Boeing remains bullish on the scientific progress of biofuel development, with Director-Environmental Performance Billy Glover saying this week that the manufacturer is confident commercially viable biofuel will be available to partially power aircraft by 2013. Speaking in Seattle at an Air New Zealand environmental briefing, Glover reiterated his previous statements that the pace of breakthroughs has been "remarkable" in recent years, telling ATWOnline, "We are making amazing progress and I continue to be surprised."
Olympic Airlines will be shut down and restarted as Pantheon Airways early next year pending European Commission approval of a Greek government plan to rescue the loss-making carrier. Under the plan, Pantheon would be privatized, likely including foreign investment. It would continue operating Olympic's domestic network but would cut back international routes and be about 65% of Olympic's size. Several thousand jobs would be eliminated. Greek Minister of Transport Kostas Chatzidakis said OA is one of Europe's worst performing companies and cannot continue in its current form.
VEM Maintenance & Engineering, a TAP Portugal subsidiary, reached a deal with Air Transat for heavy maintenance on four A310s. C checks are scheduled from September to November at VEM's hangar in Rio de Janeiro.
Montenegro Airlines placed an order with Embraer for one E-195 with purchase rights for two more. The deal is valued at $39.5 million, which could increase to $118.5 million if both purchase rights are exercised.
Qantas will take delivery of its first A380 Friday in Toulouse. QF's configuration will have the lowest passenger count of any A380 operator with just 450 seats including 332 economy seats.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday pushed Alitalia's labor unions to accept concessions proposed by Italian investment group CAI, which is willing to spend €1 billion ($1.4 billion) to rescue and re-launch the troubled airline ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15).
Enigma announced that FedEx selected the Enigma 3C Platform "to streamline maintenance and service operations for its entire fleet of aircraft." In a phased rollout, FedEx already is using the solution for custom job card generation and distribution for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance. In the second phase, Enigma "will help manage OEM maintenance revisions and publish service information for the entire FedEx fleet" of more than 800 aircraft.
Air China and China Southern Airlines both endured double-digit year-over-year traffic declines in August, and while some of the drop can be attributed to heightened security related to the Beijing Olympics, slowing domestic economic growth likely portends a poor full-year 2008 traffic and financial performance for Chinese carriers, industry players and analysts told ATWOnline.
AAR was selected by United Airlines to remarket and provide technical advisory services on the carrier's soon-to-be-retired fleet of 94 737 Classics. AAR said it will help place the aircraft with airlines around the world, focusing on operators outside the US.
AP Labs announced that it will enter the market for inflight entertainment hardware through AP Avionix, a new company that had its formal launch at last week's World Airline Entertainment Assn. Annual Conference and Exhibition in Long Beach. AP Avionix will offer equipment such as servers, wireless RF-based systems, wireless access points, power solutions and airborne wireless broadband systems.
Emirates and Sabre Holdings reached a 10-year distribution agreement to grant Sabre-connected travel agencies and corporations access to Emirates' full content fares through Sabre's GDS.
Air France and Aeroports de Paris last week inaugurated Terminal 2G at Paris Charles de Gaulle, the carrier's first dedicated terminal at its main hub. T2G is CDG's first "regional" terminal and is the result of "an exemplary cooperation between Aeroports de Paris and Air France," ADP Chairman and CEO Pierre Graff said, admitting that the relationship between the two parties has not always been amicable in the past.
Aviation Partners Boeing said it expects its 767 winglet program to be a runaway success and this week announced agreements to fit blended winglets on 767-300ERs operated by Air New Zealand and Hawaiian Airlines.
United Airlines doubled its fee to check a second bag on North American flights to $50, blaming the increase on "volatile" fuel prices. The new charge applies to customers who purchase tickets beginning today for travel from Nov. 10. It does not apply to passengers who fly first or business class or to "premier status" frequent-flier members. Active duty military personnel traveling on orders also are exempt. UA charges a $15 fee for the first checked bag. It said the new fee schedule will generate an estimated $700 million in revenue in 2009.
American International Group, hit hard by the US credit crisis, is developing a major restructuring plan that will include selling off several of its assets, possibly including ILFC, according to the Wall Street Journal. AIG is under pressure to raise significant amounts of money quickly and ILFC, which owns more than 900 aircraft, is valued at more than $50 billion, the paper reported. While AIG and the US financial sector are struggling, ILFC posted second-quarter operating income of $352 million.
ARJ21-700 now is expected to make its first test flight in late 2008 or early 2009. Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China revealed that the regional aircraft has been transferred to the flight test facility from its Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Factory, which former ARJ21 Deputy Chief Engineer Zhou Jisheng noted is the last step before the inaugural flight. According to Zhou, ground testing is expected to last at least a couple of months. It has been reported that five -700 prototypes have been produced (three for flight tests, one for static tests and one for fatigue testing).
Midwest Airlines, which announced in July that it would cut 1,200 jobs, is laying off an additional 186 employees, according to Milwaukee's Capital Times. The cuts, to take effect Nov. 7, include 72 pilots, 82 flight attendants and 31 nonunion employees who work at the carrier's Milwaukee Mitchell hub.
Aeroflot cut ties to Aeroflot Nord yesterday following Sunday's fatal crash of a 737-500 operated by the regional affiliate, saying that Nord no longer will operate flights under its code nor be allowed to use its name.
News from Travel Technology Update: Frustrated by its inability to process travel agency sales through IATA's billing and settlement plans, V Australia launched its own travel agent payment and settlement system. IATA barred the carrier from using the BSPs until it acquires its own operating certificate. V Australia had sought to gain access to the system under parent carrier Virgin Blue's certificate. V Australia is slated to launch Sydney-Los Angeles service on Dec. 15. It has been selling tickets via direct channels since March.
Airbus agreed to sell its UK-based wing component and assemblies manufacturing unit at Filton to GKN for £136 million ($243.9 million) under a deal announced yesterday that aims to advance the Power8 restructuring initiative and transfer operations, assets and certain activities to GKN. The agreement follows a deal reached last month by Airbus to sell its Laupheim plant to Diehl and Thales ( ATWOnline, Aug. 4).
Houston Intercontinental and Hobby reopened yesterday following two-day closures owing to Hurricane Ike. Continental Airlines said it "resumed a comprehensive flight schedule" at its IAH hub and Southwest Airlines said it was restarting operations at HOU.
Alitalia, on the verge of collapse, continued to operate flights yesterday as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi intervened in an attempt to revive negotiations between potential investors and the airline's unions over a rescue plan that would require significant concessions by workers ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15).
Cathay Pacific Airways is moving toward a more comprehensive revamp of its network and fleet than previously disclosed, according to a memo sent to employees last week by CEO Tony Tyler, who warned that the airline likely won't "emerge unscathed" from the industry downturn.
Pratt & Whitney reached a 10-year fleet management program agreement with Singapore Airlines Cargo valued at $500 million covering 13 747-400Fs powered by PW4000s.
