Image via Wikipedia Furious Ryanair passengers protest in plane
More than 100 angry passengers refused to leave a Ryanair flight Wednesday after it was diverted to Belgium
– Wed Nov 17, 3:50 am ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – More than 100 angry Ryanair passengers sat in a dark cabin without food or water for four hours Wednesday, refusing to leave their plane after it was diverted to Belgium, authorities and passengers said.

The passengers, mostly French tourists who were supposed to land near Paris after returning from holidays in Morocco, refused to come out of the aircraft even after the crew had left it at the Liege airport in southern Belgium.

Reda Yahiyaoui, a business owner who was travelling with his wife, a two-month-old baby and a three-year-old, said the passengers had no water and the toilets in the plane were locked.
"The pilot left and he even left the cockpit door open," he said.

After several hours of negotiations with furious passengers, officials convinced them to leave the plane and wait inside the airport for buses that would take them to their original destination, a firefighter told AFP.

"The negotiation was so difficult that we weren't sure they would come out," the firefighter said by telephone.

"People are obviously outraged. I'm just trying to look out for their well-being," he said.
Passengers on the plane told AFP that the flight had left Fes, Morocco, three hours late at 7:15 pm local time on Tuesday but had been unable to land in Beauvais, France, because by that time the airport there had closed.

The plane landed in Liege at around 11:30 pm and passengers only agreed to come out after 3:30 am the next morning.

"This is unacceptable," Mylene Netange, who runs a network on social responsibility for business leaders, told AFP.

"The plane didn't land in Beauvais but in Liege without warning us. Consequently, we refused to leave the plane," she said.

A Ryanair spokesperson was not immediately reachable for comment.

Five-Day Wait for Beijing Flight Lures U.S. Airlines Into Asia
By Mary Jane Credeur - Nov 16, 2010 11:37 AM

One of Peter Philipp Wingsoe’s employees at a Los Angeles marketing firm recently waited five days for a business-class ticket on a United Airlines jet home from Beijing because planes were so packed.

Those crowds are spurring United Continental Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and other U.S. carriers to expand flights to Asia, lured by economic growth in China that’s triple the U.S. rate and new access to an airport nearer to downtown Tokyo.

“It’s been quite difficult, particularly getting last- minute flights,” said Wingsoe, 38, who makes about a half-dozen trips to Asia each year as managing partner at Entertainment Fusion Group. “There’s nothing open. Last year we could call the day of and get on, no problem.”

Wingsoe’s travels make him part of a surge in Asia/Pacific air traffic. The region’s 10.4 percent increase through September from a year earlier outpaced a 6.7 percent gain in North America and more than doubled Europe’s 4.4 percent, according to the International Air Transport Association.

United, which leads U.S. airlines in traffic to and from China, plans to start Los Angeles-Shanghai flights in May. American Airlines plans to add service on the same route and may fly to Hong Kong and Guangzhou as well. The economy in the world’s most populous nation expanded at an annual rate of 9.6 percent last quarter, compared with 3.1 percent in the U.S.

“China continues to be on fire,” Jim Compton, chief revenue officer for Chicago-based United, said on an Oct. 21 conference call.

Ramping Up
Delta said today it will add twice-weekly service between its largest hub in Atlanta and Shanghai in June, with five flights a week from Detroit to Beijing beginning in July. Tokyo- Guangzhou service will be introduced in April, the carrier said.

Flights from Seattle to Beijing and Detroit to Hong Kong are “ramping up very well” since their June debut, while Japan-Hawaii service is posting “especially strong results,” Delta President Ed Bastian said on an October conference call.

Hawaiian Holdings Inc.’s Hawaiian Airlines is also adding Asia flights, with service starting tomorrow between its hometown of Honolulu and Tokyo. Next up is Seoul in January, according to Hawaiian, the 11th-biggest U.S. airline by traffic.

They’re jockeying with carriers based in the region, including Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong’s biggest airline. Singapore Airlines boosted a business-class-only flight to Los Angeles to seven days a week from five on Oct. 5, and did the same with a Singapore-Moscow- Houston flight.

Losses, Then Profit
Profit for the Asia-Pacific airline industry probably will be $5.2 billion this year, more than double an earlier forecast of $2.2 billion, IATA said in September.

China service was among the casualties for U.S. airlines as they cut seats in the recession, with service deferred to cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou. The eight largest carriers posted net losses of $15.1 billion in 2008 and $3.56 billion in 2009.

The group’s return to profit, with third-quarter net income of $2.44 billion, heralds a fresh round of expansion, said David Swierenga, president of consultant AeroEcon in Round Rock, Texas, and a former chief economist at the Air Transport Association trade group.
“When earnings start to improve, carriers look at putting another plane into service because they can make more money with it,” Swierenga said.

Driving Revenue
United said revenue from each seat flown a mile across the Pacific rose 41 percent last quarter from a year earlier, while Atlanta-based Delta had a 45 percent surge and American posted a 21 percent increase. It was the biggest gain in any region for United, Delta and Fort Worth, Texas-based American, the largest U.S. carriers.

U.S. airlines’ sales from overseas flights probably will rise about 10 percent in 2011, compared with about 1 percent for domestic service, William Greene, a Morgan Stanley analyst in New York, wrote yesterday in a note to clients. He recommends buying United, Delta and American parent AMR Corp.

The Bloomberg U.S. Airlines Index of 12 carriers climbed 29 percent this year through yesterday, topping the 7.4 percent advance for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
Trans-Pacific routes don’t have competition from discount carriers, giving airlines more control over pricing, Swierenga said. “The only pressure they face on these international markets is self-induced,” he said.

