An engine fire prompted the crew of an Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-86 to return to Moscow Sheremetyevo II Airport on Saturday shortly after takeoff. The fire was put out and none of the nearly 400 passengers on board was injured, the airline said. The aircraft was scheduled to go to Barcelona.
Finnair's profit before taxes jumped to 57.1 million euros (US$50.7 million) in the second quarter, up from EUR30.3 million the year before, in spite of the rocketing fuel prices and a strong dollar that affect all European airlines. The group's revenue grew 2.9% to EUR414.2 million ($368.4 million), the group said last week in Helsinki. Finnair is benefiting from improved passenger yields. Even though passenger numbers fell by 2.2%, revenue per passenger kilometer rose by 6.6%, due to an increase in business travel and increased fares.
United executives expressed relief last weekend after the carrier reached a tentative deal with the Air Line Pilots Association, but the airline's operations are not expected to reach its internal performance goals soon as it still faces difficult negotiations with its Machinists union. After two days of marathon bargaining in a Chicago hotel, United and ALPA reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, as the airline's disastrous summer draws to a close.
Middle East Airlines will rejoin the Airlines Reporting Corp. on Sept. 18. Middle East Airlines is headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, with offices in New York City. It operates a fleet of Airbus A310, A320 and A321 aircraft.
United and its Air Line Pilots Association unit continued negotiations Friday, and at press time there was no settlement despite rumors the parties might reach a deal by the end of the day.
Domestic unit revenue for July increased 5.3%, according to the Air Transport Association, reflecting a strong demand environment, but revenues may not be optimized. Despite operational problems at United and America West, domestic load factor rose 2.6 percentage points to 78.7%. "Given that the industry is posting the highest load factors since 1946, and therefore unable to accommodate all of the traffic spillage from United, we think this may be depressing revenue performance," said Merrill Lynch analyst Candace Browning.
DOT will move forward on liberalizing U.S. aviation agreements beyond the present bilateral paradigm while continuing its efforts toward opening skies with the U.K. and liberalizing the China market, Secretary Rodney Slater told The DAILY Friday in an interview. U.S. aviation negotiators plan to meet with their U.K. counterparts in late September, Slater said, stressing that DOT is "watching closely" the British Airways-KLM merger talks. BA "might be more supportive" of open skies than it has been in the past in order to "fully benefit" from the merger, Slater said.
Istanbul Airlines, the largest private airline in Turkey, ceased operations indefinitely Friday due to its growing financial problems. The airline stopped flights abruptly last week, stranding hundreds of passengers headed for Germany. Last month, airline officials denied local press reports about an imminent bankruptcy (DAILY, July 21). According to the reports, the carrier's debt is more than $200 million.
Sun Country, which gained six Chicago O'Hare slots for nonstop service to Minneapolis/St. Paul, surrendered two of those slots for reassignment to other new-entrant carriers. The carrier plans to begin two daily roundtrips in the market Oct. 9, telling DOT that "operation of a third daily roundtrip at O'Hare is not consistent with its business plan." (Dockets OST-00-5521, 7180, 7134, 7198)
Atlantic Coast will upgrade its service to four daily Canadair regional jet roundtrips between Piedmont Triad Airport and Washington Dulles Oct. 1. The airline will offer a total of seven roundtrips each day between Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point and Dulles. ACA will also upgrade its Dulles-Cleveland service to include four daily RJ roundtrips, for a total of five flights each day.
SriLankan Airlines will operate twice-weekly Colombo-Berlin services with an Airbus A340, starting Nov. 2. SAL also plans to start a 10th weekly flight to London. The carrier started talks with the Indonesian civil aviation authorities on resuming flights to Jakarta that were suspended in 1998, with hopes of restarting the service by yearend.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals June 1999 to May 2000 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 1999 June Domestic 1,209,358,547 598,210,550 49.465 International 452,394,925 234,855,262 51.914
Air Canada Friday accepted a federal mediator's recommendation to settle its contract dispute with the Air Canada Pilots Association. But ACPA said it was ready to return to the bargaining table to work out a settlement based on the report, a move Air Canada opposed. ACPA President Raymond Hall said the union at press time was still deliberating. The airline said it has not received a request from Labor Minister Claudette Bradshaw to continue negotiations but is willing to go along with Special Mediator Bruce Outhouse's recommendations. "While Mr.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR JUNE 22 - JUNE 23, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Airbus Aer Lingus Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200/ CFM56-5B4/P Boeing AeBal AeBal Boeing
Lufthansa plans to finalize an internal study on possible introduction of the proposed Boeing 747X and the Airbus A3XX in the first quarter of 2001. The airline is evaluating its strategic needs for the long-haul fleet on the freighter and the passenger fleet. The company's head of purchasing, Dietmar Kirchner, said he sees three possible outcomes for the study: Lufthansa could either order the A3XX or the 747X or it could delay an internal decision if no need is identified. However, Kirchner sees a need for a large freighter from 2004 on.
An FAA rule issued Friday gives Boeing 767 operators until Oct. 10 to perform a required one-time check on elevator actuator bellcrank rivets. The rule mandates a Boeing service bulletin issued Aug. 17 that calls for checks on the first 800 767s built. Boeing put out the bulletin after late-July tests indicated a required 400-flight-hour inspection "may not detect failed shear rivets." Three operators have reported failed rivets, including one -- AeroMexico -- that had two failures on one elevator.
United withdrew its application for allocation of seven U.S.-France frequencies formerly held by Tower Air while maintaining its unopposed requests for designation and exemption to serve the New York-Paris market. The carrier wants the rights to code share in the market with its alliance partners. DOT will allocate 15 U.S.-France frequencies -- eight that were Tower's and seven available April 1. American applied for 14 -- seven each for daily Chicago- and San Jose-Paris nonstops. Delta also requested 14 to double its daily Paris-Atlanta and New York nonstops.
FAA Friday issued an emergency regulation mandating an Aug. 17 Boeing alert service bulletin calling for fuselage lap joint inspections on nearly 300 of the oldest 737s. The move stems from Boeing's probe of an inflight decompression on a 737. The manufacturer found a 28-inch tear in the skin above the forward passenger door along the lap joint. "Numerous scratches on the skin of the lap joint had initiated fatigue cracks and subsequent tearing of the skin," FAA said.
Because of their additional training, Europe's regional airline turboprop and turbofan training captains earn an average 16% more than line captains, according to a study on utilization and crew costs conducted by the European Regions Airline Association. ERA notes that turboprop flight crew co-pilots earn an average 62% of a line captain's salary and turbofan co-pilots 66%. ERA also found that 98% of the cabin crew work force was under the age of 40.
Mesa Airlines will continue service between Hobbs and Albuquerque, N.M., after meeting with local civic and aviation leaders. Mesa previously said it would terminate the non-subsidized Essential Air Service route Oct. 19. Mesa CEO Jonathan Ornstein said the company faces "significant hurdles" in operating 19-seat aircraft in small communities, such as Hobbs, because of the costs associated with increased government regulations.
