DOT's conditioned approval of antitrust immunity for the proposed American/British Airways alliance -- rejected by the carriers on Friday within hours of its release by DOT -- was consistent with Justice Department and General Accounting Office recommendations but exacted a higher price than the two carriers expected, sources say. American and BA viewed the DOJ analysis that the two carriers would have to yield 126 slots -- for nine daily roundtrips in the New York- and Boston-London Heathrow markets, as well as slots for U.S.
Polish flag carrier LOT posted a net loss of 640 million zlotys (US$156 million) in 2001, compared with a 28 million zloty profit the previous year, the airline said yesterday. Revenue was 2.42 billion zloty ($590 million) last year, down from 2.4 billion zloty ($592 million). Load factor dropped three percentage points to 62%. LOT was hit by the collapse of Swissair, which owns 25% of its capital, and the aviation crisis that followed Sept. 11.
Three Senators want Air Transportation Stabilization Board Chair Alan Greenspan to clarify rules on granting federal loan guarantees, in particular rules governing federal equity stakes in airlines and loan guarantees to bankrupt airlines.
FAA officials hope to know more about how AMASS is influencing the runway incursion threat by mid-2002, when the first systems will have been fully operational for a full year. Agency officials are anxious to break down data from AMASS-equipped airports to see if the systems are helping cut down incursion risks, especially the most serious ones -- Category A and B events.
American, fueled by returning travel demand, this week plans to begin adding service back to its major cities and high-volume hub routes. Separately, the airline reported that new baggage security measures have had little impact on operations. CEO Don Carty told employees in an internal message that capacity will be added back on Jan. 31 and it will add several other "layers" of new service in the March and April schedule, if the economy continues on its present course.
United last week realigned its management by shifting responsibilities and reporting lines among some of the company's existing senior officers. Some employees and analysts speculated that new CEO Jack Creighton was planning dramatic changes for the management team to kick-start the company's drive toward profitability, but Creighton felt the airline already had a lot of knowledgeable executives. "I know, to many of you, this isn't the kind of revolutionary change you were expecting," Creighton said in an internal message.
Ryanair is expected to announce the opening of new European routes on Thursday. The airline did not confirm rumors that it will soon fly to Berlin's Schoenefeld Airport, but indicated that it had "good news for Germany." Germania, a charter carrier that launched its first scheduled service on the Berlin-Frankfurt route, plans to introduce new domestic service this summer. The carrier's managing director, Mustafa Muscati, said a decision would be made in the next few days, with Berlin-Munich and Berlin-Cologne possible choices.
The announced transfer of control of Transbrasil to a group headed by Dilson Prado de Fonseca is running into more legal and political obstacles. An extraordinary meeting of Transbrasil shareholders scheduled Thursday to consider the resignation of Antonio Celso Cipriani as CEO and director of the company will face a court injunction from a group of minority stockholders, who want to stop the transfer of equity control to de Fonseca.
Atlas Air pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have reached a tentative agreement with management on a contract offer after 21 months of talks. The four-year deal covers the airline's 621 pilots and flight engineers and includes higher pay rates, improvements in work rules, retirement and other areas.
Air Canada signed a 15-year, $250 million maintenance pact on Trent 722B engines that power the carrier's eight Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Rolls said it announced more than $2 billion in new civil aftermarket business in 2001 and in the past five years has more than doubled its market share of repair and overhaul on its civil engines to 56%. Revenues from aftermarket services now account for 40% of its total.
Ailing Bulgarian carrier Balkan Airlines is in talks with British Airways to swap precious slots at London Heathrow Airport for slots at London Gatwick plus a cash payment, a Balkan Airlines spokesman said yesterday in Sofia. Balkan Airlines currently operates six weekly services to London. The Bulgarian carrier, which went into receivership in March last year, is entangled in a legal row over its debts, opposing the Bulgarian government and Israeli businessman Gad Zeevi, who purchased 75% of Balkan in 1999.