Carriers also prize the flights because corporate travelers will pay a premium for first or business class on trips of 10 hours or more, such as United’s nonstops between San Francisco and Shanghai.

$10,000 Fare
Wingsoe of Entertainment Fusion Group, which does marketing and brand placement, flew business class to Tokyo on Japan Airlines Corp. for $10,000 round trip last week to give a lecture at Tokyo University and meet with clients.

“These were not the prices we were paying a year ago,” Wingsoe said. “You could get that ticket for $3,500 if you planned ahead. Now it’s three times as much.”

U.S. airlines are still playing catch-up with Asian rivals on in-flight amenities. While Singapore Airlines offers private suites on Airbus SAS A380s, upgrades such as lie-flat seats and new entertainment screens are still being installed under Delta’s $1 billion plan to renovate all its transoceanic jets.

United recently installed semiprivate first-class suites on its Boeing Co. 747s and 767s on international routes, and American put semi-enclosed suites on 777s that fly to Tokyo.

‘Open-Skies Treaty’
A so-called open-skies treaty easing flight rules is letting U.S. airlines serve Tokyo’s Haneda airport for the first time in three decades. Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways Co. already were able to make short-haul Asia flights there.

Delta will offer Haneda flights from Los Angeles and Detroit in February, while American flies from New York. Hawaiian’s Tokyo flights also will go to Haneda, a 13-minute train ride to Tokyo’s main loop rail line. Foreign carriers previously were restricted to Narita International Airport, 40 miles (70 kilometers) from downtown.

Wingsoe said he welcomes the Haneda service because it should save him an hour of transit time on future trips. His one concern: “Everyone else is going to want to fly to Haneda, too. There won’t be any seats.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net

Image via Wikipedia Official to AP: Rolls-Royce replacing A380 engines
11/15/2010 11:58 AM
38m ago

Rolls-Royce will temporarily replace entire engines suffering from oil leaks on the world's largest jetliner after one motor suffered a frightening midair disintegration, an aviation regulator told The Associated Press on Monday.

By Michael Weissenstein, Associated Press

LONDON — Rolls-Royce will temporarily replace entire engines suffering from oil leaks on the world's largest jetliner after one motor suffered a frightening midair disintegration, an aviation regulator told The Associated Press on Monday.

The official said the British engine-maker would take off faulty engines and replace them with new ones. It will then fix the leaking part and swap the engine back again.

The official, who has been briefed by Rolls-Royce and some of the affected airlines, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Rolls-Royce declined to comment.

Leaking oil caught fire on Nov. 4 in one of the Qantas A380's four massive Trent 900 engines, heating metal parts and causing the motor's disintegration over Indonesia before the jetliner returned safely to Singapore. Experts say chunks of flying metal damaged vital systems in the wing of the Sydney-bound plane, causing the pilots to lose control of the second engine and half of the brake flaps on the damaged wing in a situation far more serious than originally portrayed by the airline.

Qantas grounded its six A380s within hours and said four days later that checks had revealed suspicious oil leaks in three engines on three different grounded A380s.

Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa, which both use A380s with Trent 900 engines, have conducted checks on their superjumbos and all but one have returned to service, the airlines say.
Qantas' six superjumbos — the backbone of its longest and most lucrative international routes between Australia and Los Angeles, Singapore and London — remain grounded despite what experts say is financial pressure to fly them again. The removal of engines can be expected to cause longer delays and potential revenue losses.

"We are taking our normal and extremely conservative approach to safety and will not operate our A380 fleet until we are completely confident that it is safe to do so," Qantas spokesman Simon Rushton said.

It was not immediately clear what effect the replacement program would have on airlines expecting deliveries of new A380s, although Airbus said last week that the Trent 900 problems could be expected to delay deliveries.

Airbus spokesman Justin Dubon directed questions to Rolls Royce and said, "We're helping with the investigation in order to minimize disruption to customers."

Qantas was still hopeful of returning the A380s to service "in days, not weeks," Rushton said.
Britain's Rolls-Royce Group PLC, the world's second-largest engine maker, said Friday that it would be replacing an unspecified module, or collection of linked parts, on the Trent 900. Airbus said Rolls-Royce would also be equipping the engines with software to shut them down before an oil leak could cause an engine to disintegrate.

Rushton said three engines had been removed from Qantas A380s as part of a detailed inspection program ordered by Europe's air safety regulator and recommendations by Rolls-Royce.

Singapore Airlines, which grounded three of its 11 A380s after checks found oil leaks in three Trent 900s, said Monday that two were back in service after engine changes and that work was continuing on the third.

"We can't speak definitively about the number of engines that may ultimately require modification work as it needs to be stressed that investigations are continuing," Singapore Airlines spokesman Nicholas Ionides said.
Lufthansa declined immediate comment.

Image via Wikipedia Would You Rather Risk Getting Cancer Or Just Get Your Privates Patted?
Nov. 12 2010 - 3:33 pm 3,797 views
Follow me on Twitter. And if you have a story idea e-mail me at dwhelan@forbes.com.

That seems to be the trade-off these days.

Get ready to decide when choosing which security line to go through in airport security. I’d probably rather get patted. I’m no expert on radiation exposure but the way these things usually work–with CT scanners, or cell phones–is that authorities start out saying “relax, everything’s perfectly safe.” Then a few years later they admit that well, maybe not, please accept our deepest apologies for exposing you to danger.

