The Ministers of Transport of the EU's 27 member states reached agreement Friday on the content and text of the revision of the so-called "third aviation package." The European Commission published a proposal in July 2006 for the reform of the third package, aimed at consolidating and updating the three existing regulations (dating from 1992) that are the foundation of the liberalization of air services in the EU.
South African Civil Aviation Authority announced the resignation of CEO Zakes Myeza. It said he resigned following a ruling by Minister of Transport Jeff Radebe that the CEO and Commissioner for Civil Aviation positions be merged. SACAA board "reluctantly accepted" the resignation, it said, adding that the move was unrelated to the current crisis involving Nationwide Airlines ( ATWOnline, Dec.
Southwest Airlines yesterday officially opened an 80,000-sq.-ft. maintenance hangar at Dallas Love Field. Construction on the $18.5 million facility, which can accommodate three winglet-equipped 737-700s, began in November 2006. SWA's Dallas maintenance base now comprises five hangars.
Pinnacle Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., voted to authorize a strike if negotiations with management do not result in an agreement and the US National Mediation Board releases the parties to economic self-help. More than 99% of the 1,200-plus pilots supported the strike, ALPA said. Negotiations began in February 2005 and the sides entered mediation in September 2006.
Jordanian government launched an IPO of 71% of Royal Jordanian's issued share capital, the Arab Air Carriers Organization said. In October, RJ President and CEO Samer Majali confirmed to this website that privatization of the carrier would proceed as scheduled this month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25). Offer price is set at JOD2.75-JOD3.40 ($3.86-$4.77) per share.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters petitioned the US National Mediation Board seeking a vote to represent mechanics at United Airlines, who currently are represented by the American Mechanics Fraternal Assn. IBT said it expected a vote in six weeks.
News from Travel Technology Update: Amadeus this week will unveil the first components of a new next-generation distribution technology platform for the hotel industry. As a first step, Amadeus has completed the migration of the 75,000 hotel properties that participate in its GDS from a system based on TPF (transaction processing facility) to a Linux platform, Jeroôme Destors, deputy managing director of Amadeus' Hospitality Business Group, said. All hotel GDS operations are now running on the open-systems platform.
US Dept. of Transportation said an investigation it conducted into "chronically delayed flights" and threats of stiff fines against airlines led carriers to "fix" the problems. Actions taken included "changing flight routes, adding flight crews and making additional aircraft available," DOT said.
Panasonic Avionics will supply its eX2 IFE and communications system to Air Austral for installation on three existing 777-200s and two 777-300s currently on order.
Nationwide Airlines remained grounded yesterday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3) as it denied press reports that it leased a 767 from KLM in order to continue its Johannesburg-London Gatwick service. KLM has performed MRO on Nationwide's own 767, but the South African carrier vehemently denied any other arrangement.
Click suffered a two-day strike by cabin staff that affected approximately 220 flights. The strike ended Monday when the Mexicana-owned LCC offered a 4.74% salary increase and other benefits, Reuters reported.
Atlasjet MD-83 accident investigation was joined this week by Boeing and Pratt & Whitney officials who traveled to Turkey and inspected the crash site. There has been no initial discovery of technical problems on the MD-83, which was on wet-lease from World Focus Airlines, and no explanation yielded from tower recordings that reveal the pilots believed they were headed for a routine landing at Isparta Airport, according to Turkish officials ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3).
An Atlasjet Airlines MD-83 outbound from Istanbul crashed early Friday morning during its approach to Isparta Airport in southern Turkey, killing all 57 passengers and crew onboard. The crash site was located in mountainous terrain approximately 7 mi. from Isparta. The aircraft, which was wet-leased from World Focus Airlines, departed IST at 12:50 a.m., 90 min. late owing to its late arrival inbound from Pristina, according to Atlasjet. The crash occurred about 45 min. after takeoff. Published reports described weather as clear and moonlit.
Ryanair said Friday it filed its fifth lawsuit in recent weeks in the European Court of First Instance against the European Commission, this time alleging it failed to investigate illegal state aid to Alitalia. According to the LCC, AZ's subsidies included a split-up of the company's assets and operations and an uneven allocation of debt, resulting in a €1.7 billion ($2.51 billion) debt write-off. Ryanair said it called on the EC to investigate this "blatant abuse" of EU competition rules more than two years ago but the EC has failed to do so.
Condor Airlines will establish a maintenance facility for its 757s and 767s in Frankfurt, creating 170 jobs. The new facility will perform work up to A checks.
Precision Conversions will provide Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management with a 15-pallet-position 757-200PCF. Following modification next year at the Flightstar facility in Jacksonville, CargoJet will operate the Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft under a lease from BBAM.
Aeroports de Paris plans to increase main airport fees at Charles de Gaulle and Orly by 3.8% in 2008, down from the 4.25% hike it applied this year. The proposal represents a preliminary estimate of the average increase in passenger fees, landing fees, aircraft parking fees and fees for the use of fueling facilities, ADP noted. It added that the 3.8% figure takes into account "buoyant" passenger traffic growth in 2007 as required by a "ceiling adjustment mechanism" included in its contract with the French government as part of its privatization.
Silverjet reported £11.8 million ($24.4 million) in passenger revenue in the six months ended Sept. 30, its first full fiscal semester since launching operations in January. The all-business-class carrier launched a second daily London Luton-Newark service during the period. It also announced a proposed placing of £12 million and a proposed convertible loan of £10 million from TFB Ltd.
Delta Air Lines named former Pinnacle Airlines Chairman and Greyhound Lines CEO Stephen Gorman executive VP-operations, succeeding the retiring Joseph Kolshak. Gorman previously was executive VP-flight operations and technical operations at Northwest Airlines and became Pinnacle chairman in 2003.
Nationwide Airlines of South Africa announced Friday that the South African Civil Aviation Authority suspended the carrier's Aviation Maintenance Organization license, resulting in the grounding of all flights. "We have approached the CAA for further details and guidance in respect of any actions they would like us to implement that would enable them to reinstate the AMO's license at which point normal operations will resume," Nationwide CEO Vernon Bricknell said in a message to customers posted on the airline's website.
Attempting to leave no trace is a noble, often unsung pursuit. You don't have to tiptoe across rice paper to sense the courage of that ideal. For aviation manufacturers and suppliers, a greener footprint calls for vision, commitment and stewardship. Practices that foster energy efficiency, pollution prevention, longer lifecycles, recycling and responsible disposal no longer bow to the bottom line. "There's more consistency around the world about the need to be environmentally accountable," says Goodrich Environmental, Health and Safety Director Dennis Hussey.
