DeTect said it was awarded a contract to supply a Merlin Aircraft Birdstrike Avoidance Radar system to Riga International. The company said RIX will become the second commercial airport in the world to deploy the bird radar technology in the air traffic control tower, the first being the new King Shaka International near Durban, South Africa, that installed a Merlin system in 2009.
Delta TechOps signed a long-term contract with Global Avia Logistics to support overhaul and repair services on Nordwind Airlines' PW2000s and GTCP 331-200 APUs supporting the airline's 757 fleet.
Quintiq was awarded a 9.5-year ATC employee scheduling contract from FAA worth up to $17.6 million to provide its workforce planning solution. The employee scheduling software features "advanced optimization engines" and "what-if" capabilities. The solution will manage annual leave planning, create shift plans, allocate shifts to individual employees and support short-term absenteeism management, Quintiq said.
Hawaiian Airlines and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced that union members approved a new four-year contract negotiated last month. The new contract features increased compensation for 600 of HA's employees working as aircraft inspectors, mechanics, line service personnel, cleaners and contract service personnel. The airline previously reached agreements with its pilots ( ATWOnline, January 5), flight attendants, clerical workers and dispatchers
African Airlines Assn. Executive Committee meeting in Kenya endorsed a restructuring strategy intended to revitalize the organization. "AFRAA has lost relevance in the eyes of some of its members, has seemed to lack the international stature, authority and prestige needed to command global attention on key issues and currently faces financial challenges," said Secretary General Nick Fadugba.
US Air Transport Assn. said March passenger revenue rose 15.4% compared to March 2009 based on data provided by a sample of its member carriers, marking the third consecutive month of year-over-year improvement. Passenger numbers were up 1.4% in the month, while average yield grew 11.7%. Domestic yield climbed 12.5% to 15 cents, Atlantic yield rose 17.4% to 12.37 cents and Latin yield lifted 4.9% to 13.36 cents, marking the first positive yield growth since January 2009 for that region. Pacific yield gained 7.4% to 12.25 cents.
ICAO Council Tuesday welcomed the decision by EU transport ministers to gradually reopen European airspace and cited the success of the International Airways Volcano Watch system established by ICAO and the World Meteorological Organization in "providing critical information to states, allowing them to exercise their responsibility as regards the use of their airspace." But the organization said "more effort needs to be undertaken to establish a global safety risk framework for routinely determining safe levels of operation in airspace contaminated by volcanic ash" in light of "the unpr
With air traffic beginning to return to normalcy in Europe, airlines are tallying the bill for the six-day disruption in service caused by volcanic ash, with IATA estimating cumulative lost revenue at $1.7 billion.
Sabre Travel Network was selected by AeroMexico to provide its SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service solution and "several" of Sabre's revenue management and accounting solutions from the Sabre AirVision Marketing and Planning suite including AirVision Competitive Revenue Management Service, Group Management and Revenue Manager and its Group e-Commerce portal.
GE Aviation said Gol Airlines became the launch customer for its OnPoint Fuel & Carbon Services through which "GE Aviation will work with Gol to identify and track operational improvements that could reduce the airline's fuel spend by up to 5%."
Honeywell said GoJet Airlines extended to 2023 its maintenance agreement, increasing aftermarket service and support on Honeywell products to include six recently delivered CRJ700s and bringing the total number of aircraft covered to 25. Contract is valued at $4.5 million. Honeywell equipment covered by the agreement includes EGPWS, start control valves and air turbine starters. Honeywell signed a 10-year contract with US Airways to provide inventory management and maintenance for 331-200 APUs on its fleet of 757s and 767s.
Continental Airlines said that its 111 dispatchers represented by the Transport Workers Union ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement.
A new ash cloud halted efforts to restore full air traffic operations in Europe yesterday, but UK regulator CAA announced plans to reopen airspace with some restrictions from 10 p.m. local time, enabling flight operations to resume into London airports this morning.
SR Technics yesterday confirmed its plans to consolidate its London Stansted component services organization to Zurich following a statutory consultation period with the representatives of its employees. It announced the plans in January ( ATWOnline, Jan. 14). The consolidation will affect 340 employees at the London facility, it said, adding that it will continue to operate its line maintenance business in the UK.
Two weeks after Spirit Airlines announced it will charge fees of up to $45 for carryon luggage, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and US Airways pledged not to follow suit. Spirit is not backing down. CEO Ben Baldanza told the Associated Press, "Our plan was never predicated on anyone matching us. The fact that other people are saying they won't has never changed our view that this is right."
Airlines busy assessing the toll of the volcanic-ash-induced airspace closure and figuring out how to resume operations to/from/within Europe were not shy in expressing dissatisfaction with EU governments' handling of the situation.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announced yesterday that he has established an ad-hoc group to assess the economic fallout from the multiday closure of much of Europe's airspace, with a particular focus on how the air transport industry was affected.
European airspace began gradually reopening yesterday following more than four days of severe restrictions on civil flights owing to last week's Icelandic volcano eruption, but European Commission VP-Transport Siim Kallas cautioned there would be "no compromise on safety" despite economic pressure to return to business as usual. Eurocontrol said it would permit the "the progressive and coordinated opening of European airspace" and announced yesterday that airspace would be divided into three zones.
There have been 90 incidents over the last 30 years in which aircraft have encountered volcanic ash, invisible to weather radar and totally undetectable at night, and several of the encounters created very dangerous situations.
Volcanic ash from last week's eruption in Iceland continues to cause dramatic disruption to air traffic in Europe, with many airlines cancelling services for a fifth consecutive day Monday owing to airspace closures but questioning whether EU governments and ATC providers are overreacting.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 8.08 billion RPKS in March, a 6.6% rise year-over-year. Capacity was cut 1.6% to 9.43 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 6.6 points to 85.7%. Germanwings transported 532,169 passengers in March, up 5.1% year-over-year. Load factor fell 3.1 points to 73.8%. Great Lakes Aviation operated 11.18 million RPMs in March, up 6.6% year-over year against a 3.6% cut in capacity to 32.16 million ASMs. Load factor rose 3.3 points to 34.8%.
IATA reported that the number of premium passengers traveling in first and business class seats on international flights grew 5.9% in February compared to the same month in 2009, marking the third consecutive month of year-over-year increases