Choose line B and all you get is a bit of free affection from a government worker. (And how often does that happen at the DMV?) For me at least, getting patted is no big deal unless you have hang-ups. And here in Philadelphia, where carrying an illegal handgun is part of the local culture, you often get patted down to enter a night club or an Eagles game. Maybe I’m used to it.

The federal government has insisted ever since the TSA decided to install 300 full-body scanners, or strip searchers as critics call them, that getting a small dose of radiation is safe. Or it’s a small price to pay to avoid another Christmas Bomber. The feds even got seals of approval from the major medical societies, like the Radiology Society of North America. But it could be a bit of a smokescreen.

*I called up Dr. David Schauer, a retired naval officer and expert in radiation risk, who now runs the National Council on Radiation Protection. His group first published a report in 2003 that set the standards for the X-ray like body scanners now being employed at Reagan National and several other airports. Read about a more recent version of the report here.

The NCRP’s recommendations form the basis of a lot of the conventional wisdom around dosage levels. (Not just for airports but for medical machines as well.) He says that the standard makes sense in the context of “what is the justification” for making people get radiation exposure. Given that terrorists are boarding planes with explosives that don’t set off medical detectors, you don’t need a lot of justification. He says that he, his wife and his three kids would have no problem getting body-scanned. I pressed him though. After all there’s another option, getting frisked. So putting aside the terrorist threat, are these X-ray-like machines even a slight health risk? Getting patted down clearly isn’t. He said he would send me some documents to read.

*A University of California, San Francisco med school professor made a splash today by saying beware of scanners. I first saw the story here on CNET. Professor Joe Sedat says that even though the radiation dose may be low, it may be intense where it hits certain parts of the body like the cornea, the testicles or the skin. His point is basically: why take the risk. Seems like a good one. Here’s more from Sedat.

*The White House, facing an angry mob of sympathetic people (airline attendants, pregnant women), is trying to be transparent to avoid further controversy. In this blog entry there are links to the letter from Sedat and his colleagues to the administration, and a response from the White House science advisor John P. Holdren. Holdren’s email says that the science is settled, the scanners are safe, and the problem is what the warden in Cool Hand Luke would call a failure to communicate. (I wonder if the President and the Homeland Security Department like getting that kind of feedback?) There’s also a link to correspondence from another administration scientist at the Department of HHS, who says that Sedat’s math is way off–that someone would need 1,000 scans to approach minimum levels of worrisome radiation exposure.

Follow me on Twitter. And if you have a story idea e-mail me at dwhelan@forbes.com

American, British Airways Win in Vegas
By Ted Reed 11/11/10 - 10:26 AM EST

LAS VEGAS (TheStreet) -- British Airways hit the jackpot in Las Vegas.

UPA year after the carrier began daily service between Las Vegas and London's Heathrow Airport, regional sales director Kevin Burns proclaimed it "one of our most successful launches in recent years.

"It is one of the star-performing routes on the British Airways network," Burns said, in a prepared statement.

British Airways said it will boost service starting June 1, with a Boeing 747 replacing the 777 now on the route. That means the inauguration of first-class service as well as 62 added seats. The 777 has 275 seats while the 747 has 337 seats.

Among the beneficiaries is American(AMR_), which was awarded transatlantic anti-trust immunity with British Airways and Iberia in July.

Within the partnership, the carriers can share revenue on transatlantic flights. The nonstop Las Vegas-Heathrow flight "offers our customers the ability to fly directly [between Heathrow] and Las Vegas," said American spokesman Tim Smith.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the U.S. Transportation Department, as expected, gave its final clearance to transpacific antitrust immunity for two partnerships, one between United(UAL_), Continental and ANA, and the other between American and JAL.

Also Wednesday, the DOT approved Delta's(DAL_) request to operate daily Heathrow flights to Boston and Miami. The carrier will begin service on both routes on March 27, 2011. They will operate as part of an immunized joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia.

Regulators sought "to expand competition between the U.S. and Heathrow by making slots available for new entrants on these routes," said Delta Executive Vice President Glen Hauenstein, in a prepared statement.

-- Written by Ted Reed in Charlotte, N.C.

American Airlines, The Sands Foundation Team Up to Host Wounded Warriors Trip to Las Vegas
Yellow-Ribbon Flagship Independence Transports U.S. Troops on Inaugural Flight from New York City to The Venetian for Second Annual "Tribute to the Troops"

Press Release Source: American Airlines On Thursday November 11, 2010, 10:30 am
NEW YORK, Nov. 11, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of Veterans Day, American Airlines, the USO and The Sands Foundation, the charitable arm of Las Vegas Sands Corp., will once again honor our nation's veterans and active members with a weekend of relaxation, entertainment, sightseeing, and educational seminars.

As part of the celebration, American Airlines unveiled this morning the Flagship Independence, the latest addition to its yellow-ribbon fleet, with a ceremony at JFK International Airport (JFK). The observance also was a send-off party for the Boeing 767 aircraft as it departed with approximately 150 wounded warriors and their guests for a weekend in Las Vegas. American Airlines, which is the official airline of the USO, is collaborating with the USO to serve these special service members.

American Airlines and The Sands Foundation are presenting sponsors of the "Tribute to the Troops 2010 Las Vegas," a weekend of events and activities for wounded warriors and their guests from around the country. The group includes service members from Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga.; Bethesda Navy Hospital; Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.; and veterans from the New York City area.

"All of us at American Airlines are proud to honor the men and women who put themselves in harm's way to protect our freedom," said Art Torno, American's Vice President – New York. "It is a privilege to have them here with us for the rollout of our newest yellow-ribbon aircraft, and to provide flights for them from New York for this weekend in Las Vegas. These men and women deserve our utmost gratitude and respect."

