EasyJet sold 72.9% of its seats online for the week ending July 9, a feat partly driven by the online announcement of its fall fare sale. The airline booked 89,772 seats after it sent email messages to everyone registered with the carrier's service.
Few details have emerged from Wednesday's Hapag-Lloyd crash landing in Vienna. An Airbus A310-300, powered by GE CF6-80C2A2 engines, lost power in both engines and glided to a crash landing. Eleven of the 150 passengers and crew were injured during the evacuation. The left engine and wing were badly damaged.
Delta plans to start several new code-share flights with SkyTeam partner AeroMexico over the next three months, continuing its aggressive push into Latin America. Delta will begin code-share service on AeroMexico flights between Mexico City and Durango and between Mexico City and Torreon, both beginning Aug. 1. Delta will put its code on AeroMexico flights between Monterrey and Acapulco, beginning Sept. 1. It also will reinstate code-share service on AeroMexico flights between Mexico City and Cuidad Obregon and Los Mochis beginning Aug. 1.
Lucio Tan, majority shareholder and executive chairman of Philippine Airlines, will not sell his 57.7% stake in the debt-ridden national carrier because it is showing signs of recovery. Tan's 46% stake in Philippine National Bank, with an estimated value of US$700 million, still is for sale. Three months ago, Tan told Philippines President Joseph Estrada that he wanted to sell both stakes to avoid further pressure and allegations from the business community that he was getting sweetheart deals from the government because of his closeness to the president.
FAA said yesterday that it has received reports of several incidents in which the flight crew on Boeing 737-700s lost communication with air traffic control while the airplane was taxiing or on hold for takeoff. Investigation traced the loss of communication to the location of the VHF 1 and 2 antennas. It said the location of the antennas are identical on the 737-600/800.
The Senate Energy Committee yesterday approved a bill that would convey 6,500 acres of federal land in Clark County, Nev., for a second airport to serve the Las Vegas area. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), would convey the land at fair market value to Clark County for construction of the facility. The proposed Ivanpah Valley Airport in southern Nevada would open in 2010.
American and Northwest remain in general discussions on a possible merger between the two carriers, but gaps remain on several issues, including the sale price. The flurry of media reports yesterday about a possible deal moved the stock price of both airlines' higher, but some analysts believe there was little movement in the actual negotiations. The Washington Post reported yesterday that American has for several weeks offered $44 per share for Northwest's stock, but Northwest has demanded in excess of $100 a share. Neither airline would comment on the report.
Delta Express plans to launch new nonstop Boeing 737-200 service between Boston and West Palm Beach, Fla., and between Newark and West Palm Beach. Beginning Nov. 6, the Delta unit will offer two daily nonstop Boston-West Palm Beach flights and add a third daily Dec. 6. Delta Express will add a third daily roundtrip between Newark and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, also on Dec. 6. Starting Feb. 4, 2001, Delta Express will offer two daily nonstop flights between Newark and West Palm Beach.
TWA today celebrates 75 years in service, the first U.S. carrier to accomplish the feat.The airline began as Western Air Express in California in 1925 and over the years included Transcontinental Air Transport, Transcontinental&Western Air and Ozark Airlines. TWA has launched several aircraft types, was the first airline to become all-jet, showed the first inflight movie and was the first to offer business class.
American and Japan Airlines told DOT that American plans to display JAL's code on flights from Los Angeles to Denver and Phoenix, beginning Aug. 9, under the carriers' reciprocal code-share arrangement. (Docket OST-99-4994)
Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) is taking over the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul operations of Philippine Airlines when it begins operations in September. LTP is a joint venture between Lufthansa Technik (51%) and MacroAsia Corp. (49%) established in 1999. LHT has regional sales offices in Beijing, Singapore and Tokyo and is setting up a components servicing center in Shenzhen. It also has a China Aviation School in Taipei.
DOT, dismissing Tower Air's request for a dormancy waiver for its eight U.S.-France frequencies, instituted a frequency allocation proceeding to award 15 U.S.-France frequencies -- eight from Tower and seven that become available April 1, 2001. The department wants to "allocate all these frequencies quickly...in one expedited proceeding," to enable DOT to "consider all of the near-term needs of the U.S.-France market together" and reduce the burden on DOT and the carriers. American, Delta and United requested a total of 28 frequencies.
