Airline Business articles from March 2001

Airline Business archives from March 2001

Consolidation sweeps over South America.(airline industry)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Consolidation moves continue in South America, with merger plans in Colombia plus two Venezuelan carriers set to join forces in the transatlantic market.Colombia's two largest carriers, Avianca and Aces, have unveiled a bold plan to merge...

Gol kicks off low-cost service.(new Brazilian airline launched)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Brazil's first low-cost scheduled airline, which has played on the country's passion for soccer by calling itself Gol (Portuguese for goal), has been launched amid scepticism from its main rivals. Operating initially with a fleet of six...

Labour unrest plagues US majors.(United States airline industry)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Four US major airlines are involved in difficult labour negotiations that could escalate into rolling strike threats throughout the year, despite President Bush's proposed intervention in Northwest Airlines' contract dispute with its mechanics...

Deadlines loom in merger puzzle.(airline industry)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... The pace appears to be accelerating on the merger front, with the US industry expectant that the US Department of Justice will notify United Airlines whether its purchase of US Airways will be allowed on 2 April.While a wide range of lawmakers,...

In brief.(several airline industry briefs)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Discount carrier rethink Air Canada is having second thoughts about launching its discount unit, dubbed "Air Canada Lite".EIt blames its pilots' contract, which limits a discount fleet to six aircraft unless the main fleet grows. Air...

Antitrust concerns raised over new Orbitz website.(airline industry)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Prospects for Orbitz, the proposed online travel website being founded by American, Continental, Delta, Northwest and United Airlines to sell their Internet-only discount fares, were somewhat dampened by formal opposition of the attorneys...

Shake-out starts in Canada.(Canada 3000 to acquire Royal Aviation)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Consolidation among the rivals of Air Canada has started.ECanada 3000, the country's second largest airline, has agreed to acquire Montreal-based Royal Aviation. The all-stock transaction, valued at C$84 million ($55 million), sees a full...

Traffic trends offer reasons to be cheerful: As year-end results begin to roll in from around the world, it is becoming clear that 2000 was a pretty good year for airline traffic just about everywhere. And barring any economic disaster, the trend seems set to continue over the medium term.(International Air Transport Association forecast)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Steady growth should indeed be a feature of this year, and for possibly a couple of years to come, according to industry forecasters. In its latest passenger forecasts, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is more optimistic than...

Revenue fears rise as the USeconomy slows down: Rising labour costs and fears over tighter corporate travel budgets are at the fore for the USmajors in the year ahead, writes Jane Levere in New York.(US airline industry forecast)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... For the first time in five years, the USmajors posted a collective quarterly net loss in the three months to December. Admittedly the loss was a modest $30 million and actually translated into a small profit excluding some exceptional items...

Fee ruling may lower Sydney price.(Sydney Airport)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... A decision by Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Sydney Airport's controversial proposed fee hike could cut the airport's price when it is sold later this year. The fee dispute, which started when Sydney Airport first...

Qantas leads bidding for Air Niugini.(Qantas Airways)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Qantas Airways appears to have the lead in Air Niugini's second privatisation attempt. When expressions of interest closed early in February, Qantas looked to be the only foreign airline among the seven parties declaring their interest.EOther...

Hazelton's future hangs in the balance: The future of Hazelton Airlines, Australia's largest independent regional, turns on whether Ansett Australia can convince the country's competition watchdog to drop objections to a takeover.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... If the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) cannot be convinced, then Hazelton faces either a struggle to survive on its own or an unwelcome merger with low-fare carrier Impulse Airlines. The ACCC seems less worried about the...

In brief.
March 1, 2001... March date for Incheon A 29 March opening date has been set for Seoul's new Incheon International Airport after eight years of planning and construction - the spelling of its name has also changed. Operator Incheon International Airport...

MAS deal angers opposition parties.(government buys 29.1% stake in Malaysian Airline System bhd)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Aviation holding company Naluri completed the sale of its 29.1% stake in Malaysia Airlines (MAS) to the government in February as opposition continued to mount. Naluri announced in December that it had signed a conditional agreement with the...

In brief.(various items from the airline industry)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Cathay buys into Tenzing Cathay Pacific Airways is investing $10 million in in-flight e-mail and Internet provider Tenzing Communications. Cathay says its investment, being made via its Taikoo Aviation Technologies subsidiary, will give it...

Routes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Cathay finally New Delhi bound Cathay Pacific Airways is to launch four-times-weekly passenger services to New Delhi on 26 March. The airline had been seeking rights to operate to the Indian capital for years and finally won new capacity...

Vietnam targets aggressive growth.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... State-owned Vietnam Airlines has unveiled plans to expand aggressively again after three years of rationalisation. It intends to double its fleet over the next decade and start a range of new services, including to North America.nicholas...

New e-conomy culture: The new e-conomy puts demands on the airline industry to make radical changes in the way it does business with customers. Some carriers, led by the USmajors, are already grasping the opportunity, but others have yet to catch on to the need for a cultural sea change.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In principle, the airline industry and the new Internet economy should have the warmest of relationships. The air travel product could have been tailor made for e-commerce. Not only that, but air ticket distribution has been computerised for...

Delays get worse as ATMreform looms.(European Air Traffic Management)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Last year's headline figures may have looked a little better on the surface, but few are in any doubt that the underlying trend for European air traffic delays remains stubbornly upward. And as delays mount, Brussels is pushing ahead with...

Routes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... KLM-Alitalia talk again KLM and the Italian Government have held talks about a renewed merger between the Dutch flag carrier and Alitalia. KLM put an end to its "virtual merger" with Alitalia last year, but the two carriers' search for a...

