Iberia Maintenance reached agreement with SAS Scandinavian Airlines to provide C and D checks on its MD-80s, A330s and A340s. Lufthansa Technik will provide C checks on 14 A320s, three A321s and two 737-400s for Aegean Airlines from December 2009 to February 2011 at LHT Malta and Shannon Aerospace.
William DeCota, aviation director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, died suddenly on Sept. 11. He was 51. DeCota joined the PA in 1982 as a financial analyst. He was named head of the aviation division in January 2000. In that role, he was responsible for running the world's largest airport system, comprising New York JFK, LaGuardia, Newark, Stewart and Teterboro Airports. Earlier this year, DeCota and Air Transport Assn.
Boosted by a gradual economic recovery, the global airline industry is expected to recover in 2010, industry players concluded at yesterday's Global Strategy Summit, part of the World Route Development Forum in Beijing.
LAN Airlines will complete installation of Aviation Partners Boeing blended winglets on its 767-300ER fleet by August 2010. "We invested $70 million on winglets for 28 passenger and nine freighter aircraft. The winglets save about 5% in fuel burn on our aircraft and deliver 320 miles extra range," VP-Business Planning and Control, Passenger Division Ernesto Solis Grau told ATWOnline in Santiago. Installation will be handled during C checks, taking around 25 days each.
LOT Polish Airlines is attempting to cancel the current labor deal with its employees and introduce a new contract on Oct. 1 featuring 15% cuts in employee numbers and salaries, the International Transport Workers' Federation and the European Transport Workers' Federation said. They also claimed the airline fired the president of the Polish Cabin Crew Union and the president of the LOT Polish Airlines Employees Union in July.
Hawaiian Airlines pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. voted to authorize a strike in case contract talks with the carrier break down and the National Mediation Board declares an impasse. HA and ALPA are scheduled to meet with a mediator on Oct. 12. "There has never been a strike in the 80-year history of our airline, and we don't want one now. But if that's what it takes to win a fair and reasonable contract, our pilots have told us loud and clear that they're ready to take that final step," HA ALPA unit Chairman Eric Sampson said.
Qantas will operate three sightseeing flights over Antarctica during the southern summer with its new A380. It has partnered with Antarctica Sightseeing Flights of Melbourne since 1994 using 747-400s. The first A380 flight is scheduled for Dec. 31 from Melbourne, the second on Jan. 24 from Sydney and the third on Feb. 14 from MEL. The New Year's Eve flight will be under the command of Capt. John Dennis, who has flown more than 40 of QF's 85 747 flights to the ice. Fares start from A$999 ($859) for the 14-hr. flight, which includes two meals.
Airline ticket sales through Arlington, Va.-based Airlines Reporting Corp. fell 16.8% in August compared to the year-ago period to $5.16 billion while the volume of total transactions was down 1.7%. Figures represented a very slight sequential decline compared to the performance in July, when transactions were off less than 1% year-over-year and sales decreased 16.7% ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14). Total fares, excluding taxes and fees, dropped 17% to $4.38 billion in August compared to August 2008.
WestJet said it expects its third-quarter unit revenue to be down 16%-18% year-over-year. It flew 1.33 billion RPMs in August, down 4.7%, against a 0.4% fall in capacity to 1.57 billion ASMs. Load factor dropped 3.9 points to 84.5%. Aer Lingus flew 1.72 billion RPKs in August, a 2.3% increase year-over-year. Capacity fell 0.7% to 2.07 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2.4 points to 83%. Gol flew 2.03 billion RPKs in August, a 6.9% year-over-year increase, against a 4.2% hike in capacity to 3.43 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 1.4 points to 59%.
US President Barack Obama announced his intention to nominate Erroll Southers as assistant secretary, Dept. of Homeland Security-Transportation Security Administration. Southers is assistant chief for Los Angeles World Airports' Office of Homeland Security and Intelligence and associate director of the University of Southern California's Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events. Lufthansa CFO Stephen Gemkow was named chairman of the supervisory boards at Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik, LSG Lufthansa Service Holding and Lufthansa Systems.
