The US National Mediation Board yesterday rejected Northwest Airlines flight attendants' request to be released from mediated talks ( ATWOnline, Sept. 22 ) and ordered union leaders and airline management back to the negotiating table. The two sides will meet today in Washington. The flight attendants, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, twice have voted down tentative concessionary agreements that call for nearly $200 million in annual givebacks.
The US Transportation Security Administration is easing its ban on liquids and gels in carry-on bags effective today, allowing passengers to carry 3 oz. or less of toiletries through checkpoints in a clear plastic bag and to purchase liquids from airport shops to take aboard aircraft once they pass through security checkpoints. TSA imposed the ban following last month's disclosure of a plot to explode US-bound aircraft over the Atlantic ( ATWOnline, Aug. 10).
SR Technics announced that Tim Talaat, executive VP-Integrated Airline Solutions and Integrated Engine Solutions and CEO of SR Technics Switzerland, will leave the company Dec. 31 to pursue other opportunities "in conjunction with a planned reorganization at Group Level." SRT said the reorganization, details of which will be announced next month, is unrelated to the ongoing sale of the company to a consortium of UAE investors announced earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Sept. 8).
Air France Industries was selected by China Eastern Airlines to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for the CFM56-5Cs powering its five A340-300s and CF6-80C2s powering its 10 A300-600s. The CFM56 work will be done in the AFI shop at Paris Orly while the CF6-80C2s will be serviced at Orly or the new KLM Engineering & Maintenance facility located at Amsterdam Schiphol. AFI signed a contract with Vietnam Airlines to provide fleet support for four A330s to be delivered from October.
Spanair flew 718 million RPKs in August, a 5.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 3.3% to 996 million ASKs and load factor rose 1.5 points to 72%. AirBaltic flew 173 million RPKs in August, up 35.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 25.8% to 246 million ASKs and load factor was up 4.9 points to 70.5%. WestJet flew 951.7 million RPMs in August, a 19% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 18% to 1.13 billion and load factor was up 1 point to 84.5%.
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority will deregister 300 aircraft it has deemed unsafe to fly, according to the African Airlines Assn. The types affected include the BAC 1-11, 727 and F27.
Volvo Aero Services last week entered into a five-year agreement with Emirates to become the exclusive distributor of surplus spare parts for the carrier and will open a spare parts distribution center in Dubai to support the contract. Volvo Aero Services President Claes Malmros said the deal "strengthens our portfolio" in the aviation market and "provides a strategic platform" for growth in the Middle East. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
Lufthansa Systems announced that LSG Sky Chefs will outsource its entire European and North American IT and communications infrastructure to LHS from Oct. 1. LHS also announced a deal with Southwest Airlines to implement its Sirax revenue accounting system. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2008. AT&T reached a three-year voice and data services contract with Republic Airways Holdings. AT&T Indiana will provide a multiprotocol label switching private network transport solution to Republic's Indianapolis headquarters.
Teledyne Controls received CAAC approval for its Los Angeles repair station, allowing it to perform inspections, repair, overhaul and modification of avionics components for Chinese customers. Separately, Teledyne received an order from Neos of Italy for AirFASE, the flight data monitoring software developed jointly with Airbus, which the airline will use to monitor its fleet of 737NGs and 767-300ERs.
The UK Dept. for Transport revised carry-on baggage restrictions, loosening strict rules put in place following last month's disclosure of a plot to explode passenger aircraft over the Atlantic ( ATWOnline, Aug. 10).
Northwest Airlines will launch a six-times-weekly New York LaGuardia-Grand Rapids service on Nov. 1 aboard a Pinnacle Airlines 50-seat CRJ. It also will expand seasonal services to vacation destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean from its Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul bases. Extra frequencies to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo, Montego Bay and Grand Cayman will be available Feb. 15-April 8. Separately, NWA said it flew 7.05 billion RPMs in August, down 6.2% from the year-ago month.
Mesa Air Group named Paul Skellon VP-corporate communications and international operations. Etihad Airways appointed Josephine Boulus country manager for the US.
Cathay Pacific Airways used the occasion of its 60th anniversary celebration in Hong Kong Friday to unveil a radical upgrade of its first, business and economy class products. New economy seats, set in a slight recline position that cannot be moved, aim to establish a new standard for the industry. By pushing a button, passengers can move the seat cushion forward and the seatback cushion down, producing greater recline than conventional seats. Passengers get more legroom because magazine holders have been moved from seatbacks to the front of the seat beneath travelers' knees.
FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Nicholas Sabatini told the US Congress last week that the Comair CRJ200 crash in Lexington, Ky., last month ( ATWOnline, Aug. 28) was an "important reminder" of government's critical oversight role but said the "tragic" incident should not obscure the fact that US commercial aviation is in the midst of the "safest period" in its history.
Cimber Air Maintenance Center acquired a hangar at Billund Airport in Denmark from Sterling Airlines. CAMC plans to use the facility to expand its CRJ200 support activity and eventually offer MRO services to third-party customers. It already provides line maintenance for sister company Cimber Air, which operates a fleet of nine CRJ200s. This fall, CAMC will undertake four-year checks on two Cimber CRJs.
US airlines' domestic yield growth slowed in August, according to data from the Air Transport Assn. The seven largest US passenger airlines excluding Southwest had an average yield of 12.61 cents per RPM last month, up 10.3% compared to August 2005. This represented the smallest year-over-year increase since March and a 1-point sequential decline from the 11.3% year-over-year improvement recorded in July. Slowing yield growth, however, is being more than offset by falling fuel prices.
Emirates SkyCargo and Austrian Airlines Cargo reached a blocked-space agreement on Emirates' weekly A310 freighter service between Vienna and Dubai. EK will switch to an A340-500 from a 777-200 on its daily cargo flight to Nagoya Centrair from Oct. 29.
Jouve Aviation Solutions said US Airways selected its AirGTI suite of products to manage and distribute technical information. US is in the process of merging its technical content, including operating procedure and airframe and engine manuals, with those of America West.
Scandinavian Airlines will launch four-times-weekly Stockholm Arlanda-Beijing service in April using A340-300s. It currently serves China from Copenhagen. SAS Group airlines flew 3.54 billion RPKs in August, up 3.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity increased 3.1% to 4.73 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 74.7%. Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.46 billion RPKs, down 0.6%, against a 0.5% drop in ASKs to 3.21 billion, leaving load factor steady at 76.5%.
Aviapartner completed development and implementation of an automated wireless baggage reconciliation system in Brussels that allows baggage loaders to scan luggage labels with wireless hand-held devices. Separately, it signed a deal to provide cargo handling and catering services for Hainan Airlines 767-300ER flights arriving at BRU.
Go!, Mesa Air Group's Hawaiian startup, reached a codeshare agreement with Mokulele Airlines. The carriers signed an MOU to begin new services operating under the go!Express brand. Mokulele, which recently was granted authority from the US Dept. of Transportation to operate scheduled services, will fly a fleet of Cessna Grand Caravans.