Pilots at Trans States Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, overwhelmingly rejected a tentative contract offer late Monday, clearing the way for a possible strike if further negotiations fail to yield an agreement. ALPA said 85% of pilots turned down the offer, which was reached before a strike deadline over the Memorial Day weekend. Pilots and management have been in contract talks since July 1998 and requested the intervention of a federal mediator in April this year.
FedEx Express this week revealed plans to reduce transit times across its network and provide customers later pick-up and earlier deliveries when it reconfigures its express network this summer. New widebody aircraft flights will directly connect the FedEx EuroOne hub in Paris and the AsiaOne hub in Subic Bay, enabling the company to offer the improvements, it said. "For example, FedEx customers in India will be able to get their products to the East Coast of the U.S. a full business day faster as a result of these new flights," said CEO David Bronczek.
Memory lapses and procedural shortcuts are the main culprits in maintenance errors, suggest data from a ground-breaking Australian survey on maintenance human factors. More than 60% of workers responding believe management either doesn't know about short-cuts or tolerates them.
Kintetsu World Express opened its new EuroHub at Liege Airport in Belgium, making Kintetsu the "only forwarding company in Europe to have a full-fledged combination air/ground facility compatible with 747 air cargo terminal operations" and with logistics operations such as express and customs clearance.
Northwest launched real-time access to its flight and frequent flyer information through a deal with the Spring PCS wireless web service. The expanded partnership with Sprint PCS provides Northwest passengers with mobile access to flight/gate status and WorldPerks account information on the minibrowser of any Sprint PCS Internet-ready phone.
Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing yesterday he was "deeply concerned" by American's revelation that it is trying to acquire Northwest, a move that could compress the U.S. airline industry into three major carriers, a concern he first voiced in connection with the proposed United-US Airways merger. Asked by The DAILY if he had conveyed his concern about the consequences of the United-US Airways merger to the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, which is supposed to rule on the merger, McCain said he had not.
At DOT's request, Federal Express, Polar Air Cargo, Challenge Air Cargo/UPS and Kitty Hawk documented their use of U.S.-Brazil cargo frequencies between Jan. 1, 1999, and June 15, 2000. FedEx, which has been allocated 10 of the 24 available all-cargo frequencies, detailed use of five frequencies for which it has requested dormancy exemption.
The Defense Department is conducting live air traffic control operations using the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System and ASR-11 Digital Airport Surveillance Radar at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. DOD and FAA plan to procure from Raytheon up to 331 STARS for terminal ATC facilities and up to 213 ASR-11s. Use of the two new systems by DOD controllers signals the start of Multi-Service Operational Test and Evaluation (MOT&E) of both.
DHL Worldwide Express's Boeing 757-200 is at Boeing's Wichita facility, where it is undergoing modification to become a freighter. The airplane is the first of 44 that Boeing Airplane Services is purchasing, converting and maintaining as part of a fleet management program for DHL. Flight test certification for the 757SF (special freighter) is expected to begin in October, followed by delivery of the first airplane later in the year. A second 757 is scheduled to arrive in Wichita in October.
AirTran Holdings' second quarter profits soared 51% to $22.6 million due to record revenues and strong traffic. Despite a 71.4% increase in fuel costs, the airline's net income topped analysts' average estimate and was the company's sixth consecutive profitable quarter before special items. "We continue to see steady growth in both the business and leisure market segments, allowing us to simultaneously raise both load factor and yields," said CEO Joe Leonard. Revenues grew 14.8% to $160.8 million, outpacing the 8.9% increase in expenses.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater yesterday named Susan McDermott deputy assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, filling a critical career aviation position at DOT left vacant for nearly a year, since the September 1999 departure of Patrick Murphy. McDermott, who in 1978 began her career as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, worked for the Civil Aeronautics Board for five years before joining DOT's Office of International Aviation, where she has been assistant director of negotiations since 1988.
Air Tahiti Nui will become of a partner in American's AAdvantage frequent flyer program, effective July 25. AAdvantage members may redeem their mileage awards for travel on Air Tahiti Nui, but no mileage may be accrued by AAdvantage members while traveling on the carrier. Air Tahiti Nui offers nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Papeete three times per week using Airbus A340s.
