Air Canada said it reached agreement with the Air Canada Pilots Assn. "on a process to resolve all issues relating" to the airline's acquisition of 777 and 787 aircraft. AC cancelled its order for up to 36 777s and 14 787s last spring after its pilots' union rejected a tentative agreement covering pay and work rules for the new fleets ( ATWOnline, June 22).
EasyJet asked the UK government "to resist calls" from the CAA for a £1 ($1.79) levy per passenger to be imposed on all UK-originating international flights to fund its ATOL scheme to protect customers when tour operators fail. "We agree that consumers should be protected against the financial failure of airlines, but we disagree violently with the solution proposed by the CAA.
Inflight Canada's iCACHE design was chosen by American Airlines as part of its 767-300 business class seat enhancement program. AA said the design "eliminates all wires within the business class cabin and should provide an enhanced inflight entertainment system."
Panasonic Avionics Corp. signed a letter of intent to use AeroMobile's inflight mobile communications technology in its S3000 AVOD IFE system as well as its new-generation X series systems efx, eX2 and x-wireless.
Swiss International Air Lines board of directors elected Rolf Jetzer chairman in its first meeting since being reconstituted to give effect to the carrier's acquisition by Lufthansa. Walter Bosch was elected deputy chairman. The size of the board was reduced from eight members to five and previous members Pieter Bouw, Claudio Generali, Michael Pieper, Jan Audun Reinas and Peter Siegenthaler retired.
Thales said ANA ordered a 737-700 simulator for installation at the ANA Flight Training Center at Tokyo Haneda for delivery in early 2006. Malaysia Airlines ordered an A380-800 simulator that will fitted with an Evans & Sutherland EP1000 visual system using LaserWide projection.
JetBlue A320 landed safely and without injury to any of those onboard Wednesday evening after its nose landing gear jammed during retraction, leaving the wheels turned 90 deg. from the aircraft centerline. The flight had just departed Burbank en route to New York JFK. After circling for nearly 3 hr. to dump fuel and try to clear the problem, the pilots made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport around 6:19 p.m. local time and passengers deplaned normally. The landing was captured live on national television and seen by passengers on the aircraft's LiveTV screens.
Sinex Aviation Technologies Corp., which provides aviation maintenance software solutions and consulting services, changed its name to EmpowerMX. The Duluth-based company also said it released Reliability Manager, a new module in its FleetCycle Suite that will automate data-gathering for aircraft maintenance and reliability functions, tying processes together based on aircraft reliability workflow.
The European Commission is considering widening and strengthening the rules for security at airports and airlines after an official review of the current regulation that was introduced after Sept. 11 exposed shortcomings.
Varig Engineering & Maintenance in partnership with Aerospace Rotables signed a five-year contract with Arrow Air Cargo covering landing gear overhaul for the carrier's DC-10-30 fleet.
Iberia board of directors was expected yesterday to approve its Director Plan 2006-08, which seeks to cut costs by €600 million ($733 million) over the three-year period. Meanwhile Iberia's pilots are considering strike actions owing to growing tensions between MD Angel Mullor and the head of the Sepla pilot union, Bernardo Obrador. In letters obtained by El Pais, Mullor accused Obrador of making the dialog required for the airline to meet immediate challenges impossible, while the latter criticized Mullor's management.
KLM Engineering & Maintenance said Luxair signed a 10-year contract covering all maintenance on the CFM65-7s powering its 737-700s including planned and unplanned maintenance. The deal also enables Luxair to request a spare engine from KLM E&M. The MRO will overhaul landing gear on 10 737-700s belonging to Germania beginning next March. Under the agreement, KLM will send a 737-700 landing gear shipset, including tooling, to Germania's home base in Berlin.
Swissport International will provide ground handling to easyJet at Geneva, where the LCC will be operating 250 weekly flights by December. The five-year agreement covers passenger services, ramp and ticketing. Swissport already services easyJet at Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Stansted, Hamburg and Basel.
Northwest Airlines will lay off at least 900 and as many as 1,400 flight attendants through Jan. 31 as it shrinks in bankruptcy. According to a statement on the website of the Professional Flight Attendants Assn., NWA plans two rounds of furloughs covering the first 900. The first will be effective Oct. 31, "while the second is slated for sometime in January 2006." The carrier plans an additional 500 furloughs at that time, but that number is subject to change, PFAA said.
A J Walter Aviation will provide power-by-the-hour support to Air Atlanta Icelandic under a five-year, $20 million contract covering four 757s and five 767s.
CAE announced a number of simulator orders valued in total at C$58 million ($49.6 million). Japan Airlines ordered three 737NG simulators scheduled to be delivered over a 12-month period beginning in the spring of 2007. Finnair ordered an Embraer 170 simulator and accompanying FMS trainer for delivery and installation in the summer of 2006. Air New Zealand purchased a CAE Simfinity 777 integrated procedures trainer.
Cyprus Airways said job cuts are inevitable in a survival package to be put to authorities for approval next week. The group posted a net loss of CYP20.4 million ($43.3 million) for the first half of 2005. Reuters reported that the company is working on the best possible redundancy package for an unspecified number of its 2,000-plus staff.
Delta Air Lines yesterday said it will launch service between Boston and Baltimore/Washington International Airport Dec. 1 with six daily roundtrips. The route, as well as new services out of its Atlanta and Salt Lake City hubs, will be operated by carriers in the Delta Connection feeder network. In the case of Boston-BWI, flying will be performed by Comair. New nonstop destinations from Atlanta include Madison and Green Bay, Wis.; Burlington, Vt., and Springfield, Mo., all of which will be operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
Gol and its Mexican business partners submitted a preliminary business plan to Mexican civil aviation authorities covering their proposal to create a low-cost carrier. Plans are to begin service in the second quarter of 2006.
TAP Portugal and bmi signed up to trial the commercial use of mobile phones onboard of some of their A320 family aircraft in partnership with OnAir, the Airbus-SITA joint venture. The trials will take place toward the end of 2006 based on the current timetable to have OnAir's onboard equipment "fully certified" with "the necessary telecommunications regulatory framework put in place."
China's airline industry will absorb 2,600 new airplanes worth $213 billion over the next 20 years, according to Boeing's "Current Market Outlook," making the PRC the largest market for aircraft outside the US. China's fleet will nearly quadruple to more than 3,200 aircraft by the end of the forecast period, according to Boeing. Single-aisle aircraft will account for 1,678 deliveries while "intermediate twin aisles" such as the 787 and 777 will comprise 568 airplanes. Boeing sees a market for just 73 units of 747 size and larger. Regional jets will total 293 units.
Focus Aviation, on behalf of Continental Airlines, arranged the sale of a third MD-82 to Khors Aircompany of Ukraine. Like the first two aircraft, this one will be put through a maintenance check by MNG in Turkey prior to delivery.