"The Sands Foundation, along with Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson, are honored to host these heroes on Veterans Day at The Venetian," said Andy Abboud, Vice President of Government Relations and Community Development for Las Vegas Sands Corp. "They selflessly put everything on the line for the rest of us. We're grateful for the opportunity to personally thank them for their brave service."

Upon arriving in Las Vegas, the group will attend the grand opening of USO Las Vegas, a new center at McCarran International Airport, followed by a welcome ceremony at The Venetian, with a "walk of gratitude" and the national anthem sung by Steve Amerson, the voice of the Medal of Honor Foundation and "America's Tenor." Country music singer/songwriter Clint Black will perform a private concert that evening at The Venetian.

"One of the greatest honors our organization has is providing programs for wounded warriors and their families recovering at military hospitals and Warrior Transition Units," said Elaine Rogers, President – USO of Metropolitan Washington. "For the second year, we are grateful to offer an amazing Las Vegas experience for these heroes and their caregivers, thanks to the generosity of American Airlines and The Sands Foundation."

The schedule includes a skydiving exhibition by Dana Bowman, double-amputee and former member of the U.S. Army's elite Golden Knights parachute team. Attendees will be special guests for a performance by Blue Man Group at The Venetian to benefit ThanksUSA, a nonprofit organization that provides college, technical and vocational school scholarships to children and spouses of service members.

There will be a concert by Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band, to be presented by American Airlines and the Huey 091 Foundation at the Orleans Hotel showroom. A portion of concert proceeds will benefit Air Compassion for Veterans, a nonprofit program that provides air transportation to active military, veterans and their immediate family to receive medical, counseling and diverse rehabilitation services. Terry Fator, ventriloquist and "America's Got Talent" winner, will conclude the weekend with a performance. Remaining tickets for Fator's performance will be offered to the public, with proceeds benefiting the United Service Organization (USO).

The rollout of Flagship Independence brings to six the number of American and American Eagle aircraft that proudly sport iconic yellow-ribbon decals and the slogan, "In support of all who serve," on their fuselages, a visual expression of the airlines' support for the nation's armed forces.

The other yellow-ribbon aircraft include an American Airlines 757, Flagship Freedom; a 737, Flagship Liberty; and three American Eagle aircraft. These aircraft are often utilized for special charter flights for veterans, wounded military and first responders.

American Airlines has long-standing ties to the nation's armed forces. With more than 60 percent of American's pilots and 10 percent of all American and American Eagle Airlines employees serving as active military or veterans, the company places a strong emphasis on its military and veterans initiatives.

American supports members of the military, veterans and their families in their communities via in-kind contributions to nonprofit organizations and employee engagement in a wide variety of events and activities. American also offers special airfares, priority boarding and Admirals Club® Lounge access for qualifying active military.

American Airlines and Japan Airlines Thank U.S. Department of Transportation on Final Order Allowing Antitrust Immunity
American and Japan Airlines Set To Launch Joint Business in 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas and TOKYO, Nov. 10, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- American Airlines and Japan Airlines, members of the oneworld® Alliance, today thanked officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for granting final approval to their joint request for antitrust immunity and plans for a joint business between North America and Asia.

"We appreciate the thorough review that DOT has given our request for antitrust immunity that will allow us to move forward with our joint business," said Tom Horton, President of American Airlines. "We also look forward to officials from the United States government and the government of Japan signing an Open Skies agreement, which will allow for additional flights between the United States to Japan."

"This final U.S. government approval, following the recent grant by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, clears all regulatory procedures necessary for Japan Airlines and American Airlines to begin working on our joint business," said Masaru Onishi, President of Japan Airlines. "We would like to express our gratitude to everyone involved in making this positive decision, and will from hence, move expeditiously towards creating more benefits for our passengers, our companies, our financial supporters and our countries."

Both airlines anticipate launching their trans-Pacific joint business in early 2011. It will provide enhanced travel options and experiences for passengers of both American Airlines and Japan Airlines.

American plans to start its new nonstop daily service between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Tokyo's Haneda International Airport on Jan. 20, 2011. Japan Airlines began service from Haneda to San Francisco in late October. Both carriers will codeshare on these flights.

Southwest Airlines to resume hiring pilots, flight attendants
4:58 PM Tue, Nov 09, 2010 Terry Maxon/Reporter

In the "I-just-found-about-it" department, Southwest Airlines will resume hiring flight attendants and pilots for the first time since it shut off the hiring spigot in 2008.Southwest chairman and CEO Gary Kelly actually told Southwest employees more than a month ago that the carrier plans to add hundreds of employees, but the news hasn't generally been known.

Here's what he said in a message to employees on Oct. 4, a week after Southwest announced it was buying AirTran Holdings:"Along with the AirTran news last week, we announced our plans to hire additional Flight Crews for the first time since 2008. "As I mentioned, a successful acquisition would bring more planes and more flights, and therefore we would need additional Pilots and Flight Attendants to support the growth.

We are tentatively planning to add 150-200 new Pilots and 250-300 new Flight Attendants next year. Since we haven't hired Flight Crews since 2008, our hiring Teams will soon begin an aggressive schedule to interview and process qualified candidates."We expect to have 100 Pilots begin New Hire training in first quarter 2011, and start rolling into our system in March. Additional Pilot classes will follow as required."Flight Attendant classes also will begin in first quarter 2011, and will include three classes of approximately 100 each. They will start rolling into our system in April."I know many of you have been eagerly anticipating growth for our Company, and I'm looking forward to adding to our Family.