Bisignani builds Online Travel Portalfor 2001 launch.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Giovanni Bisignani, best known for leading Alitalia during the early 1990s, has been chosen to lead the Online Travel Portal (OTP), the joint website being launched by nine major European shareholder airlines. It is seen partly as a response to...

Charleroi tops Ryanair list.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... As Ryanair prepared to announce its first base in mainland Europe, word had already got out that it was to be Brussels South Airport near the small Belgian town of Charleroi. Ryanair was not due to make an official announcement before the...

State aid returns to the agenda.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The issue of state aid could be back on the agenda again in Brussels as Olympic Airways and Sabena run into difficulties. "The question of aid is in the picture," concedes a source in the European Commission (EC). There had been concern in...

Asian: The year 2000 was to bring big e-commercedevelopments by Asian airlines. While little of substance was delivered, 2001 looks to be a true break-out year.
March 1, 2001... Although per-capita Asian Internet usage rates still pale by comparison to those of North America and Europe, the number of customers signing on to the World Wide Web is growing at an exponential rate. This is in part what the region's airlines...

Pacific: San Francisco, which has built itself a spanking new international terminal, is one of several West Coast cities to benefit from flying Asian routes.
March 1, 2001... A gleaming new international terminal at San Francisco International Airport has paved the way for what airport officials hope will be annual double digit growth in international passenger traffic over the next five years. Light years away...

Only a call away: The rebranding of bmi british midland was supposed to be followed by the launch of its new transatlantic services out of London Heathrow. So how distant is the new UK-USbilateral which could bring bmi in reach of its goal?
March 1, 2001... Nobody is listening to Sir Michael Bishop. Or that is how it must seem to the chairman of just rebranded bmi british midland. For the past three years Bishop has been lobbying for rights to fly the Atlantic from London Heathrow. Indeed, since...

Crisis managers set to rescue debt-laden Air Afrique.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Former TWAand Reno Air chief executive Jeffrey Erickson and consultancy SH&E have been tasked with dragging Air Afrique back from the brink of collapse and re-structuring the debt-laden carrier. SH&E, which has worked closely with Air...

Routes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Second Star joint venture Lufthansa has signed a joint venture agreement with Thai Airways. The carriers will initially share costs and earnings on the Munich-Bangkok route, before extending the idea to Frankfurt-Bangkok flights in October....

WAPlink forged by SITA.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Airlines and their customers will soon be able to gain access to wireless application protocol (WAP) services though local calls into industry networkprovider SITA's network. At the same time, SITA expects its interline e-ticketing service to...

CAEP.
March 1, 2001... The world now has a new standard for engine noise, and that in itself is a significant landmark. It is more than two decades since the world last agreed such standards. That was back in 1977 when Chapter 3 was drawn up under the auspices of the...

Flexibility: Engine leasing is growing fast as airlines make use of the economics and flexibility on offer from an increasingly broad range of providers.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Engine leasing may still be something of a niche market, but it has now started to take off. Over the past couple of years the number of engineson lease has soared and so have the variety of packages on offer from manufacturers and leasing...

Power: The stakes continue to rise for the world's big three engine players, with new aircraft launches and further consolidation after GE's acquisition of Honeywell.
March 1, 2001... One company's loss is another's gain. And that was never more so than in the ever tense battle between the world's big three aircraft engine manufacturers:General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce. So although engines may not have been...

Invisible: Fears of high-altitude health risks are growing. Although the evidence is still inconclusive, airlines could face mounting litigation.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Airlines are used to the intense media glare following an air crash. But safety is no longer the only consumer concern to hit the headlines. Health issues were brought dramatically into the public eye by the death of 28-year old Emma...

Cargo's: Lufthansa Cargo has spent the last six years breaking through old barriers. Under its new chairman Jean-Peter Jansen, the pace shows no sign of letting up.
March 1, 2001... When Lufthansa Cargo (LHCargo) issued a press statement in November announcing a "value-driven restructuring programme", it got little more than polite attention from the media. The statement announced that LH Cargo had decided to split its...

Pricing : With Europe searching for a solution to a mounting crisis over delays, now could be the time to look at new pricing mechanisms for air traffic control.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... As delays continue to mount in Europe's congested skies, there is now talk of the need for radical reform, not least in the way that the region handles air traffic control (ATC). But that begs a simple question: what exactly is the purpose of...

Bringing: Delta hired industry novice Leo Mullin as chief executive in mid-1997. His focus on customer service and employee relations has the carrier soaring once more.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... By all accounts, Leo Mullin arrived at Delta Air Lines as an outsider. More East Coast banker than airline boss, he had not worked in the industry until being invited to take up the top job at Delta in late 1997. At the time he was vice...

Open skies revived in the Philippines.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A high-level advisory group in the Philippines is calling for a revival of air services liberalisation initiatives following a change in government in January.The Economic Mobilization Group (EMG), a committee under the Philippines Department...

SAirGroup faces strategic review : Doubts remain over the future strategy of the SAirGroup following the abrupt departure of chief executive Philippe Bruggisser, architect of the Qualiflyer alliance of European airlines and the diversified group structure. In the long term this may mean a review of alliance strategy, but the more pressing problem is the fate of merger partner Sabena.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Although it is not being disbanded just yet, it is widely assumed that the Qualiflyer alliance will not go forward as an independent entity. Indeed, SAir has been in talks with the three largest alliance groups - oneworld, Star Alliance and...

[0] In brief.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Taino aims for USserviceDominican Republic carrier Taino Airlines wants to launch scheduled cargo services to the USA with McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63 freighters wet-leased from Airborne Express. If it gains US Department of Transportation...