German charter carrier LTU International Airways has chosen the PW4168 engine for seven recently ordered Airbus A330-200 aircraft. The A330-200s supplement LTU's widebody fleet of seven A330-300s and six Boeing 767-300ERs, powered by the PW4168 and PW4062, respectively. LTU's Managing Director Peter Haslebacher said that the selection represented "a further step toward a standardized production program among the Qualiflyer airlines."
Continental CEO Gordon Bethune called for relaxation of restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines and said the industry "faces a potential new round of consolidation." Bethune also pressed Continental's case for entry into Heathrow in his speech to the Aviation Club of the U.K. in London yesterday. Artificial barriers to global investment are contrary to the economic interests of developed and underdeveloped economies, he said. The U.S. currently limits foreign ownership of an airline to no more than 25%.
Aerolineas Argentinas and its domestic subsidiary Austral last week launched the Cordoba Shuttle, which operates 20 daily flights between Buenos Aires and Cordoba, Argentina's second most important city. Flights will take off every 30 minutes subject to demand, using Boeing 737s and MD-80s with both business and economy class.
Alaska Airlines will end a three-week moratorium on advertising in the Seattle Times imposed after an ad ran last month under the headline "Deaths and Funerals." The Times issued an apology to Alaska and carried out a full investigation but was unable to discover the offender. Alaska spokesman Greg Witter said, "We are confident that sufficient safeguards have been set up to protect our ads, so in the weeks ahead you should see our marketing messages in the paper again."
FAA has put its National Airspace System architecture online, projecting NAS structure 15 years into the future balanced against anticipated future funding. The data can be accessed through the Capability and Architecture Tool Suite, which includes a web browser interface -- www.nas-architecture .faa.gov. Using the Internet to share the latest NAS architecture data is key to continued collaboration with aviation system users, according to Steve Zaidman, associate administrator for research and acquisitions.
FAA will hold a Runway Safety National Summit June 26-28 at the Washington Hilton and Towers Hotel, Washington. The meeting will explore ways to improve safety on runways, particularly at busy airports. Among the participants will be FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall and DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead.
The Senate Commerce Committee has approved a bill authorizing funding for the National Transportation Safety Board for four years starting at $57 million in fiscal 2000, which lasts until Sept. 30. The NTSB authorization would climb to $65 million in FY '01, $72 million in '02 and $79 million in '03. The House approved a three-year authorization last year, which includes identical funding; for '00, '01 and '02 but not '03. The committee also approved a bill to improve aviation security.
Southwest will unveil its latest expansion into the northeastern U.S. today with plans to start daily service from Buffalo Niagara Airport. Southwest's Ron Ricks, VP-government affairs, will be joined by local Buffalo officials and New York Gov. George Pataki at a news conference at the airport, where it will give additional details about the new service. The airport's new facilities were a draw for Southwest, which has seen some airports build only with hopes that it would come.
Northwest Airlines Cargo and JAL Cargo, each of which has 10 747-200 freighters, yesterday announced they have formed a cargo alliance whose initial phase will begin operation Sept. 1, provided the partnership secures government approval. The alliance, using code-sharing and interline space agreement, will focus on freighter flights between the U.S. and Asia. Each partner will increase its capacity options from major gateways in the U.S., Japan and Asia. Both carriers have a long history of developing air cargo in the Pacific.
LanChile CEO Enrique Cueto is calling for the unification of Latin American airlines following years of fragmentation, and cited his carrier's successful track record to prove the point. Speaking last week at the International Aviation Club in Washington, Cueto said Latin America's airlines need global networks, competitive capacity to gain customers, means to become more cost-effective, improved operating standards, and, above all, safety.
FAA will release a report on Alaska Airlines this week. According to Administrator Jane Garvey, FAA has had follow-up conversations with the airline on its safety submission and the agency could conduct in-depth Alaska-type audits of all major carriers. Audits "are a good idea in general," she said.
British Airways yesterday added startup carrier National Jet Italia to its growing franchise family, taking BA flights into the Italian domestic market for the first time. NJI, BA's 11th franchisee, will start flying from Rome to Palermo in Sicily with four daily flights, beginning July 11, growing to eight later this year. It also will start four daily flights from Rome to Catania, also in Sicily, and eventually double its service to Catania as well. NJI said it intends to look at other domestic routes from Rome to important Italian cities.
National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are looking into the near collision shortly after midnight June 12 of a US Airways Shuttle A320 jet and a King Air at New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA). FAA said it also is looking into why it did not learn of the incident until it a US Airways pilot filed a report in midweek. FAA said delays in reporting operational errors "are unacceptable." FAA said, "We view operational errors seriously.
Grupo TACA plans to boost service in and out of Lima, Peru -- the carrier's third hub -- on July 19, with the introduction of new international flights operated by TACA Peru, organized in two banks of flights. TACA Peru's first bank of flights will operate from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and the second between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The international routes from Lima will be served by four Airbus 319s and the domestic routes by Boeing 737-200s. Grupo TACA plans to introduce the new service in two stages.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic, May 2000 (000) May May % 2000 1999 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 992,000 939,000 5.6 Available Seat Miles 1,400,000 1,385,000 1.1 Load Factor (%) 70.9 67.8 America West Revenue Passenger Miles 1,663,507 1,477,176 12.6
United plans to expand United Shuttle service at its Los Angeles hub with three new daily flights to Salt Lake City and additional frequencies to both Seattle and Portland, effective Sept. 6. The flights will be operated with Boeing 737s. The new service will give United a total of 202 flights at Los Angeles, including 9.5 daily roundtrips to Seattle and eight daily roundtrips to Portland.
During the weekend reports out of Brazil hinted that Brazil's powerful evangelical organization, Confader, is negotiating to acquire control of financially troubled VASP. But VASP's management promptly denied the reports, saying their only communication with Confader had referred to discounted fares for its membership.
Continental and AT&T signed a joint marketing agreement that will allow the airline's frequent flyers to earn OnePass miles for every dollar spent on AT&T Residential Long Distance services. For every dollar spent on residential long distance calls, AT&T users will earn five OnePass frequent flyer miles.
Lufthansa Chief Financial Officer Karl-Ludwig Kley said the airline does not need to think about European mergers at this point. In his view, the airline is well prepared for competition through its involvement in Star Alliance and other European partnerships. Lufthansa says Star helps the airline by contributing 500 million marks (US$246 million) to its pre-tax results. If mergers occur, then Lufthansa would be among those who take over other airlines, Kley believes.
Delta's average fare in markets where it competes only with other major carriers is $210 one way, but in the markets where it faces competition from AirTran its average fare is $132, according to a report by Morten Beyer and Agnew. AirTran's fares average $93, or 29% less than Delta's. MBA claims that passengers who flew in markets where Delta and AirTran competed saved a total of $113,485,632 in the second quarter 1999.
BAE Regional Asset Management has found new operators for five used BAe 146 regional jets. Two 146-300s, previously operated by Buzz, go to Aer Lingus. German wet-lease specialist WDL has bought one 146-200 from Asset Management and now has four in its fleet. Qantas took two series 200 aircraft, one of which will go to National Jet Systems (Qantas Airlink).
Air New Zealand established three new departments this week to strengthen its e-commerce initiatives. The three new divisions -- E-Direct, E-Agency and E-Technologies -- are being launched to give the airline "a competitive edge" in a "changing environment," according to Allister Paterson, general manager of commercial. E-Direct will "drive"
Air France will unveil a new sales initiative today for several of its Internet projects. Last month, the company said it "speeded up" its efforts to boost its online presence and identified five strategic development projects, including a new generation of Air France web sites to go live by yearend.