"We had a story on Airline Biz on Monday and in the newspaper on Tuesday noting that US Airways was adding 500 crew members in coming months. Both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have recently announced plans to call back furloughed employees and/or hire new employees.

Singapore Air Replaces A380 Engines
By COSTAS PARIS

SINGAPORE—Singapore Airlines Ltd. said Wednesday that three of its 11 A380 super jumbos were flying back to Singapore to have their Rolls-Royce Group PLC Trent 900 engines replaced after an engine blowout on a Qantas Airways Ltd. A380 last week.

"They are en route to Singapore as we speak. They are flying without passengers," said Nicholas Ionides, the carrier's vice president for public affairs.

A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 standing at a gate of the international terminal of Sydney airport on Wednesday. He said that the three planes had been grounded in London, Melbourne and Sydney.

Singapore Air's decision to replace the engines was another setback for Airbus and Rolls-Royce after the midair failure of one Trent 900 engine on a Qantas A380 flying from Singapore to Sydney last Thursday.

But other airlines with orders for the A380 said they had no plans of canceling or deferring their A380 orders.

"I don't see this damaging the image of the A380. It is painful for Rolls Royce and their new engine [Trent 900], but if they rectify the problem quickly, the damage will be contained," said Peter Harbison, executive chairman of the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, an aviation think tank.

The move comes as investigators probe more deeply into the Qantas incident and refine measures needed to fix the Trent 900 engines. Rolls Royce said Monday that it had made progress in understanding the cause of the mid-air Trent blowout.

Singapore Air said in a statement it would "be carrying out precautionary engine changes on three A380s," following the Qantas incident.

"We apologize to our customers for flight disruptions that may result and we seek their understanding," the statement said.

Mr. Ionides said he didn't know when the planes would return to service and that it was too early to give an estimate of the financial cost to the carrier.

"Rolls-Royce has recommended further detailed inspections of three engines as a result of oil staining. This is to ensure that the cause of the oil staining can be determined," he said.

Qantas last week grounded its fleet of six A380 jetliners after a Sydney-bound aircraft suffered an engine failure that sent debris flying over the skies of Indonesia and forced the plane, carrying 466 passengers and crew, to return to Singapore for an emergency landing.

Qantas said Monday that it had narrowed the investigation into A380 engine problems to the possibility of an oil leakage but said other areas of the engine remain under investigation.

Malaysian Airline System Bhd. said it will keep its order for six A380s for now. The planes will be powered by Trent 900 engines.

"At this point, it is premature to speculate on the actual cause of the engine failure. As such, we have no plans to either defer the A380, or re-evaluate our choice of engine," said Chief Executive Azmil Zahruddin.

The national carrier expects its first A380 delivery in the first half of 2012.

Mr. Azmil said the airline will monitor the situation "very closely" and is "in touch with the manufacturers."

Thai Airways International PCL, with six A380s on order to be powered by the Trent 900 engines, said nothing has changed regarding its order. Montree Jumrieng, managing director of Thai's technical department, said the airline is waiting for the official report on the incident on the Qantas plane. All six planes are scheduled for delivery in 2012 and 2013.

Korean Air Lines Co. has 10 A380s on order, with five of them scheduled to arrive in 2011 and another five due until 2014. The carrier is not using Rolls-Royce engines.

A China Southern Airlines Co. spokesman said if nothing goes wrong, it expects delivery of the first of five A380 jets in the second half of 2011. He did not specify the engine type.

—Daniel Michaels in Brussels contributed to this article.
Write to Costas Paris at costas.paris@dowjones.com

American and Southwest are adding markets
12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, November 7, 2010

Things are looking up for the airline industry, with the top nine U.S. airlines reporting a profit this quarter. Airlines are busy adding flights and bringing back laid-off pilots and flight attendants.

We've seen the trend of airlines combining to get a larger market share, but American appears to be increasing its reach with a different tactic. Instead of merging or buying airlines, American has added a number of code shares, with airlines such as Canada's WestJet and Alaska Airlines, to increase its market.

Canadian markets
American recently added 25 Canadian markets with its code-share agreement with WestJet. Travelers will fly between the U.S. and Canada on American and then connect on WestJet for flights within Canada. WestJet is a low-cost carrier, so it will be interesting to see if fares on flights to Canada go down.

American is also increasing flights to and from Los Angeles, with new destinations and more flights to current destinations. The airline plans to have more than 150 daily flights in and out of Los Angeles by this spring. American is adding flights between LA and cities such as Salt Lake City and Phoenix, and the carrier will offer code-share flights out of LA to markets such as Mexico with Alaska Airlines.

American also is starting to use Los Angeles as a gateway for flights to Asia and the Pacific. American is adding a Shanghai flight from LA. The airline can't do that out of Dallas without revision of its pilot contracts because of flight-time restrictions.

American now has a code-share agreement with Qantas' low-cost spinoff, Jetstar, on New Zealand flights, allowing American flights from LA to connect in New Zealand to flights operated by Jetstar.

While building markets from Los Angeles, American is taking on carriers such as United, which has always been a strong player there. It's also taking on Continental in Houston, US Airways in Phoenix, and Delta in Salt Lake City. We could see some interesting fares in these markets.

American just finished adding code-share flights with British Airways, and AA also made changes to its frequent-flier program that ended some restrictions on earning miles. Before, you had to fly trans-Atlantic on an American-operated flight to earn AAdvantage miles, but now you can fly on flights operated by British Airways and still earn AAdvantage miles.

