Continental launched one-stop service to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, from its Newark and Houston hubs this week. The three weekly flights stop in Lima, Peru, and will operate with Boeing 757-200s configured for two classes.
FAA said yesterday it plans to fine American $698,000 for operating two Fokker 100s with incorrect circuit breakers on passenger flights 113 times in March and April last year. American said, "We are going to appeal this one because the violation does not justify the amount of the fine." FAA alleged maintenance workers at New York LaGuardia removed a failed 25-ampere AC bus and replaced it with a 20-ampere breaker, a violation of an airworthiness directive. FAA said maintenance crews at Detroit did the same thing.
America West expanded its Hartford service with three daily roundtrips from Columbus, Ohio, and one from Las Vegas. Flights from Las Vegas and Columbus will be operated with Airbus A319s. Columbus also will receive 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet service.
Japanese startup airline Fair Inc. received approval from the Transport Ministry this week to begin small-jet domestic flights between Sendai and Osaka Kansai Airport, becoming the third new airline to start domestic operations in as many years. According to the Japan Economic Newswire, Fair Inc. will fly three daily roundtrips between the two cities, beginning Aug. 7 with 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets.
Senate aviation subcommittee Chairman Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) speared a statement by United CEO James Goodwin that he did not know what the other leading major airlines would do in reaction to the United-US Airways merger. He also blew apart an argument by DC Air CEO Robert Johnson that he would be able to turn the Washington National slots of high-cost US Airways into a low-cost operation. Gorton called both contentions "counter-intuitive."
U.S. Industry Traffic Market Share, as of 5 Months 2000 U.S. Industry Traffic Market Share (000) 5 Months 2000 RPMs Share (%) 1. United 50,540,528 18.34 2. American 46,863,292 17.01 3. Delta 43,128,470 15.65 4. Northwest 31,090,395 11.28
In 2001, the European Commission will propose a set of legislation that intends to give "better protection for air passengers," said European Union Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio yesterday. The proposed legislation tackles two controversial issues: making airlines compensate for delays and tightening the EU's existing denied boarding legislation.
Toronto-based Canada 3000 has placed MedLink on all its aircraft to cover inflight or ground medical emergencies. MedLink has a 24-hour emergency medical hotline to give real-time medical guidance to crew and handle logistics if ground medical help is needed.
The European Commission confirmed yesterday that it raided the offices of SAS and Danish airline Maersk Air, as well as its parent company AP Moeller last week. "The Commission is trying to find out whether Maersk Air decided unilaterally to stop operations between Stockholm and Copenhagen and on other routes or whether that decision was taken in conjunction with SAS," a spokeswoman for European Union Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said.
United and US Airways have a combined U.S. traffic market share of 24.7% in the first five months of 2000, according to DOT data (see chart, Page 8). This would be quite a bit smaller than a possible American- Northwest merger, which would have a combined 28.3% share.
United's on-time and operational performance increasingly has suffered in the last month from multiple storms, air traffic problems and pilot staffing issues. Operations have hit such a negative trend that the carrier cut 4,800 flights in the May-August period. Even worse, United's passenger surveys show that reliability issues are prompting an increasing number of paying customers to say they will not come back. Only 31% of the airline's flights depart exactly on time -- on-time zero -- June 1-19, far fewer than its internal June goal of 55%.
Northwest signed a deal with Illinois-based eKiosk.com to begin deploying high-speed Internet workstations at the carrier's WorldClubs this month. WorldClubs in the airline's Minneapolis and Detroit hubs will be the first of 23 Northwest airport clubs to receive multiple eKiosks. Ekiosk terminals offer various computing services for "nominal fees," including Microsoft Office applications, video e-mail and text e-mail. Each unit is equipped with an audio handset, video camera, microphone high-speed modem ports and a disc drive.
AviationX, which started out as a neutral electronic business web site for the airline industry, has revised its business model to develop software applications for regional and smaller airlines. Faced with intense competition from Boeing and the airlines, which announced their own web sites, AviationX has scaled back its marketing initiatives to focus on "core competencies," spokesman Mitch Baranowski told The DAILY. Six months ago, AviationX was among the first to announce plans to launch an e-business aimed at helping carriers purchase parts and supplies.
Dragonair of Hong Kong is leasing an Airbus A320 from Boullioun Aviation Services. The A320 will be among the first aircraft delivered to Boullioun as part of its January 1999 30-plane order with Airbus. Dragonair will take delivery in March 2002. It will be powered by IAE V2500 engines.
Embraer will fit winglets to the ERJ 170 regional jetliner, saying the addition will improve fuel burn and climb capability, extend range and payload. The use of advanced tools such as computational fluid dynamics, digital mockup and virtual reality allowed introduction of winglets without impact on the development schedule, Embraer said.
The National Air Transportation Association has called for the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw a water pollution control proposal that NATA said would require airports to install new and expensive runoff containment equipment. FAA and EPA sources said, however, that NATA has nothing to fear, since locally approved stormwater runoff plans in place at most airports would satisfy the new rules.
Swissjet filed at DOT for certification to operate combination charters and charter sub-service for scheduled carriers. The Coral Gables-based startup, founded as a Florida corporation in April, wants to provide charter services to vacation destinations in the U.S. and foreign countries. It told DOT it plans to purchase two MD-80 aircraft in its first year of operations and add four aircraft as market conditions warrant.
Wagner Canhedo, president of Brazil's VASP, yesterday said in Sao Paulo that he is prepared to sell the financially troubled carrier. "I want to sell, and if someone has the money to buy, we have a deal," he said.
Senate Commerce Committee today will hold a hearing on the proposed merger between United and US Airways with testimony from DOT General Counsel Nancy McFadden, United Chairman and CEO James Goodwin, US Airways Chairman Stephen Wolf, DC Air Chairman and CEO Robert Johnson and others.
LTU International Airways selected Pratt&Whitney PW4000 engines to power its seven Airbus A330-200s, which will serve routes between Germany and North America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. LTU already operates seven A330-300s and six Boeing 767-300ERs powered by PW4000s.
By Michael Miller, Editor-In-Chief, Aviation Daily
Recent merger announcements and leaked intentions of mergers have not addressed two major points: What will the industry look like afterward, and will the resulting structure have enough competitive forces? The merger debate presents a timely opportunity to consider several reforms to improve U.S. competition whether mergers are approved or not.
Airbus said the powerplant for its A340-500/600 made its first flight beneath the wing of an A340-300 testbed. The flight, using a Trent 500 engine in place of one of four CFM56-5C4 powerplants, lasted two hours, 30 minutes. Pilots were able to explore the flight envelope of the aircraft up to its maximum operating speed of 345knots or .86 Mach. The Trent 500 can deliver up to 60,000 pounds of thrust. Airbus said it has 129 firm orders and commitments for the new airplane.
Francis Richard, Air France's general director for Brazil, said the French carrier is interested in a stake in TAM, one of the country's Big Four, as part of a phased program to strengthen the alliance between the two, according to published reports. Analysts predict such a deal would boost TAM to the No. 1 position, surpassing Varig. Since 1999, Air France and TAM have been code sharing between Brazil and France, linking their frequent traveler programs and sharing passenger lounges at airports.
Kansas City airport lowered landing fees by more than 10%, the first time the airport has lowered fees since it opened. The cost per passenger will drop to $2.83 from $3.17 and the cargo fee per 1,000 pounds will fall to $0.80 from $0.90.
