British Midland is continuing its ambitious strategy of building up London Heathrow as its main hub for European and transatlantic services against British Airways. The airline announced a triple daily service between Heathrow and Barcelona, starting Nov. 1, that will compete head-to-head with BA and its oneworld partner Iberia. Lufthansa told The DAILY it will put its code on the flight as the airline has done in the case of British Midland's other recently launched new services. BA has announced increased frequencies on the route from two to three daily.
New U.S.-China rights should be decided by DOT by late September, American CEO Don Carty said in a message to employees. Carty, facing incumbent carriers as well as hopefuls Delta and UPS in the competition, called the proceeding the most "contentious" he can recall. He promised employees that American will lobby the U.S. and Chinese to expand markets if the carrier doesn't get the award.
Horizon Air's pilots voted to authorize a strike if the union cannot reach a contract deal with management. The pilots, represented by the Teamsters, has not asked the National Mediation Board to release them from talks. Flight crewmembers, who have been in negotiations for three years, say that some first- through third-year pilots earn salaries that place them below the national poverty standard.
Aerovistas.net and Airports Council International-North America plan to implement online auctions, electronic requests for proposals and procurement functionality, to ACI-NA's existing portal site AirportHub.com. The new services are expected to be available next month.
National Air Transportation has lodged objections to proposed restrictions on Stage 2 business jets at two airports. NATA stated its preference for voluntary rather than mandatory restrictions of Stage 1 and 2 aircraft using the Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, Minn., between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. NATA opposed a recommendation from outside consultants to restrict all Stage 2 operations at Naples Municipal Airport, Naples, Fla.
Pan Am this week began service between Orlando Sanford and St. Louis. Pan Am now offers nonstop service on the route everyday except Tuesday via St. Louis MidAmerica Airport.
French Transport Minister Jean-Claude Gayssot said in an interview that the grounding of the Concorde fleets in France and Britain does not necessarily mean it will never fly again. "This is neither the death of Concorde nor for supersonic flight," Gayssot stated. He added that France is studying the possibility of a successor to the Concorde, but he acknowledged that development would have to be undertaken by a number of countries. Gayssot also said the U.S. could take part.
Cathay Pacific Airways plans new freighter service to New Delhi, Penang in Malaysia and San Francisco, starting in September. The Boeing 747 freighter service will increase destinations to 19. Cargo manager Kenny Tang said the air cargo market out of Hong Kong "has been growing very strongly" during the last year and Cathay sees good potential in the three new cities. The new service will provide three flights a week from Hong Kong to New Delhi, one per week to Penang and two per week to San Francisco.
Air Transport Association reported that cargo traffic increased 8.2% in June over the same month last year. International cargo was up 8.7% and domestic cargo was up 7.7%.
Ansett Australia launched its electronic check-in machines this week at its Sydney domestic terminal, as part of the airline's strategy to improve airport processes before the Sydney Olympic Games next month. The system is also active in Melbourne and will running in Brisbane later this week. E-check-in can be used by passengers who have purchased an electronic ticket and are travelling domestically. Customers insert their Global Rewards frequent flyer card or a major credit card into the machine and receive a boarding pass.
Morten Beyer&Agnew, in a filing on FAA's proposed Aviation Noise Abatement Policy 2000, says that it is "inconceivable that the FAA's proposed 'goals' and 'policies' do not give primary consideration to the cost of compliance, as well as the social benefits to be derived." The filing says, "Not one of the six aviation noise goals and seven aviation noise policies addresses the enormous potential cost of compliance with the goals and policies."
Air Jamaica applied at DOT this week to start service from its Montego Bay hub to Boston by yearend to continue growing its U.S. network. The carrier wants to begin the only Boston-Jamaica nonstops Dec. 15. It intends to start the route with five weekly flights using Airbus A320s, planning to expand to daily. The airline also wants to serve Houston next year, and CEO Christopher Zacca told The DAILY recently he has initiated discussions with Continental about cooperating on the route.
