United Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants, said they now have the right to strike after the carrier began to terminate their pension plan. AFA had warned several times that any unilateral change to the flight attendants' contract, in this case termination of the pension plan, would violate the Railway Labor Act, setting the stage for legal work stoppages by the group. Earlier this year, United and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
Momentum is building for a go-ahead for the 747-ADV program. Last week, Boeing posted a firm but unannounced order for six more 747s--thought to be 747-400Fs--on its website. Executives indicated at the recent Paris Air Show that the company had secured enough orders--30--to carry 747 production through to the first 747-ADV in 2009. Not surprisingly, sources suggest that the customers for the 30 are also launch customers for the 747-ADV. Boeing executives also said they have seen widespread interest in the 747-ADV for both the passenger and cargo version.
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, said Friday it has proposed a timeline that calls for the company to file a plan of reorganization and disclosure statement with the US Bankruptcy Court on or about Aug. 1 and to exit Chapter 11 this fall.
After locking up orders and commitments for 280 aircraft worth around $33.5 billion at the Paris Air Show in June, it appears as if the Airbus order book is about to get even bigger with new commitments from LAN Airlines and GE Commercial Aviation Services for up to 80 new narrowbodies.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace said ST Aerospace Supplies secured a five-year, $21 million complete component support contract with Spring Airlines for its fleet of up to 15 A320s. The agreement is on a maintenance-by-the-hour basis. Shanghai-based Spring plans to begin operations this year with three A320s. It is owned by Shanghai Spring International Travel Service, the largest travel agency in China, according to ST Aero.
Japan Airlines will double its daily charter flights between Haneda and Gimpo from Aug. 1. This will boost the total number of flights JAL operates between Japan and Korea from 230 to 244 per week.
Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., representing Northwest Airlines' mechanics, said it filed an unfair labor practices grievance with Northwest over the company's use of Airbus employees in violation of its union agreement to repair the A319 that was damaged in a ground collision with a DC-9 in May. "Northwest had AMFA technicians disassemble the plane, issued layoff notices and brought in the Airbus replacement workers to finish the work," AMFA charged.
FAA said it is raising Greece's safety rating from Category 2 to Category 1, which means that the Greek civil aviation authority has been assessed by FAA inspectors and found to license and oversee air carriers in accordance with ICAO aviation safety standards.
If you can handle the A340-600, the 777 or the 747, then you can handle the A380 from the GSE side," says Bernd Scholz, senior manager-equipment for Fraport, the management company for Frankfurt International Airport.
The carrier told its corporate clients that it will begin accepting credit card payments for the fares beginning Oct. 1. It said some clients had complained that its policy had made payment processing too complicated.
Then, living is far from "easy." Instead you sit there fuming, wondering why there haven't been A) airport and airways capacity increases to get ahead of the traffic that everyone-literally everyone-knew was coming because we've already been here, or B) more effort put into making all-weather airports truly all-weather rather than losing a large fraction of capacity when conditions drop below VFR.
The move is a natural progression for JetBlue, which serves 11 U.S. cruise ports. The carrier is working with EzRez, the Honolulu-based software company that specializes in dynamic packaging. The booking engine will have a completely new interface and will use XML connections to pull in pertinent cruise data.
In education circles, it is understood that an intense experience teaches more than a boring one. John E. Ostrom can see the principle in action every time he watches the reaction of one of his drivers as the truck's windshield fills with the hulking mass of an airliner about to ruin everyone's day. "I call it the 'Oh (expletive) factor,' " he says. "I guarantee they'll remember that."
The party's in gear, everybody's invited, the music is playing and yet amid the mirth on the dance floor there are sad faces, going through the motions of having good times yet enjoying not a bit of it. And so it goes with the airline industry halfway through 2005, five years since the start of the downturn and almost four years since the attacks of 9/11 put an air-tight lid on the industry's fun and booted it down the stairs: Some are doing great and some are hating life.
