Delta Air Lines signed a $15 million, five-year agreement for Delta TechOps to provide maintenance work on Icelandair's 767-300 components and provide inventory exchange services.
CSA Czech Airlines plans to improve its business class service on its four A310-300s. The current three-seat configuration will be replaced by a two-seat configuration. CSA said it will add sockets for charging notebook computers and improve video systems. A tender will be announced for the supply of new equipment. The carrier expects the replacement of seats and audiovisual technology to be completed by June 2007. Separately, CSA named Jan Janik VP-flight operations effective July 1. He replaces Peter Jusko, who will become VP-ground operations.
United Airlines lost its contract to carry mail for the US Postal Service effective June 30 because of poor ontime performance, according to press reports. It will continue to carry international mail, which constitutes most of its mail business. UA generated nearly $150 million in revenue carrying mail in 2005, according to Form 41 data filed with the US Dept. of Transportation.
SITA launched what it called the air transport industry's first Voice Exchange, offering much cheaper Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone services as a "secure, efficient and flexible alternative to the legacy Public Switched Telephone Network technology." SITA SC Senior VP-Business Development Relationship Management and New Ventures Rene Azoulai said, "SITA is committed to providing the air transport community with innovative and effective ways of using technology to drive down costs." SITA said Voice Exchange leverages "the SITA-managed .aero top level domain--in particular
TAM flew 1.49 billion domestic RPKs in May, a 33% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 20.3% to 2.03 billion ASKs and load factor rose 7 points to 73.4%. International traffic grew 45.8% to 461 million RPKs against a 28.2% increase to 623 million ASKs. Load factor improved 8.9 points to 73.9%.
EU signed a so-called "horizontal" aviation agreement with New Zealand allowing European airlines to fly between New Zealand and any EU member state. The agreement does not replace the bilateral agreements in place between member states and NZ but brings them in line with EU law by removing nationality restrictions. Similar agreements have been signed with Chile, Singapore, Ukraine, Georgia and several Balkan countries.
Iberia board last week approved the reorganization of the airline group's top management along with a new management structure. As indicated by Chairman and CEO Fernando Conte to this website during the IATA AGM earlier this month, the position of COO is being eliminated following the resignation of Angel Mullor ( ATWOnline, June 6).
Lockheed Martin reached agreement with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to create a multimillion-dollar Airport of the Future testbed in Daytona, Fla. Judy Marks, president of Lockheed's Transportation and Security Solutions division, said Friday in Washington that the venture will involve other companies as well as FAA, which will provide half the funding. The 50/50 public-private project seeks to explore how technology can be deployed at airports to increase the efficiency of airline operations, she said. Funding is included in the FY07 FAA budget proposal.
US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced that he will resign his position effective July 7. Mineta, who is 74, informed President Bush in a letter dated July 20, citing a desire "to move on to other challenges." The Bush Administration announced the decision Friday. It has not nominated a successor. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said Mineta made the decision on his own. "He was not being pushed out," Snow said during a press conference.
Qantas will scale up its aggressive cost reduction program following Wednesday's warning that a combination of redundancy payouts and a A$1 billion ($737.8 million) additional impost from rising fuel prices will see its full-year earnings fall by 27% ( ATWOnline, June 22). In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, CEO Geoff Dixon indicated that further job cuts may be necessary despite the progress made with the carrier's five-year, A$3 billion cost and efficiency improvement agenda.
Boeing is considering selling or shutting down its Connexion by Boeing onboard Internet venture because the unit shows no sign of becoming profitable six years after launch, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. A Boeing spokesperson contacted by ATWOnline declined to comment on the article but said, "We are evaluating the long-term business model for Connexion, trying to assess what's best for customers. It is a good product.
AirTran Airways resumed mediated negotiations with its pilots yesterday in White Plains, N.Y. Further talks are scheduled for Washington later this month and Philadelphia in August. Since talks began in 2004, only two of 19 contract sections have been tentatively agreed to, the National Pilots Assn. said.
