Northwest Airlines wants permission from its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., to create a new feeder carrier separate from the mainline that will operate aircraft seating up to 100 passengers in the Northwest Airlink program with "no numerical or use restrictions." The scope clause in the existing pilot contract sets a maximum size limit of 69 seats and a numerical limit of 54 RJs with 50-69 seats.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Bedek Aviation Group will convert up to six 747-400 Combis into Special Freighters under a contract with EVA Airways valued at $100 million. Order includes four firm and two option aircraft. Work on the first begins in the second half of 2007.
Mesaba Aviation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, a victim of the financial problems at Northwest Airlines, which sought bankruptcy last month and defaulted on $30 million in payments related to Mesaba's participation in the Northwest Airlink program.
Qantas began implementing enhanced QuickCheck facilities in Brisbane, permitting passengers with hold luggage to check in using the airline's automated ticket kiosks. Service is scheduled to begin in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra during the next two months.
Smiths Detection unveiled Tuesday its Hi-Scan 6040aTiX, a new multi-view X-ray inspection system promising to detect and pinpoint explosives in carry-on baggage. The machine can replace other Hi-Scan systems without necessitating significant changes in checkpoint design, the company said. It is expected to go into full production by mid-2006.
Atlantic Air Transport, part of English charter company Air Atlantique Group, took delivery Oct. 7 of its first ATR 72. The turboprop, purchased from Estonia's Aero Airlines, joins a fleet of three ATR 42-300s operating ACMI contract and ad hoc passenger and cargo flights. Skyways Aviation arranged the transaction.
United Airlines intends to recall approximately 300 pilots next year to meet an expected increase in flying. This is about 16% of the pilot population currently on furlough, or 5% of the airline's total pilot population. As of Oct. 7, United had recalled 234 pilots in 2005 out of 2,172 on furlough.
Lufthansa Group said it flew 10.1 billion RPKs in September, up 3.9% over the same month last year. With ASKs up 2.5% to 12.7 billion, load rose 1.1 points to 79%. LH said the increase in RPKs was owing to strong growth across all regions, with Asia/Pacific traffic up 8.2% and Middle East traffic 7.8%. Cargo traffic (RTKs) fell 4.7% to 659 million on a 1.3% reduction in ATKs to 1.03 billion, pushing cargo load factor down 2.2 points to 63.9%.
Aeroflot entered into an agreement Oct. 7 with Mail of Russia--the Russian post office--to load and transport and domestic and international mail on regular, added and charter flights. Previously, Aeroflot carried only international mail, according to the airline. Some 36% of its mail service now will occur inside Russia.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, has begun distributing 40,940 shares of new common stock as it continues to restructure following its emergence last year from Chapter 11. The shares will go to holders of allowed general unsecured claims against AAWW and its subsidiaries and are the first to be allocated since an initial pro rata distribution of more than 16 million shares in July. Distribution of the remaining 1,065,950 shares to holders of allowed claims will occur on a quarterly basis beginning in January. As of Sept.
Emirates postponed launch of its second daily A340-500 nonstop between Dubai and New York JFK from Nov. 7 to Nov. 16. The carrier cited the impact of the strike at Boeing, which caused a delivery delay that forced it to continue to use the aircraft on other services. Separately, Emirates noted it is increasing its presence in five Asian markets. It added two weekly flights to Hong Kong on Oct. 1, bringing its weekly total to 14. At the end of October it will add three direct flights to Jakarta each week, returning to Dubai over Singapore.
Northwest Airlines yesterday asked the US Bankruptcy Court to reject its existing labor agreements if it is unsuccessful in negotiating new contracts with its unionized employees. The so-called Section 1113(c) motion starts a 51-day negotiating period unless both sides agree to an extension.
