ARINC said it will offer its AirPlan enRoute technology to selected airlines this summer under an agreement with ATH Group. Based on the Attila arrival management system, the technology is expected to save fuel and reduce delays by streamlining arrival times of incoming flights.
American Airlines and US FAA turned in reports to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters Friday regarding last month's disruptive grounding of AA MD-80s, and the carrier reportedly detailed an inconsistent oversight response by FAA including discord between the agency's Washington headquarters and a Dallas area field office.
A J Walter Aviation won associate membership in IATP, gaining access to international spares distribution from hubs in London, Singapore, Prague and Dubai.
AirTran Airways parent AirTran holdings yesterday announced the initial closing of concurrent offerings of 5.5% convertible senior notes due 2015 and common stock and said the initiatives netted proceeds of approximately $140.3 million. Sale of an additional 2.3 million shares of common as part of an overallotment option is set to close today.
Alteon Training won CASA approval as MTRO under new Civil Aviation Order 100.66 aligning Australian maintenance training regulations with European regulations. Approval affects the 737NG family. The 777 and 787 are slated for approval later this year.
MAXjet Airways, the all-business-class carrier that shut down in December ( ATWOnline, Jan. 3), is operating as a "luxury" charter service and is in the process of being acquired by NCA Sports Group, it announced on its website. It will continue charter operations under the new ownership.
US Senate, which earlier this week appeared on the verge of finally passing a long-stalled FAA reauthorization bill, failed to agree on both procedural rules for the proposed legislation's floor debate and whether amendments regarding airline pension plans should be included. Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) thought they had reached a compromise earlier in the week on funding FAA operations.
Goodrich was selected by Pratt & Whitney to be the exclusive provider of the complete nacelle systems for the Geared Turbofan on both the Mitsubishi Regional Jet and CSeries. Goodrich said the contract is expected to generate more than $5 billion in original equipment and aftermarket revenue in the 25 years following EIS. "The Goodrich nacelle system on the Geared Turbofan demonstrator engine is performing very well and we look forward to flight testing the complete propulsion system later this year," Pratt VP-Next Generation Product Family Bob Saia said.
AerCap Holdings subsidiary AeroTurbine will purchase British Airways' entire stock of wheels and brakes for 737, 757, 767, 777 and 747-400 aircraft under a 10-year component lease deal announced in April. Contract specifies that AeroTurbine lease back the stock to BA for a 6- to 10-year period in accordance with BA's fleet renewal plans.
THE ASIA/PACIFIC REGION'S RESPONSE to the emerging and sometimes heated debate on aviation's role in contributing to climate change is divided, reflecting the vast cultural and socioeconomic differences among nations that collectively are home to a third of the world's human population and 26% of its GDP.
CAE recently broadened the scope of its pilot provisioning initiative by signing contracts with Jazeera Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Wizz Air to source, recruit and train more than 600 candidate pilots over a four-year period. "I think it's now widely accepted that there is a shortage of qualified crewmembers to transport and fly commercial airplanes," Innovation and Civil Training & Services Group President Jeff Roberts tells Airline Procurement. "The good news is that it's certainly not a demand question. The issue is on the supply side."
MOST, IF NOT ALL, GLOBAL NETWORK AIRLINES' stated aim is to increase their share of premium traffic. Few have been as creative as has Lufthansa at developing an array of services aimed at achieving this goal. To do so it has looked beyond the conventional aircraft tube to the entire travel experience. Examples include its dedicated First Class Terminal at Frankfurt and the transatlantic all-business-class service from Frankfurt to Newark operated on its behalf by PrivatAir of Switzerland using ACJs and BBJs.
BARACK OBAMA AND HILLARY Clinton may be debating the merits of NAFTA, the continually controversial North American Free Trade Agreement, but such is not the case at Continental Airlines and American Airlines.
AFTER A DECADE OF robust growth and financial success,US regional airlines are facing a challenging future as they deal with aging fleets of 50-seat jets that are increasingly expensive to operate at today's record fuel prices, pilot shortages, potential consolidation of their mainline partners and slowing demand for their services. Last year, mainline domestic RPM growth outpaced regional carrier growth for the first time since 1995, according to FAA's "Aerospace Forecast 2008-2025." Mainline domestic ASMs grew 1.8% against a 0.5% rise in regional ASMs.
An investigation by the European Union found that buying airline tickets online is still fraught with risk, and a third of consumers are "ripped off or misled and confused."
Of all the actions taken by the airlines to defend against high fuel costs, none has brought the gravity of the fuel crisis home to consumers quite like American Airlines' plan to charge most coach passengers $15 each way for the first checked bag.
Qantas Freight Enterprises reached agreement to purchase Jets Transport Express, a trucking business that specializes in interstate airfreight support. "The acquisition of Jets will allow us for the first time to offer a truly seamless transfer between international and domestic operations," QFE Executive GM Grant Fenn said. Purchase price was not disclosed.
Silverjet announced the signing of an MOU with an unidentified party from the United Arab Emirates for a $25 million investment, including approximately $8 million in equity. The new ordinary shares issued to the investor will represent around 28% of the enlarged share capital, with a debt facility accounting for the remainder.
South Africa's Nationwide Airlines shut down operations Tuesday following a March and April during which fuel costs climbed 30% and load factors decreased. The carrier has faced difficulties since a November engine separation on a 737-200 led to grounding of its fleet by the South African Civil Aviation Authority ( ATWOnline, Dec. 10, 2007). It said it "attained a gradual recovery of the business" in December and January but was unable to secure investment from a consortium with which it was negotiating.
European Union and Australia signed a horizontal aviation agreement that removes nationality restrictions in bilateral ASAs between EU member states and Australia. The new agreement does not replace the bilateral agreements but brings them in line with EU law by removing nationality restrictions. More than 4 million passengers travel between the EU and Australia annually.
Sabena Technics signed a 10-year base maintenance contract with Aer Lingus to perform C checks and structural checks on its A320 family and A330 aircraft.
US Senate is debating long-stalled FAA reauthorization legislation, with a vote possible this week. A House of Representatives version of FAA reauthorization was passed last year. If a Senate version is cleared, the two chambers will attempt to hammer out a compromise bill that the full Congress could consider.
