British Airways franchisee British Mediterranean Airways plans to acquire two Airbus A321-200s to begin nonstop London-Teheran flights. Deliveries of the aircraft, British Mediterranean's first A321s, are scheduled in February and March 2002. The A321s, like the airline's four A320s, will be powered by International Aero Engines V2500 engines. The aircraft will be fitted with an additional center tank, allowing the planes to travel the longest scheduled commercial routes flown nonstop with an A320 family aircraft.
KLM and Sabena are negotiating a code-sharing agreement, said a Sabena spokesman yesterday. "The talks are at a preliminary stage," he said. KLM met with Sabena last week in Brussels, but the talks were "absolutely not" related to a possible strategic alliance, said a KLM spokesman. KLM and Sabena are considering code sharing on Brussels-Amsterdam. In particular, Sabena could feed passengers into KLM's services to Johannesburg when the Belgian airline halts its service to the destination next summer.
America West has installed the Agilent Technologies' Heartstream FR2 Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) on its fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft. AEDs are compact, electronic devices used to restore the heart's natural rhythm in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest. The airline has incorporated a training program for proper use of the AED into its core and recurrent training program for flight attendants. America West also installed Cardiac Medical Kits on its aircraft to support the use of AEDs.
Airborne Express added a new Boeing 767-200 to serve the Southern California area in an overall boost to its transcontinental capacity. The aircraft is part of the carrier's growing fleet of 767s that are being converted from passenger to cargo configuration under a special FAA type rating. Stationed at Airborne's facility at the Ontario, Calif., airport, the newly converted aircraft is the 15th of 30 to be added to the fleet by 2005.
British Airways yesterday lost its suit against Ryanair after the carrier advertised that BA fares were significantly more expensive than its own. In late 1999 and early this year, Ryanair had run a series of newspaper advertisements with headlines that included the headline "Expensive BA." BA threatened both Ryanair and newspapers that ran the advertisement with legal action if Ryanair did not withdraw it from the papers.
The aviation director of the New York-New Jersey Port Authority yesterday defended to Congress the slot lottery instituted at LaGuardia and called airline decisions to add hundreds of flights as "an unforeseen consequence" of FAA's AIR-21 funding legislation.
Delta yesterday went to court seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against its pilots, who have been refusing to fly overtime and who allegedly have caused Delta to cancel 386 flights last weekend. CEO Leo Mullin said the company will trim about 125 of its 2,700 daily flights to accommodate the pilots' refusal to fly overtime. Delta also will seek legal action against 49 individual pilots identified as the ringleaders of the alleged job action.
Japan must decide whether it wants to be part of the rapidly growing air cargo market fueled by e-commerce, Alan Larson, U.S. under secretary of state, told the U.S.-Japan Cooperation in Transportation yesterday in Washington. Development of the "right policy framework" is essential to benefiting from, rather than being left behind, global economic opportunities, he said.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR SEPT 15, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Airbus US Airways First Security Airbus A319 Bank NA CFM56-5B6/P Airbus Premiair A/S Airtours Airbus Int'l. A330-300/
With pressure being exerted by China's policy-making body to speed up the consolidation of the country's 34 airlines, more profitable carriers are moving into the acquisition game. The latest is regional operator Shandong Airlines. With a fleet of 16 aircraft -- eight Boeing 737-300s and eight SAAB 340As -- the carrier recently acquired domestic operator Shanxi Airlines. It could not be determined what Shanxi's fleet strength is. With the Shanxi deal sealed, Shandong has moved another step forward, negotiating with a larger carrier, China Northwest.
FAA yesterday in a lottery reallocated 159 AIR-21 New York LaGuardia slots to 13 carriers under its interim plan, formulated with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The plan is to scale back operations that threatened to overwhelm capacity and exacerbate delays at the constrained airport. The temporary fix becomes effective Jan. 31, 2001, and will remain in place until Sept. 15.
