August 2006 Archives

UK consumers will now be able to buy flights when they do their weekly shop. From September, supermarket Lidl will use its 390 UK supermarkets to sell vouchers for Air Berlin flights.

In a UK first, the German low-cost carrier has joined forces with its compatriot Lidl to sell vouchers that can be exchanged for flights from Belfast, Bournemouth, Glasgow, London Stansted and Manchester airports. Passengers can fly domestically or to European destinations including Berlin, Copenhagen, Majorca, Milan and Vienna.

"This is a great demonstration of Lidl's ability to move into new sectors and yet still be able to pass on value to consumers," says Dr Jonathan Reynolds, director of the Oxford Institute of Retail Management. "There's a natural match between a low-cost retailer and a quality low-cost airline."

Tony Parker, a company director at Lidl, says: "This is a first for retailing in the UK ... we are making air travel more accessible."

But not everyone is as effusive about the move. Outspoken Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary says he will categorically not be trying a similar strategy for selling tickets for Ryanair flights. He blasted Air Berlin for following an archaic business model and being overpriced.

Those who see flying as the last oasis of peace in a world full of people shouting into their mobile phones, look away now. The day is finally dawning that passengers can legally use their mobile phones in flight. From early 2007, Air France, bmi and TAP will all be trialling technology which will enable passengers to safely use their own phones in flight on short-haul European services.

Low-cost carrier Ryanair is taking this one step further and has committed to installing the technology across its entire fleet from the second half of 2007.

After considering four different onboard passenger communications providers, Ryanair has now struck a deal with OnAir - the Airbus and SITA joint venture. Passengers using the service will pay standard roaming charges, of which OnAir and Ryanair will take a cut.

In a press briefing to highlight the agreement between the airline and OnAir, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary was typically brash, saying the profit Ryanair would make was nominal, but Ryanair could potentially be making money from the OnAir venture within a couple of years.

O'Leary also took the opportunity to blast the Department of Transport's response to the heightened security measures introduced across all UK airports after police uncovered an alleged plot to attack passenger aircraft. "The security measures were put in place to show the DoT was doing something [about the perceived threat] when they weren't."

O'Leary also intends to plough ahead with an increase in checked baggage charges from ｣2.50 to ｣3.50 as from 1 September, regardless of the increased security measures.

Airplane. Snakes. That's enough to pack American movie houses ('cinemas') for a new hit film that's raking in big bucks and bad reviews. Word ('buzz') in Hollywood is that Samuel L. Jackson, a truly guaranteed box-office draw, agreed to the film when he heard the title - and threatened to leave the project when its producers hinted they might change the film's name to 'Pacific Air Flight 121'. The film's plot, which can be summarised that an airplane has snakes on board, has Jackson, famed for 'Star Wars', 'Pulp Fiction,' and other hits, playing an FBI agent who escorts a witness for the prosecution on a flight to testify. The bad guys (the upright, non-slithery kind) find out and let a large number of venomous rattlesnakes loose in board the Boa, er, Boeing, in an effort to keep the witless, er, witness, from reaching the courtroom.

We don't know how it ends and we don't care. We suspect that very few of the millions who have seen the film know or care either. But an audience out in Phoenix probably does. They went to see this cinematic achievement ("cast of thousands, or at least hundreds") at a screening to which some cineastes brought (at least) two young diamondback rattlers and let them out, right after the plane (did we mention it has snakes on board?) takes off. A spokesman for the Phoenix Herpetological Society denounced the prank, because, it seems, snakes get scared in dark places like movie theatres.

The movie's a runaway hit, with entrepreneurs flogging tee-shirts showing smiley little rattlers in a cockpit and the acronym 'SoaP' is grabbing headlines. Airline unions have picked up on it, too, pointing out that they're not the snakes on the plane. Still, something very deep in the human psyche must be touched by those two words: 'planes' and 'snakes'. Or is it 'snakes', then 'planes'?

(Thanks to Topato Co for the pic).

Kvetch, kvetch: That wonderful Yiddish word hardly requires translation, so fully does its mere sound convey its meaning: the ungrateful, unending complaint. There's always something, as they say in New York. And in Tel Aviv. Though it leaves one wondering how the Israeli government, its agenda filled with a postwar inquiry, political turmoil, a troubled economy, and a few other issues, found time to concentrate on things like government travel, somehow they did, having recently decreed that Israel's civil servants on overseas travel will henceforth fly not on El Al, the airline that was born along with the state of Israel, but instead on Alitalia.

Now that El Al is a privatised carrier, it has to compete for government traffic and indeed for most every other type of business, going up against the nation's two other airlines, Israir and Arkia, as well as non-Israeli airlines. The Alitalia decision has raised eyebrows, and one Israeli columnist, Tal Heruti Sover, of ynet.com, the online version of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper group, suggests that the "humiliating" decision might have something to do with "the infamous Israeli service and the terrible food" on El Al and with such lures as "Italian-speaking cabin attendants and pilots who had not graduated the Israeli air force - but who are much more charming." Wait a moment, friend. You're complaining? 

