US Air Transport Assn. filed a formal challenge to the US Dept. of Transportation's July rule that permits US airports to base airline rates and charges on "market incentives" as well as the traditional aircraft weight metric currently used ( ATWOnline, July 11)."Like DOT's other misguided attempts to foist unproven economic theory on the traveling public, these measures would do nothing to address the underlying causes of congestion and delay and would only make flying more expensive for passengers," ATA said.
Ameco Beijing said its landing gear business in the first half of 2008 increased 84% year-over-year. It provides MRO for such customers as Air China, Lufthansa Technik, Cathay Pacific Airways, Germania and GECAS.
US FAA said its safety audit of US airlines' adherence to airworthiness directives ( ATWOnline, March 19) found an overall compliance rate of 98%. Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell said that in the 2% of cases in which problems were discovered, airlines "resolved the issues of noncompliance before the airplanes flew again." He added, "This audit gives us confidence that, overall, the system is safe and in almost every instance the airlines are complying with our safety directives."
Recovered flight data recorder from the Spanair MD-82 that crashed last month on takeoff from Madrid Barajas revealed that the flaps were not extended, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources close the accident investigation. Investigators are examining why an automatic audible warning in the cockpit did not sound and are considering whether an electrical problem caused the alert to malfunction, according to the WSJ, which said preliminary FDR data indicated that both engines were operating normally and that there was no engine fire.
CIT Aerospace exercised options for eight A320s and two A319s, lifting its firm Airbus commitment to 199 aircraft (162 A320 family, 30 A330s, seven A350s), of which 100 already have been delivered. Delivery of the newly ordered aircraft, worth approximately $756 million at list prices, is scheduled to begin in 2012.
Boeing workers delivered an overwhelming rebuke late Wednesday with 87% of the 28,600 members of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voting to strike over a new three-year contract. Armed with that resounding endorsement of its recommendation to reject the company's final offer, IAM agreed to hold off the walkout for 48 hr., giving management time to respond. That decision reportedly was met with significant protest by attendees, forcing IAM leaders Mark Blondin and Tom Wroblewski to leave the meeting.
Lufthansa Flight Training will open a multimillion-dollar center at Munich in October housing three cockpit simulators and training devices for service and emergency training. An E-190 simulator owned by Swiss Aviation Training will go into operation in March 2009 and A320 and A330/A340 simulators owned by LFT will follow. E-190 simulator training will be conducted by SAT.
Bombardier Aerospace enjoyed a 79% year-over-year surge in fiscal second-quarter operating profit to $238 million thanks to an increase in aircraft deliveries. Revenue for the three months ended July 31 was up 13.6% to $2.5 billion and the order backlog was worth $26.1 billion, up 15% from Jan. 31. The manufacturer received orders during the quarter for 175 aircraft comprising 162 business aircraft, 11 commercial jets and two amphibians, down from 187 in the year-ago quarter. Deliveries rose 14% to 89.
Argentine Senate authorized the renationalization of Aerolineas Argentinas by a 46-21 vote. The legislature now will negotiate the purchase price for AR and its Austral Lineas Aereas subsidiary ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
Alitalia Extraordinary Administrator Augusto Fantozzi gave the carrier's unions one week to agree on the government-led rescue plan ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4). Italian Labor Minister Maurizio Sacconi told reporters that the plan calls for 3,250 layoffs. There are approximately 17,500 employed by AZ and likely partner Air One, the Associated Press reported.
Airbus and Syrian Arab Airlines have had "exploratory discussions" about a potential order for more than 50 aircraft valued at as much as $35 billion, a French official told the Financial Times. There had been recent speculation that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit this week to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would include announcement of a blockbuster aircraft order.
US Dept. of Transportation said the 19 reporting airlines posted a combined July ontime arrival rate of 75.7%, up from the 69.8% achieved in the year-ago month. Carriers cancelled 1.7% of scheduled domestic flights, an improvement from the 2.1% reported in July 2007. Mishandled bag rate of 4.86 reports per 1,000 passengers was down from 7.96.
The airline industry will lose $5.2 billion this year based on an average annual crude oil price of $113 per barrel ($140 for jet fuel), IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said yesterday from Montreal.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace yesterday said it redelivered the 38th MD-11BCF to UPS Airlines following conversion at its SASCO facility. SASCO began conversions for UPS in April 2001.
A summer survey of 113 airline executives conducted by US consulting firm IdeaWorks revealed that "more and more airlines are turning to a la carte pricing to provide an ancillary revenue boost" and that "more and more airlines appear willing to act independently on the issue of a la carte fees."
Heroux-Devtek won a $27-million repayable contribution from Industry Canada for research and development of its landing gear technologies. Funds are part of a $77 million project to improve performance and reliability and reduce environmental impact. Investment will span six years with repayments taking effect one year after project completion.
Continental Airlines reported an estimated 4.5%-5.5% year-over-year increase in August consolidated RASM. It flew 9.14 billion RPMs during the month, up 0.7%, against a 2.4% rise in ASMs to 10.89 billion. Load factor fell 1.4 points to 83.9%. British Airways flew 10.17 billion RPKs in August, a 1.6% fall from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 1.9% to 13.16 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 2.7 points to 77.3%.
EADS will invest €180 million ($263.5 million) to build a new plant in Augsburg that will manufacture fuselage parts for the A350, the Associated Press reported. The facility will open in 2011 adjacent to the current Airbus factory.
Boeing members of the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers are set to vote today on the manufacturer's final pay offer. The deal includes an 11% raise, a 14% increase in pensions, a lump sum bonus of at least $2,500 and continuation of free premium health plan options, while the company has yielded on plans to phase out retiree health care and traditional pensions.
Air New Zealand will launch a new cabin product on its A320 and 767 fleets used on Pacific and Australian services on Sept. 9. Rather than back away from capital expenditure, ANZ has embraced further product upgrades designed to snare premium customers ( ATWOnline, March 14). This year it is investing more than NZ$55 million ($38.3 million) installing IFE throughout the 767s and A320s used on short- and medium-haul routes and increasing seat pitch in economy ahead of the wing to 35 in.
Conviasa 737-200 crashed Saturday on a positioning flight, killing the three crewmembers onboard. The aircraft had been stored in Caracas and was being ferried to a new owner in Latacunga, Ecuador, when it flew into the side of the Iliniza volcano, Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network reported. The JT8D-9A-powered aircraft first flew in 1978.
Spanair continued to defend its decision not to move passengers from the MD-82 that crashed last month prior to a second takeoff attempt as reports surfaced that the pilot asked for two busses to be used to transfer passengers to another aircraft following the aborted first takeoff.
Mechtronix Systems said the International Flight Training Center in Istanbul received JAA Level D certification for its A320 FFS X featuring electric motion system, LCoS projectors and replication architecture. French DGAC performed the evaluation.
