No hope of survivors in the Air France 447 crash
June 4, 2009
Searchers are racing against time and the elements as they try to retrieve pieces of an Air France jet before the wreckage sinks into the sea.
Officials say, the plane with 228 people aboard broke apart over the Atlantic hours after leaving Rio de Janeiro late Sunday. Flight 447 had flown through towering thunderstorms, and may have shattered in the air.
More Brazilian ships are nearing the area where floating debris has been spotted, hundreds of miles off Brazil’s northern coast. French search planes are on the scene, as is a U.S. team that includes the National Transportation Safety Board.
Seas are calm, though “extreme cloudiness” has been hampering U.S. satellite searches.
New U.S. low cost JetAmerica to fly in June
May 28, 2009
A new low-cost airline will begin serving mid-sized U.S. cities that it thinks larger carriers have left behind. Clearwater-based JetAmerica said 34 nonstop passenger flights a week will start July 13 at Toledo, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; Melbourne, Fla.; Newark, N.J.; Minneapolis and Lansing, Mich. Twenty-eight flights start or end at Newark Liberty International Airport. The carrier will add six more flights – from Toledo to Minneapolis – starting Aug. 14. The carrier is starting out with one leased Boeing 737-800, expects to add a second in the first month, and have as many as four by July of next year.
U.S. airlines see big drop in summer travel
May 19, 2009
Weak economic conditions will lead to a sharp seven percent drop in travel on U.S. airlines for the summer vacation season, an industry group said Friday. The Air Transport Association said this will translate into 14 million fewer passengers in the period from June 1 through Aug. 31, compared with last year. Some 195 million passengers are expected to fly this summer on U. S. airlines, down from 209 million during the summer of 2008. That will represent a seven percent drop in domestic travel and a six percent drop in international travel.
British Airways to start Heathrow-Las Vegas route
May 18, 2009
British Airways (London) will start nonstop service between its London-Heathrow (LHR) hub and Las Vegas on October 25. The daily flight will be operated by a 777-200ER configured with 274 seats, 24 of which will be “world traveler plus,” 36 business-class with seats that recline fully to 180 degrees and 214 economy class. British Airways will be the second UK carrier with direct, daily service to Las Vegas. Virgin Atlantic already makes the trip, but flies from the smaller Gatwick Airport in London.
Airbus cuts A380 output, airlines slow fleet growth
May 7, 2009
Airbus said Wednesday that it cut its planned production of A380 superjumbo jetliners this year to 14 planes from 18, blaming the global economic crisis and its impact on airlines. Airbus said it plans to deliver “more than 20″ A380s next year. The A380, the world’s largest passenger plane, carries a catalog price of $327 million, but early customers received significant discounts, airline officials have said.
Boeing takes 18 new orders, cancels 26 in recent week
May 7, 2009
Boeing’s commercial airplane customers in the past week placed 18 new plane orders, but canceled orders for 26 aircraft, including 25 orders for the much-delayed 787 Dreamliner. Boeing reported the transactions for the week, ended May 5, on its Web site Thursday. The company didn’t identify customers who canceled orders for the 787s as well as for a single 777 model. New orders included a deal with Turkish Airlines for five 777s, and an order for 13 737s from an unidentified customer, Boeing reported. So far in 2009, Boeing has received 58 new orders and 59 cancellations.
Porter Airlines plans to double Bombardier fleet
April 27, 2009
Porter Airlines, the two-year-old Canadian carrier, plans to double its fleet of Bombardier airplanes as it adds more destinations that may include Boston or Washington. Porter will increase its fleet to 18 Bombardier Q400 planes this year, Chief Executive Officer Robert Deluce said in an interview today. Porter “could well have a follow-on order in place” next April, after it gets its full initial order of 20 planes. The Toronto-based airline serves Canadian cities including Ottawa and Montreal, as well as U.S. destinations Chicago and New York with 70-seat turboprop planes made by Montreal-based Bombardier. The airline will start flying to Thunder Bay, Ontario, in June and add to its U.S. flights.
Airlines tumble on swine flu concern
April 27, 2009
Airline stocks tumbled worldwide on Monday, dragging a benchmark U.S. index to its biggest drop since 2001 on concern that the swine flu outbreak will damp travel demand. U.S. carriers reported some cases of suspected flulike symptoms to health authorities, the Air Transport Association trade group said, adding that details weren’t available. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that nonessential travel to Mexico be avoided.
Angolan pilot lands at wrong airport
April 24, 2009
Angola’s flag carrier TAAG Angola said Friday it had suspended a pilot and his co-pilot for landing at the wrong airport in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. The pilot landed the Boeing 737 at Lusaka City Airport when he should have landed at Lusaka International Airport during a regular stopover from Harare to Luanda on April 17, TAAG said in a statement. The state carrier was banned from European airspace in 2007, the same year one of its planes crashed, killing six people on board. The government fired TAAG’s board last year and created a commission to investigate and improve safety.
U.S. airlines cut 27,500 jobs in past year
April 23, 2009
U.S. airlines cut 27,500 jobs in the year that ended in February, a 6.6% drop, the U.S. Department of Transportation said. Passenger airlines employed 391,682 U.S. workers in February compared with 419,200 during the same month in 2008, the agency’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said. Airline employment, however, is up by 100 jobs nationwide since January 2000. Airlines were hit hard last year by record spikes in jet fuel prices and weak consumer and business spending.
