British Airways was fined $1.6 million and Cargolux fined $4.6 million for operating an illegal cartel to fix airfreight rates on flights into New Zealand.
American Airlines and Expedia Inc. said they signed a memorandum of understanding that will allow the companies to resume doing business together. Details were sparse and raised more questions than they answered, The companies said that effective immediately, access to American’s fares and schedule information is restored to Expedia and Hotwire sites worldwide. The information will “initially” be provided to Expedia via the GDS technology that was used prior to their breakup.
News from Travel Technology Update: American Airlines and Expedia Inc. said they signed an MOU Monday that will allow the companies to resume doing business together. Details were sparse and raised more questions than they answered. The companies said that, effective immediately, access to American's fares and schedule information is restored to Expedia and Hotwire sites worldwide. The information will "initially" be provided to Expedia via the GDS technology that was used prior to their breakup.
American Airlines and Expedia Inc. said they signed an MOU Monday that will allow the companies to resume doing business together. Details were sparse and raised more questions than they answered.
The US Transportation Security Administration announced in conjunction with the US Air Transport Assn. and the Air Line Pilots Assn. union that a new crewmember screening system will be tested to determine if pilots, and potentially flight attendants, can be allowed to bypass traditional airport security checkpoints.
[UPDATED] US FAA will issue an emergency directive Tuesday that will require operators of "specific" Boeing 737-300/400/500 series aircraft to conduct initial and repetitive electromagnetic inspections for fatigue damage following Friday’s midair rupture of the fuselage skin on Southwest Airline Flight 812.
US Air Transport Assn.announced Friday it named Steve Lott as VP communications, reporting to Senior VP-Communications Jean Medina, effective immediately. Lott is the former head of North America communications for IATA. ATA President and CEO Nicholas Calio said that Lott brings “a depth of industry and association knowledge, and is a seasoned spokesman and proponent of aviation.”
Bombardier reported net income of $769 million for its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, up 8.8% over a $707 million net profit in its prior fiscal year. Revenue for the year dropped 8.6% to $17.71 billion. President and CEO Pierre Beaudoin said, "Our efforts to lean out our cost structure combined with our continued focus on operational excellence have enabled us to increase our profitability despite this year's reduction in revenues."
US NTSB has pulled the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the Southwest Airlines 737-300 that experienced an inflight decompression event on Friday afternoon in which a hole, estimated by witnesses at up to four feet in length by 1 foot in width, opened in the ceiling of the passenger cabin leading to rapid loss of pressurization.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority extended current price controls at London Heathrow and Gatwick airports by one year following consultation with the airports and its airline users.
The US House of Representatives on Friday passed a four-year, $59.7 billion FAA reauthorization bill by a 223-196 vote, setting the stage for negotiations with the Senate to attempt to craft a final bill that could pass both chambers of Congress and be signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Air Lease Corp. mandated KfW IPEX-Bank as arranger and sole lender for an eight-year commercial debt financing of a Boeing 777-300ER acquired from Air France in a sale/leaseback deal.
International Lease Finance Corp. announced a commitment for a $1.3 billion secured term loan with a group of 15 banks from Europe, Asia and North America. The company said it also has the right to "upsize the transaction" by $200 million in commitments from other lenders.
US FAA said it is proposing a $550,000 civil penalty against Executive Airlines Inc., the Puerto Rico-based carrier that operates under the American Eagle brand, for allegedly operating two ATR 72s without completing required inspections of the aileron control systems. According to FAA, “Executive Airlines operated the two aircraft when they were not in compliance with regulations on at least 35 revenue flights between June 13 and June 19, 2009, because the airline exceeded the mandated number of flight hours for a re-inspection.”
SITA said that more than 29.4 million bags were mishandled in 2010, or 12.07 bags per 1,000 passengers, a 6% increase over the mishandling rate of 11.38 per 1,000 in 2009 when 25 million bags were mishandled. Mishandled bags cost the air transport industry $2.94 billion, said SITA, which defines a mishandled bag as “a delayed, damaged and/or pilfered bag.”It noted that the rise in mishandled bags claims was "significantly less than the 10.4% rise in passenger volumes."
The World Trade Organization on Thursday publicly released its final report on EU claims that Boeing benefited from illegal subsidies, reaffirming that the company did receive improper government assistance but also rejecting many of the EU's allegations.
The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has signed a cooperation agreement with the Abu Dhabi Airports Company's Gulf Centre for Aviation Studies (GCAS) with the aim of developing specialised civil aviation human resources through the provision of specialised scientific, technical and administrative training courses.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating a March 27 incident involving a Southwest Airlines 737 headed for Orlando "that was requested to veer off course by Air Traffic Control to view into the cockpit of a general aviation airplane that had been out of radio communication." FAA said in a statement that the SWA pilots complied, and "preliminary information indicates that there was a loss of required separation between the two aircraft."
