Southwest Airlines and US FAA officials met yesterday to discuss an agency inspector's recent discovery that SWA is operating more than 40 737s with parts produced by an uncertified vendor, a finding that led to the Aug. 22 grounding of the aircraft from early morning to 3 p.m.
An-12 freighter operated by Republic of the Congo-based Aero Fret Business crashed yesterday around 12 mi. from its intended destination of Brazzaville, killing all six aboard. It departed from Pointe Noire, according to news reports. Those killed included two Congolese citizens traveling with the cargo and four crew comprising two Ukrainians and two Moldovans, the Russian consul in Brazzaville told media. Republic of the Congo banned passengers from traveling aboard An-12s in 2007 but cargo carriage remains permissible. No cause of the crash was given.
Aircraft Conversions of the Netherlands announced delivery of its fourth F50 freighter conversion to Bergamo-based MiniLiner. The company has received orders for 10 full F50 conversions plus five options.
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines' 17 member carriers transported 11.5 million passengers on international flights in July, down 7.8% from the year-ago month. International RPKs dropped 8.5% to 48.65 billion against a 6.5% cut in capacity to 63.5 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 1.7 points to 76.6%. "Traffic reductions may be easing, but a return to growth is still some way off," AAPA DG Andrew Herdman said.
US Airways and Continental Airlines yesterday announced they will follow American Airlines' recent decision to start charging $50 for a second piece of checked baggage on transatlantic flights ( ATWOnline, Aug. 24). As with AA, first checked bags will remain free.
EgyptAir reached agreement with US Export-Import Bank to help finance the purchase of five 737-800s and guarantee a loan from JP Morgan Chase. MS will take delivery of the first aircraft Friday in Seattle.
Air India employees represented largely by the Air Corp. Employees Union and the Aviation Industry Employees Guild continued with a hunger strike yesterday in protest of planned wage cuts. An AI spokesperson told The Economic Times, "We have a well formulated contingency plan and have deployed additional manpower to ensure smooth operations." Some 20,000 employees, or about two-thirds the carrier's workforce, reportedly are involved. ACEU General Secretary J.B. Kadian said AI management "is delaying and ignoring us.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. announced the signing of a letter of intent with HP "to develop a next generation Passenger Service System" for use by AA and American Eagle encompassing reservations, pricing and ticketing, revenue management, inventory, flight information and check-in. Value of the proposed investment was not disclosed. The news came a day after TAM said it had selected Amadeus to provide its Altea passenger system to the Brazilian airline ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
The Air Line Pilots Assn. yesterday urged the US government "to prohibit shipments of lithium batteries on passenger and all-cargo aircraft until new regulations are in place to ensure the safe transport of these hazardous materials," citing three recent incidents in which "fire, smoke or evidence of fire associated with battery shipments has occurred" on freighter aircraft.
News from Travel Technology Update: Amadeus introduced a "holistic" solution for corporate travel agencies that aims to provide a complete "start-to-finish" system. Called Amadeus One, the Web-based, multisource solution includes profile integration, mid-office functions, agency administration tools and new productivity tools.
Delta Air Lines added its BusinessElite lie-flat bed service on all New York JFK-London Heathrow flights and will launch the product next month on flights from JFK to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
KLM received its fourth new 777-300ER, part of an order for seven of the type. New aircraft features SkyTeam livery and will perform its first commercial flight on Aug. 28 to Nairobi. Boeing said the delivery will mark an in-service evaluation of a new chrome-free primer and paint, which it will apply to 14 aircraft initially "with the intention of making it a standard option in the future."
EasyJet transported 4.7 million passengers in July, up 4.3% year-over-year. Load factor rose 1 point to 90.3%. SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew 1.75 billion RPMs in July, up 8.9% year-over-year, against a 4.5% lift in capacity to 2.09 billion ASMs. Load factor climbed 3.4 points to 83.5%. Frontier Airlines said July mainline yield fell 15% year-over-year to 10.27 cents while RASM dropped 11% to 9.44 cents. It flew 862.3 million RPMs, down 12%, against a 16% cut in capacity to 937.4 million ASMs. Load factor rose 4.2 points to 92%.
TAM and Amadeus announced yesterday in Sao Paulo a 10-year technology partnership to replace multiple legacy applications currently in use by the airline with a single integrated platform based on Amadeus's Altea Customer Management Solution. The carrier will implement the full package including reservations, inventory and departure control, with the first phase expected to be complete by year end and total implementation within three years.
Korean Air said the number of reserved seats on international routes for September is up 21% year-over-year on a 9% increase in supply. Largest gain is to Japan at 59%, followed by the Americas at 12% and Europe at 10%. Chinese demand is level. KE's international passenger numbers are up 9% this month and rose 5% in July.
Virgin Nigeria signed an agreement with Ethiopian Airlines to cooperate on MRO for VK's seven aircraft, pool technical resources and conduct joint training, according to a statement cited by widespread press reports. Contract ends a four-year technical partnership between VK and Virgin Atlantic, which is looking to sell its 49% stake in the Nigerian carrier ( ATWOnline, Aug. 20, 2008).
Austrian Airlines Group's acquisition by Lufthansa could be completed as early as Sept. 3, a source close to the transaction in Brussels told ATWOnline. "We expect news from the EU very soon, and this date could be possible," the source said. Media in Germany and Austria were reporting yesterday that an official confirmation of the takeover from EU authorities should come by the end of this month. An AAG spokesperson declined to comment on the possible schedule.
China Equity Group yesterday revealed additional details of its plan to re-launch East Star Airlines, including its intention for it and its partners to hold 70%-80% of the reorganized carrier with debtors holding the remainder ( ATWOnline, Aug. 24). East Star Group currently owns the largest share (40%) while GECAS, China National Aviation Fuel Co. and several airports are the debtors.
Private Flight Global has added two new features to its online system for inflight catering management. The company said that with its new intuitive search functionality and its enhanced management reporting tools, allows customers to streamline their catering operations and achieve even greater transparency across their entire catering-related spend.
Yemen's regional start-up carrier Felix Airways has signed a seven-year contract with Lufthansa Technik for Total Component Support (TCS) for its Bombardier CRJ fleet.
Garuda Indonesia CEO Emirsyah Satar told reporters yesterday that the carrier intends to raise $300-$400 million through an IPO in the first half of next year, Dow Jones reported. He said earlier that the offering would comprise 15%-20% of the company.
Bombardier took delivery of the first fuselage test barrel for the CSeries at its Saint-Laurent facility. The 7-m.-long, 3.7-m.-wide barrel was built by Shenyang Aircraft Corp. The new aircraft's final design phase is scheduled to begin next year. Shenyang is set to manufacture "just over 10%" of the CSeries, Bombardier said.
