US airlines' ontime performance deterioriated in January as the 20 reporting carriers achieved an ontime arrival rate of 72.4% compared to 73.1% in January 2007. Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines came in first and second as usual, while US Airways continued its operational turnaround with a 79.5% performance that was the best among mainland carriers. United Airlines' 62.1% was the worst, followed by SkyWest Airlines at 65.3%. Mesa Airlines had the highest cancellation rate at 6.5%, with American Eagle Airlines second at 5.6%. Frontier Airlines' 0.2% cancellation rate was the best.

Air China parent China National Aviation Holding Co. Saturday urged China Eastern Airlines to reconsider its rejection of CNAC's bid to raise its stake in the Shanghai-based airline from 12% to just over 26% and return to the negotiating table with the Beijing-based carrier. CEA formally rejected CNAC's proposal last week (ATWOnline, Feb. 28) and accused CA of "lacking sincerity to make the cooperation happen," claiming CA had made no contact and conducted no negotiations following its bid submission.

Rolls-Royce won a $2.6 billion deal from Virgin Atlantic Airways for Trent 1000s to power up to 43 787s and announced an environmental partnership with the carrier to cut carbon emissions and identify opportunities to reduce aircraft fuel burn through enhanced engine performance. "Rolls-Royce engines will help us cut emissions per flight by nearly 30% and become the most sustainable airline in the world," Virgin President Richard Branson said.

CTT Systems and Satair A/S of Denmark signed a worldwide distributor agreement covering initial provisioning and aftermarket support of CTT Systems consumables for the 787. Satair also placed a large order covering initial provisioning of CTT Systems parts to the first 787 customers.

Boeing's plans to offer a new freighter variant of the 767 based on its KC-767 proposal are in doubt after Northrop Grumman and EADS won the USAF tanker contract Friday. The move, first flagged by this website a year ago (ATWOnline, March 2, 2007), was an attempt to match the A330-200F's capability of carrying 69 tons over 3,200 nm. The current 767-300F can carry 55 tons over a similar distance.