EasyJet will set up a base at Milan Malpensa, its sixth in continental Europe and first in Italy, and launch new routes to Athens, London Gatwick, Madrid, Malaga and Paris Charles De Gaulle. These routes are in addition to the current Berlin service and the daily flight to Dortmund which commences on Oct. 30. Daily service to London begins Dec. 1. Daily services to Paris, Madrid and Malaga follow on March 27 and Athens comes on line the next day, also with a daily service.
Air France Cargo and KLM Cargo are implementing the next phase in their cooperation that aims to present One Face to the Customer without, however, integrating the operational activities of the two organizations. A Joint Cargo Management Team headed by Michael Wisbrun is responsible for the integrated commercial functions, including sales, customer service, products, marketing, revenue management and network planning. Strategy and development functions, including commercial IT functionality and alliances, also are integrated into the management team.
LAN Airlines finalized a previously announced order for 25 A318s and A319s with options on 15 A320 family aircraft ( ATWOnline, July 1). LAN is launch customer for the PW6000 on the A318, while the A319s will be powered by IAE V2500s.
North American Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of World Airways Holdings, reached an agreement valued at $15 million to furnish service for TravelSpan, a tour operator that provides vacation packages to the Dominican Republic, Tobago and other Caribbean destinations.
Virgin Blue is likely to launch an appeal after eight former Ansett flight attendants won an antidiscrimination case, claiming the airline had rejected their applications for jobs on the basis of age. The Queensland Anti-Discrimination Tribunal ruled in favor of the women, aged between 35 and 56, who unsuccessfully had sought jobs with Virgin Blue during the 12 months after Ansett's collapse in September 2001. None of the flight attendants made it past the first interview and they alleged the assessment process for cabin crew positions focused on young and attractive applicants.
Amadeus said Norwegian will be the launch customer for its scaleable Pioneer Customer Management Solution intended to address the requirements of low-cost carriers. According to Amadeus, Pioneer, which uses Unix and Linux technology, is based on a community IT platform; comprises reservations, inventory, revenue management and departure control solutions, and supports all sales channels. Separately, Norwegian said it flew 267 million RPKs in September, up 89% over the year-ago period, on a 49% rise in capacity to 334 million ASKs.
AirBridge Cargo took delivery of a third 747 freighter that will enable it to add four weekly flights between Europe and Shanghai via its hub in Krasnoyarsk. The 747-300SF, built in 1990, features a 30-pallet main deck and is one of three of its kind with GE engines to be converted to freighters, AirBridge said. The airline was awarded significant frequency increases to Shanghai and Beijing in recent negotiations as well the right to add Guangzhou, Nanjing, Hong Kong and Moscow on westbound flights.
Southwest Airlines' proposal to transfer its operations from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to King County International Airport, better known as Boeing Field, was rejected yesterday by King County Executive Ron Sims, who cited noise and traffic concerns as well as the potential cost to taxpayers and unresolved legal issues ( ATWOnline, July 22).
SkyEurope transported 196,549 passengers in September, up 74% compared to the some month last year, resulting a load factor of 80.1%. In the past 12 months, SkyEurope transported 1.7 million passengers, up 132% from the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, 2004.
JetBlue Airways announced a significant expansion at its New York JFK and Boston Logan bases yesterday, highlighting the versatility of its new 100-seat Embraer 190s, eight of which will be in service by year end with a mix of short- and long-haul flying to big and small cities. The airline has ordered 101 of the CF34-powered RJs and will take delivery of 18 in each of the next two years.
GE Commercial Aviation Services will lease two ex-US Airways A320s to India's Air Deccan for delivery in January. Aircraft and Engine Support LLC took delivery on Sept. 30 of one MD-87 from Investors Asset Holding Corp. The sale of the aircraft, which formerly was leased to AeroMexico, was arranged by Sigma Aircraft Management.
SAS Technical Services AB named Michael Brag its chief commercial officer and acting MD of SAS Component A/S. Brag, 39, joined SAS Group in 2003 and is a member of the management board overseeing marketing, sales, partnerships and supplier agreements. SAS Technical Services holds full-service MRO contracts on more than 200 aircraft.