Legend Airlines filed Chapter 11 Sunday after failing to obtain a bridge loan to keep the airline going in the face of high fuel prices, the cost of retrofitting its fleet of DC-9s and the costs associated with the ongoing federal investigation into American Airlines' alleged predatory behavior. Legend, which built a reputation as much for its battles to serve Dallas Love Field as for providing luxury service, shut down over the weekend. It reportedly lost $44.7 million since its launch.
KLM plans to take full commercial control of all the services between Amsterdam and Germany currently operated by German regional carrier Eurowings. Beginning March 26, all flights to and from Germany will operate under KL/NW flight numbers only. The move was expected following Lufthansa's September proposal to purchase 24.9% of Eurowings. KLM Cityhopper will start flying the Amsterdam-Bremen route on March 26 with Fokker 50s.
Airports that are pro-active in leveraging their strengths and political muscle on behalf of foreign carriers will gain and retain those services, Joanne Young, partner, Baker&Hostetler, told the Airports Council International last week. Airlines need to understand the marketing, logistical and operational situations and potential benefits to a carrier of entering a specific market and make the case for service. U.S. airports can "be a voice" for foreign carriers, which have "a limited understanding of, and no voice in, the U.S.
Delta is considering taking legal action against its pilots, who have refused to fly overtime, resulting in 300 crew shortage-related flight cancellations over the weekend. Delta's Air Line Pilots Association unit spokeswoman Karen Miller said the union does not know whether the canceled flights were caused by crew shortages.
Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson is not interested in purchasing Go from British Airways. Branson told The DAILY last week it is more difficult to turn around an existing airline rather than "start from scratch," citing his own challenging experience with Virgin Express. He said Virgin Express has been hit with a "double whammy" of high fuel prices and the "collapse of the euro."
FAA today hit Alaska Airlines with nearly $1 million in proposed fines for allegedly failing to do proper maintenance on several aircraft, the agency announced. The findings cover five separate cases, including one that triggered an audit of the carrier's maintenance operations earlier this year and three uncovered during that probe. FAA alleges that on April 12, the carrier returned an MD-80 to service following a heavy check with items improperly deferred or simply not fixed.
Belgium is setting up a 6.1 billion Belgian franc (US$130 million) fund to contribute financing to Airbus's A3XX project, the Belgian government said last week in Brussels. The fund will be used to grant loans to Belgian aerospace companies that will participate in the program. "The support will be effectively granted depending on the ability of each manufacturer to win contracts" with Airbus, the Belgian Ministry of the Economy said.
Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines (CSA) plans to acquire another China Northern, according to an application filed at the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Approval is likely during the third week of next month. The deal would be CSA's second acquisition within four months, strengthening the carrier's fleet by another 41 aircraft -- 11 MD-90s, 24 MD-82s and six Airbus A300-600Rs -- for a total of 129. In August CSA acquired Zhongyuan Airlines (ZAL), which had five Boeing 737-200s and two Chinese-made Yuns.
Orbitz recently boosted its management team by hiring several new executives, including Swissair/Sabena executive Gerry Romanescu as its new VP-customer care. Romanescu will be responsible for developing and maintaining the Orbitz Traveler Care Center. "Travelers currently are treated to operational customer service that merely reacts to their problems or concerns.
British Regional confirmed yesterday that it is in discussions that could lead to an offer, but the company declined to say who it was talking with. Rumors have been circulating for months that British Airways planned to make a move on BR, which already is a BA franchisee and flies 80% of its routes for BA. BA said it will announce on Wednesday a radical revamp of its operations at Gatwick that include scrapping plans to turn it into a second hub, according to London's Sunday Business.
Southwest, for the first time, has added car rental agencies to its online reservations web site. Beginning immediately, Alamo, Budget and Hertz will offer online car rental reservations through www.Southwest.com. "We have a lot of customers who need a rental car at their destination, so it makes sense to enable them to reserve that car at the time they are making their Southwest reservation," said Kevin Krone, senior director-marketing automation.
American Airlines Cargo yesterday launched its new same-day package delivery service, AA Today. The service went live to U.S. customers and is available at aapps.com. American claimed to be the first U.S. carrier to launch an Internet-based, same-day, door-to-door product.
