Ranking House Transportation Committee Democrat James Oberstar (Minn.) yesterday introduced a bill that would give the DOT secretary authority to intervene in the marketplace if the proposed United-US Airways merger leads to three or fewer airlines accounting for more than 70% of scheduled traffic. This would include giving DOT authority to roll back fare increases. Oberstar, in a House speech marking the introduction of The Airline Competition Preservation Act of 2000, said passengers face the prospect of three mega-airlines controlling more than 84% of the U.S.
Key members of the Senate Commerce Committee and its aviation subcommittee expressed misgivings about pushing legislation that would raise the mandatory retirement age for commercial pilots in good health from the current 60 years to age 65.
Embraer unveiled an additional $250 million in new firm orders for its regional jets yesterday at the Farnborough Air Show, bringing the cumulative total orders for the week to $4.25 billion. The manufacturer made further inroads to the China market after Sichuan Airlines confirmed a letter of intent signed at the beginning of the year for five ERJ-145s, with first delivery scheduled in October.
Boeing expanded its annual market forecast this year to include the aviation services airlines need for their growing and aging fleets. Boeing, which hopes to capitalize on aftermarket aircraft services, announced several new deals for its services unit. The total market -- services plus future new-airplane deliveries -- is estimated to be worth more than $4 trillion over the next 20 years, according to the company's Current Market Outlook 2000, released this week at the Farnborough Air Show.
Aviation Sales Co. contracted to sell three Airbus A300B4 freighters to an affiliate of AeroLease Corp. for $12 million each. Dale Baker, chairman, said the agreement "represents the completion of the first of several important steps which we are taking to reduce our debt."
Boeing confirmed Singapore Airlines' intent to exercise options for two 777-200ERs and one 777-200 yesterday. Boeing said the intent to order will not be included in the Boeing published cumulative order total until the definitive agreement is signed. The 777-200ER is an extended range model of the 777 family that can fly nearly 7,800 nautical miles nonstop.
Air-India, in a bid to score over regional competitors in the Gulf such as Oman Airways, Gulf Air, and Qatar Airways, will reduce its roundtrip fares from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi (in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala), starting Aug. 1, and to Kozhikode, Madras, and Bangalore on Sept. 1, Air-India officials said this week Tuesday.
Severe weather at airport hubs and temporary loss of aircraft cost Mesaba $3 million in revenue and reduced first quarter net profits to $7.7 million, down 15%. High winds at Detroit collapsed a Mesaba maintenance hangar, and several extraordinary events contributed to the loss of several aircraft, said CEO Paul Foley. Unusual patterns of severe weather at Detroit and Minneapolis also cut into operations. Expenses grew 12% to $96 million, and operating income was $11.7 million, off 16.4%. Traffic was up 21.2% on capacity growth of 17.7%.
FAA ordered a one-time inspection to determine if certain wire bundles are routed incorrectly on Boeing 747-400s. The agency said the inspection is necessary to prevent damage of bundles routed to the fuel tank transfer pumps in the horizontal stabilizer. Any damage "could result in electrical arcing and a possible fire adjacent to the fuel tank," the agency said.
SkyWest reported net income for the June quarter rose 21.8% to $16.5 million from $13.6 million the same quarter a year ago. Operating revenues increased 16.9% to $130.4 million.
U.S. Carriers Rental Expense First Quarter 2000 MAJOR CARRIERS Cost Per ASM Rental % Expenses 1Q00 1Q99 Change Alaska $ 45,680,000 1.08 1.20 -10.2% America West 102,477,623 1.58 1.37 14.9% American 291,702,000 0.73 0.75 -2.2%
Polar Air Cargo wants DOT to deny a joint request by Northwest and Japan Airlines for reciprocal U.S.-Japan code sharing, pointing to dominance of the "competitively constrained airfreight market" by Northwest and JAL. Approval of a reciprocal code share should be conditioned on "transfer of peak-hour slots at [Tokyo] Narita so as to enable other carriers, including Polar, to offer viable alternative competitive services in transpacific cargo markets." Northwest and JAL proposed blocked-space and code-share services beginning Sept.