Moments of truth always come when you least expect them, like on nondescript Tuesday mornings in September. One year and some $1 billion into the most comprehensive capital development program in its history, the sky fell on Dallas/Fort Worth International Airportand the rest of the commercial aviation industryon 9/11. "[We] had to make some very difficult decisions," says DFW CEO Jeffrey P. Fegan. "Should we move forward, or pull back?" At stake: The airport's ability to position itself as one of the prime international airdromes on the planet.
With more than two years' experience operating the first all-airport in-line baggage screening system in the US under its belts, Jacksonville International is planning upgrades to the physical facility that will smooth the operation. Later on, the Jacksonville Airport Authority's executive director hopes to join the authority's German partner in selling the baggage handling expertise they are gaining to other airports and airlines around the world.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands (AMS) saw traffic growth return in 2004. Aircraft movements were up 3.4% over 2003 to 431,000, reversing the losses in 2003 and 2002 of 3% and 4% respectively. Passenger numbers rose 6.5% to 42,541,000, also a healthy turnaround from the decline in 2003 of 1.7%. Air cargo, meanwhile, continued to grow with 1,421,000 tonnes in 2004, up 8.7%, steadily increasing following 2003 (up 5.5%) and 2002 (up 4.8%). Schiphol is served by 114 airlines, the largest being Air France-KLM.
AeroMexico appointed Jose Kuri Orvananos senior VP-US div. Airports Council International-North America selected Gregory O. Principato as its new president. Alaska Airlines welcomed Amanda Tobin as mgr.-media relations. Alteon Training named Keith Williams VP-Asia/Pacific region. Astar Air Cargo tapped Jeff Miller as dir.-human resources. ATA Holdings chose Francis J. Conway as interim CFO, Subodh Karnik as senior VP & chief commercial officer and Mark Suman as MD-market planning. Aviareps appointed Gulio Santoro GM.
Air France-KLM Group restated its results for the fiscal year ended March 31 in accordance with IAS/IFRS. As a result, net income rose to €770 million ($929.7 million) under IFRS against €351 million under French GAAP after the writeback of negative goodwill in respect of the KLM acquisition. Turnover remained unchanged at €19.08 billion but operating income before other nonrecurring income and expenses jumped to €534 million under IFRS from €489 million under French GAAP.
InteliSys Aviation Systems of America signed a renewal agreement with Air Arabia. Under the accord, InteliSys will continue providing the airline with its Internet-based amelia flight reservation, distribution and sales channel management system for a number of years. The original agreement was signed in August 2003.
SITA SC said it extended its long-term partnership with Air France-KLM Group. The four-year services agreement provides AF-KLM with complete end-to-end support from network hardware to project management. AF-KLM will be migrating nearly 1,000 connections to IP VPN, "allowing data, voice and multimedia to be transmitted efficiently over the same network and at significantly lower cost than over conventional networks." AF Director-IT Services and Operations Roland Fillon said, "We wanted comprehensive support, good prices and the best professional services.
Boeing yesterday announced that former GE Aircraft Engines chief James McNerney Jr. was elected chairman, president and CEO. A member of the Boeing board since 2001, McNerney succeeds Harry Stonecipher as CEO. Stonecipher was sacked last March in the wake of a sex scandal, 18 months after he came out of retirement following the downfall of Chairman and CEO Phil Condit, who resigned in the wake of misdeeds in Boeing's space and defense activities ( ATWOnline, March 8).
SAS Group and Carlson Hotels Worldwide completed a previously announced agreement under which SAS sold a 25% shareholding in its Rezidor SAS hotels company to Carlson Hotels Worldwide in exchange for which Rezidor SAS Hospitality Group achieves improved commercial terms and extension options until 2052 of its Master Franchise Agreements ( ATWOnline, March 15). The agreement is expected to improve Rezidor SAS profitability by €6 million ($7.3 million) in the second half of 2005 and €11 million on an annual basis.
