The US Transportation Security Administration implemented a new security directive on Jan. 4 mandating that every passenger flying into the country who is a citizen of or whose trip included a stop in 14 "nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest" will be subject to "enhanced screening." The move came 10 days after a Nigerian national attempted to detonate an explosive onboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. His trip started in Lagos.
When you think about groundbreaking technology in the travel industry, your thoughts probably don't turn to a 125-year-old company. But NCR Corp., founded to market the first mechanical cash register, has over the last century been a leader in areas as diverse as automated credit systems (1914) and digital computers for aviation (1952). It invented liquid crystal displays (1968) and marketed the first bar-code scanners (1974).
Amadeus announced long-term, full content distribution agreements with Lufthansa and its Swiss International Air Lines subsidiary. Deal takes effect March 1 and runs through 2014.
NCR Corp. announced the purchase of 40 TouchPort kiosks by China Southern Airlines for deployment in Beijing, Shenzhen, Urumqi and Dalian. CZ already had installed a combined 30 of the CUSS kiosks in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Changchun and Zhengzhou.
Naverus announced that China Eastern Airlines completed a performance based navigation 737 flight at Lhasa last week, marking the first RNP implementation of the aircraft at an airport located higher than 10,000 ft. It also announced the granting of an Instrument Flight Procedure Service Certificate by the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand authorizing it to design, certify and maintain RNP procedures.
Belgium initiated proceedings against Switzerland before the UN International Court of Justice regarding its longstanding dispute over the 2001 bankruptcy of Sabena, in which SAirGroup (formerly Swissair) and its SAirLines subsidiary held a 49.5% stake. Belgium claimed that Switzerland violated the Lugano Convention, "in particular in the judicial domain, [and relating to] the decision by Swiss courts not to recognize a decision by Belgian courts and not to stay proceedings later initiated in Switzerland on the subject of the same dispute," according to the filing.
IATA unveiled several new safety initiatives, including a program called Fatigue Risk Management Systems designed to monitor flight crew fatigue and a Web-based Global Safety Information Center granting IATA members access to its internal safety databases. "The GSIG will enable airlines to benchmark their safety performance with other operators," Senior VP-Safety, Operations and Infrastructure Gunther Matschnigg noted at last week's press day in Geneva.
SR Technics named Titan Aviation President and CEO Raymond Sisson as chief commercial officer. Nexcelle, the GE Middle River Aircraft Systems and Aircelle joint venture, named Michel Abella director-programs. Abella was Aircelle's program manager for its A380 nacelles.
Welcome Air, an Innsbruck-based regional, acquired a 76% stake in financially troubled Air Alps, which also is based in Innsbruck but operates mainly out of Milan Malpensa and Rome Fiumicino in partnership with Alitalia. The new group will operate eight Do-328s and four business jets and focus on niche markets in Central Europe. Financial details of the transaction were not announced. The combined company will produce some €40 million ($57.1 million) in annual revenue and carry around 120,000 passengers.
Navtech said that Delta Air Lines completed its transition to its Preferential Bidding System rostering software. Pilots will use the tool beginning next month. PROS Revenue Management won a contract from Royal Jordanian Airlines to deploy its new suite of network revenue management systems, with implementation scheduled for the 2010 fourth quarter.
Iberia flew 3.72 billion RPKs in November, a 5.9% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity was cut 6.8% to 4.79 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.7 point to 77.8%. Norwegian's November yield fell 20% year-over-year to NOK0.55, while unit revenue dropped 21% to NOK0.41. The LCC flew 872 million RPMs last month, up 27%, against a 29% increase in ASKs to 1.18 billion. Load factor dropped 1 point to 74%. Germanwings transported 501,687 passengers in November, down 1.3% year-over-year. Load factor fell 5.8 points to 70.5%.
ST Aerospace renewed a three-year deal with US Airways covering heavy maintenance on US's 737, 757 and 767 aircraft. It also announced a three-year, $90 million deal with a "major US airline" covering C checks and heavy MRO on A320 family and 767 aircraft. Contract includes a two-year option. International Communications Group received EASA Part 145 approval for its Newport News, Va., repair station.
Spirit AeroSystems, based in Wichita, announced the immediate commencement of direct international parts sales and distribution. It said it is "responding to [international] customers' expressed desire to deal directly with Spirit and not through an intermediary" and that it now is "fully capable of engaging directly with international customers." It said it plans to establish "regional centers around the world to be closer to [customer] markets" and that the transition from its current distributor will be complete by June 30.
LAN Airlines flew 2.62 billion RPKs in November, up 13.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 8.8% to 3.3 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 3.2 points to 79.5%. Copa Airlines flew 552.9 million RPMs in November, up 14.2% year-over-year, against a 7.8% lift in ASMs to 675.8 million. Load factor rose 4.6 points to 81.8%. SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.37 billion RPMs in November a 9.4% increase year-over-year. Capacity was up 7.8% to 1.78 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 1.1 points to 77%.
