Argentinean airport tycoon Eduardo Eurnekian, who recently is alleged to have bought 25% of regional carrier Southern Winds, is willing to participate financially in a larger pact involving other major domestic carriers like LAPA and Dinar, sources say. "What's the use of managing airports if the airlines cannot pay their fees?" he said. Aerolineas Argentinas is the major creditor of Aeropuertos Argentina 2000, which Eurnekian controls.
Venezuela's Avensa will renew four flights each week from Caracas to Madrid on Nov. 14 using two overhauled DC-10s. Another frequency will be added in December. Avensa's initial target is to carry 4,000 passengers per month. For connections beyond Madrid, Avensa will code share with Air Europa to Milan, Paris, Oporto, Lisbon and major cities in Spain.
FAA last week agreed to postpone implementation of new routes for air tour operators over Grand Canyon National Park for four weeks after the affected operators filed an appeal for a stay with the U.S.
British Airways' low-fare subsidiary Go stuck to its forecast of reaching breakeven in spite of a pre-tax loss of 21.8 million pounds (US$31.1 million) in its fiscal year ending March 31, 2000. The figure was released a day after BA announced its intentions to sell Go in an effort to streamline its short-haul operation and focus on high-yield passengers. After-tax losses decreased from 15.5 million pounds to 15.2 million on net revenues of 100.6 million pounds. Go carried two million passengers in the last fiscal year.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR OCTOBER 2000 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Billions 10/99 Billions 10/99 Factor Air Wisconsin 124.6 +2.6% 188.0 +22.2% 66.3% American Eagle 315.7 4.7% 545.1 +6.6% 57.9% Atlantic Coast 128.6 +35.9% 213.4 +33.9% 60.3%
Indigo launched its online booking feature yesterday for its corporate jet service between Chicago Midway and Teterboro, N.J. The company's web site, Flyindigo.com, provides information about the service, which currently offers daily flights on eight-seat Falcon 20 corporate jets. A one-way ticket costs $629, plus taxes. Indigo plans to launch service "soon" to White Plains, N.Y., and Minneapolis.
Creative Host Services' Gladco subsidiary signed an agreement with the Newark Airport to renovate two existing concessions in the airport's B terminal. Renovation of the combined locations is estimated to be $1.7 million and is expected to open in May 2001. The company expects the new sites to produce annual revenues of about $3.5 million. Gladco secured the agreement to operate the concessions with BAA.
TyumenAviaTrans, one of the world's largest helicopter operators and the third-largest airline in Russia, is opening its first U.S. office in New York, the company is expected to announce at a Nov. 21 news conference at the Intercontinental Hotel.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to release a sweeping rule shortly -- possibly in the next week -- mandating most employers to develop and implement new ergonomics protections standards. The ergonomics proposal has drawn a chorus of opposition from many industry groups, including aviation businesses, which complain the new requirements are expensive and onerous to small businesses.
FAA yesterday told carriers it wants to allocate slots at delay-plagued New York LaGuardia Airport by means of a lottery that, beginning next January, will limit overall operations at the airport to 75 an hour between 7 a.m and 10 p.m. While airlines have filed requests for more than 600 new flights each day at the airport, the slot lottery -- known in the 1980s as a "slottery" -- would limit AIR-21 slot exemptions to 150 a day and would remain in effect until Sept. 15.
Senate aviation subcommittee Chairman Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) yesterday was holding a 3,711-vote margin in the tight Washington state Senate race, but an automatic recount is under way. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), another aviation subcommittee member in a close race, survived his re-election bid. But two other Senate aviation subcommittee members, Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) and John Ashcroft (R-Mo.), lost close Senate races.
British Airways Engineering believes a new inventory planning software package will help it get more efficiency out of its spare parts and free planners to tackle projects that hold huge down-the-road potential. BA recently tapped German IT giant SAP for a wide-ranging enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrade that figures to stretch out over the next 18 months.
