Ethiopian Airlines said it moved to the Sabre Passenger Services Management IT system. It also launched a thrice-weekly Addis Ababa-Juba service aboard 737-200s.
Indian government is getting tough on English standards following a series of recent near mishaps, sending home at least 20 foreign pilots (mainly from Asia and central Europe) because of their poor command of the language. Indian Director General of Civil Aviation Kanu Gohain told reporters that "the pilots posed a safety risk."
Continental Airlines yesterday became the eighth carrier to have its cargo booking system go live on the Unisys-operated Cargo Portal Services, a Web-based booking tool used by more than 2,500 freight forwarders. "Our customers want choice and convenience. CPS fills this need because of its rapid adoption by forwarders, its multicarrier model and its capability to handle virtually all types of cargo products," CO VP-Cargo Jack Boisen said. CO joins American Airlines, Air Canada, Air France-KLM, Austrian Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines and United Airlines on CPS.
Jettainer signed a five-year deal with XL Airways of the UK to provide outsourced ULD management services. As part of the agreement, Jettainer purchased XL's fleet of ULDs, which previously was owned and managed by Air Atlanta Icelandic.
ICAO's Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection last week released proposed guidance to the organization's 189 member states for incorporating aviation emissions into national emission trading schemes. The ICAO Council will review the proposal "in the coming weeks," but IATA was quick to voice its approval, saying the "outcome clearly demonstrates that global solutions are possible" and that "the only way forward is with a harmonized approach."
Cockpit voice recorder transcript from the ExcelAire Legacy 600 that collided with a Gol 737-800 in midair and resulted in the deaths of all 154 aboard the airliner ( ATWOnline, Jan. 23), was published yesterday by Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil's largest newspaper. It indicated that the Legacy pilots had difficulty communicating with ATC throughout the flight. "I've got a problem with the radio here," one said, according to the Associated Press.
Eurocontrol registered a 5.6% year-over-year growth in flights last month to 741,432, eclipsing its forecast of 4% annual growth over the next 15 years. Air traffic flow management delay soared 49.9% to 1.7 min. per flight, which Eurocontrol attributed to "adverse weather." Airport delay time rose 74.9% to 1.2 min. Alaska Airlines flew 1.28 billion RPMs in January, a 0.8% fall from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.8% to 1.93 billion ASMs and load factor was down 2.5 points to 66.5%.
EADS postponed yesterday's planned disclosure to Airbus employees of details of the Power8 restructuring program as French and German officials argued over the distribution of job cuts and facility closures, but EADS co-CEO and Airbus CEO Louis Gallois warned that the manufacturer "cannot delay any longer" implementing reforms.
JetBlue Airways, heavily criticized in the wake of incidents last week when passengers were forced to stay on parked aircraft at New York JFK for up to 10 hr., responded yesterday by unveiling a Customer Bill of Rights that includes free tickets for those forced to wait on delayed aircraft.
Russian Transport Ministry announced that nine airlines have been banned from operating charter and ad hoc flights to the EU. It said it barred the carriers following notification by the European Commission's Transport Directorate about the lack of control of maintenance and operational procedures. The airlines are Aero Rent, Tatarstan Airlines, Atlant-Soyuz, Aviacon Zitotrans, Center Avia, Gazpromavia, Lukoil, Russkoe Nebo (Russian Sky) and UTair.
Recent high-profile incidents in which passengers were not allowed to get off parked aircraft for long periods have revived momentum in the US Congress for legislation outlining passengers' "rights" and governing airlines' actions in those situations.
Eurocontrol and DFS, the German air navigation services provider, contracted the Sofreavia/SITA consortium to supply the next generation of data link gateway systems known as the Data Link Front End Processor. All ANSPs in Europe will need to upgrade and/or complement their ATM infrastructures with DL-FEP equivalent functionality by circa 2010, as outlined in the Data Link Implementation Rule expected to be adopted by the European Commission under the Single European Sky initiative's Interoperability Regulation by year end.
Royal Jordanian selected IER to supply its Common Use Self-Service check-in platform. The project was initiated by RJ in cooperation with IATA, which selected Amman's Queen Alia International to launch the CUSS program in the Middle East. IER installed 15 IER 978 kiosks equipped with ATB, GPP and bag tag printers, a passport reader and a barcode reader at AMM and Aqaba. It also provided RJ with the full CUSS application.
Air Mauritania 737 that was hijacked in the northwest African country last week ( ATWOnline, Feb. 16) escaped harm in Las Palmas thanks to a quick-thinking pilot who braked hard then accelerated quickly on landing, knocking the hijacker down and giving flight attendants time to throw boiling water on his face. Passengers then helped subdue him, Spanish officials told the Associated Press. The armed hijacker reportedly demanded to be flown to France, where he hoped to seek political asylum.
Sabena technics signed a three-year contract with Martinair covering MRO on V2500-powered A320-200s. Sabena technics will provide full support as well as component repair services comprising pool access and consignment stock.
Frontier Airlines said the Frontier Airline Pilots Assn. ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement with 67% of those voting approving the deal, which goes into effect next month ( ATWOnline, Jan. 8).
Lufthansa flew 8.59 billion RPKs in January, a 7.4% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity was up 5% to 11.86 billion ASKs and load factor climbed 1.7 points to 73.6%. US Airways Group airlines flew 4.87 billion RPMs in January, up 4.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity grew just 0.8% to 6.65 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.8 points to 73.3%. Cathay Pacific Airways flew 6.62 billion RPKs in January, down 0.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.8% to 8.6 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1.4 points to 77%. CX's traffic now includes Dragonair.
MTU Maintenance signed an open-ended contract with Cathay Pacific Airways for MRO on 15 CF6-50E2s powering 747-200Fs. Work will be performed at Hannover Langenhagen. Separately MTU Hannover named Uwe Blocker president and CEO, effective March 1.
Australian Treasurer Peter Costello assured the public that the A$11.1 billion ($8.7 billion) bid for Qantas by Airline Partners Australia will undergo intense scrutiny to ensure it falls within the national interest. Costello promised media last week that "scrutiny will be very vigorous" and the government intends to enforce the Qantas Sale Act, which prevents the airline from being majority foreign-owned.
US Airways said its largest shareholder, PAR Investment Partners, sold 6.5 million shares "as part of its portfolio diversification strategy." PAR still holds 7 million shares and will retain its seat on the board.
