News from Travel Technology Update: Is the current distribution war finally cooling down, or have the opponents gone back to their foxholes to regroup? American Airlines reversed its plan to charge travel agents outside the U.S. and the Caribbean a “booking source premium” for booking the carrier through Travelport GDSs. In turn, Travelport dropped the increases in segment fees it imposed on American as part of its response to the carrier’s tussle with Orbitz, Travelport’s largest customer for GDS services.
ICAO said 14 Middle East and south Asian member states attending a regional conference on air transport security in New Delhi last week agreed to a "roadmap" for taking collective action. "Among the measures included in the roadmap are actions that states will take to strengthen security screening procedures by ensuring that professionals are appropriately trained and equipped," the organization said in a statement.
Ferrovial last week successfully completed the previously announced sale of aviation ground handling firm Swissport International to private equity firm PAI Partners for €695 million ($943.7 million). Swissport, which will continue to be led by President and CEO Per Utnegaard, said it "will now continue to pursue its growth strategy."
US Dept. of Transportation said that the nation’s largest carriers recorded an overall on-time arrival rate of 79.8% for 2010, an improvement over 2009’s 79.5% on-time arrival rate, citing it as further proof that April’s tough tarmac delay rule has been effective ( ATW Daily News, Oct. 13, 2010).
Hainan Airlines on Friday signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Telecom Co. to develop inflight mobile phone and Internet service aboard the carrier's aircraft, pending CAAC approval. If approved, HNA would become the first Chinese carrier to offer inflight voice and Internet services. Shenzhen Airlines tried to get approval for a similar agreement with Swiss OnAir Co. in September 2007 but CAAC rejected the deal.
The US Senate late Thursday passed a two-year, $34.5 billion FAA reauthorization bill by an 87-8 vote, and now waits on the House of Representatives to act on the proposed four-year, $59.7 billion bill approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.
The US's eight largest airline companies (counting United Airlines and Continental Airlines as one) earned collective 2010 net income of $2.32 billion with all but American Airlines profitable for the full year, ATW calculated.
The US Senate late Thursday passed a two-year, $34.5 billion FAA reauthorization bill by an 87-8 vote, and now waits on the House of Representatives to act on the proposed four-year, $59.7 billion bill approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.
The European Commission is continuing its effort to bring the bilateral air service agreements between individual member states and Russia in line with EC policies while ending the practice of EU airlines paying Aeroflot for Siberian overflight rights. In its latest step, it has launched infringement proceedings against Cyprus, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain over the matter.
The US House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday passed the FAA reauthorization bill introduced last week by Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.), sending it to the House floor for consideration.
Malev Hungarian Airlines announced it will begin offering customers in Amsterdam the option of online check-in for departures. Beginning Feb. 25, passengers will be able to input reservation and ticket info on the carrier’s website up to 36 hours before departure and select a preferred seat. Online check-in is now available at 25 airports in Malev’s network, it said.
Air Transport Assn. President and CEO Nicholas Calio, who took over from James May in January, continues to put his stamp on the trade group, announcing a shake-up on Tuesday that saw the departure of long-time Executive VP and COO John Meenan and Chief of Staff Patty Higginbotham.
The Assn. of German Airlines forecast the new eco-tax, which took effect Jan. 1, will prevent five million passengers from flying in 2011 and 2012, thus destroying the creation of 15,000 new jobs in the German aviation industry, BDF President Ralf Teckentrup said at the Aviation Press Club in Frankfurt on Tuesday.
United Airlines temporarily grounded its fleet of 96 Boeing 757s on Tuesday for emergency checks on air data computer systems, but said the fleet was nearly back to normal by Wednesday afternoon. The carrier said 15 flights were canceled on Tuesday owing to the checks but none on Wednesday.
The world's largest FBO provider and distribution network for business aviation services, Signature Flight Support has selected Bahrain as the location for its first office in the region.
Southwest Airlines and its stock clerks, represented by International Brotherhood of Teamsters, announced Tuesday they have reached a tentative agreement for a new, five-year labor contract retroactive to Aug. 16, 2008. The accord, if approved, would run through Aug. 16, 2013. A previous tentative agreement was rejected by the 170 stock clerks ( ATW Daily News, Dec. 15, 2010).
US Dept. of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported that US airlines carried 58.1 million scheduled domestic and international passengers in November 2010, a 6.1% increase from November 2009, representing the largest year-over-year rise since August 2007. Traffic rose 7.4% to 62.5 billion RPMs on a 5.4% rise in capacity to 77.7 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 80.4%, up 1.4 points year-over-year. Load factors for domestic and international flights averaged 81.1% and 78.4% respectively.
EgyptAir said its business is returning to normal following massive flight cancellations during the nearly three weeks of civil unrest in Egypt that led to President Hosni Mubarak's resignation Feb. 11.
US airlines' collective traffic will grow at an average annual rate of 3.8% to reach 1.71 trillion RPMs by 2031, well more than double the 786.7 billion RPMs operated by the carriers in 2010, FAA projected Tuesday in its latest long-term forecast.
A Central American Airlines Let L-410 crashed in Honduras Monday, killing all 14 persons on board including both pilots and 12 passengers. Among those onboard were the Honduran Assistant Secretary for Public Works and the leader of a key union, Associated Press reported. Flight No. 731 departed from San Pedro at 7:04 a.m. local time en route to Tegucigalpa, a 40-min. flight according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network. It crashed in a forest near Cerro de Hula at 8:02 a.m. The aircraft made its first flight in 1991 according to ASN.
