Delta and its Air Line Pilots Association unit will resume contract talks Jan. 4 with two federal mediators. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Jan. 11 on Delta's appeal of a denied motion for a temporary injunction against its pilots group. Delta claims pilots are refusing to fly overtime in a bid to pressure the company during contract talks, a charge the union denies.
American's Allied Pilots Association this month will begin preparing for contract talks this summer. APA says it has begun work on a membership survey and contract comparison, and its board at its January meeting will dedicate "substantial time" to preparing for upcoming talks. Pay, scope and regional jet issues will top the priority list.
The Malaysian government has received five bids from foreign international airlines and companies for the 29.02% stake in Malaysia Airlines to be acquired from the Ministry of Finance, said Donald Lim, parliamentary secretary to the transport ministry. He declined to identify the bidders, however, saying that negotiations are still in progress and that revealing their identity may jeopardize the outcome. He said the government would make a decision by Jan. 15 and an official announcement would be made before the end of the month.
Priceline.com's founder and Vice Chairman Jay Walker decided to resign his position from the company's board effective Dec. 31. Even though the move surprised some, Walker claims he was not pressured in any way to step down from Priceline's board. Walker will now focus on boosting Walker Digital Corp., the privately held "intellectual property developer" that takes the credit for inventing Priceline.com's business model.
Air France was hit by strikes of pilots and cabin crew that started Sunday. Unions representing minority groups in both work forces were protesting various new work rules. The strike by cabin crew is expected to continue today. Air France said the action by the Alter pilots union did not have any effect on operations, while the airline was forced to cancel some flights on Tuesday because of the cabin crew strike.
Swissport International, SAirGroup's ground-handling subsidiary, is continuing its expansion strategy with the opening of a new operation at Nice Airport in France The company is teaming up with Universal Weather and Aviation to offer its services to business aircraft users at the Cote d'Azur Airport. The venture, Swissport Executive, plans to start operating Feb. 1 and claims it is capable of handling all corporate aircraft up to the Boeing 747.
Delta started code-share service from the U.S. via Paris to Bucharest, Romania, with SkyTeam partner Air France. The Paris-Bucharest service started Dec. 28 with an Air France Boeing 737.
European Regionals experienced an average 58.6% load factor for the first nine months of 2000, the European Regions Airline Association reports, the highest load factor since ERA began publishing traffic data. Load factors peaked in September at 63.8%, partly due to the increasing number of members reporting traffic data to ERA. Average aircraft capacity remained at 67 seats. Passenger growth averaged 10%, the same rate as the first nine months of 1999. The number of airlines that failed to grow in 2000 dropped from 26% in 1999 to 17%.
Effective in April, Varig and Alitalia will code share on 36 flights between Brazil and Italy, including all flights from Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Forteleza to Rome and Milan. According to Varig, this arrangement will enable both companies to reduce costs by 15%, while increasing passenger traffic and revenues.
President-elect George W. Bush yesterday nominated Norman Mineta as DOT secretary, fulfilling a commitment to include a Democrat in his cabinet. The nomination garnered early enthusiastic support from present and former administration officials and aviation groups. Mineta, currently Secretary of Commerce under the Clinton administration, was suggested as a strong possibility by Democratic DOT officials to head the agency under a potential Gore administration (DAILY, Nov. 6, 2000).
Cathay Pacific's traffic soared 13.6% for the first 11 months of the year, compared with 1999, far outpacing a capacity increase of 6.2%. As a result, the airline's load factor jumped 5.0 percentage points to 76.5%. Cathay transported a new record of 72,266 tons of freight in November, the highest amount ever in a single month, and it carried 10.9 million passengers in the first nine months, up 13.1%.
Embraer, Brazil's No. 1 exporter, marked the end of 2000 by laying the symbolic cornerstone of its new Gaviao Peixoto industrial complex in the State of Sao Paulo. The final assembly facility for its corporate and defense aircraft will involve investments of $150 million over the next five years and create 3,000 direct and 15,000 indirect jobs. A 16,400-foot-long test runway that can handle large aircraft is included in the first stages of construction.