Avient, the Zimbabwe-based DC-10 freighter operator, said it has moved its European hub from Vatry to Liege. It said services are uninterrupted by the abrupt move and that it will continue to specialize in Europe-Africa flights.
US Congressional staff expressed optimism Friday that FAA reauthorization legislation can be passed this year but conceded that several contentious issues, in particular regarding FAA inspections of foreign repair stations, remain unresolved.
Royal Air Maroc has announced a five-year electronic charting service contract with Jeppesen which will help the airline make the transition from using standard paper navigation charts to adopting tailored, digital information in the cockpit.
AirBaltic said it "very much appreciates and welcomes" a meeting between the transport ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and their discussions regarding a pan-Baltic flag carrier, while claiming that it already fits that profile. The Riga-based airline plans to expand its Tallinn operation with flights to Turku beginning Oct. 1 and is "prepared to become involved in future negotiations," according to President and CEO Bertolt Flick. "If the airline's capital base is expanded, airBaltic will expand even more rapidly than before in the Baltic states," he said.
WestJet announced an offering of 13.4 million common and variable voting shares, with an overallotment option of up to 2 million shares, which it expects to produce proceeds of C$150-C$172.5 million ($139-$159.9 million). A syndicate of underwriters led by CIBC will sell the shares at C$11.20 each, and the offer is expected to close on Sept. 30. Frontier Airlines Holdings said its plan of reorganization, which includes its purchase by Republic Airways Holdings, was confirmed yesterday by the US Bankruptcy Court.
Amadeus announced what it called a "groundbreaking partnership" with AirAsia that will enable the more than 102,200 travel agencies that subscribe to the GDS to book travel on AirAsia and its affiliates "in the same way they would for a full-service carrier." In addition to AirAsia the partnership covers Indonesia AirAsia, Thai AirAsia and AirAsia X. Amadeus said the enabling technology is its Amadeus Ticketless Access solution "that allows real-time fare and flight information" for AirAsia "to be displayed alongside that of full-service airlines on a travel agent's Amadeus screen."
A wealth of information is available on aviation safety, but improvement is needed in coordinating and sharing the best safety practices that could benefit the entire industry, ICAO Secretary General Raymond Benjamin said yesterday at the annual FAA International Aviation Safety Forum in Washington.
Korean Air launched the second phase of its $200 million fleet upgrade and this month will begin installing new seats and an on-demand inflight entertainment system across all classes in its 777s and A330s. Work on 70 aircraft is expected to continue through April 2011. New deliveries will come with the product already installed. By 2014, all 96 of KE's mid- and long-haul aircraft will feature the upgrades.
Panasonic Avionics Corp. signed an agreement with SIA Engineering Co. covering maintenance of inflight entertainment and communication systems on the Singapore Airlines fleet. Panasonic is providing IFEC MRO services for the entire SIA fleet over 10 years. It said that under the agreement with SIAEC, the two will work together "to provide a 'one-stop-shop' solution covering all on-aircraft labor, logistics, spares, repairs and media loading."
Virgin Atlantic Airways introduced a new baggage policy based on what it called a "piece system." Economy passengers will be allowed to check one bag weighing up to 23 kg. free of charge, premium economy passengers will be entitled to two bags weighing up to 23 kg. each and business class passengers can check up to three. Any additional bags will cost £32 ($52.87) per item when booked online or £40 at airport check-in. Economy passengers travelling between London Heathrow and Nairobi or Lagos will be able to check a second bag at no charge.
Federal Aviation Administrator Randy Babbitt warned yesterday that "the national and international trends for fatal accidents and accidents. . .are no longer pointing downward, in fact they may be up slightly," and said the biggest requirement for all of aviation is the need to "step up the professionalism in the workplace."
TAM said its Technological Center MRO unit was certified by US FAA to work on aircraft registered in the US, including C and D checks. TAM's 4.6-million-sq.-m. maintenance center is located in Sao Carlos.