Southwest additions
American isn't the only carrier adding cities. Southwest will be starting flights between St. Louis and Newark on March 27, so Dallas travelers heading to Newark can fly there with one stop, in St. Louis.

Southwest also recently announced new service to the South Carolina cities of Greenville-Spartanburg and Charleston beginning March 13. When Southwest announced these routes, it offered fares as low as $30 one way, plus taxes and fees. Those sales are over now, but we do see some nice introductory fares when airlines add new markets. Keep a lookout for deals when you hear about new markets.

US Airways to Recall 500 Pilots, Attendants in 2011

By Mary Schlangenstein - Nov 8, 2010 8:10 AM MT

US Airways Group Inc. will recall 500 laid-off pilots and flight attendants next year to cover expected retirements and attrition, the addition of larger planes to its fleet and more international flying.

The recalls include 420 attendants and 80 pilots, most of whom will be flying by July 2011, the Tempe, Arizona-based airline said today in a statement. The positions are in addition to 300 employees the carrier called back to work in July to staff new international flights. US Airways plans to increase international flight and seat capacity 8 percent in 2011 and replace older Boeing Co. 737s with Airbus SAS A321s that require an additional flight attendant.

Under its labor contracts, US Airways must offer jobs to furloughed workers before hiring new employees. Six hundred flight attendants who accepted voluntary leave packages in 2004 and 2005 and 60 laid-off pilots will be given a chance to return to work. US Airways rose 2 cents to $11.59 at 9:52 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has more than doubled this year.

Airlines Won't Miss Rep. Oberstar
By Ted Reed 11/05/10 - 08:00 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- Please excuse the airline industry for applauding Rep. James Oberstar's (D., Minn) departure from Congress.

UPAs chairman of the House Transportation Committee, the 18-term Minnesota congressman was perhaps the industry's most prominent critic. He was also among the many veteran Democratic legislators who succumbed to the anti-insurgent tide on Tuesday, when he was narrowly defeated by a former Northwest pilot.

Oberstar's approach to the industry he oversaw was on view at a July hearing on the then-proposed merger between United(UAL_) and Continental. He called the merger "a terrible, awful no-good thing" and declared that airlines "work night and day trying to figure out how to squeeze more money out of this turnip they've got in their hand.

James Oberstar (D., Minn), Chairman of the House Transportation Committee
"I'm determined that won't happen," he said.

Earlier, Oberstar opposed the 2008 merger between Delta(DAL_) and Northwest. Also, more than any other person, Oberstar was responsible for the enhanced maintenance oversight that led to the 2008 cancellation of 3,000 American (AMR_) flights, a move that inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of passengers and was widely viewed as unnecessary.

"I don't think there will be a lot of tears shed in airline executive suites" over Oberstar's departure, Fairfax, Va.-based industry consultant George Hamlin said Thursday.
But Hamlin noted that many of Oberstar's battles were unsuccessful. Oberstar opposed mergers, yet the past five years have seen four major mergers, marking the most intense consolidation in industry history. Oberstar opposed airline fees, yet they now annually produce billions of dollars and have been a major factor in enabling profits for an industry that historically loses money. Oberstar advocated industry re-regulation, which to most observers seemed far-fetched.

Oberstar "held his positions passionately and was consistent about them," Hamlin said. "But we've had consolidation, both at the tail end of the Bush administration and into the Obama administration, on a fairly large scale.

"He was a friend of labor, and that placed him at odds with management," Hamlin said.
Recently, Oberstar was the principal advocate for placing FedEx(FDX_) under the National Labor Relations Act, which would have made it easier to unionize the company.

FedEx fought back with an extensive lobbying campaign. "We look forward to a more constructive relationship with the [transportation] committee going forward," said FedEx spokesman Maury Lane.

In a report issued Thursday, CRT Capital Group analyst Mike Derchin called Oberstar's pending departure "a surprise development that has positive implications for the airline industry.

"Rep. Oberstar ran the Transportation Committee like a fiefdom and used his influence to try to 1) block mergers;
2) limit foreign ownership of U.S. airlines;
3) end global alliances with antitrust immunity;
4) restrict maintenance outsourcing overseas and 5) facilitate unionization of FedEx," Derchin wrote.

"Oberstar viewed himself as a friend of labor and the consumer," he said. "But by pushing legislation that would raise airline costs and reduce airline revenues, his actions had the opposite effect on labor and the consumer. "

Oberstar's departure could enable more rapid passage of industry-friendly legislation, because various contentious provisions will be removed, Derchin said. Pending legislation could enable implementation of a next-generation air traffic control system and legally-protected voluntary safety programs.

American Airlines stops giving data to Orbitz
By Jeremy Lemer in New York
Published: November 4 2010 23:55 Last updated: November 4 2010 23:55

Shares in Orbitz slumped 17 per cent on Thursday after the online travel company said that American Airlines had decided to stop providing it with data – a move that would effectively prevent it from selling American tickets from next month.
American has long pushed for travellers and agents to connect directly with its computers and website to book tickets rather than using third-party sites and global distribution systems – intermediaries that collate pricing and reservations data – to reduce costs.

Barney Harford, Orbitz chief executive, said the move was a “broad attack on the travel distribution landscape”, not just his company.

American said it was negotiating in good faith to reach cost effective deals with Orbitz and others.

Michael Olson, analyst with Piper Jaffray, noted that “given Orbitz has significantly higher exposure to air and domestic bookings than the other online travel agencies, it will face the biggest headwind from this change”.

Sales of airline tickets have been declining as a proportion of revenues as Orbitz has focused on selling hotel rooms, but ticket sales still contributed about 38 per cent to total revenues in the third quarter.

