Embraer launched steep approach testing at London City for the E-190. Certification is expected by year end. The E-170 received certification to operate into LCY in 2007. Last December British Airways signed an order six 170s and five 190s to be operated by its BA CityFlyer subsidiary ( ATWOnline, Dec. 23, 2008).
IATA said all 224 member airlines now are listed on the IOSA registry. "This is a great achievement and an important mark of quality for all IATA airlines. This in turn is a reassurance for travelers everywhere of aviation's serious commitment to safety," DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said. The IOSA registry now comprises 308 carriers. Qatar Airways was the first airline to pass its IOSA audit in September 2003. Eight airlines resigned at the end of 2008 and another was expelled on March 31 for not meeting the registration deadline.
UK Secretary of State for Transport Geoff Hoon appointed Deirdre Hutton as CAA chair. The first woman named to the post, Hutton will take up the position in August when Roy McNulty's term comes to an end after eight years. She currently chairs the Food Standards Agency and will sit for five years. Hoon also will appoint a CEO.
Calin Rovinescu's appointment as president and CEO of Air Canada, succeeding Montie Brewer, who resigned Monday, drew a rebuke from CAW President Ken Lewenza, who called Rovinescu "a disturbing choice." CAW represents more than 5,000 customer service and sales workers at the airline. Rovinescu served as executive VP-corporate development and strategy at AC between 2000 and 2004 and was a key figure in the carrier's 18-month bankruptcy reorganization as chief restructuring officer. He has been involved with Canadian commercial aviation for more than two decades.
CAE said it signed contracts for three full flight simulators in March valued at C$33 million. Customers are Avianca, Sofia Flight Training (both CAE 5000 Series A320 FFSs) and Emirates-CAE Flight Training (CAE 7000 Series A320 FFS). It also announced the termination of a 757 FFS sale to Flight Training Finance and the ensuing sale of the equipment to an unidentified customer. CAE sold 34 simulators in its fiscal year ended March 31.
WHEN SKYWEST INC. VP AND CFO BRAD RICH SET ABOUT to prepare remarks for a recent investors' conference in New York City, he sought some advice on what to say: "Just ask for patience and forgiveness," suggested his learned adviser. And that's how he opened his presentation at the Raymond James Growth Airline Conference in February. "Some days are just more challenging than we can handle," Rich said.
Airports Council International Europe, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization, Eurocontrol and IATA unveiled a joint action plan to implement continuous descent approach procedures at up to 100 airports across Europe by the end of 2013, saving more than half a million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
The scene is quite different compared to last May, when the economy was still relatively strong in the world's largest express delivery market and DHL and UPS announced they were negotiating details of a deal under which UPS would take over DHL's airport-to-airport flying in the US. UPS estimated it would generate as much as $10 billion in additional revenue over 10 years from the proposed agreement.
American Airlines operated the first flight with a 767-300ER equipped with Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglets between Dallas/Fort Worth and London Heathrow last month. According to APB, the efficiency gains to be provided by the winglets could save 500,000 gal. of fuel per aircraft annually, which equates to a savings of 29 million gal. and 277,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year for AA's fleet of 58 767-300ERs.
Qantas Group is moving to expand its RNP use significantly. The airline, which launched RNP operations on its 737-800 fleet in 2007 into Christchurch and Brisbane, has extended those operations to 15 regional airports that have no ILS facilities. QF Chief Technical Pilot-Boeing Fleet Alex Passerini told Eco-Aviation Today that the group has committed to developing RNP for the A330 fleet and Jetstar's A320 fleet and will expand RNP arrivals to other Australian capital cities. During 2009 it will add 15 more airports, with Sydney to follow in 2010.
US airlines would be required to pay a carbon tax on their fuel purchases under the Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, a bill introduced at the end of March by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who chairs the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the energy and environment subcommittee.
Qantas called on Canberra to help develop a sustainable biofuel industry in the country's vast outback. The concept is included in the airline's submission to the Australian government's call for submissions to its National Aviation Policy. The government's green paper does not mention development of a local biofuel industry, which Qantas sees as "critical to the future reduction in airline emissions." It notes that "building an economically sustainable biofuel supply chain is not possible for an individual airline given the huge capital cost requirement and supply chain challenges.
