Atlantic Coast Jet (ACJet), which will soon begin operating as a Delta Connection carrier, unveiled plans to develop a new maintenance base on the grounds of the Columbia Metropolitan Airport to service its new fleet of Fairchild 328JETs. A total of 25 Columbia-based maintenance employees will be stationed at the facility, with additional expansions of space and staff possible in the near future. "Columbia is the perfect location for this new maintenance base," said ACJet Chief Operating Officer Mike Davis.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater, shortly before meeting with British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott yesterday in London, said he wants to remove obstacles to moving forward on liberalizing the U.S.-U.K. aviation pact. One way he hopes to bring the two sides together is to change negotiating language from "open skies" to "liberalized agreement." The parties have met several times following the breakdown in talks in January, and Slater lauded Prescott for his "comprehensive view" of the situation.
Avianca yesterday started nonstop service from its Bogota hub to Cancun four days per week, to San Juan three days per week and once daily to San Jose, Costa Rica.
Oneida Airlines, flush with $180 million in startup funds and plans to serve upstate New York, filed for DOT certification. The Utica, N.Y.-based startup proposed nonstop and one-stop flights to small and medium-sized cities in the northeastern U.S. by fall. It asking DOT to act on its application by July 8. The carrier's secured funding is greater than the $128 million JetBlue had available for its start.
Varig and Lufthansa in September will implement a cargo marketing and operational agreement between South America and Europe to increase from 5 to 9 flights a week. The alliance calls for Varig to increase cargo flights by 40% without purchasing additional aircraft. Lufthansa Cargo will concentrate on exports to generate business growth in Brazil. Varig also will have connections to Bogota, Montevideo and Buenos Aires.
Airline technical operations, once a traditional cost center, are now being approached as a for-profit business, according to trends seen by executive search firm Spencer Stuart. The change in attitude has come over the last two to three years as profits elsewhere in the airline business have enabled executives to begin planning long term for all divisions, not just traditional revenue-generating arms.
The Global Aviation Information Network (GAIN) will hold a safety conference June 14-15 in Paris with Air France and Airbus as co-hosts. The event will be the fourth international meeting devoted to advancing GAIN's agenda, which is to promote and facilitate voluntary collection and sharing of safety information.
FAA yesterday ordered repetitive inspections of the wiring and surrounding Teflon sleeves of the fuel tank boost pumps and override/jettison pumps on Boeing 767 aircraft. The order was prompted by reports of chafing of the Teflon sleeves that surround and protect electrical wires inside conduits installed in the fuel tanks. About 716 aircraft in the worldwide fleet are affected, including 253 of U.S. registry. FAA also superseded an earlier order on Boeing 747s to require stepped-up inspections for cracking of the front spar web of the center section of the wing.
JetBlue Airways will provide its inflight LiveTV service free of charge at every seat for the month of June. Beginning July 1, LiveTV will be available for a $5 charge per segment. After a four-month delay in gaining FAA approval and aircraft installation, LiveTV is now available in each of the airline's three Airbus A320s. JetBlue expects to have eight aircraft in service by the end of the summer and the airline has a total 40 aircraft on firm order and LiveTV will installed on each.
JetBlue Airways has selected Arnold Communications to handle its marketing campaign, replacing Merkley Newman Harty. JetBlue awarded the account to Arnold without a formal review. "Having worked closely with Arnold on building numerous successful brands, I know they have a proven ability to create smart, strategic and creative integrated marketing campaigns for clients like Volkswagen," said Kel Kelly, executive VP-marketing and sales. Kelly made the decision only a week after she joined the airline, after leaving Toysmart.com.
SAM, Avianca's international subsidiary, has introduced Business Class ("Clase Ejecutiva") service on its MD-83 flights from Bogota to Cucuta, Monteria and Leticia in Colombia, as well as to Panama City, Panama.
United unveiled plans yesterday to construct the largest regional aircraft terminal in the airline's history at its Denver hub, which will provide a huge capacity boost to its Express partners Air Wisconsin and Great Lakes Aviation. United plans to expand the existing A Concourse off the east end of the current facility, where United currently leases eight gates. Total costs for the new terminal are expected to top $100 million, and the facility will be able to accommodate up to 36 regional aircraft, both jets and turboprops.
