US Air Transport Assn. said it expects 41 million passengers to travel on US airlines over the Dec. 17-Jan. 6 winter holiday period, down 2.5% year-over-year. "We are continuing to see fewer air travelers over the holidays, a trend that has been apparent throughout 2009," President and CEO James May said. "Capacity reductions will likely mean fuller flights on many days." ATA said it expects the US government to make military airspace in congested areas available for commercial use during business days.
US Transportation Security Administration admitted this week that it inadvertently posted sensitive airport passenger screening procedures online. A 93-page manual detailing a variety of nonpublic information including methods for screening passengers, technical settings for explosive detection system machines and pictures of identification cards used by members of Congress and federal air marshals was posted on a federal procurement website last spring with sensitive portions supposedly redacted.
Bmi CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said this week that he believes the "potential" exists to turn around the loss-making UK carrier and confirmed it recently sold several London Heathrow slots to address the group's liquidity shortage.
Irkut Corp., manufacturer of the MC-21 passenger aircraft scheduled to enter service in 2016, selected Pratt & Whitney's PW1000G geared turbofan engine to power the plane. The MC-21 family (sometimes identified as the MS-21) will comprise three variants seating between 150 and 212 passengers, with first flight planned for 2014. Irkut announced design freeze 11 months ago ( ATWOnline, Jan. 7).
Delta Air Lines said the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission granted authorization for its proposed joint venture with Virgin Blue to operate flights between Australia and the US ( ATWOnline, July 10). "Delta and [Virgin Blue subsidiary] V Australia are eager to move forward with their joint venture and to bring new services to the market," DL said. "We look forward to a similar decision from the US Dept. of Transportation and urge the DOT to quickly conclude its review."
Lufthansa Systems said Malaysia Airlines will use FMS data from the Lido/FMS navigation database for its new 737-800s. It also inked a five-year contract with Brussels Airlines for the use of its SchedConnect codeshare management solution.
Air India Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav expects the carrier will become a Star Alliance member sometime between June and October 2010, he told ATWOnline in Brussels, although an alliance executive told this website that questions remain concerning AI's readiness. "Making fleet updates, a merger and preparing the carrier for the alliance all at the same time is a difficult task. We will see if AI is able to make it," the Star source said.
US FAA said that the Depts. of Agriculture and Energy awarded $600 million in grants to advanced biofuel projects, including projects that could "produce. . .renewable jet fuels." It noted that "a number of the awardees also have a longstanding relationship with the FAA co-sponsored Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative."
Emirates said it has raised more than $1.13 billion to finance the delivery of six A380s. The first, and EK's sixth overall, is scheduled to arrive early next week, the second in late December and the remaining four next year, the airline announced. The A380 arriving next week will begin flying to Incheon on Dec. 14. The seventh will operate to Paris Charles de Gaulle starting Dec. 29. Two weeks ago, EK President Tim Clark claimed the airline would be unaffected by the Dubai debt crisis ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1).
EasyJet will launch service at Doncaster Sheffield in April and will base a fifth aircraft in Manchester in the spring. It plans to cease operating at Nottingham East Midlands on Jan. 5 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4).
India is making a considerable effort to join commercial aviation's environmental effort, Civil Aviation DG Nasim Zaidi said this week at the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in Washington, with authorities committed to establishing a national inventory of carbon dioxide emissions for the sector (with a base year of 2005) along with programs compelling both airlines and airports to be more efficient and green.
EasyJet CEO Andy Harrison will step down at the end of June 2010 in order "to seek new challenges," the carrier announced yesterday, adding that Michael Rake will take over from David Michels as the group's chairman effective Jan. 1, at which point Michels will resume the role of senior independent director. Rake, who also is chairman of telecommunications company BT Group, joined the LCC's board in June as deputy chairman and senior independent director. Harrison joined easyJet from motoring group RAC in December 2005.
Contact Air, a regional partner of Lufthansa Group, is cutting 40 pilot and 40 flight attendant positions as LH reduces the number of flights operated by 50-seat aircraft, a Contact spokesperson told Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. Contact flies several ATR 42-500s and employs 370 people.
American Airlines and Gol announced a codeshare arrangement under which AA will place its code across Gol's domestic network of 49 airports. Launch is pending government approval. The airlines began linking their loyalty programs in August. AA serves five Brazilian destinations.
Brussels Airlines yesterday became the 26th member of Star Alliance in ceremonies in the Belgian capital, 12 months after it was invited to join and following the conclusion of a strategic partnership with Lufthansa, which acquired 45% of parent SN Air Holding in June.
Several US airline executives yesterday expressed cautious optimism that the revenue environment will improve in 2010, while US Airways President Scott Kirby was outright bullish about the coming year. Speaking at the Next Generation Equity Research Airlines Conference in New York, available via webcast, executives said demand has improved steadily since September and predicted the trend will continue into 2010. "I anticipate demand to remain strong," Delta Air Lines CFO Hank Halter said.
Boeing announced the completion of the first GEnx-2B engine runs for the 747-8 freighter. "The engines and all the systems performed as expected," 747 Program VP and GM Mo Yahyavi said.
China Eastern Airlines will decide which global alliance to join prior to the Chinese New Year on Feb. 14, according to MD Ma Xulun. SkyTeam continues to be the favorite, which likely would lead to Shanghai Airlines' withdrawal from Star Alliance. CEA's acquisition of SAL received final approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1).
AerData, the Amsterdam-based provider of software and back office services for aircraft asset managers, acquired EFPAC Ltd. from TES Aviation Group. According to AerData, UK-based EFPAC develops and supplies asset management software for aircraft engines that combines technical aspects of engine management with financial reporting on maintenance costs.
AirTran Airways and JetBlue Airways, both profitable through the first three quarters of 2009, said during yesterday's Next Generation Equity Research Airlines Conference that they are maintaining a positive outlook for the current quarter and 2010. "We've successfully repositioned ourselves for both good times and bad," AirTran Senior VP-Finance, Treasurer and CFO Arne Haak said. Capacity measured in ASMs is expected to shrink 2%-3% for the full year but should grow 7% in the fourth quarter on a 7%-8% decrease in unit revenue. "Yields are improving.
Arlington, Va.-based ARC reported that ticket sales through participating travel agencies totaled $5.12 billion in November, up 6.7% over the year-ago month and the strongest performance in more than a year.
Star Alliance is holding exploratory talks with Ethiopian Airlines and will discuss the African carrier's potential membership at its chief executive board meeting today in Brussels, Star CEO Jaan Albrecht confirmed to ATWOnline. "We have been talking to them as part of our strategy to fill in our white spots on the world map," he said, pointing out that that while small in market share, Central Africa is showing strong growth. A decision on ET is not "imminent," he stressed, and an announcement can be expected in the first half of 2010.
