The 138 aircraft and helicopters of Argentina's air force will continue to be maintained and modernized at their plant in Cordoba, according to the new five-year contract between the Argentine government and Lockheed Martin. Plans also include relaunching the IA-63 Pampa aircraft by building 12 units. The relaunched aircraft is set to debut at the Farnborough Air Show on July 24. The new contract will create 150 direct and 1,250 indirect jobs.
Fly, which owns only three Boeing 727-200s, is competing with Brazil's big carriers on the Rio de Janeiro-Sao Paulo shuttle, one of the busiest in the world. Fly has a $33 fare, including airport tax, which is almost one-third of that charged by rival airlines. Prior to 1997, Fly only ran charters.
Those involved in the Safer Skies initiative to reduce the U.S.'s fatal aviation accident rates by 80% by 2007 have not reached agreement on how they will measure progress in achieving that goal for commercial aviation, the General Accounting Office said. The report estimated that if the projected growth occurs, the commercial aviation rate will increase from an average of six fatal accidents a year to nine annually by 2007. General aviation fatal accidents would rise from an average of 380 a year to 484.
ACES, Colombia's second largest carrier, started daily service from Bogota to Cucuta on July 1. The city, on the border with Venezuela, is being served with Boeing 727s in 150-passenger, one-class configuration. In August, the aircraft will be switched to factory-new ATR 42-500's.
Lastminute.com signed an agreement yesterday with the Qualiflyer Group's 11 European airlines. Initially, U.K.-based Lastminute.com will offer flights from Swissair, Sabena and Crossair, with the other members of Qualiflyer -- TAP, Portugalia, LOT Polish, AOM, Air Littoral, Air Europe, Volare and Turkish Airlines -- expected to follow shortly. The deal will allow Lastminute.com to provide "competitive rates" on scheduled continental and intercontinental flights from the participating airlines.
International charter operator Sabah Air, owned by the Sabah state in Malaysia on the island of Borneo, has been issued an operating license for scheduled service. Established in 1975, the airline initially will offer flights within the state. No date has been set for its scheduled launch, as the carrier says it needs time to plan its fleet requirements for domestic and regional services.
The construction of a third large international airport in the Paris area is "necessary," according to a report released this week by the French parliamentary committee in charge of transport. Building a third airport for Paris has sparked a heated debate in France. In the spring, Aeroports de Paris Chairman Yves Cousquer called the decision "unavoidable" in the face of traffic increases, which grew 8.4% to 69 million passengers among Paris airports last year.
Air Force Commander Oswaldo Dominguez announced in Quito that Ecuadorean carrier TAME, the commercial airline which for 40 years has been operated by the Air Force, will be privatized. TAME, the major player in the domestic market and serving Lima, Santiago, Havana and southern Colombia, last year carried 1.2 million passengers. The Air Force will maintain control of air traffic and safety, according to Dominguez.
Brazil's Embraer confirmed it will build its new manufacturing plant in Gaviao Peixoto in the inland region of the state of Sao Paulo. The new construction calls for investments of more than $125 million over the next 10 years. It will be the axis of a new large industrial park being created by the public and private sectors of Sao Paulo. The new plant should be finished by September 2001.
Three members of the House aviation subcommittee have asked DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead to investigate FAA's slow response to information about faulty aircraft cables. "We are alarmed by reports that the FAA did not notify air carriers about possible problems with the cable for nearly a year," they said in a letter sent June 30 to Mead. The three also criticized DOT's response time. An FAA spokeswoman said the agency went through its "suspected parts notification process" and FAA would not comment on a potential IG report.
Aer Lingus named Michael Foley as its group CEO this week as it prepares to for a public stock offering within the next year. Foley served as president and CEO of Heineken USA for six years and will begin in his new position "shortly." Aer Lingus Chairman Bernie Cahill spoke highly of Foley's international experience that will be helpful at a "critical time" in the airline's development. The Irish government approved an Aer Lingus IPO to be completed in the second half of this year or by early 2001.
