US airlines complained this week that the federal government overtaxes it while at the same time neglecting necessary aviation infrastructure improvements. US Air Transport Assn. President and CEO Nick Calio told the US Chamber of Commerce's Aviation Summit on Wednesday that airlines lobbying the federal government need to develop "a realistic flight plan, if you will, that holds us to a measurable timeline of accomplishments on taxes, regulation and better labor-management relations, among other things."
The EU on Friday is easing restrictions on liquids in hand-luggage, allowing passengers connecting through EU airports from a third country to carry liquids, aerosols and gels purchased either at an airport duty-free shop or aboard a non-EU airline.
Travelport said that Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings implemented the Travelport ETDBase e-ticketing hosting service to store and manage electronic ticket data for online and interline e-ticketing. This "for the first time," gives Germanwings that ability to accept e-tickets plated by LH and accredited travel agencies for Germanwings flights.
SITA told media Tuesday that the first of six regional cloud data centers running its new ATI Cloud computing infrastructure will be operational in Singapore beginning in May. Atlanta and Paris will "shortly follow," said SITA, which noted it will also open centers at Johannesburg, Hong Kong and Sydney.
Two former Air France-KLM cargo executives were indicted by a federal grand jury in Chicago Tuesday on charges of conspiring to fix rates and surcharges to and from the US on airfreight shipments, the US Dept. of Justice said.
French Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) on Wednesday confirmed that investigators searching for wreckage of the Air France A330-200 that crashed in the South Atlantic June 1, 2009 located the aircraft’s flight data recorder. However, BEA subsequently told Bloomberg that the FDR is missing "the memory module that stores its crucial information,” the news agency reported.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt cautioned that he is "concerned" the level of agency funding called for in the reauthorization bill recently passed by the House of Representatives would be too low and, if enacted, could "degrade" safety and efficiency.
Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney on Wednesday all but eliminated any possibility that Boeing will make an announcement at the upcoming Paris Air Show (June 20-26) regarding a successor plan for the 737NG.
Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney on Wednesday all but eliminated any possibility that Boeing will make an announcement at June's Paris Air Show regarding a successor plan for the 737NG.
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 (N799SW) slid off runway 13C while landing at Chicago Midway Airport on Tuesday, marking the second time a SWA 737 has had a runway excursion at the airport. Flight 1919 was en route from Denver. There were no injuries among the 134 passengers, five lap children and five crew members on board, the airline said, noting that the passenger count was still preliminary. Passengers were deplaned using air stairs.
Arab Air Carriers Organization Secretary General Abdul Wahab Teffaha on Tuesday directly challenged Assn. of European Airlines Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus's assertion made earlier this year that Emirates Airline, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways represent a new kind of competitive threat that is incompatible with the existing world aviation order.
US National Transportation Safety Board said its investigation of the April 1 midair fuselage skin rupture on a Southwest Airlines 737-300 has found alignment issues with rivets and rivet holes in the area of the fracture, raising the prospect that manufacturing problems could have played a role in the incident in addition to, or instead of, aircraft fatigue.
US Dept. of Justice said Tuesday it has approved Southwest Airlines' acquisition of AirTran Airways, clearing the way for the transaction to close on May 2.
EgyptAir said it has deployed one of its six new Boeing 777-300ERs on its daily Cairo-Bangkok service. The MS 777-300ERs are configured in two classes, with 49 fully flat seats in business and 279 seats in economy. The airline took delivery of the last of six GECAS-leased 777-300ERs it was scheduled to receive earlier this month ( ATW Daily News, April 18).
Mexico's Interjet earlier this month operated an Airbus A320 partially powered by biofuel on a test flight between Mexico City and Tuxtla Gutierrez. According to Airbus, which provided support for the flight along with CFM International, one of the A320's two CFM56 engines was powered by a fuel blend comprised 30% of a Jatropha-based biofuel sourced from plants harvested in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Honeywell's UOP processed the biofuel.
A J Walter Aviation said it received a five-year contract from Turkish Technic to provide “full power-by-the-hour and leased stock services for Turkish Airlines’ Boeing 777-300ER fleet.” AJW said it will team with its partner BA Engineering to execute the contract, which covers an initial 12 aircraft in-service and on-order.
IATA reported that international premium traffic in February increased 7.7% year-over-year, down from 8.1% growth in January. "There are signs that rising fuel prices are starting to dampen air travel," IATA in its latest Premium Traffic Monitor released last week. February economy travel slowed to 3.3% year-over-year growth, down from 4.9% in January. IATA said there was a “sharper slowdown in the more price-sensitive economy seat segment than for premium travel.”
An Alitalia Airbus A321 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Rome Fiumicino landed safely at FCO on Sunday night after cabin crew and passengers overpowered a passenger who attacked a flight attendant, Italy's ANSA news agency reported. According to ANSA and other news reports, the alleged attacker threatened a female flight attendant with some kind of knife and asked that the flight be diverted to Tripoli. He was reportedly subdued quickly. The flight attendant was treated for what were described as "minor abrasions" after landing.
Boeing last week said 787 training campuses in Seattle, Singapore, Tokyo, London and Shanghai have received approval from US FAA, UK CAA, EASA, CAAC and the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau.
US airlines operating scheduled passenger flights under FAR Part 121 experienced 26 accidents in 2010 but no fatal accidents, according to preliminary statistics released by the US National Transportation Safety Board last week.
The United Arab Emirates represented by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has signed an air services Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and initialed an Air Services Agreement (ASA) with the Government of Vietnam.
US airlines' January scheduled domestic and international traffic rose 3.5% year-over-year to 60.7 billion RPMs on a 2.3% rise in capacity to 79.3 billion ASMs, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Load factor was 76.5%, up 0.8 point from January 2010. Total passengers carried numbered 53.7 million, up 2.2% year-over-year but still 6.9% below the 57.7 million carried in January 2008.