Leisure air fares rose 6% in May, offsetting declines in lodging and car rental rates that boosted overall leisure travel costs by nearly 2% last month, according to the American Automobile Association. The monthly AAA Leisure Travel Index shows the combined national average cost for air fares, lodging and car rental rates in May was $410.60, up $7.44 from $403.16 in April. Roundtrip leisure air fares averaged $242.18, up $14.58 from April's $227.60. The May figure still was below the March average of $263.57.
United showed little operational improvement in April, placing worst in two major categories tracked by the DOT Consumer Travel Report -- mishandled baggage and on-time arrivals. Only 65.6% of the carrier's flights arrived on time, far below Northwest, which posted the best performance, with 81.2% of flights arriving on schedule. America West again had the most consumer complaints of U.S. majors.
Varig on July 15 will add a second daily flight from Los Angeles to Brazil, using an MD-11. The flight will operate as a code share with partner United.
FAA yesterday selected ARINC and Lockheed Martin vendor teams as the finalists for its oceanic air traffic management modernization effort. FAA's objective in the Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) acquisition is to modernize its oceanic ATC system using commercial technologies. It plans to upgrade the air traffic automation systems in air route traffic control centers at Oakland, Anchorage and New York.
TWA and Kuwait Airways expanded their code-share agreement yesterday as TWA's CEO Bill Compton said his airline is the "premier U.S. carrier to the Middle East." TWA put its code on several Kuwait Airways flights, including New York Kennedy-Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Kuwait City, Chicago-Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Kuwait City.
In the face of rumors about the "divorce" between AeroMexico and Mexicana within the Cintra holding company, Mexican pilot and flight attendant unions have warned this breakup would weaken the domestic airline sector, wipe out major sources of employment and strengthen the growing presence of foreign competitors. Alejandra Barrales Magdalena, representing the flight attendants, told the National Competition Commission (CFC) that such a breakup would first unleash an internal fight for the market, including route cancellations and diminished work forces.
A new tool designed to help reduce delays at major airports in the Northeast is now operational, FAA said. The Departure Spacing Program (DSP) helps coordinate air traffic information from airports and flight plans to coordinate departures by spacing aircraft more evenly. Administrator Jane Garvey said DSP allows the best use of existing capacity, expediting traffic flow while minimizing delays. It has been in use at towers at LaGuardia, Kennedy, Newark and Philadelphia and in radar control facilities in the New York area since April.
The crisis at the consortium Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 was compounded yesterday as Argentina demanded "immediate payment" of $55 million for back installments on the concession contract for managing runway and air navigational facilities at 32 airports throughout the country. This comes after in-fighting among groups of consortium shareholders in complex legal maneuvers which include claims and counterclaims of fraud, extortion and forging of documents (DAILY, May 24).
Frontier Airlines profits dropped 61% during its fiscal fourth quarter mainly due to soaring fuel prices, but the carrier managed to make money for the second consecutive year. The Denver-based airline earned $6.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, with $92.5 million in revenues, up 32%. Operating income fell 15% to $10.4 million. Load factor remained virtually flat at 58.6%, while yields grew 5.6% to 16.75 cents.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance May 2000 Closed Closed Monthly Change Majors Ticker 05/31/00 04/28/00 ($) (%) Alaska Air Group ALK 31.125 28.750 2.375 8.3 America West (Class B) AWA 17.813 14.500 3.313 22.8 AMR 1 AMR 28.500 33.813 (5.313) (15.7)
Bolivia's minister of development, Jose Luis Lupo, announced yesterday that an inter-ministerial commission will be set up today to investigate and solve the financial and administrative problems at Lloyd Aereo Boliviano and AeroSur (DAILY, May 31). This action stems from claims by Alfonso Gamarra, secretary general of the Bolivian Pilots Union, that the government covered up irregularities at LAB and demonstrated its fiscal inefficiency by not foreseeing how problems at parent Vasp would affect LAB's operations in Bolivia and might force it to close down.
Lufthansa wants a decision on the expansion of Frankfurt Airport this year. If the decision is further delayed, the airline wants to proceed with alternate plans. Lufthansa has indicated it might shift part of its operation away from Frankfurt to its second hub in Munich. Chairman Juergen Weber made clear that the company will not accept a total ban on night flights, as demanded by local communities and politicians representing the governing CDU party.
