An Austrian flight support service company for business aviation is aiming at increasing its activities in the Middle East with a new full service package.
Delta Air Lines operated 18.94 billion system RPMs in August, up 1% year-over-year, on a 1.2% rise in capacity to 21.91 billion ASMs. Load factor was flat at 86.5%. Alaska Airlines flew 1.96 billion mainline RPMs in August, up 10% year-over-year, on a 7.1% increase in capacity to 2.26 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 86.5%, up 2.2 points.
ExpressJet Holdings pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., said Friday they "see reason for optimism" in the proposed sale of ExpressJet to SkyWest Inc. and merger with Atlantic Southeast Airlines ( ATW Daily News, Aug. 5). According to the union, ExpressJet's pilots initially "reserved judgment" on the sale until they could determine "how the merger would affect" them.
The Air Lines Pilots Assn. representing Continental Airlines pilots said Friday that it has been informed that CO will be “recalling all of its pilots from furlough.”
The UPS 747-400 freighter that crashed 50 min. after takeoff from Dubai International Friday attempted to return to the airport after its pilots reported "smoke in the cockpit" and that they were "unable to maintain altitude," according to a preliminary report issued by crash investigators Sunday.
United Airlines and Continental Airlines have agreed on a path to obtain a single operating certificate from FAA that will see the merged carriers retain the "legacy Continental operating certificate and the legacy United repair station certificate," according to UA VP-Corporate Safety, Security, Quality & Environment Michael Quiello.
Emirates successfully completed migration to SITA's Airfare Insight platform, SITA announced. EK implemented the software tool across its global network of sales offices. Air Berlin extended its agreement with Lufthansa Flight Training to train its pilots exclusively on LFT flight simulators through 2015. Training involves the use of simulators for A320, A330, 737NG and Q400 aircraft. Most of the required simulator training takes place at AB's Berlin base.
Polar Air Cargo, a subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, said Thursday it reached an agreement with the US Dept. of Justice to plead guilty to antitrust violations related to cargo pricing and pay a $17.4 million fine in installments over five years. Polar becomes the 17th carrier to have pleaded guilty or have agreed to plead guilty in the DOJ's ongoing investigation into air cargo price fixing ( ATW Daily News, Aug. 3).
The European Commission Wednesday amended its list of airlines banned from the EU for safety reasons to include Ghana's Meridian Airways. It also placed restrictions on another Ghanaian carrier, Airlift International, banning it from operating three of its aircraft to EU airspace.
Boeing forecast Thursday that North American airlines will take delivery of about 7,200 new aircraft valued at $700 billion over the next 20 years. Around 75% of new deliveries will be narrowbodies, it said.
On Saturday 28 August, a special charter carrying medical and humanitarian supplies to Pakistan signalled the inaugural flight for Etihad Crystal Cargo's new A330-200 freighter aircraft.
Lufthansa said it reached an agreement with subsidiary Germanwings to cooperate more closely, in particular to offer benefits for the airlines' frequent flyers. LH's Miles & More members will be able to not only exchange miles but also collect award miles on all GWI flights. Since December 2009, Miles & More members have been able to redeem their miles for flights across the entire GWI network.
Management teams at Air Berlin and LTU reached a framework agreement with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilot union concerning working conditions for cockpit crew, ending the threat of strike in a collective bargaining process that has been ongoing since the beginning of the year ( ATW Daily News, Aug. 17).
CAAC ordered China Express Air to suspend operations Wednesday after the right wing of one of its CRJ200's scraped the runway on landing at Guiyang Airport in southwest China Saturday. No one was injured in the incident.
Boeing signed an agreement with Qantas Airways to perform landing gear exchange, repair and overhaul services for the carrier's six 747-400ERs. QF will be the launch customer for the manufacturer's 747-400ER Landing Gear Overhaul and Exchange Program.
Aircell announced Tuesday it has installed its Gogo Inflight Internet service on the 1,000th aircraft to be equipped, a Delta Air Lines DC-9. Delta currently has 527 out of a planned 549 Gogo installations complete, Aircell said. "This is a big milestone for our company and for consumers who want to stay connected at 30,000 feet," Aircell President and CEO Michael Small stated. "A few years ago Internet on a commercial flight was unheard of, and today it is commonplace."
