United Parcel Service announced it is expanding its policy to require customers who ship packages from retail shipping locations to present a government-issued photo ID for verification of identification. The directive will apply at The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. locations as well as authorized shipping outlets worldwide.
Dutch Antilles Express Airlines, which celebrated its fifth anniversary earlier this year, said Arnold Leonora has purchased the airline from Niek Sandman, who is leaving to pursue other interests. DAE, which launched April 30, 2005, has a fleet comprising of two ATR 42-320s, one ATR 42-500 and two Fokker-100s. It flies to nine destinations: Curacao, Bonaire, Valencia, Santo Domingo, Aruba, St. Maarten, Caracas, Bogota and Cartagena.
Boeing on Wednesday delivered its 200th direct-delivery jetliner to Air France. The aircraft also launches AF’s new business-class seat; it is outfitted with 42 of the 78.74 in. (2 m.) -long lie-flat seat beds that include 15-in. (38cm.) IFE screens. The 383-seat GE90-115B-powered 777-300ER will operate its first commercial flight Dec. 20 and will be used on the carrier's Paris-Montreal service, as well as on Paris-Ho Chi Minh City beginning in January.
Delta Air Lines told investors at the Hudson Securities airline conference in New York that it is focusing on top-line revenue growth, cost discipline, delevering its balance sheet, improving profitability, and using free cash flow to pay down debt.
In an interview with the Royal Aeronautical Society, one of the five pilots aboard the Qantas Airbus A380 that suffered an uncontained engine failure after take-off from Singapore Nov. 4 gave insight into the handling of the emergency on that “extraordinary day.”
Oneworld has tapped former SpiceJet and Sama Airlines Chief Executive Bruce Ashby to lead the alliance, which will relocate its headquarters from Vancouver to New York City.
Lufthansa ordered eight more Embraer E-195s, in a deal valued at $338 million, based on list prices and January 2010 economic conditions, according to the Brazilian manufacturer.
Bombardier announced Thursday that SpiceJet has placed a firm order for 15 Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners and has taken options on an additional 15 airliners.
Travelport and Brussels Airlines announced a global, full content agreement for Galileo and Worldspan-connected users, effective immediately. CTC Aviation Group reached a three-year contract with flydubai to assist with pilot recruitment. The carrier said it is required to add 140 pilots annually over the next three years.
Cathay Pacific Airways unveiled its new cabin design that includes new business class seating on its long-haul aircraft from March 2011 to be better positioned with the rising demand spurred by the rapid economic growth in Asia. The Hong Kong-based carrier said it plans to spend more than HK$1 billion ($12.8 million) on the upgrades. The major change in the lie-flat seat/bed is the rearrangement of the alignment to face the windows on the sides and to face inwards in the center of the aircraft. This reverses the current herringbone layout.
Delta Air Lines announced Tuesday it received notification from the National Mediation Board that 70% of employees voting in the passenger service election rejected representation by the International Assn. of Machinists. This is the final major workgroup to reject unionization as a result of the Northwest merger in October 2008 ( ATW Daily News, Nov. 23).
Flybe, which is preparing for an initial public offering on Dec. 14, is facing a possible strike action by its 700 pilots over a “number of issues outstanding” including pay, pensions and work patterns.
Southwest Airlines Senior VP-Finance and CFO Laura Wright told investors and media at the 2010 Hudson Securities Airline Conference Wednesday morning in New York that SWA’s proposed acquisition of AirTran Airways is on track to “close in the first half of 2011.”
Avianova named Dmitri Mirgorodsky chief operations officer. The main tasks in his new position will be to ensure “operational excellence” and “drive the operational growth of the airline” as it continues its “aggressive expansion plan," the carrier said. Dallas Airmotive named Michael Frazier regional engine manager, selling engine services for Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A, JT15D, PW500 and PW306C engines in the Northeastern US from Pennsylvania through Maine.
Continental Airlines told ATW that “given the uncertainty surrounding the Boeing 787 delivery date,” it will delay the launch of its Houston-Auckland service by a year to November 2012. A CO spokesperson said the carrier remains committed to the route and is “excited about the long-term opportunities in the region,” as well as for the aircraft type, as the 787 “is the ideal aircraft for this route’s success because it is the right-size aircraft to meet demand in the market.”
Lufthansa said its Electronic Flight Bag, with the addition of FlyNet connectivity will "enable us to make decisions in a better way," including constant updates to weather forecasts and live satellite pictures, for which pilots currently rely on paper documents, which can be up to 10 hr. old on long-haul flights. It will also allow LH to replace handwritten logs with the electronic TechLog system.
Jazz Air Income Fund Monday announced the appointment of Richard Flynn as CFO, effective Feb. 28, 2011, to coincide with the retirement of Allan Rowe. Flynn is the VP-finance at Jazz, and has held a number of senior roles since he began his career in the airline industry in 1986.
JAL Group announced Monday that its subsidiary travel companies, JALPAK Co. and JAL TOURS will merge from April 1, 2011, subject to the approval of the stockholders of both companies. The new entity will retain the name of JALPAK Co., Ltd. According to a statement, the merger means JALPAK can offer a wider range of innovative products and implement new, more effective sales techniques.
