Korean Air will be one of "four key partners" in the Delta/Air France/AeroMexico alliance, Delta Chief Executive Leo Mullin said for the first time last week.The group plans to launch the alliance and unveil a name by the end of June, Mullin told The DAILY. Korean Air has made "tremendous progress" in improving and changing its safety and maintenance procedures this year, he said, noting that he is "convinced its management is committed to a safe operation."
DOT Inspector General has concluded that the FAA's contract tower program provides "cost-effective services that are comparable to the quality and safety of FAA-operated towers." The IG faulted FAA arguments for not expanding the program, saying that the agency "ignores other long-term benefits that would accrue." There are c urrently 189 towers in the program, which the IG said provides services at towers "that FAA otherwise would have not have staffed because they were too expensive to operate." The IG said users remain supportive of the program and believe contrac
Leading U.S. airlines will present a grim picture this week in revealing their first quarter earnings, largely due to higher fuel costs. Five of the 10 major airlines are expected to post losses for the quarter, based on average analyst estimates. Net income for the top 10 carriers is predicted to fall roughly 50% to $287 million from $573 million a year ago, according to Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. The firm forecasts operating profits to drop 30% to $753 million.
World Airways signed a passenger charter agreement with Lambda World on Friday to provide nonstop flights between New York Kennedy and Athens. Using MD-11s, the flights are scheduled to operate every Friday and Sunday from JFK June 23-Sept. 11 and from Athens, Greece, to New York every Saturday and Monday during the same period. Lambda World secured funding for the project from UM Equity Corp.
Cathay Pacific's attempt to acquire a 5-10% stake in China Eastern Airlines was turned down. A source in Hong Kong said Cathay made overtures to buy into CEA because the airline was attempting to strengthen its position in the Chinese market. CEA was not interested in parting with any portion of its shares.
Moscow-based Transaero signed a number of new partnership agreements with domestic and foreign airlines and moved its London-bound flights from London Gatwick to London Heathrow to boost overall traffic. One of the first Russian private carriers, Transaero was established in 1990 as a charter airline with one Ilyushin aircraft and opened its first scheduled passenger route in 1993. In 1998, the carrier has operated 14 leased Western-build aircraft, the second-largest fleet in Russia after Aeroflot, and carried 1,285,000 passengers.
Midwest Express said Friday it will begin one-stop jet service between Des Moines and New York LaGuardia via Indianapolis on June 15 with two roundtrip flights each weekday. Midwest Express will launch the service with slots previously operated by Access Air. The airline also said it plans to launch two daily roundtrip nonstops between Indianapolis and Boston in September and has a slot application pending at DOT to introduce Des Moines-Washington National service in October.
Year-over-year growth of online leisure and unmanaged business travel sales in the U.S. will slow from the current triple-digit rate, according to Jupiter Communications, which tracks Internet commerce. Airline tickets will continue to be the No. 1 online travel purchase, however. Jupiter said sales are expected to reach $28 billion in 2005, as agencies and suppliers continue expanding their offerings beyond their usual scope, resulting in more consolidations and mergers. Jupiter noted that U.S.
Eastern Europe has about 300 regional carriers waiting to be born, according to Michael Hovel of INAVIA Consultants in Germany. Hovel notes that political and legal instability is scaring off many investors, but he estimates that in five years Eastern European regionals will be an attractive investment.
Aircraft Owners&Pilots Association gave the Joe Crotti Award for Aviation Advocacy in California to Richard Dyer, California Department of Aeronautics.
FAA Friday issued eight airworthiness directives dealing with wiring on MD-11 aircraft. The ADs give operators either six months or a year from the May 19 effective dates to check several areas. Areas targeted include circuit breaker panels, electrical connectors, external power feeder cables and clamping, generator ground studs, generator power feeder wires, seat wire assemblies and wire bundles behind a cockpit control panel. The ADs stem from FAA's "re-examining" of the MD-11 following the Swissair crash.
Russian cargo airline Volga-Dnepr finalized the details last week of a $1.5 million medium-term guarantee from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to buy 11 sets of Honeywell traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS) for its fleet of cargo aircraft. The deal is the first new transaction financed by Ex-Im Bank in Russia since the 1998 Russian financial crisis, Director General Alexey Isajkin told The DAILY.
US Airways Express carriers filed at DOT for 156 New York LaGuardia slots and announced that, from July through October, they would add new routes and significantly increase service from LaGuardia to small hub and non-hub communities. They plan to operate the service with Dash 8, Beech 1900 and Saab 340 aircraft and with Embraer 145 and Canadair regional jets. The carriers -- Allegheny, Chautauqua, Colgan Air, CommutAir, Mesa and Piedmont -- said they would add service to Bedford, Mass.; Binghamton and Elmira, N.Y.; Hartford, Conn., and Manassas and Roanoke, Va.
Regional Aircraft Transactions Used Aircraft Deliveries For November 1999 Previous Carrier # Type Engine Operator 491549 Alberta 1 Beech 99A PT6A-27 First Air Aboitiz Air 1 YS-11-100 DART543-10K Japanese CAB AeroVIP 1 Jetstream 32 TPE331-12UAR-704H CCAIR Air Botnia 2 F-28-4000 SPEY555-15P SAS
Icelandair and SAS want DOT approval and antitrust immunity of their coordination agreement by Oct. 1 to grow their joint transatlantic services via Reykjavik and the Scandinavian capitals. The carriers gained code-share rights from DOT in November 1999 and began code sharing in January, with SAS placing its code on Icelandair flights from points in Scandinavia, via Reykjavik, to Baltimore/Washington, Boston and Minneapolis.
U.S. negotiators will meet April 18-20 with their counterparts in Hong Kong to discuss opening skies for cargo and passenger service. Open-skies talks are scheduled in Africa with Ethiopia May 10-12 and with Kenya May 15-17. Talks with the U.K. are planned June 12-15 in London, with another meeting in early July in Washington. The U.S. intends to continue its periodic discussions with Russia in Moscow in June, with plans to meet with Lithuania in late May or early June. Follow-up talks with Vietnam are planned June 14-15 in Washington. The U.S.