Despite the news, Orbitz reported improved quarterly results. Net income more than doubled to about $15m on revenues, up 4 per cent to $194m.

Orbitz shares slid to $5.63 and are now down about 23 per cent year to date.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools

Image via Wikipedia Qantas jumbo makes emergency landing in Singapore
Qantas grounds its Airbus A380s

By JULIA ZAPPEI, Associated Press Julia Zappei, Associated Press – 19 mins ago

SINGAPORE – Qantas grounded its Airbus A380 fleet after one of the superjumbo jets blew out an engine Thursday, shooting flames and raining large metal chunks before making a safe emergency landing in Singapore with 459 people aboard.

It was most serious midair incident involving the double-decker A380, the world's largest and latest airliner, since it debuted in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines flying it to Sydney — the same route that Qantas flight QF34 was flying when it was stricken.

Qantas said there had been no explosion, but witnesses aboard the plane and on the ground reported blasts. Officials in Indonesia said the engine trouble could not have been related to recent volcanic eruptions of Mount Merapi, some 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to the east.
After the plane touched down in Singapore, the engine closest to the fuselage on the left wing had visible burn marks and was missing a plate section that would have been painted with the red kangaroo logo of the airline. The upper part of the left wing also appeared damaged.

One passenger, Rosemary Hegardy, 60, of Sydney, told The Associated Press that she heard two bangs and saw yellow flames from her window.

"There was flames — yellow flames came out, and debris came off. ... You could see black things shooting through the smoke, like bits of debris," she said.

Although it was nearly 90 minutes from the time of the explosion to the plane landing, there was no panic inside the aircraft, she said.

The captain addressed the passengers immediately by saying "'I'm sure you realize there's a problem. We have to find out what the problem is,'" she said. Shortly after that, the captain explained that an engine had failed and needed to dump fuel before landing.

Click image to see more photos of the emergency landing
AFP/Roslan Rahman

"The crew were fantastic, really — I am so amazed that everyone stayed calm," she said. "We were all sort of really shaken up, but what could you do?"

In another seat, Tyler Wooster watched as part of the skin of the wing peeled off, exposing foam and broken wires.

"My whole body just went to jelly and I didn't know what was going to happen as we were going down, if we were going to be OK," Wooster told Australia's Nine Network news.

Residents on the western Indonesian island of Batam, near Singapore, helped authorities pick up more than 100 pieces of debris scattered in 15 locations in Batam. The pieces, mostly small, torn metal but some the size of doors, were brought to police headquarters for the investigation.
The trouble with one of the plane's four engines happened 15 minutes after takeoff from Singapore at 9:56 a.m. The plane landed after one hour and 50 minutes.

"The shut down of the Qantas engine had no connection with Mount Merapi," said Bambang Ervan, a spokesman for Indonesia's Transportation Ministry. "It was too far from the volcano — the sky over Singapore and Sumatra island is free of dust. "

The flight is a regular service that flies between Sydney, Singapore and London. Qantas' A380s can carry up to 525 people, but flight QF34 was carrying 433 passengers and 26 crew, all of whom were evacuated by a stepladder in an operation that lasted two hours.

Qantas spokeswoman Emma Kearns in Sydney said there were no injuries or an explosion on board. The airline described the problem as an "engine issue" without elaborating.

"We will suspend those A380 services until we are completely confident that Qantas safety requirements have been met," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told a news conference.

Joyce appeared to blame the engine, made by Rolls-Royce.

"This issue, an engine failure, has been one that we haven't seen before. So we are obviously taking it very seriously, because it is a significant engine failure," he said.

Singapore Airlines later said in a statement it would be "delaying all flights operating our A380 aircraft" after Rolls-Royce and Airbus advised it to conduct precautionary technical checks.
Experts said the problem appeared to be an "uncontained engine failure," which occurs when turbine debris punctures the engine casing and the light cowling that covers the unit.

Aviation expert Tom Ballantyne told the AP that Thursday's troubles were "certainly the most serious incident that the A380 has experienced since it entered operations."

But "it's not like the aircraft is going to drop out of the sky," Ballantyne, Sydney-based chief correspondent at Orient Aviation Magazine, said by telephone from Brunei.

He said the engine shutdown couldn't have caused a crash. The planes are designed to fly on just two engines, and the pilots are trained to handle engine failures, he said.

Rolls-Royce said it was aware of the situation, noting that the investigation was still at an early stage. Its shares were 4.5 percent lower at 625 pence ($10.16) in midday trade on the London Stock Exchange.

Airbus said in a statement that it was providing all necessary technical assistance to the investigation being conducted by Singaporean authorities.

Martin Fendt, a spokesman for the consortium, declined to comment on Qantas' grounding of all its A380s, but he said no airworthiness directives have been issued mandating a halt to flights by the superjumbo.

Still, the incident is likely to raise safety questions about one of the most modern aircraft, which has suffered a series of minor incidents.

In September 2009, a Singapore Airlines A380 was forced to turn around in mid-flight and head back to Paris after an engine malfunction. On March 31, a Qantas A380 with 244 people on board burst two tires on landing in Sydney after a flight from Singapore.

Last August, a Lufthansa crew shut down one of the engines as a precaution before landing at Frankfurt on a flight from Japan, after receiving confusing information on a cockpit indicator.
The other issues with the A380s have all been relatively minor, such as electrical problems, Ballantyne said.

Qantas' safety record is enviable among major airlines, with no fatal crashes since it introduced jet-powered planes in the late 1950s.

