US FAA said that more than five years have elapsed since it conducted assessments on 103 system designs at eight airlines, exceeding the timeframe during which the reviews were supposed to have taken place and the latest in a string of admissions by the agency regarding lapses in its airline oversight.
Jamaican government and International Finance Corp. signed an $820,000 grant agreement with the US Trade and Development Agency "to assist with technical services for the Air Jamaica divestment process," Jamaica's Ministry of Finance and Public Service announced. The government is targeting March 2009 as its divestment deadline. Prime Minister Bruce Golding previously said that Air Jamaica lost approximately $170 million in 2007 and has accumulated losses in excess of $1 billion overall. It carried 1.7 million passengers last year.
Aer Lingus will increase its checked baggage fee on short-haul flights effective May 8. Cost for airport check-in will rise to €18 ($27.84) from €12 and online check-in will go to €12 from €9. EI does not charge baggage fees on long-haul services.
JetBlue Airways suspended the startup of its Los Angeles International service indefinitely owing to rising fuel prices. It intended to launch thrice-daily New York JFK and daily Boston flights on May 21, but in a letter to employees CEO Dave Barger said the decision to serve LAX was made in December when fuel was $2.72 per gal. It has risen nearly 29% since. The remainder of the carrier's Southern California expansion is intact. On May 21 it will begin flights from Burbank to Las Vegas and Washington Dulles, from Long Beach to San Jose and Seattle and from San Diego to SEA.
ExpressJet Holdings, which flies for partners Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines as well as its own branded operation, reported a $31.3 million first-quarter loss, reversed from a $10.2 million profit in the first three months of 2007. A $13.7 million impairment charge related to investments in auction rate securities held by the company dragged on the bottom line, while revenue rose just 8.6% to $448.2 million.
Incheon International completed the second phase of its construction and will open the new facilities next month. Upgrades, which took six years to build at a cost of approximately $4 billion, include a new passenger terminal, a 4,000-m. runway that will accommodate the A380 and an automated passenger transport system. ICN now will be capable of handling 50 million passengers and 5 million tonnes of cargo per year.
SriLankan Engineering said it is conducting mandatory CFM56 modifications at its shop at Bandaranaike International for SriLankan Airlines' fleet of A340s. Work includes upgrades to strengthen the integrity of the C duct.
Aloha Airlines' cargo operation, which employs 300 and transports 85% of goods moving by air among the Hawaiian Islands aboard six 737-200Fs, reached agreement to be purchased by Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources for an undisclosed sum.
IATA reported a 5.8% year-over-year increase in March international traffic and said that the slowing growth "only tells a part of the story." DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani warned that "astronomical oil prices are hitting hard and the buffer of an expanding economy has disappeared. The fortunes of the industry have taken a major turn for the worse." March figures were impacted positively by the shift in the Easter holiday, which fell in April in 2007. Adjusting for the change, traffic rose only 4%. Capacity grew 6%, lowering March load factor to 77.7%.
Aviapartner was contracted by KLM to provide all ramp handling and traffic operations services in Marseille, Nice and Toulouse. Flights are operated with F70s and F100s.
Northwest Airlines will launch daily Detroit-Chattanooga aboard a Pinnacle Airlines CRJ200, daily DTW-Salt Lake City aboard an A319, daily Minneapolis/St. Paul-Fort Wayne on a Pinnacle CRJ200 and daily flights to both Iron Mountain and Escanaba, Mich., from DTW and MSP aboard a Mesaba Airlines Saab 340. All services begin June 5.
Boeing completed carbon brake testing for its 737NG and plans to submit the results to US FAA for certification during the second quarter. Brakes are manufactured by Messier-Bugatti. Production entry is slated for the third quarter. Aircraft currently in service will be offered a retrofit program.
Etihad Airways said it achieved 100% e-ticketing across its entire network of 45 destinations after bringing Peshawar, Tehran and Khartoum online. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier achieved 96% e-ticketing with its interline partners.
Austrian Airlines Group confirmed yesterday that Saudi-Austrian investor Mohamed bin Iassa Al-Jaber wants to pull out of a deal to buy a 20% stake in the airline company worth €150 million ($231.3 million).
American Airlines flew 10.79 billion RPMs in April, down 6.6% from the year-ago month owing largely to the MD-80 flight cancellations. Capacity fell 4.3% to 13.46 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 2 points to 80.1%. American Eagle flew 681.8 million RPMs, down 7.6%, against a 3.1% drop in capacity to 963.3 million ASMs. Load factor slipped 3.4 points to 70.8%. Southwest Airlines flew 6.26 billion RPMs in April, up 5.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.3% to 8.63 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 72.6%.
Embraer delivered the first 100-seat E-190 to Switzerland's Flybaboo, which is leasing the aircraft from M1 Travel of Lebanon ( ATWOnline, March 26). Aircraft features the steep approach option, allowing it to operate out of London City, Lugano and Florence.
Boeing yesterday finalized and revealed details of the Iraqi government's order for 30 737-800s plus 10 options and said it is in the process of finalizing an order for 10 787s, calling the aircraft purchase agreements "the first step in reestablishing that country's scheduled commercial aviation operations."
European Commission has given Italian officials until May 19 to respond to its request for more information on the €300 million bridge loan the outgoing government awarded Alitalia last month ( ATWOnline, April 30). Meanwhile, speculation continues on possible interest in AZ, including from Air One and Lufthansa.
EDS and Microsoft will team up under a comprehensive eight-year alliance being announced today that calls for EDS to use "selected Microsoft tools in the modernization and operation" of EDS's airline solutions including reservations, flight planning, flight operations and "service oriented architecture products."
Malaysia Airlines is offering 1 million free domestic fares this month to promote its new Everyday Low Fares program, which MD and CEO Idris Jala said "will redefine the rules in the travel industry" if successful. MAS's effort to compete against low-fare giant AirAsia will feature nonrefundable one-way fares of MYR76 ($24) and MYR120 between East and West Malaysia excluding airport taxes and surcharges and will be available online at least 30 days prior to departure. Jala said there will be no loss in revenue, as the fares represent 30% of surplus seats that otherwise would go unsold.
JetBlue Airways named former British Airways Executive VP-The Americas Robin Hayes as executive VP and chief commercial officer. He will be responsible for revenue, network, sales and marketing strategy.
Korean Air is on target to begin scheduled operations of its new low-cost subsidiary Air Korea by July, VP-International Affairs and Alliances Bang Sun Oh told ATWOnline in Seoul.