Despite aviation's role as villain of the piece on the global environmental stage, it seems there have never been more ways for concerned travellers to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from their air travel.

Two of the latest schemes on the scene come from such diverse sources as a global online travel agency and a small Welsh farm. Expedia has announced a partnership with TerraPass, a scheme through which, every time an airline passenger booking an airline ticket buys a TerraPass, their money funds renewable energy projects.

And where does the money go? TerraPass says it channels its resources to get the maximum environmental benefit from every dollar. They fund three types of leading-edge projects: clean energy such as wind and biodiesel; biomass such as dairy farm methane; and industrial efficiency.

These projects, says TerraPass, result in verified reductions in greenhouse gas pollution, thereby offsetting emissions from aircraft. There are a number of levels of carbon dioxide that can be offset, from a payment of $9.95 to offset 2,500lb (1,130kg) CO2 (about 6,000 miles or 9,700km travel) up to $1499.95, which will offset 500,000 lb (about 1 million miles, according to TerraPass). A range of free gifts are offered as an extra incentive - a traveller paying the largest donation will receive a suitably environmentally friendly folding bicycle.

At the other end of the scale, Treeflights is a recently launched scheme through which a air travellers can pay for a tree to be planted on a Welsh hillside every time they fly. This tree, in the course of its lifetime, will absorb the CO2 produced by the journey, mitigating against the environmentally destructive effects of the flight.

Travellers who donate money to plant a tree (｣10, $19, or one tree one-way and ｣20 or two trees for a return trip) can visit the plantations in Wales whenever they like to see where their money has gone. So far this is just a sapling of an idea, but if it takes root Treeflights will be branching out at three designated planting sites in Mid-Wales.

The recent fatal crash of a Bombardier CRJ100 in Kentucky has highlighted once again the need for pilots, airlines and safety authorities to focus on runway and airport situational awareness. 

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has just started probing the fatal 27 August crash of a Comair CRJ in Lexington, Kentucky but the investigation will clearly focus on why the pilots attempted to take off from the shorter of the airport's two runways.

The CRJ, operating as Delta Connection Flight 5191 to Atlanta, took off from Blue Grass Airport's runway 26, a 3,500ft (just over 1,000m) unlit strip typically only used for general aviation aircraft. It crashed into a field at the end of the runway, killing all 47 passengers and two of the three crew members. Comair is a Cincinnati-based regional subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

The CRJ should have been using runway 22, a 7,000ft (over 2,000m) lit runway. After taxiing from the terminal, the aircraft should have crossed runway 26 and proceeded to the threshold of runway 22 (see chart below). Taxiway A-7 was closed, which could have caused confusion. A newly opened taxiway next to A-7 was available, although it likely was not in the airport diagram carried by the pilots, and should have been used. Instead the pilots turned onto dark runway 26 and took off. The crash occurred prior to dawn at 6am local time.

A CRJ100 could only take off in 3,500ft if it was empty and if short field takeoff procedures were used. In this case, the aircraft was full of passengers and fuel and the pilots probably did not realise they were on the shorter runway until it was too late to abort.

Unfortunately this is not the first time in recent years that commercial aircraft pilots have taken off from an inappropriate runway.

In October 2000, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747-400 took off from a runway which was closed for construction in Taipei, Taiwan. The Los Angeles-bound aircraft crashed after hitting construction equipment, killing 83 of the passengers.

In January 2002, a China Airlines Airbus A340 took off from a taxiway in Anchorage Alaska. Disaster was narrowly averted as the aircraft just cleared a snow bank at the end of the taxiway, which was over 1,000m shorter than the runway it was supposed to use.

In November 2005, an EVA Air Boeing MD-11 freighter also took off from a taxiway in Anchorage. And in February 2002, an Air France A320 attempted to take off from a taxiway in Lisbon. In this case, the takeoff was aborted after controllers recognised the mistake. 

Typically these types of mistakes are caused by pilot error with poor signage or lighting contributing causes. Safety authorities around the world have made signage improvements a priority in attempt to reduce runway incursions, which in recent years have been increasing at an alarming rate.

Programmes to distribute to pilots relevant runway and taxiway diagrams also have been initiated. Authorities may soon be urged to re-double these efforts.

There also has been a spate of incidents in recent years involving aircraft landing at the wrong airport. So far this year, a Boeing 737-300 operated by Indonesia's Adam Air landed at the wrong airport in Indonesia, a 737-400 operated by Turkey's Sky Airlines landed at the wrong airport in Poland, a Boeing MD-81 operated by Scandinavia's Nordic Airways landed at the wrong airport in Spain and an A320 operated by Ireland's Eirjet landed at the wrong airport in Northern Ireland.

These types of mistakes are generally caused by navigational errors rather than poor runway awareness. They probably could have been avoided if pilots adequately prepared themselves for their flights by reviewing airport designator codes, airport charts and other relevant information. In this era where serious aircraft technical problems are few and far between, it is clearly important for pilots to regularly review airport information, including taxiway and runway diagrams. Airlines could help out by regularly disseminating airport information and reminding pilots to review it prior to flight while airports could help out by making sure signs are accurate, large enough to read and well lit.

