Fasteners that do not meet specification may have been installed in about 20 in-service airplanes, including 737s, 757s and 777s, Boeing said yesterday. "We are working with affected airline customers to develop an inspection plan," the company said. The fasteners, made from an aluminum alloy prone to cracking, are in the engine casings of the aircraft, it said. "We currently are assessing the situation daily to understand the impact, if any, on deliveries.
Regional Airline Association named Scott Foose VP and liaison with FAA on air traffic control issues. He also will be responsible for a variety of operational and security matters. Foose was director of safety and regulatory compliance at Allegheny Airlines.
United and its pilot union today will file jointly for mediation with the National Mediation Board. The pilots and United management agreed to seek mediation if they were unable to concur on a contract by the time the current pact became amendable last night.
Deutsche BA will postpone a decision on its new fleet until mid-June. The company was going to present its recommendation at a recent board meeting, but the departure of British Airways' Chief Executive Bob Ayling made the schedule change necessary. The airline did not know what would happen if BA has not found a new CEO by June 17, when the next board meeting is schedule. Deutsche BA operates 19 Boeing 737-300s and aims to replace these with the 737 Next Generation or the Airbus A320 family. The requirement is for up to 25 aircraft.
Kitty Hawk's stock shares continued to plummet yesterday following a severe warning from the cargo carrier earlier in the week that its expenses have ballooned, cash reserves are depleted and that it will post a quarterly loss larger than expected. The news grew worse when the company's Chief Financial Officer Paul Tate resigned Tuesday just 11 days after he started. Tate previously held CFO positions with Reno Air and Atlantic Coast Airlines.
Varig plans to increase capacity by 8% per year over the next three years. To achieve that goal, Varig will acquire 15 Boeing 777s -- eight -200s are already on order. Four of them will be delivered next year and the remainder the following year. According to Varig President and Chief Executive Fernando Pinto, the other seven aircraft will be leased on the open market, starting next year. Under consideration are -300s that be used for long-haul flights. Eight other aircraft will be leased this year -- four MD11s and four 737-700/800s.
NBC Internet, Inc. (NBCi) signed a multi-million dollar agreement with Lowestfare.com yesterday, making Lowestfare.com the primary provider of travel content within NBCi's Snap Travel Center. As part of its multi-year agreement, Lowestfare.com will be featured in Snap television ads airing on NBC. The company said the spots will be designed to promote the NBCi/Lowestfare.com co-branded areas on Snap.com.
Airbus leaders will decide in May whether to offer the A3XX super-jumbo for sale, and Senior VP Commercial John Leahy is confident that several airlines will buy it once Airbus makes its final determination. "We're not going to launch the A3XX on speculation," he told Aviation Week Group editors yesterday. For the first time, Airbus is talking publicly about airline customers who are ready to buy the A3XX, which Airbus touts as costing 16% less to operate than a Boeing 747-400.
FedEx workers were caught in a drug bust yesterday involving more than 100 people. Twenty-five FedEx employees were arrested when federal agents broke up a major marijuana ring, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and the Drug Enforcement Administration said yesterday. The ring used FedEx airplanes, trucks and facilities to distribute drugs valued at up to $140 million, including more than 100 tons of marijuana.
The MyAircraft.com web site announced in February by United Technologies Corp., Honeywell and i2 Technologies will be available the second quarter, the companies said yesterday, adding they have "met with numerous potential customers and partners" since the announcement. The site will be an independent company that will operate an open electronic marketplace for aerospace products and services available to all industry participants, they said.
National Transportation Safety Board yesterday asked FAA to review its procedures for ensuring that air traffic controllers report operational errors. The recommendation stems from a near collision between a Piper Navajo and a Navy Grumman E-2 on June 23, 1998, near Bradford, Pa., under control of the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). But NTSB suspects the non-reporting problem to be more widespread. The two airplanes passed within two miles horizontally and 100 feet vertically.
TNT International Express will call customers to advise them of, and rectify problems that could result in delayed, undeliverable or missing shipments. Calling the move a "first for the U.S. market," TNT said it will notify any shipper using its Global Express standard delivery service "when issues arise that could preclude a package from reaching its destination on time." TNT said it created a separate department at its Houston service center to track shipments and work with customers.
Flight attendants at American Trans Air, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, yesterday ratified a 54-month contract that raises wages to put flight attendants on par with competitors, improves vacation and sick leave and includes a signing bonus. The deal was ratified by 80% of the voting rank- and-file.
Startup Roraima Airlines plans to launch operations in the next 60 days in southern Venezuela and northern Brazil as a joint venture of investors from both countries. Subject to final government approval, Roraima will start with two 91-passenger DC-9-50s and an initial capitalization of $5 million. It will serve frontier destinations not currently linked by air, such as Porlamar, Barcelona, Maturin and Puerto Ordaz in Venezuela and Boa Vista, capital of the state of Roraima in Brazil. It will be based in Puerto Ordaz.
Colin Marshall, British Airways chairman, says he has three candidates for the job of chief executive at BA that is vacant after Bob Ayling left the company a month ago. He declined to deny or confirm if he had offered the job to Rod Eddington, chief executive of Ansett Australia
Ryanair signed an agreement yesterday with Irish mobile phone operator Eircell that will soon allow customers of both companies to book flights using a mobile phone. The agreement to provide Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) flight booking service exclusively on Eircell phones includes a major co-marketing initiative when WAP booking service is launched "before the summer." Ryanair's successful Internet booking service, which now accounts for over 30% of bookings made, will be made exclusively available on Eircell's WAP information service in Ireland.
To clarify initial press reports last week, Julian Villalba, chief executive of Venezuela's Aserca, said his carrier is not merging with financially strapped Avensa but is forming a strategic alliance for joint route coverage to benefit from high-scale economics. He explained that through an actual merger both companies would lose the route rights they were granted on an individual basis. Further, the strategic alliance is subject to both companies -- especially Avensa --agreeing to certain prerequisites.
Vanguard is now available on Apollo and Galileo computer reservations systems. Vanguard already participates in Sabre and WorldSpan and is upgrading from Schedule Level to Full Participation in Apollo and Galileo. Travel agents can view Vanguard's schedules but must call the airline to make the reservation. With the upgrade, agents will be able to book on Vanguard directly through the CRS and must pay with a credit card at time of booking. Vanguard also announced the appointment of Michael Stellwag as VP-marketing.
Comair Aviation, a subsidiary of Comair, Delta Connection, is opening a new fixed-base operation facility at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport April 15. The $8 million project includes a 40,000-square-foot hangar.
United is introducing a new technology to help gate agents speed passenger reticketing when operations are disrupted. The new Ticket Designator Information Code (TIC) is being used for rerouting those with domestic tickets within North America to put them on other carriers when United's system cannot handle the overflow.
Continental started a special pro-rate agreement with Russian airline Transaero Feb. 1, the carrier confirmed yesterday, but it adamantly denied a news report that it signed a code-share deal with Transaero, Ural Airlines, KrasAir and Air Kazakhstan. "I want to confirm that we do not have, nor have we had any discussions concerning a code-sharing agreement with any of the airlines mentioned" in the Reuters story, said David Grizzle, Continental's senior VP-corporate development.