German airlines Hapag-Lloyd and Air Berlin committed to blended winglet technology on the Boeing 737-800 this week. Hapag-Lloyd will launch the winglet retrofit program through a contract with Aviation Partners Boeing for 26 blended winglet kits. Air Berlin ordered 19 blended winglet kits for its -800s. The modifications take roughly seven to eight days to complete. Hapag-Lloyd will decide where the retrofit modification work will be performed.
British Airways resumed Concorde operations, while investigators tried to determine whether engine problems caused the crash of an Air France Concorde during takeoff Tuesday from Paris. Air France kept its Concorde fleet grounded. The airline said the aircraft that crashed was an hour and six minutes late taking off because the thrust reverser of the No. 2 engine was not working. The thrust reverser had not been operable in the flight from New York on July 24.
Monarch Airlines is will order five Airbus A321s for delivery starting in 2002, and America West will order four more A319s, all of which will be delivered next year. This means America West will be taking delivery of more than one aircraft per month in 2001.
IATA Director General Pierre Jeanniot said in London that the U.K.'s national air traffic service could serve as a "good example not only for other European ATCs but also around the world." He said "safe ATC services can be delivered much more efficiently, rapidly and economically than they are being delivered in Europe today." The well-known ATC problems in Europe "result from an in appropriate institutional structure for the provision of services," he said.
AirTran plans to expand its Atlanta hub with additional capacity on a gradual basis over the next year and service to two new markets. The airline is expected to announce a new city late in the third quarter and one in early 2001. "There are a number of opportunities to fill out our schedule," Chief Financial Officer Robert Fornaro said. Advanced bookings for the third quarter are strong, Fornaro said, noting that capacity will grow 13%.
American will not go along with the recapitalization plan proposed by SEPI Monday to salvage Aerolineas Argentinas. American, which holds 8% of Aerolineas, refuses to invest new money, sources say. If the plan is approved, American's share would be reduced to less than 1%. SEPI replaced the two directors American had on the Aerolineas board with two SEPI directors. Further, a motion of censure was voted against American's management role.
Correction: Mexicana's fine by FAA for carrying hazardous materials occurred when the airline transported company material on a cargo aircraft. The DAILY reported July 18 that the error was on a passenger aircraft.
Airbus yesterday received two more orders for the A320 family for a total of 53 aircraft. The larger of the two came from GECAS for 42 aircraft, 30 -318s and 12 -320s, while the other for 11 is from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE). This is GECAS's third such order for the A320 family since 1997. The -318 inclusion is the first. Seating for the -318 will be 107 in a two-class layout. The GECAS order will boost its Airbus portfolio to 260 aircraft, 161 of which are from the A320 family.
Pilots of Trans States Airlines said yesterday they will strike Friday, July 28, at 4 p.m. EDT unless a new contract is agreed to by then. The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association International, have been in direct negotiations since June 1998 and the federally mandated 30-day cooling off period before any potential work action expired May 27. The pilots have been free to strike since then. Earlier this month, the union overwhelmingly rejected a tentative agreement reached just before another strike deadline. St.
EVA Air Cargo has received the first of three Boeing 747-400 freighters on order. The aircraft will be placed in service tomorrow between Taipei and Los Angeles. EVA will expand services Aug. 9, when it will add Toronto as a dedicated cargo gateway. EVA said that about 43% or $663 million of its revenues last year came from cargo. It projects that its cargo volume will reach 460,000 tons this year, reflecting a load factor of almost 80% and producing 45% of total revenues.
Kuwait Finance House, a leading Islamic financial institution and the parent company of Aviation Lease and Finance Co., said it plans to purchase four A320s from Airbus. The order, valued at $200 million, will be delivered beginning in 2003 with CFM56 engines.
Boeing Airplane Services and South African Airways today plan to reconfigure as many as eight SAA 747-400s with the airline's new Millennium interior. An agreement is expected to be signed next month. The new interior includes a complete reconfiguration of the cabin, featuring new first-, business- and economy-class seating. The entire airplane will be fitted with Sony's P@ssport inflight entertainment system.