By Kevin Mitchell, President, Business Travel Coalition
The Economic Strategy Institute (ESI) distributed a United-funded report this week suggesting that if three superpower airlines control 85% of the marketplace competition and consumer choice will be improved. Key statements in the study include that average airfares have trended down in the aftermath of previous industry consolidation, and that online fares are lower than interline fares. Both statements are technically correct, but they tell only part of the story.
Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore, in response to inquires as to the whereabouts of the three pilots involved in the crash Oct. 31 of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 on takeoff from Taipei, said yesterday the pilots remain "isolated and housed an undisclosed location." The union said that "this is not intended to shield the pilots from public scrutiny but rather to enable medical attention to be given to the crew so that they could assist with the investigations the soonest possible.
Emirates plans to open up U.S. destinations from 2002. The airline said it is certain to start flying to New York as soon as it receives its first long-haul Airbus A340-500. Emirates declined to specify which other destinations it plans to serve. But it is very likely to start flights to Los Angeles and Chicago. The Los Angeles flight would last 17 hours and could be one of the longest scheduled flights. However, Emirates also is looking at serving Buenos Aires nonstop from Dubai -- a 17.5-hour flight. All the U.S. flights will leave Dubai early in the morning.
Flight Safety Foundation and IATA will collaborate next year on developing worldwide standards for airline safety audits. Stuart Matthews, CEO of the foundation, said the first project will be development of a common audit that can be "accepted and used throughout the industry." He said, "Everybody has been auditing every one else.
Belgian ground-handling company AviaPartner started its first Italian operations this week at Bologna Airport, the company said in Brussels. The Belgian company provides services at 27 European airports in Belgium, France, Germany and The Netherlands. It now intends to take advantage of the liberalization of handling at Italian airports. It will provide passenger, ramp and operations handling for KLM's three daily frequencies to Bologna.
The Fedex Pilots Association is asking the company to reinstate the pilot involved in an MD-11 crash landing in New Jersey in July 1997 and fired Oct. 30, saying the crash was caused by aircraft design flaws and that the National Transportation Safety Board's findings, which formed the basis for firing the captain, were faulty. During landing, the aircraft flipped over after the right wing broke off, and burst into flames. The two-man crew and three passengers escaped without serious injuries.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR AUGUST 29 - 30, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Boeing China China Boeing Airlines Airlines 747-400F/ CF6-80C2B1F Georgetown Jet Balm Air Balmoral Cessna 208B
American's Association of Professional Flight Attendants is planning systemwide informational picketing Nov. 18, marking the anniversary of the union's 1993 strike when it shut down the airline for five days. "Here we are seven years later and the company apparently has not learned its lesson," APFA's Peter Day told flight attendants, who noted that management's latest proposal is "so incredibly inadequate" it's clear American wants another confrontation.
Virgin Express yesterday canceled an order for 11 new Boeing 737-700s at the same time it posted a third quarter loss of 7.3 million euro (US$6.3 million) due to a strong U.S. dollar, compared with the euro, and soaring fuel prices. The airline reported a 5.0 million euro ($4.3 million) profit in the same 1999 period. Scheduled revenues grew 14%, while overall revenue fell 5.2% to 88.0 million euros ($75.7 million) as the airline continued to scale back its charter operations and cut capacity.
America West broke ground on a new $35 million, 164,000-square-foot flight training center and systems operation control facility on a 14-acre site leased from the City of Phoenix. America West expects to occupy the facility by late fall 2001.
Airbus A3XX launch customer Emirates is concerned about the design and marketing direction the manufacturer is using with the superjumbo program. The airline seeks design changes and a restructuring of the way the airplane is marketed. Emirates Chief Director Tim Clark told The DAILY in Dubai that Emirates wants Airbus "to launch the A3XX badly," but that there were still some doubts as to whether Airbus is willing to go ahead with the multi-billion dollar project. Emirates wants Airbus to launch first the stretched version of the jumbo, the A3XX-200.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR AUGUST 28 - 29, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Boeing Southwest Southwest Boeing 737-700/ CFM56-7B22 Boeing Continental First Security Boeing
