Flydubai, the LCC startup slated to launch later this year, appointed Kenneth Gile COO. He joins the carrier from Skybus Airlines, where he was president and COO for four years. Southwest Airlines named 15-year employee Kay Weatherford VP-revenue management and pricing. She had been senior director-revenue and traffic analysis.
Iberia signed a maintenance and support contract with Nigeria's Dana Airlines under which it will be responsible for the inspection, maintenance and repair of its six MD-80s and components at Iberia Maintenance installations in Madrid.
Domodedovo Technique was granted EASA certification for heavy maintenance services including C checks on 737-300/-400/-500 aircraft. DT already has signed agreements of intent with KD avia, Orenair and Transaero Airlines for heavy maintenance work on 737s.
Brussels Airlines signed a five-year contract with Lufthansa Systems under which the latter will implement its Sirax, SiraxCredit and Sirax View modules at the Belgian carrier and operate the system in its own data center. The deal also covers the revenue accounting processes for airDC, the Congolese startup set up by Brussels Airlines.
The US Dept. of Transportation said FAA will auction a single roundtrip, or two slots, at Newark International on Sept. 3, an announcement that brought stinging criticism from airlines, airports and several US lawmakers.
While still likely months away from gaining US Dept. of Justice antitrust clearance for their planned merger, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines yesterday received approval for the combination from the European Commission.
Chinese carriers are struggling with the financial strain imposed by declining domestic demand and surging fuel costs and have turned to new financing in an effort to reduce the burden.
Malaysia Airlines unveiled a voluntary program under which employees will have the option to take voluntary leave, work part time or explore opportunities outside the company and return, according to a statement cited by Reuters. "Although we want to reduce manpower in the short term to manage our costs as we are similarly affected by the fuel price, our approach is different as we will grow in the medium to long term," MAS said.
Southwest Airlines flew 6.89 billion RPMs in July, down 2.3% year-over-year. Capacity rose 4.3% to 9.03 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 5.1 points to 76.3%.
AirAsia X scotched reports that it is contemplating charging passengers based on their weight. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the airline confirmed it would consider using a weigh-in system only to calculate how much additional cargo could be carried onboard, not for the purpose of increasing individual airfares. "The only reason why we would weigh passengers is to help determine the overall weight of the aircraft," Australia GM Darren Wright told the paper.
Delta Air Lines announced that it will partner with Aircell to install its Gogo inflight broadband network on the carrier's entire domestic mainline fleet, which numbers more than 330 aircraft. Installation is expected to be complete next summer, after which passengers will be able to access the Internet and corporate VPNs and conduct SMS and other functions with Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Access will cost $9.95 on flights of 3 hr. or less and $12.95 on flights longer than 3 hr. Gogo will be offered initially on DL's 133 MD-88s/-90s.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. named Pratt & Whitney Senior VP and GM-Pratt & Whitney Global Services Partners James Keenan as senior VP-United Services. Keenan spent 14 years at UA before moving to Pratt.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports, has taken up the cause against slot auctions and yesterday announced its intention to "disallow flight departure or arrival slots that are issued by auction or similar process."
News from Travel Technology Update: Kayak.com stopped displaying American Airlines' fares in search results after the two companies clashed over how Kayak and its subsidiary, SideStep.com, refer consumers to sites for booking American flights. American wanted Kayak to direct consumers only to its own site for booking its flights. Kayak, however, shows results from Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity and other third-party sites, and it refused to suppress those options for American flights.
Malev Hungarian Airlines said it will remove five 737s from its fleet during the winter schedule and lease them to other carriers. It will not remove any European or Middle Eastern destinations from its network, but the fleet rationalization, which includes the previously announced grounding of its two 767s and the suspension of its North American service ( ATWOnline, July 25), will result in the layoff of approximately 250 active employees and a further 150 "in a legal working relationship" with the company, or 21.6% of the workforce.
TRAX USA said Azul Brazilian Airlines will implement its MRO solution EVO featuring advanced production, materials and technical records functionalities.
In an unprecedented move, Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority launched a two-week special audit of Qantas, which said it welcomed the move, hoping to put an end to the publicity that has resulted from incidents it labeled as largely normal, everyday airline events.
JetBlue Airways yesterday began offering a take-home pillow and blanket kit for $7 each on flights longer than 2 hr. Kit includes a $5 retail coupon and features an "eco-friendly" plush pillow and fleece blanket created by CleanBrands of Rhode Island.
ASIG renewed its contract with United Airlines to provide interior cabin grooming services at London Heathrow. ASIG serves about 70 aircraft per week for UA.
US Airways began charging $2 for each can of soda or juice and $1 for a cup of coffee or tea last Friday ( ATWOnline, June 13). The Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents US cabin staff, issued a statement protesting the new policy, saying the "complaints our flight attendants will be assaulted with and have to try to soothe will make our jobs much harder." It also claimed passengers might risk dehydration.
Star Alliance carriers serving Incheon have completed their collocation to the western part of the main terminal. Airlines involved are Asiana Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, ANA, Lufthansa, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, United Airlines and Turkish Airlines. They combine to operate 1,500 weekly flights from the airport. ICN is the third Asian hub, after Beijing and Shanghai, at which Star has implemented its Move Under One Roof strategy this year.
Frontier Airlines last week amended its standby policy and now will assign passengers changing flights on the same day a specific seat if available and charge a fee equal to the difference between the original fare and the then-current price of the new flight. Customers changing reservations in advance of the travel date will be charged a $150 fee in addition to the difference in fare. Regulations take effect Aug. 15.
American Airlines and the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants said a sufficient number of cabin staff have opted to retire or take leave to equal the 900 positions AA planned to eliminate in line with its capacity cuts, negating the need for furloughs ( ATWOnline, July 4).
Continental Airlines said both mainline and consolidated unit revenue in July climbed 4.5%-5.5% year-over-year. It flew 9.2 billion consolidated RPMs, up 1.6%, against a 4.3% rise in ASMs to 10.93 billion. Load factor fell 2.2 points to 84.2%.
Komy reached deals with Turkish Airlines and V Australia to provide its Magic Mirror in overhead bins to facilitate inspection and help passengers locate belongings.