Use of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) to track air service traffic began Jan. 1 in remote areas of Alaska, which have no radar coverage. The Capstone program is an effort by FAA and industry to reduce accidents, according to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Juergen Weber said the airline could be forced to move more flights from Frankfurt to Munich if the necessary expansion of Frankfurt Airport is delayed or blocked permanently. Weber told German press agency DPA he rejected a complete night curfew for the airport because at least some cargo flights would have to be permitted during the night. The state government of Hesse recently proposed a total curfew at night if the airport was expanded.
US Airways and United reached an agreement with the Department of Justice last month to extend the regulatory period of airlines' proposed merger to April 2. The carriers stated that the three-month extension "will allow for continued discussion" with DOJ's antitrust division during its review of the deal. In connection with the DOJ agreement, United and US Airways reported that they extended their merger agreement to April.
Transport Canada recently awarded an Aircraft Type Certificate to the Bombardier CRJ700 Series regional jet. Bombardier expects Type Recommendation from Europe's Joint Airworthiness Authorities and Type Approval from FAA in the near future.
Lufthansa Technik last week delivered the world's first Boeing 777 with an entirely customized cabin interior 41 days before the stipulated delivery date.
New York jet fuel spot prices ended last week at $0.90 per gallon, down 6.2% from the beginning of the week and up 19% from a year ago, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. Oil futures for February continued to fall, trading just over $26.00 a barrel last week. PAGE 2
Open skies accords signed to date "have tended to be quite small," notes a recent Cambridge Energy Research Association study. Of the major countries resisting open skies with the U.S., seven -- Brazil, Britain, China, France, India, Japan and Russia -- represent half the world's population and one-third of world GDP.
Vanguard signed a letter of intent with Pegasus Aviation to lease six Boeing MD-80 series aircraft with options for two more. Pegasus also will lease Vanguard two Pratt&Whitney JT80-219 spare engines. Vanguard expects to take delivery of two MD-80 series aircraft during the first quarter this year and two MD-80s and two MD-87s throughout the year.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines mechanics rejected a representation bid by the International Association of Machinists. The National Mediation Board said 13.4% of eligible voters elected union representation, and 86.6% rejected IAM.
Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina plans to convert its five-year-old plant in Cordoba into a model maintenance and overhaul center for Boeing 737s operating in Latin America. Total investments involved have not been disclosed. Plans also call for the new facilities to overhaul Pratt&Whitney J52 motors for the A-4 AR Fightinghawk, an aircraft Lockheed Martin modernized for Argentina's air force.
China Airlines (CAL) projects revenues of NT$82.39 billion (US$2.71 billion) for this year, an increase of 11.7% from last year. Pre-tax profit is predicted to reach NT$3.26 billion, representing growth of 8.4%. Operating revenue is expected to total NT$79.7 billion, a jump of 10%. The forecast takes into consideration high fuel prices, foreign exchange rate fluctuations and the slowing down of the U.S. economy. Passenger revenue is forecast to hit NT$44.72 billion, an increase of 10.7%, while cargo revenue is projected to total NT$30.94 billion, a jump of 15.1%.
Delta plans to add a second daily roundtrip flight between Atlanta and Paris, beginning Jan. 26. Delta's SkyTeam alliance partner Air France will code share on the new flight, which will be operated with a Delta Boeing 777. Air France operates its own double-daily service between the two cities but next month plans to cease its Airbus A340-300 flight, leaving one daily Air France 777 flight between the two cities. In addition to Atlanta, Delta also serves Paris with daily nonstop flights from Cincinnati and New York Kennedy.
German charter carrier Condor plans to add several new destinations to its network in the summer schedule 2001. The airline will introduce services to Burgas and Varga, Bulgaria, and Chania (Crete), Greece. In Italy, Condor will fly to Lamezia Terme. The carrier also will return to Dubrovnik, saying that tourism in the former Yugoslavia is picking up steadily. Condor will introduce weekly service to Fairbanks using Boeing 767-300ERs.
