Aviation safety experts tout a number of measures taken in recent years that have helped to mitigate the risk of runway incursions--better signage and lighting, improved training and ATC alerting systems such as AMASS--but say developing and deploying technology that enables pilots to receive direct warnings is critical if the ever-present danger of airfield collisions is to be eliminated.
US Airways pilots have petitioned the US Dept. of Justice to conduct a full antitrust investigation of the airline's massive Washington National/New York LaGuardia slot swap with Delta Air Lines, a transaction that reportedly will lead to job losses or transfers for 261 LGA-based US pilots.
Pratt & Whitney and Malaysia Airlines signed an MOU to establish an engine nacelle repair joint venture facility in Kuala Lumpur. Ownership will be split 50/50. It is expected to service nacelles, including for non-Pratt engines, from MAS's fleet and also to perform third-party repair work for Asia/Pacific and Middle East carriers. Pratt Global Repair Services VP Tom Hutton said the JV will allow the company "to strengthen our position in the Asia/Pacific region, where the aviation market is expected to see significant growth in the coming decades.
Shannon Aerospace will complete a D check on one Cyprus Airways A320 this month. Monarch Aircraft Engineering will support Edelweiss Air's Goa operation with line maintenance and technical handling for an A330.
Republic Airways Holdings promoted Director-Flight Operations Don Osmundson to VP-flight operations and Director-Human Resources Kathy Woolridge to VP-human resources and named Frontier Airlines VP-Planning and Strategy Daniel Shurz as VP-planning and strategy and Midwest Airlines VP-Planning and Revenue Management Greg Aretakis as VP-revenue production for Republic's branded airline operations.
Aer Lingus will "resort to other measures" in its pursuit of its required cost savings, with capacity reductions and immediate and "compulsory" redundancies in the pipeline, CEO Christoph Mueller said after negotiations with several unions broke down late Tuesday.
ExpressJet named board member T. Patrick Kelly as interim CEO following the resignation of Jim Ream, who left the regional carrier to join American Airlines as senior VP-maintenance & engineering ( ATWOnline, Dec. 2). Kelly has been on the board for two years and previously was an executive at both AA and Sabre. ExpressJet said it would be "considering candidates to fill the CEO role on a long-term basis."
Nigerian Eagle Airlines, formerly Virgin Nigeria, signed an MOU with Delta Air Lines "to explore areas of commercial cooperation that will expand travel options," the carriers announced yesterday. The agreement opens the door for loyalty program linkage and a codeshare on DL's New York JFK-Dakar-Abuja service. Nigerian Eagle also announced a "network-wide" codeshare and interline deal with Ethiopian Airlines.
Gol said all of its aircraft will be equipped with GPS Landing System capabilities and Vertical Situation Displays by next month. It ended the third quarter with 109 737s in operation.
Panasonic Avionics Corp. will provide Asiana Airlines with its eFX IFE system onboard two A321s. OZ already offers eFX on four 747-400s, seven 767-300s and two A330-300s.
News from Travel Technology Update: Since American Airlines told delegates to the Computerized Airline Sales and Marketing Association conference in October that it plans to move all indirect volume to direct connections, industry observers have wondered what such a world would look like and how it would change relationships among airlines, travel agencies, GDSs and customers. Jim Davidson, chief executive officer of Farelogix, shed some light on the issue during the recent PhoCusWright conference in Orlando. "It's not about eliminating the GDS channel," he said.
TUI Travel, the tourism conglomerate that includes TUIfly, Thomson Airways, Arkefly, Corsairfly and Jet4you, among others, reported a £24 million ($39.6 million) deficit in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 91% improvement from the £267 million loss suffered in the prior year. CEO Peter Long said the result was a reflection of "the effectiveness with which we have delivered merger synergies" and the fact that "the main summer holiday is an essential expenditure" for customers.
Allegiant Air will transfer part of its Orlando operation from Sanford to Orlando International on Feb. 1, a move the LCC said will appeal to passengers who want easier access to the city's tourist attractions while "improv[ing] our position relative to competitors with service to [MCO]." Allegiant currently flies to 31 destinations from Orlando. In February it will begin flying from MCO to Knoxville, Lexington, (both from Feb. 1), Allentown, Greenville-Spartanburg (both Feb. 8), Grand Rapids (Feb. 12), Springfield, Mo., Tri-Cities, Tenn. (both Feb. 15), Huntington (Feb.
US National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman yesterday criticized FAA for failing to act on runway safety recommendations the board repeatedly has made, including multiple recommendations first issued in July 2000.
Safi Airways is looking beyond the complicated domestic operating environment and hopes to enhance its international profile with the addition of a 285-seat A340-300 it plans to use on its thrice-weekly Kabul-Frankfurt service. The aircraft, formerly with Air Comet and Virgin Atlantic Airways, will provide a 30% capacity increase on a route Safi used to operate with a 767-200ER. CCO Claus Fischer told ATWOnline that loads on the route, launched in June, have improved ahead of what he expects to be a challenging winter season.
Shenzhen Airlines promised to maintain its operational stability following the Sunday arrest of controlling stakeholder Li Zeyuan, who was accused of economic crimes. Shenzhen President Li Kun has taken charge of the carrier in the interim. Launched in 1995, Shenzhen originally was a state-owned airline but was privatized when Shenzhen Huirun Group and Shenzhen Yiyang Group purchased a 65% share in May 2005. Li Zeyuan holds 89% of Huirun. CAAC and Air China, which holds a 25% stake in Shenzhen Airlines, have sent a working group to the carrier to help maintain stability.
US FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Committee said at a US Senate hearing yesterday that it has pushed back its Jan. 1 deadline for issuing new rules on pilot fatigue for an additional month. "We will unfortunately miss the first of next year," Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Peggy Gilligan said. FAA expects to complete its analysis by the end of January. Pilot fatigue has been on the National Transportation Safety Board's "Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements" since it first was published almost 20 years ago.
Boeing took a key step toward getting its first 787 in the air after completing the static testing necessary to validate the side-of-body modification work performed last month ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17). Full analysis of the results will not be concluded for about 10 days, it said. During the tests, the leading and trailing edges were subjected to their limit load of about 2.5 g. The 150% structural tests required for certification are planned for spring.
IATA said 75 major airlines around the world that have reported third-quarter financial results were a combined $718 million in the black, improved from a $3.37 billion loss in the year-ago quarter, but that the industry still is expected to lose $11 billion this year despite the gradual recovery.
European Commission released its updated list of airlines banned from EU airspace and cited progress with carriers from Ukraine and Angola. From the former, Motor Sich was removed from the list entirely and Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines now is allowed to operate into the EU with one aircraft while TAAG Angola Airlines was permitted to increase the number of planes it flies to Portugal owing to "significant progress" made by the carrier and civil aviation authority "to resolve progressively any safety deficiencies," the EC said.
Air France A330-200 registered F-GZCK and performing Flight AF445 from Rio de Janeiro Galeao to Paris Charles de Gaulle on Sunday night/Monday morning declared a mayday owing to severe turbulence near the equator, according to The Aviation Herald. The incident occurred near the site where AF447 was lost six months ago ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21). The aircraft was at 38,000 ft. on airway UN866 about 4 hr. after takeoff, just before the DEKON waypoint about 680 nm.
AeroMexico CEO Andres Conesa told reporters in Mexico City this week that the airline expects a 3% fall in passenger numbers this year compared to the 10.5 million it posted in 2008 but a 5% year-over-year increase in 2010. It will relaunch its Shanghai service in March and is considering new flights to Atlanta, Washington, Costa Rica and Colombia, according to Dow Jones.