British Airways is among the targets of a joint investigation by UK and US authorities into "alleged cartel activity," the airline said in a statement issued yesterday. The probe involves BA and "other airlines" and relates to the "pricing of passenger air transportation, including fuel surcharges," the carrier said. BA added that it has "given leave of absence" to Commercial Director Martin George and Head of Communications Iain Burns while the investigation is ongoing.
Goodrich broke ground on a 300,000-sq.-ft. expansion of its Singapore-based nacelle/thrust reverser MRO facility. Expected to be complete in December 2007, the expansion more than doubles the size of the existing 230,000-sq.-ft. complex. Goodrich Aerostructures Service Center-Asia will occupy most of the facility.
SITA Annual General Assembly voted to endorse the recommendations of the SITA Group board to consolidate SITA SC, a nonprofit provider of network communications, and SITA INC (Information Networking Computing), a commercial provider of IT solutions, into a single SITA organization under one management team ( ATWOnline, Jan. 20).
TAM signed an agreement with Boeing yesterday that will allow the carrier to have access to documents, standards and technical handbooks regarding the manufacturer's maintenance of components and aircraft with the intention of getting certified by Brazil's civil aviation authority to provide MRO services on Boeing aircraft at its Sao Carlos technical center.
Flight Safety Foundation announced that former ICAO Director-Air Navigation William Voss will replace Stuart Matthews as president and CEO following Matthews' retirement on Oct. 1 after 13 years of leading the organization.
Alenia Aeronautica and Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co., as expected, signed an agreement establishing a strategic partnership on the Russian Regional Jet program ( ATWOnline, June 1). Under the terms, the Finmeccanica subsidiary will acquire a 25% stake plus one share in SCAC subject to Russian government approval, plus a corresponding financial stake in the RRJ program.
Northwest Airlines asked the US Bankruptcy Court for an extension of its period to exclusively file its reorganization plan to Jan. 15, 2007. The current period is set to expire July 13.
Swiss International Air Lines announced that it will expand its long-haul fleet with the lease of two Lufthansa A330-200s starting with the winter timetable. Configured with 229 seats, the aircraft will replace a leased A300-600R from Hapag Lloyd. Swiss will take delivery of the first A330 in mid-November and operate it to Malabo/Douala/Yaounde and Nairobi/Dar-es-Salaam. The second aircraft will arrive in December and add capacity on existing routes to the Americas, the Middle East and Africa from Zurich.
Iberia pilots union SEPLA called a strike for July 10-16 to protest management's plans to launch a low-cost carrier based in Barcelona ( ATWOnline, April 28). Although Iberia is only one of five shareholders in the new venture, its pilots fear the LCC, dubbed Catair, will lead to job losses. Late last month, IB said it will cut loss-making routes from Barcelona ( ATWOnline, June 6).
European Regions Airline Assn. said it opposes a new regulation that calls for special training and licensing of cabin crews. Dubbed EU OPS, it would require EU member states to impose standards of training and safety that currently are voluntary under the JAA system. ERA argues that such a licensing system will not ensure minimum safety standards and may even decrease existing safety levels.
Iceland and India reached an air services agreement that will allow both countries to designate as many airlines as they wish and either country to limit, suspend or revoke service by a carrier designated by the other country under certain conditions, the Indian government announced last week. Designated airlines will be allowed to fly from any point in their own country to any two points in the other via any two intermediate points and to any two points beyond. The agreement will be signed formally upon approval by both governments.
In the first quarterly update since the March launch of its aviation blacklist ( ATWOnline, March 23), the European Commission added four carriers. Three airlines were added because of "national measures notified by the member states." Surinam-based Blue Wing, notified by France, and Sky Gate International, licensed in Kyrgyzstan and notified by the UK, are subject to a total ban. Air West, based in Sudan and notified by Germany, is subject to operating restrictions.
