With Europe suffering from one of the worst bouts of economic turmoil in recent history, it takes more than the luck of the Irish for a small airline from the continent’s westernmost fringes to make an impact on a new route.
With the approach of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Qantas added a special touch to the famous “flying kangaroo” emblem on one of its Boeing 747s—yellow boxing gloves were painted on the ‘roo’s paws. The symbol of a fighting kangaroo may be appropriate at more than one level as competition steps up on some of its most established routes. China Southern Airlines (CZ) is intensifying its focus on operations between Australasia and major European gateway cities as part of an overall strategy to grow its international network and attract more business travelers.
The US Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) expects one in four passengers to qualify for expedited screening by the end of 2013, up from one in 12 last year.
FAA forecasted that US airlines’ collective traffic will increase at annual average rate of 2.8% over the next 20 years to reach 1.46 trillion RPMs by 2033.
International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) has entered into an agreement with American Airlines to buy and leaseback an additional 15 new Boeing 737-800s and one new 777-300ER. ILFC last year finished delivering 15 737-800s to American as part of a previous sale and leaseback agreement. The 737-800s included in the new deal are scheduled for delivery between May 2013 and December 2014. The 777 will be delivered later this month, ILFC said.
Back in the late 1980s, Tom Horton and Doug Parker sat in nearby cubicles at American Airlines’ Dallas/Fort Worth headquarters offices, two young men just starting their careers in airline management. Neither could have imagined that a quarter century later they would be the key figures negotiating what is expected to be the last big US airline merger.
Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings named Dewy Mullins OEM qualifications manager. Mullins joins the company from ChemAero Solutions where he served as president, responsible for OEM product qualification, product sales, and revenue growth for its North American commercial airline MRO market segment.