The launch of BMI British Midland's low-fare subsidiary "bmibaby" was a "logical and carefully calculated strategic move," BMI's new Managing Director Tony Davies believes. By setting up a low-fare airline, BMI had "a foot firmly in both camps," he said at a Marcus Evans conference in Brussels.
President Bush tonight is expected to discuss aviation and airport security in his State of the Union address. A White House spokeswoman said the President also will talk about homeland security and tightening the nation's borders.
Hawaiian Airlines will resume daily nonstop Los Angeles-Maui service and add daily nonstops between San Francisco and Maui June 15. Hawaiian also is introducing a fourth daily LAX-Honolulu seasonal flight June 15-Sept. 2. Maui flights will be operated with Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. With the new service, it will have three daily nonstop Maui-West Coast markets.
Standard&Poor's yesterday decided to keep its ratings on American and British Airways on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed Sept. 13. Although the airlines abandoned their application for antitrust immunity and BA will not have to give up London Heathrow slots, they will not be able to cooperate on sales, pricing, costs and capacity.
Aviation services provider Allied Resources Corp. and distance-learning specialists Fraunhofer Center for Research in Computer Graphics (CRCG) have launched a web site offering interactive drug and alcohol training mandated by FAA for many aviation professionals. The site -- www.faatraining.com -- offers three courses: initial training, supervisor initial training and supervisor recurrent training.
Shares of KLM soared in morning trading yesterday as speculation mounted that the airline could form a strategic alliance with British Airways. Investors seemed to hope that BA would abandon American and instead opt to join KLM and its partner Northwest.
Usto Schulz, JetBlue's Safety Czar, will be honored with an Airbus A320, N533JB, in his name. It will be the first aircraft not adhering to JetBlue's blue-only naming scheme. Schulz, who began his aviation career in 1940, is relocating to Idaho and will keep his ties with the airline.
National Air Transportation Association expressed concern over the "tight deadlines" imposed by DOT for criminal history record checks (CHRC) on employees with access to airport security identification display areas. NATA President James Coyne said that meeting the Dec. 31 deadline "with the resources currently available will be a challenge to airports, airlines, aviation services business and the FAA itself.
Singapore Airlines reached a deal with Boeing to defer the delivery of five 777s and one 747-400 freighter. Of the five 777s, two are firm orders and three are options. The 747-400 freighter aircraft that will be deferred also is a firm order. Deliveries of the two 777s on firm order, which had been due in August and September, are now planned for August 2003 and November 2002. The new delivery dates for the three 777s on option are between June 2006 and June 2008.
An Ecuadorian Boeing 727-100 crashed near Ipiales, Colombia, in the Andes mountains yesterday with 94 people on board. As evening approached, rescuers were still working to reach the wreckage. Tame Flight 120 departed Quito at 10:03 a.m. on a domestic flight to Tulcan, about 110 miles away and a few miles south of Ipiales. The plane was lost about 20 minutes later, soon after contacting Tulcan air traffic control, reports said. The Tulcan area was shrouded in fog at the time of the crash, and some reports said the destination airport was closed.
As part of its restructuring program, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will separate its international passenger and cargo operations from its domestic operations. The change involves setting up a new company, which MAS will grant an exclusive concession to market the passenger capacity for international flights and cargo capacity for international and domestic services. MAS applied to the Securities Commission in Kuala Lumpur to transfer the listing status of the carrier to the new company, which will be a subsidiary of the airline.
WestJet posted C$9.4 million (US$5.9 million) in fourth quarter 2001 profit, up 14.3% from the same 2000 period. CEO Clive Beddoe said that the events of Sept. 11 caused only a slight decline in the company's load factor and yield, and that the airline is committed to taking delivery of more Boeing 737-700 aircraft this year. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2001, net profit increased 23.0% to C$37.2 million ($23.1 million).