LanChile CEO Enrique Cueto told the International Aviation Club in Buenos Aires that "protectionism is well and alive" in the Latin American airline industry and route structures are still ruled by "obsolete" bilateral agreements.
Ecuador's Icaro Express will begin to serve the Quito-Piura route at the end of this month. Active domestically for 29 years, the carrier will start three weekly flights to Piura, a major industrial center in Northern Peru, and plans further expansion in Peru to Cajamarca, Chiclayo and Tumbes.
Aeropuertos Espanoles y Navegacion Aerea (AENA), Spain's state-owned airport and air traffic authority, claims it will be the world's largest airport operator in 2000.
The 34 Chinese airlines made a dramatic turnaround last year, recording an overall US$90.8 million profit against 1998's massive US$275.9 million loss. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) attributed the improved performance to the ban on ticket discounting during the past year for domestic flights. Assistant Director of the CAAC, Xu Rong, said although some airlines managed to find loopholes in the agency's regulations and enforcement to continue to offer discounts, while others blatantly ignored the ban, the combined revenue achieved was satisfactory.
BWIA CEO Conrad Aleong promised Barbados tourism interests that the airline will carry 1,000 passengers per week on its new nonstop service starting July 9 between New York and Barbados. The airline will use Boeing 737-800s on the route.
DHL Airways announced the launch of Web Shipping, calling it the "first Internet-based service designed to streamline the international shipping process." Web Shipping enables businesses to manage all aspects of their international shipping needs online at one URL, the company said.
China Airlines named a new president and chairman this week in a surprise move ousting the current management that was believed to be making progress financially and operationally. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Christine Tsai-yi Tsung, a consultant working on the development of the subway system in Kaohsiung, was named the airline's new president, replacing Sandy K.Y. Liu. Yun-ling Lee, president and chairman of Far Eastern Air Transport will replace current CAL Chairman Hung-I Chiang.
Air Namibia will introduce a new European destination with twice weekly flights to Munich in October. Flights will leave Windhoek on Sunday and Tuesday nights and will return Monday in the evening and Wednesdays in the morning. In addition to the new destination, Air Namibia is increasing frequencies to Frankfurt to four weekly roundtrips. The airline has reached a cooperation agreement with Deutsche BA as well. The British Airways subsidiary will feed Air Namibia's Munich flights from Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg and Cologne/Bonn.
Flight attendants across the globe yesterday held a massive rally to draw attention to the growing problem of rage and violent behavior among airline passengers. British Airways supported calls from union leaders for governments across the world to get tough on air rage. International Transport Workers Federation earmarked yesterday as a global day of action. BA said the U.K. government has reacted to calls from airlines to legislate against violent and disruptive behavior and the union wants other governments to follow suit.
Air Canada and its Air Canada Pilots Association have agreed to resume contract talks tomorrow. The company and pilots union conducted contract negotiations over the weekend and Air Canada said that "In view of the progress made in the past seven days of negotiations, we believe there is sufficient momentum to continue moving towards a negotiated settlement in the coming days." ACPA said although there has been progress "negotiations have been slow and detailed." ACPA must give the company 72 hours' notice before walking off the job.
EVA Air was awarded the Taipei-Tokyo route yesterday following a Japan-Taiwan summit this week. The airline will serve Tokyo Haneda at the end of August with two weekly flights using MD-11s. China Airlines currently offers daily Boeing 747-400 service on the route.
A global group of air transport stakeholders emerged yesterday in an attempt to avoid the collapse of talks on a new Chapter 4 noise standard at ICAO. The "coalition for a global standard on aviation noise" includes airports, airlines, manufacturers and labor groups," said former Virginia governor Gerald Baliles, who will chair the new group. The coalition currently has more than 40 members, including major U.S. carriers, Qantas, South African Airways, Lufthansa, British Airways, Iberia, Aeroports de Paris, BAA, Rolls Royce and Pratt&Whitney.
United placed worst by a wide margin in May in two major categories tracked by the DOT Consumer Travel Report -- mishandled baggage and on-time arrivals.Only 56.6% of the carrier's flights arrived on time, far below Delta, which posted the best performance, with 80.7%. America West again had the most consumer complaints.