HEAVY ENGINE OVERHAULS CAN COST from hundreds of thousands to several million dollars depending upon engine and workscope. The major cost elements are time off-wingsince spare engines must be bought or leasedparts, labor and overhead, including interest on inventory. Part costs can be controlled by smart acquisition or workscoping. The other elements are reduced chiefly by getting engines overhauled faster with more efficient processes and fewer errors. Through Lean and other techniques, engine shops are pursuing these goals aggressively.
The Aviation Global Deal Group, comprising British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Air France KLM, Virgin Atlantic Airways, BAA and international nongovernmental organization The Climate Group, presented a draft policy framework for addressing carbon dioxide emissions from international aviation in Bonn earlier this month. According to Cathay Pacific GM-Environmental Affairs Dominic Purvis, the framework is an "ambitious, equitable and effective" way of tackling emissions under a global climate change deal to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.
THE DELIVERY OF V AUSTRALIA'S FIRST 777-300ER afforded ATW Senior Editor Geoffrey Thomas the opportunity to spend a few days with Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group, and Brett Godfrey, CEO of Virgin Blue and V Australia. You are launching V Australia in very difficult times. How confident are you that it will succeed?
Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May will deliver the first day's luncheon address at the ATW Leeham Eco-Aviation Conference in Washington next month, while Virgin Atlantic Airways Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility Manager Sian Foster will talk about the Aviation Global Deal Group and its goals at the second day's luncheon.
CALL IT A BLACK SWAN EVENT. THIS YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME in history, Southwest Airlines will shrink. That's right: The carrier that wrote the book on consistent growth is cutting back, reducing seat miles 4% compared to 2008, after growing in every year since it commenced service in June 1971.
The potential and timeline of biofuel came under intense scrutiny in late March with Boeing's self-confessed "born again" biofuel expert, MD-Environmental Strategy Billy Glover, talking up the prospects and stating he was "very confident" about plant-derived biofuels after recent flights. "We think it is quite reasonable that there will be commercial availability of some type in the next 3-5 years," he said from Geneva, where he attended the Aviation and Environment Summit.
Farelogix unveiled FLX Commando, a patent-pending agency reservations tool that simulates cryptic GDS command-line functions, and E-FLX, described as the travel industry's first "hub" for issuing, storing, managing and reporting Electronic Miscellaneous Documents.
Bill Me Later likes to keep it simple, for both consumers and merchants. The company can approve U.S. residents for deferred payment in a matter of seconds, with just the address, the last four digits of a customer's Social Security number and a birthdate.
Qantas's international operation suffered its worst-ever traffic decline in February, with passenger numbers plummeting 16.8% year-over-year to 554,000. Domestic passengers slumped 10.1% to 1.2 million, while low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways' domestic passenger count was off 3.3% to 556,000. The only bright spot was Jetstar International, where passengers jumped 25% to 162,000. Overall the airline group reported an 8.4% decline to 2.7 million passengers, with RPKs dropping 10.1% to 7.31 billion and ASKs falling 7.6% to 9.32 billion. Load factor sank 2.2 points to 78.4%.
SAS Group announced official completion of its sale of 80.1% of Spanair to Initiatives Empresarials Aeronautiques, a Catalonian consortium comprising Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona, Catalana d'Inciatives, Volcat 2009 and Fira de Barcelona, for €1 ($1.32). SAS will continue to hold the remaining 19.9% and to partner with the carrier ( ATWOnline, Feb. 2).
Contact Air, a Lufthansa Regional partner, was hit by wildcat pilot strikes yesterday in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Hof, Nurnberg and Stuttgart. The Cockpit union said more strikes would follow today. It is seeking a new contract for the 130 Contact Air pilots.
American Airlines announced it will install Aircell's Gogo inflight Internet service in more than 300 domestic aircraft over the next two years. It has been trialing the product on 15 767-200s operating transcontinental routes since August ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21, 2008). Installation on 150 MD-80s will begin next year, followed by 737-800s. The service will cost $7.95-$12.95 depending on the length of flight and whether the passenger is using a laptop computer or a PDA.
Delta Air Lines said new signage will be appearing this week at former Northwest Airlines hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul as part of its $500 million integration effort. It expects to have all domestic airports re-branded by year end, with international facilities finished next year. Former NWA employees began wearing DL uniforms this week as well. The carrier said 33 NWA aircraft already have been repainted, with some 250 left to complete before the end of 2010.
