at three Washington-based general aviation airports are waiting for word this week that they could finally open for business after the government closed them Sept. 11. FAA Administrator Jane Garvey told the Aero Club of Washington last week that the U.S. Secret Service had signed off on a plan to allow air traffic to resume at Maryland's College Park, Potomac Airfield and Washington Executive/Hyde Field, the last airports to remain closed in the wake of Sept. 11.
Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), the government-industry partnership working to reduce accidents as part of the FAA's Safer Skies effort, elected veteran airline safety and compliance executive Mac Armstrong as its new co-chair. Armstrong, VP of safety and operations at the Air Transport Association, replaces Ed Soliday, who recently retired from United.
A security breach in San Francisco's Terminal 3 at the peak of yesterday morning's travel rush forced quick action by United and FAA to rescreen thousands of passengers, including some on flights that departed between the breach and the security alarm. Three flights left Terminal 3 before passengers could be rescreened, a United spokesman said.
Saddled with US$2.1 billion in debt, Thai Airways is confronting threats from its workers union that include a demand for wage hike following management's approval for more pay for the carrier's 983 pilots. A union official told The DAILY that any salary increase for the pilots should also be applied to the rest of the workers. "An increase to the pilots alone would be grossly unfair to the rest of the workers," the official said. The pilots, who demanded a 20% salary increase, received approval - the result of which will cost the airline $3.6 million a year.
The European Commission yesterday approved a French plan to pay EUR54.9 million (US$47.3 million) in state aid to airlines in compensation for four days of lost business after the Sept. 11 attacks. The aid "will compensate only the costs incurred during those four days as result of flights cancelled by the national authorities or delayed" and "applies without discrimination to all French airlines," the EC. Air France carries 10-15% of its international passengers on North Atlantic routes, according to the Association of European Airlines.
Orbitz last week topped $1 billion in gross sales and now has 4 million registered users, according to CEO Jeff Katz. He told The DAILY that the company remains on track to become profitable in the second half of the year. He noted that business travel has "picked up" this month and 90% of its customers now participate in its customer care program.
Vanguard Airlines plans to resume service to Myrtle Beach, S.C., beginning March 28. The airline will offer three weekly nonstop flights between Kansas City and Myrtle Beach.
FAA yesterday issued a suspected unapproved parts notice on some 275 Pratt&Whitney JT8D No. 6 bearing struts overhauled by Florida's Cadmar Aerospace from November 1997 to September 1998. Problems included improper inspections and incomplete overhauls. Any parts covered by the notice should be removed from service or spares stocks immediately. About 20 of the suspect bearings have been returned to Cadmar for rework or re-inspection, FAA said.
Russia's Transportation Minister Sergei Frank threatened to retaliate against the European Union if it goes ahead with the Chapter 2 aircraft ban in EU countries. The ban, scheduled to take full effect in 2002, would affect 11,000 flights and some 3 million passengers of Russian airlines per year, the Russian Transport Ministry said. Frank said after a meeting with European Commission officials this week in Brussels that Russia "will be forced to use state regulation to restore the balance" between Russian and EU airlines.
DOT granted Mexicana and All Nippon Airways authority to code share between Mexico and Japan via the U.S. The two Star alliance members intend to begin connecting service between their home countries in March, using Los Angeles as a transit point. Mexicana will place its code on ANA's Tokyo Narita-LAX flights, while ANA will display its code on Mexicana's flights in the LAX-Mexico City/Guadalajara/Cancun markets.
Moody's yesterday took Los Angeles International Airport general airport revenue bonds off its "watchlist" for possible downgrade but maintains a negative outlook. The ratings agency noted that the airport has seen a sharp drop in both domestic and international passenger traffic since Sept. 11. Passenger traffic is down 8.5% for the year. Even after a $130 million revenue shortfall, LAX expects to have a cash balance of more than $250 million at yearend 2002.
BMI British Midland said yesterday that it would lodge a complaint with the European Commission against the Bermuda II air accord between the U.K. and the U.S. because it hampers competition. The air accord is discriminatory, as it only allows "a club of four" airlines on routes between the United States and London's Heathrow airport, said BMI, whose complaint was prompted by the collapse of the latest U.K.-U.S. open-skies talks.
American has no plans to ground its fleet of 34 Airbus A300s and maintains that shifting the aircraft to its Latin American network was part of a plan developed long ago. A spokesman told The DAILY yesterday that the carrier's long-range plan was to gradually replace the A300s with Boeing 777s and 767s through 2004. After it cut capacity 20% following Sept. 11, the airline found it had under-used 777s and 767-300s. "We decided to accelerate the replacement of Airbuses on the Atlantic and complete the process by the end of January," a spokesman said.
Delta Air Transport and Virgin Express said yesterday that they would continue their merger talks. "It is expected that a final decision will be made by the end of February," Virgin Express. The board of SN Airholding, which represents Belgian investors in DAT, approved the talks and confirmed that it would inject funds in the carrier, starting in February.
Alitalia plans to issue a convertible bond by mid-year, with hopes of raising EUR1 billion (US$865 million), according to Italy's Industry Minister Antonio Marzano. Marzano said that the convertible bond was part of Alitalia's business plan approved by the shareholders. It foresees the airline's return to profitability in 2003, provided it can raise EUR1.2-1.4 billion.
FAA is monitoring developments stemming from the recent seizure of suspected unapproved parts from a Rome airport warehouse, but hasn't issued any warnings. "The key is to determine how the parts have been handled," an FAA spokesman said. "We are on top of the situation." Italian law enforcement seized the parts, reportedly from six Airbus A300s.
JetBlue this year plans to launch service to at least two new cities but may be forced to raise fares this year to cover higher airport costs. In an employee letter obtained by The DAILY, CEO David Neeleman said that the focus this year will be on building flight frequencies and beginning to "connect the dots" rather than boosting the number of destinations. The airline added six new cities in 2001.
Negotiators from Brazil and Canada will meet in New York on Feb. 8 to try to resolve for good the six-year dispute over their respective desires to encourage exports of Embraer and Bombardier. Brazil strengthened its position through this week's World Trade Organization ruling, which said that the Canadian government violated WTO subsidy rules by granting Bombardier low-interest loans to secure a $1.68 billion order from Air Wisconsin.
A bankruptcy court judge on Tuesday gave National Airlines conditional approval for its reorganization plan that would let the company emerge from Chapter 11. National spokesman Dik Shimizu said the airline, as part of the reorganization, will file for a federal loan guarantee sometime in the coming weeks.
Search parties yesterday began to comb the wreckage of the Ecuadorian Boeing 727-100 that crashed Monday for clues to what caused the disaster, including the aircraft's flight data and cockpit voice recorders. The accident site was found Tuesday, spread over about one square kilometer on the side of a volcano in the Andes mountains some 12,500 feet above sea level. The wreckage is just on the Colombian side of that country's border with Ecuador.
FAA yesterday issued a suspected unapproved parts notice on some 275 Pratt & Whitney JT8D No. 6 bearing struts overhauled by Florida's Cadmar Aerospace from November 1997 to September 1998. Problems included improper inspections and incomplete overhauls. Any parts covered by the notice should be removed from service or spares stocks immediately. About 20 of the suspect bearings have been returned to Cadmar for rework or re-inspection, FAA said.