But there have been a run of scares in recent years across a range of plane types. The most serious — when a faulty oxygen tank caused an explosion that blew a 5-foot hole in the fuselage of a Boeing 747-400 over the Philippines — prompted aviation officials to order Qantas to upgrade maintenance procedures.

Airbus has delivered a total of 37 A380s so far. Thirteen are in service with Emirates, 11 with Singapore Airlines, six with Qantas, four with Air France and three with Lufthansa.

Emirates airlines, which has 13 A380s in operation, said all of them are flying as scheduled. It noted that its planes are powered by Engine Alliance GP7200 engines.

Thursday's incident appeared unrelated to mail bombs sent recently on cargo planes, allegedly from Yemeni militants.
___
Associated Press writers Kristen Gelineau and Rohan D. Sullivan in Sydney, Robin McDowell in Jakarta, Angela Doland in Paris and AP Aviation Writer Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

American Airlines October traffic rises 5.2 pct
American Airlines says October traffic rose 5.2 percent, pushing occupancy higher, too

Wednesday November 3, 2010, 7:20 pm EDT FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)

-- American Airlines said on Wednesday that its October traffic rose 5.2 percent, as post-recession travel picked up compared with October 2009.American said it flew 10.77 billion revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger flown one mile. That was up from 10.24 billion a year earlier.

The biggest gain was international traffic, up 11.2 percent to 4.22 billion revenue passenger miles.Capacity rose 4.6 percent to 12.89 billion available seat miles. That's what airlines like to see -- traffic rising faster than capacity.

That meant American planes were fuller. Occupancy, called load factor, rose 0.5 percent to 83.6 percent.For the first 10 months of the year, American Airlines traffic rose 2.4 percent to 105.21 billion revenue passenger miles. Capacity is up 0.7 percent to 128.05 billion available seat miles. Load factor rose 1.4 percentage points to 82.2 percent.

American Eagle traffic rises 18.3 percent
October traffic on American Eagle jumps 18.3 percent; occupancy rises 2.1 percentage points
On Wednesday November 3, 2010, 7:26 pm EDT

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- American Eagle, the regional sister carrier of American Airlines, said its October traffic rose 18.3 percent.

American Eagle said it flew 804.5 million revenue passenger miles, or one paying passenger flown one mile. That was up from 680.1 million a year earlier.

Capacity rose 15 percent to 1.07 billion available seat miles, from 927.4 million a year earlier.
Capacity, called load factor, rose 2.1 percentage points to 75.4 percent.

For the first 10 months of the year, American Eagle traffic rose 9.2 percent to 7.02 billion revenue passenger miles. Capacity rose 8 percent to 9.69 billion available seat miles. Load factor rose 0.8 percentage points to 72.4 percent.

Shares of American parent AMR Corp. rose 52 cents, or 6.6 percent, to close at $8.37.

Delta Air Lines flight attendants reject union
By JOSHUA FREED, AP Airlines WriterMINNEAPOLIS —

A flight attendants' union on Wednesday lost its all-or-nothing fight to cover those workers at Delta Air Lines Inc.The results showed almost 48 percent of Delta flight attendants voted in favor of joining the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.

They needed a majority.Until now, the AFA represented flight attendants who came from Northwest Airlines when Delta bought it in 2008. Those who were with Delta before the purchase were non-union. Now that Northwest and Delta are a single airline, the vote was needed to resolve the union issue for the combined group. Of Delta's 20,000 flight attendants, roughly 7,000 came from Northwest.Voting is now under way for two large groups of Delta ground workers who are considering whether to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Delta shares jumped 56 cents, or 4 percent, to $14.41 immediately after the vote result was released, after trading roughly flat earlier in the day.In the short run, the vote could raise Delta labor costs. Delta's non-union flight attendants made more than their counterparts who came from Northwest.

Delta said it intends to raise pay to the same level for all flight attendants."We have said all along that we believe our direct relationship works well for our people and our company. Our flight attendants have spoken and we are pleased that so many flight attendants agree," the company said in a written statement.Union president Patricia Friend blamed Delta's "heavy handed intimidation and coercion of voters" for the loss."They stopped at nothing to keep Delta flight attendants from gaining a voice and advancing their profession," she said in a written statement.Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

S&P raises outlook on AMR to 'stable'
S&P raises outlook on American Airlines parent AMR to 'stable' on improving financial results

November 1, 2010, 6:21 pm EDT
NEW YORK (AP) -- Standard & Poor's on Monday raised its outlook on American Airlines parent AMR Corp. to "stable" on the company's improving financial results, including its latest reported profit.

S&P raised the outlook on both parent AMR and American Airlines to "stable" from "negative" and affirmed the "B-minus" corporate credit rating, which is below investment-grade. The agency said it might raise ratings if AMR keeps making money and refinances debt due in the next two years.

S&P lowered ratings on some aircraft financings called enhanced equipment trust certificates, citing questions about collateral protection.

Last month, the company reported its first profit since the third quarter of 2008, when it benefited from an asset sale, and its first quarterly operating profit since the third quarter of 2007. It earned $143 million, which surpassed Wall Street expectations, as revenue rose 14 percent, mostly on higher fares.

American is trying to boost international revenue through expanded partnerships with British Airways and Japan Airlines. At home, it's seeking to bolster service around hubs in five big metro areas -- New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Miami.

However, AMR continues to lag behind other large U.S. airlines in profitability and is expected to post a loss for the full year of 2010, and it's also heavily in debt -- factors that S&P pointed out. S&P said AMR's credit measures remain weaker than those of rivals.

AMR shares fell 16 cents, or 2 percent, to $7.73.