EC VP-Transport Jacques Barrot told the International Aviation Club in Washington yesterday that negotiators for the EU and US "must leave no stone unturned" in their quest to create a transatlantic open aviation area. But he offered no hints as to how the two sides can resolve the impasse that arose when the Dept. of Transportation last December withdrew its proposal to modify how it interprets foreign control of US airlines in the face of strong Congressional opposition.
Austrian Airlines Group will transfer three of its four A330-200s to Star Alliance partner TAP Portugal as part of its long-haul fleet reduction ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12, 2006). Aircraft will leave Austrian by April 29. Separately, OS will launch a thrice-weekly Vienna-Bourgas service on May 15.
American Airlines flew 10.9 billion system RPMs in January, a 1.2% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.3% to 14.49 billion ASMs and load factor dipped 0.1 point to 75.2%. Domestic RPMs were down 2.7% to 7 billion against a 2.3% fall in capacity to 9.27 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 0.3 point to 75.5%.
Fraport appointed Matthias Zieschang CFO. He succeeds Stefan Schulte, who was appointed vice chairman effective April 1. Zieschang comes from DB Netz, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn.
SkyTeam announced that it signed agreements with Air Europa, Copa Airlines and Kenya Airways "indicating the carriers are on track for official Associate Airline status." Signing ceremonies were held in the capital of each airline's home country. The trio will add 25 destinations to SkyTeam's network.
US and EU once again are set to take up the contentious issue of Passenger Name Record data transfer this month ahead of the July 31 expiration of a temporary agreement permitting the US to continue to require EU member airlines to supply PNR data to the US. The interim agreement is similar to one that expired last September, having been ruled illegal by the European Court of Justice in May 2006 ( ATWOnline, Dec.
CAE said Friday that it will establish its first Indian training center by year end in Bangalore, where it plans to train as many as 1,000 pilots annually. The facility will cost $20 million and likely will include an as-yet-unidentified partner. It will serve Indian carriers and the surrounding region, initially offering pilot, cabin crew and maintenance training as well as flight operations support for A320s and 737s. "We realized the strategic importance of opening a training center in India.
Oneworld confirmed yesterday that Royal Jordanian, Japan Airlines and Malev Hungarian Airlines will join the alliance as full members on April 1. Five additional subsidiaries of JAL Group will join the same day as affiliates: JALways, Japan Asia Airways, JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air. At the same time, Aer Lingus will withdraw from the alliance ( ATWOnline, May 31, 2006). Three other airlines are lining up to join as affiliates in 2007: Dragonair, LAN Argentina and LAN Ecuador.
LAN Airlines is providing $17.1 million in financing to VRG Linhas Aereas, the "new" Varig. The loans may be converted into shares of the new airline, LAN said, which would make it a minority owner.
Airline efforts to get business and general aviation to bear a larger share of the cost of the air traffic control system may stall when Congress takes up FAA reauthorization legislation this year, a senior congressional staff member said yesterday.
European Commission's proposal to include non-EU airlines in its Emissions Trading Scheme is "unlawful and unworkable," US State Dept. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs John Byerly said at Thursday's American Bar Assn. forum in Washington.
Esterline Corp. reached agreement yesterday to acquire Canada's CMC Electronics for approximately $335 million. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company said the all-cash transaction "significantly expands the scale" of its existing avionics and controls business. Privately held CMC recently was selected by Embraer to provide an electronic flight bag for the Brazilian manufacturer's line of regional jets. In addition to EFBs it supplies a range of electronics products for aviation including antenna systems, head-up displays, enhanced vision systems and flight management systems.
American Airlines Maintenance Services and the Transport Workers Union, which represents AA's 27,000 maintenance workers, said yesterday that $175 million in customer revenue in 2007 is an attainable goal following the generation of $95 million worth of third-party maintenance in 2006.
Gulf Air named former Crossair and Swiss International Air Lines CEO Andre Dose, 49, as its new CEO. He will take office on April 1. Omani Minister of Transport and Communication Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Harthy took over as chairman on Jan. 1.
The new UK air passenger duty took effect yesterday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 7, 2006) and some airlines and tour operators are considering challenging the measure in court. In addition, some politicians are questioning the legality of the tax increase because it had not been approved by the parliament. "The legal opinion we've received says there is no legal basis to collect the increase in tax," Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said.
THE FINAL DAYS OF 2006 SHOULD HAVE BEEN A time of quiet celebration and reflection for the employees and management of Midwest Airlines and its Skyway regional affiliate. After five years of red ink culminating in a loss of $64.9 million in 2005, the company at last appeared to be on the road to recovery, posting breakeven earnings of $1.7 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, much improved over a deficit of $26.9 million in third quarter of 2005.
Airline of the Year ANA As the new millennium dawned, the outlook for ANA was not promising. First came the impact of 9/11, followed shortly thereafter by the announcement that major domestic rival Japan Air System would be acquired by the country's leading international airline, Japan Airlines. The latter event meant that ANA would lose its position as the country's dominant domestic carrier, while JAL would gain the domestic network strength it had always lacked to complement one of the world's largest international networks.
Royal Jordanian As the new millennium was approaching, the government of the Kingdom of Jordan undertook a deep analysis of its national carrier, which had failed to produce profits for many years and had amassed a debt of nearly $700 million. The result was unequivocal, and a first in a region where governments are investing vast amounts of money in their carriers to fly the flag: Privatization.
The report, commissioned by Amadeus and developed by Henley Centre HeadlightVision, a London-based strategic futures and marketing consultancy, describes four "traveler tribes" as they might behave in 2020:
ANA As the new millennium dawned, the outlook for ANA was not promising. First came the impact of 9/11, followed shortly thereafter by the announcement that major domestic rival Japan Air System would be acquired by the country's leading international airline, Japan Airlines. The latter event meant that ANA would lose its position as the country's dominant domestic carrier, while JAL would gain the domestic network strength it had always lacked to complement one of the world's largest international networks.
The European Commission asked for public comment on whether the Code of Conduct for Computerized Reservation Systems, first established in 1989, should be revised or abolished. The EC noted that since the last change to the Code of Conduct, most airlines have divested their holdings in GDSs. Of the four major GDS companies, only Amadeus still has some airline ownership: Air France/KLM owns 23.2%, and Lufthansa and Iberia each own 11.6%.
REMEMBER THAT SIGNATURE scene from "The High and the Mighty," the one where they're tossing all manner of objects out the aft of a DC-4 struggling to make San Francisco? With fuel more than a fourth of operating expenses, the airline industry is a lot like that these days. Carriers are cutting weight like crazy and overhauling operationssometimes radicallyin an effort to preserve precious kerosene. For example, British Airways found it carried far too many complaint forms onboard. "They were rarely used," says Doug Brown, chief pilot-technical. So overboard they went, most of them anyhow.
The European Commission's long-anticipated proposal to include aviation in the second phase of the European Emissions Trading Scheme with effect from 2011 already is drawing fire from proponents and critics alike, a situation that makes it unlikely the air will clear anytime soon.
American Airlines & the TWU The first decade of the 21st century has not been kind to airline workers, particularly those employed at US carriers. In response to the dramatic changes in the competitive environment since January 2001, these airlines have eliminated more than 150,000 jobs and reduced salaries and benefits for many who remain.