Air Georgian asked DOT for authority to display Canadian Airlines' code on flights from Canada to 16 U.S. points in New York, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and New Hampshire. (Docket OST-00-7771)
Delta Express plans to boost its service between New York Kennedy and Tampa, beginning Nov. 1 with two daily nonstop flights. The service replaces one Delta mainline flight and adds one new flight. Delta Express will compete on the route with TWA and JetBlue, which started three daily nonstops in March. The increased Delta Express JFK capacity follows a decision last week to cut its one daily flight between Albany, N.Y., and Orlando, also beginning Nov. 1.
United's pilots are embittered by management's reported refusal to counter-offer their proposals at the bargaining table, and some are saying the company is using the billions it saved through the Employee Stock Option Program (ESOP) to fund the proposed United-US Airways merger. Former CEO Gerald Greenwald told pilots when contract talks began in 1998 that they would have an industry-leading contract by the time the ESOP stock distribution period ended in April 2000, several sources told The DAILY.
FAA has opened a comment period on a draft advisory circular that provides guidance for parties interested in conducting outdoor laser operations that may affect operators in navigable airspace. Comments must be received by Sept. 28.
FAA plans to issue new requirements to ensure that the center tank fuel pumps on Boeing 767s are not operated with less than 1,000 pounds of fuel in the tank. FAA said its action was prompted by a report that an override/jettison fuel pump failed due to damage to an impeller and pumping unit housing. The new airworthiness directive is intended to prevent ignition of fuel vapors from sparks generated by such failures and to eliminate a potential ignition source inside the fuel tank caused by metal-to-metal contact during dry fuel pump operation.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR JUNE 13 - 14, 2000 AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Continental Planet Airways Planet Airways Boeing 727-200 Advanced/ JT8D-15(H) Boeing Ryanair Ryanair Boeing 737-800
United yesterday lowered its third quarter earnings expectations for the second time in the past month due to its ongoing summer operational disaster. CEO Jim Goodwin said yesterday that bookings remained strong through early August despite the poor performance but have dropped in the past two weeks since the carrier's difficulties earlier in the month hit the national headlines. "While our operating performance has improved somewhat, the reduced booking levels continue, and as a result, revenues are not as strong as we had previously anticipated," he said.
American Eagle and its pilots union are headed for arbitration. The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, recently overwhelmingly rejected a tentative contract agreement.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR JUNE 8 - 12, 2000 AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Regional Airlines Loganair SAAB Aircraft Saab 340B Leasing CT7-9B Airbus Croatia Croatia Airlines Airbus A320-200 Airlines CFM56-5B4/P
The French and British civil aviation authorities DCAG and CAA have both withdrawn the airworthiness certificates for the Concorde supersonic jet. The move was announced Tuesday. British Airways immediately canceled all Concorde flights. One aircraft had to be flown back empty from New York to London before the flight ban took effect yesterday. With the authorities demanding modifications to the aircraft, this flight could well have been the last for the Concorde.
Florida Coastal Airlines (FCA) applied at DOT for scheduled service, planning intra-Florida flights beginning Nov. 20. The carrier, founded in 1995, operates on-demand passenger charters with smaller aircraft, telling DOT it "can best be described as a lean, efficient, employee-owned, niche-filling, commuter air carrier." FCA proposes daily service from its Fort Pierce base to Palm Beach, with alternate routings to Andros Town and Key West, returning to Fort Pierce via Palm Beach.
Sabre Holdings acquired Gradient Solutions Ltd. yesterday, further boosting its standing and product offerings in Europe. Dublin-based Gradient Solutions develops and hosts customized products for travel companies, including online travel agencies, airlines and other travel suppliers. "Many of Gradient Solutions and Sabre's key strengths are complementary, including geographic location, customers and employees," said Gerry Samuels, Gradient's CEO and commercial director.
Delta started code-share service yesterday between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Douala and Yaounde, Cameroon, with its SkyTeam partner Air France. The service will operate six times per week between Paris and Douala with Airbus A310s, and beyond to Yaounde three times per week.
