Qantas’ new code-share arrangement with Bangkok Airways will allow the Australian carrier to improve its connections to important leisure and secondary markets in Thailand. Under the deal, Qantas will put its code on Bangkok Airways flights from Bangkok and Singapore to six Thai destinations. One of these—Phuket—is already on the Qantas group’s network, but it will give the carrier an additional connection option.
Japan Airlines (JAL) has firmed up its reach into the Russian market with a new code-share deal with Russia’s S7 Airlines. JAL will add its code (JL) to S7 flights on 12 new destinations in Russia from March 19. These include routes between Moscow Domodedovo Airport and domestic destinations including St. Petersburg and Olympic host city Sochi.
Lufthansa named new CEOs for its passenger airline and cargo divisions and expanded the role of its most senior human resources executive, defining the group’s top leadership team for the next three years.
While the vast majority of all aircraft accidents still occur in the landing phase, research shows that nearly all pilots who fly professionally ignore company policies regarding go-around procedures. Why pilots ignore the policies and decide to land is lesser known. But William Curtis of Canadian research firm Presage says, “No other single decision can have such an impact on the industry accident rate.”
Delta Air Lines plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for new longhaul aircraft that will replace all of the airline’s Boeing 747-400s and a significant part of the 767-300ER fleets. The RFP will go out before the end of the month and Delta could decide before the end of the year. Amongst other types, the airline is showing a strong interest in the proposed Airbus A330NEO.
Atlantic Airways will consider a future fleet plan as part of a strategy review during the spring, when it will again be a fully government-owned airline. The revised strategy is expected to be concluded before summer. Atlantic Airways is in a “strong position to continue to serve the Faroe Islands with a reliable and competitive product,” says CEO Jørgen Holme and, he adds, “We will continue to reinforce our work in order to meet our customers’ and owners’ expectations.”
Continuing talks with several GDS companies as part of its new strategy to widen its distribution policy and strengthen its position in the corporate travel market, Ryanair just concluded a first agreement with Travelport. Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, which now only sells through its own website, inked an agreement with Travelport to distribute its content worldwide, with fares and ancillary products made available in a “phased approach” from March 19.
Emirates has awarded Lufthansa Technik (LHT) and France’s Revima Group a 10-year contract to overhaul the landing gear of its Boeing 777-300ER fleet. The General Electric GE90-powered Boeing 777-300ER is the backbone of the Emirates fleet; the carrier currently has 92 of the type in operation with a further 60 on order, according to AWIN’s commercial fleets database.
Eurocontrol is about to begin the contracting process that will allow industry consortiums to provide air traffic management functions on a pan-European basis. The Centralized Services initiative has been at the planning stage until now, and Eurocontrol is taking the first steps toward making it a reality. The idea is that groups drawn from air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airports, airlines and manufacturers will bid to develop and operate some services, mainly involving the management of data.
Air France has outlined plans for a further 1,100 voluntary layoffs, comprising 350 flight deck and 750 cabin crew positions, adding to 8,031 staff who have already left the company. The French carrier’s management met with unions on March 6 to discuss the cuts, which form part of Air France’s Transform 2015 plan. An Air France spokeswoman confirmed the numbers and said crew members will have until the end of the summer season to apply for redundancy. The cuts will be implemented between now and March 2015.
Cathay Pacific subsidiary Dragonair will launch a twice-weekly service from Hong Kong to Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia. The service, due to start April 27, will use Airbus A330-300s to complement parent company Cathay’s existing daily Boeing 777 service between the two airports. Denpasar will be Dragonair’s first destination in Indonesia, and its fifteenth new destination within the last 12 months.
LOS ANGELES — Following its recent decision to pursue large geared-turbofan designs for next-generation engines in the 2020s and beyond, Rolls-Royce has announced plans to expand its aerospace research and technology capabilities in Dahlewitz, Germany, with construction of a new testbed for power gearboxes.
U.S. major airlines, their operational statistics already battered by January’s winter weather, saw February’s figures hit comparably hard, operational summaries show.
Citing concerns of the potential ramifications on the safety of the national airspace system, FAA is appealing a National Transportation Safety Board administrative law judge’s decision to dismiss a proposed civil penalty for unauthorized use of an unmanned aircraft system. The judge’s determination puts the penalty on hold while the agency appeals the case to the full NTSB.
Citing concerns of the potential ramifications on the safety of the national airspace system, FAA is appealing a National Transportation Safety Board administrative law judge’s decision to dismiss a proposed civil penalty for unauthorized use of an unmanned aircraft system. The law judge’s determination puts the penalty on hold while the agency appeals the case to the full NTSB.
Airline participation in the U.S. trial of air-ground data communications is increasing steadily, and airlines are already signing up for the subsequent operational deployment phase of the program. Harris Corp., the prime contractor for the FAA’s Data Comm initiative, is conducting the trial at Newark Liberty International Airport and Memphis International Airport. This involves departure clearances sent to pilots via digital text rather than by voice, which is an initial capability of controller-pilot data-link communications technology.
FAA and Transport Canada have codified requirements for operators of Boeing 737s with older LiveTV in-flight entertainment (IFE) radomes to inspect the units for cracks, mandating a program that the vendor and operators have had in place for several years.
The city of Santa Monica, Calif., is continuing to explore all options to close Santa Monica Airport (SMO), including a possible new policy that would permit the city to lease airport property only to non-aviation entities such as art galleries and small shops.
