Ryanair said it will not change its policy regarding disabled passengers following its controversial decision to eject nine blind or partially sighted passengers from a flight from London to Italy last week. The carrier said it limits the number of disabled or mobility-impaired passengers to four per flight and claimed it was not notified of the nine passengers' condition.
SAS said it reached an agreement with Worldspan under which the carrier will obtain "lower distribution costs" while distributing its "full content" to the GDS. SAS reached a similar agreement with Sabre earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4), while a deal with Amadeus occurred in August. Calling it "a step in the right direction," Senior VP-Airline Commercial Robin Kamark stated, "SAS wish[es] to give the market full access to our fares and products through the GDS, but while doing so, we also need to reduce our distribution costs to a competitive level."
Amadeus entered into exclusive negotiations with Air France-KLM Group to adopt Altea Customer Management Solutions, Amadeus VP-Airlines Business Group Frederic Spagnou told ATWOnline. The negotiations comprise three different steps, the first being the introduction of Altea Reservation at KLM. The second involves Altea Inventory for Air France and KLM and the third Altea Departure Control for the carriers.
Mesaba Aviation parent MAIR Holdings agreed to provide the bankrupt airline with debtor-in-possession financing during the carrier's Chapter 11 reorganization. According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, MAIR has provided a term sheet and commitment letter for $35 million, of which $15 million will be available immediately "subject to usual and customary conditions. The balance will be available "upon the satisfaction of certain additional conditions, including Mesaba's delivery of an acceptable five-year business plan by Jan.
US FAA extended its order setting hourly caps on airline operations at Chicago O'Hare until April 2006. It had been set to expire Oct. 29. The order sets the peak hour arrival rate at ORD at 88 scheduled flights with the exception of the 8 p.m. hour, when the rate may not exceed 98 arrivals.
SITA developed a new Web-based check-in application for Swissport for handling Regional airlines. The system, which will cut passenger check-in costs from $3.70 to a few cents, has been designed to allow Regionals to adopt this new form of automation efficiency.
ATW Media Group Editorial Director J.A. Donoghue received the European Regions Airline Assn.'s 2005-6 Hank McGonagle Journalism Award for his writing on environmental issues affecting the airline industry. The award was presented at a ceremony at the group's annual General Assembly in Gothenburg. In a unanimous decision, the judges described Donoghue's May 2005 commentary,
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft leased two 29-seat Jetstream 41s to Eastern Airways, raising the number of aircraft in the British airline's J-41 fleet to 19. Eastern is now the largest fleet operator of the type outside the US.
Sabre Holdings said it signed a five-year agreement with AirTran Airways under which the Orlando-based LCC committed to make "all its fares and inventory available through the Sabre Travel Network and Travelocity." Additionally, Travelocity Partner Network will become the sole supplier of hotel, cruise and AirTran Vacations packaging for the AirTran website.
US Airways named Hal Huele senior VP-technical operations. Huele, 57, most recently was senior VP-safety and regulatory compliance. He replaces John Prestifilippo, who joined Spirit Airlines as senior VP-technical operations. Also departing US Airways for Spirit was MD-Europe Tony Lefebvre, who becomes senior VP-customer service for the Ft. Lauderdale-based budget carrier.
Air Atlantique took delivery of the first of two ATR 72s purchased from Finnair. The Coventry-based carrier expects to have the aircraft in service, along with its three other ATRs, by the end of October.
Iberia decided not to participate in the privatization of AeroMexico and Mexicana, citing unfavorable market conditions. According to AFX in Madrid, Iberia Chairman Fernando Conte previously expressed concern over the ability of the two airlines to compete with their current business structure against emerging low-cost carriers. He also was not satisfied that foreign investment would be kept to 25%. However, according to Reuters, Spain's Globalia, which owns Air Europa, is interested in bidding for the airlines.
SITA INC said British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern and Malev signed contracts with a total value of $10 million for its new Airfare Insight solution. Airfare Insight, part of SITA's Airfare suite of applications, enables airlines to manage their entire fare structure in one system.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Bedek Aviation Group will convert up to six 747-400 Combis into Special Freighters under a contract with EVA Airways valued at $100 million. Order includes four firm and two option aircraft. Work on the first begins in the second half of 2007.
The European Parliament's Transport Committee called for the introduction of a community blacklist of operating bans or air traffic rights restrictions on carriers that do not meet international aircraft safety standards. The list should cover not only EU aircraft but also aircraft chartered from companies in non-EU countries.
Qantas began implementing enhanced QuickCheck facilities in Brisbane, permitting passengers with hold luggage to check in using the airline's automated ticket kiosks. Service is scheduled to begin in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra during the next two months.
Smiths Detection unveiled Tuesday its Hi-Scan 6040aTiX, a new multi-view X-ray inspection system promising to detect and pinpoint explosives in carry-on baggage. The machine can replace other Hi-Scan systems without necessitating significant changes in checkpoint design, the company said. It is expected to go into full production by mid-2006.
Atlantic Air Transport, part of English charter company Air Atlantique Group, took delivery Oct. 7 of its first ATR 72. The turboprop, purchased from Estonia's Aero Airlines, joins a fleet of three ATR 42-300s operating ACMI contract and ad hoc passenger and cargo flights. Skyways Aviation arranged the transaction.
Former Canadian Airlines pilots yesterday refused a request by Air Canada and the Air Canada Pilots Assn. to participate in a new round of mediated talks over the integration of Canadian and Air Canada pilot seniority lists following AC's purchase of Canadian five years ago ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26). The rejection does not threaten Air Canada's potential order for up to 96 777s and 787s, which is subject to separate negotiations, the company said.
United Airlines intends to recall approximately 300 pilots next year to meet an expected increase in flying. This is about 16% of the pilot population currently on furlough, or 5% of the airline's total pilot population. As of Oct. 7, United had recalled 234 pilots in 2005 out of 2,172 on furlough.
AirTran Airways' customer service representatives, ramp workers and reservations agents filed with the National Mediation Board for representation by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters yesterday. The work groups number 2,400 employees, and excluding salaried and management staff are the last nonunionized employees at AirTran. The carrier's mechanics, stock clerks and tech training instructors already had affiliated with the Teamsters.
Lufthansa Group said it flew 10.1 billion RPKs in September, up 3.9% over the same month last year. With ASKs up 2.5% to 12.7 billion, load rose 1.1 points to 79%. LH said the increase in RPKs was owing to strong growth across all regions, with Asia/Pacific traffic up 8.2% and Middle East traffic 7.8%. Cargo traffic (RTKs) fell 4.7% to 659 million on a 1.3% reduction in ATKs to 1.03 billion, pushing cargo load factor down 2.2 points to 63.9%.
Lufthansa Systems and Bundesdrukerei have developed a biometric security solution that uses fingerprint match and smart card technology to achieve positive passenger identification between passenger check-in and the airport boarding gate. System is called SecBoard.
Aeroflot entered into an agreement Oct. 7 with Mail of Russia--the Russian post office--to load and transport and domestic and international mail on regular, added and charter flights. Previously, Aeroflot carried only international mail, according to the airline. Some 36% of its mail service now will occur inside Russia.