Happy birthday to the frequent flyer programme, which turns 25 this year. Programmes have changed a lot since Western Airlines first launched its "Travel Pass", which awarded $50 in travel certificates to passengers who flew five trips.
And this change is not all for the good, according to research commissioned by Etihad Airways. Almost a third (31%) of professionals surveyed believed that the standards of rewards offered to loyal customers had decreased in terms of actual benefits to the individual. (Read one traveller wax lyrical about how generous benefits were back in 1988.)
A further 79% of those surveyed said they felt that these days such schemes were simply regarded by airlines as clever marketing ploys rather than a genuine service to their customers, while 77% lamented that the only people to benefit from the rewards cited were business travellers.
More surprisingly though, two thirds of regular travellers (67%) belonged to an airline loyalty programme, but only 37% had ever used their accrued points and just one in five (21%) had redeemed air miles within the past year.
"Our research clearly indicates that the travelling public has become increasingly dissatisfied and disillusioned with the concept of frequent flyer programmes," says Etihad head of marketing Peter Baumgartner.
As airlines strive for increased revenues, they must strike a delicate balance between optimising profit and managing the customer relationship. Some frequent flyer programmes now gain revenue from charging fees for paper tickets and booking through call centres, and applying penalties for making changes and cancellations. But, says Ravindra Bhagwanani at Global Flight Management, such penalties may alienate customers from the programme and eventually even from the airline.
Other issues highlighted by the survey included an overall lack of choice for lower-tier members. Three-quarters (75%) of those surveyed complained that there was an extremely limited range and choice of rewards options, particularly for those who travel less frequently and tend not to accumulate sufficient mileage to enjoy the full selection of membership benefits.
To capitalise on the 25th anniversary of the frequent flyer programme, Etihad Airways - itself not yet 3 years old - is launching its new Guest loyal and recognition programme on 30 August. The survey results were apparently important in creating the new programme. "Taking this consumer feedback on board, our aim remains to introduce hospitality-orientated initiatives which rebalance the notion of encouraging loyalty amongst travellers - this time in the customer's favour," says Baumgartner. Membership of the programme is free and mile accrual is immediate.

Boeing's recent announcement that it has decided to shut down its Connexion unit, which offers internet access in-flight via passenger laptops, has, not surprisingly, been less than enthusiastically received by its airline customers.
The manufacturer has said it was disappointed with the level of demand for the product and intends to "work with customers on an orderly phase-out of the Connexion by Boeing service".
There are currently 11 airlines flying with Connexion, with carriers from Asia at the technological sharp end in having their aircraft fitted with the high-speed broadband service. Asian airlines offering Connexion include South Korea's Asiana Airlines and Korean Air; Taiwan's China Airlines; All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines in Japan; and Singapore Airlines.
German flag carrier Lufthansa is Connexion's biggest customer with 62 of its 80 long-haul aircraft now equipped with the service. The airline says: "Boeing has assured us that the service will continue until the end of the year."
Lufthansa remains interested in the service and does not rule out looking at other possible partners to enable it to continue to offer it, but admits there does not seem to be an answer at the moment.
Singapore Airlines and Japan Airlines have both expressed their disappointment, and there have been mutterings about the possibility of claiming compensation for the withdrawal of the service.
So the question that now remains is; Whither in-flight entertainment? Perhaps it is in the realm of mobile phone and Blackberry use that there is real value to be had. In-flight mobile telephony service provider OnAir is set to announce three more airline triallists over the next two months, following Air France, BMI and TAP Portugal's commitment to offer the service from early next year.
Chief executive George Cooper says the company is preparing to announce three more airline commitments soon, all of which will cover European short-haul operations.
Rival provider AeroMobile says it is now working with three undisclosed carriers in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Two of these are planning fleet-wide deployment on long-haul aircraft, while the other will start with a trial to gauge demand. AeroMobile expects two of these airlines to be offering the system this year.

Asia has long been considered the last large untapped market for low-cost carriers but you can no longer consider the market untapped given the rapid expansion of several budget carriers in the region plus the emergence of several new start-ups, writes Brendan Sobie.

Asia's largest low-cost carrier, AirAsia, says it has already carried over 20 million passengers. Just five years old, AirAsia now operates 44 aircraft, including 28 in Malaysia, 10 in Thailand and six in Indonesia.

Indonesia's Lion Air, which arguably became Asia's first low-cost carrier when it launched in 2000, does not report traffic figures - at least on a regular or accurate basis. But to date it likely has carried only a few million passengers less than AirAsia. Lion now operates 34 aircraft.

They call it the flaw that distinguishes, and the marketing types point to the fine old men's shirt maker, Hathaway, as the textbook example. The company promoted its brand with a male model who wore an eye patch, and the eye patch became the Hathaway logo. Now JetBlue, that cleverest of airline marketers, is doing something similar, exploiting the airline industry's trademark weakness, its vulnerability to oil prices, in a bid to get public attention (and money). The carrier starts service between its New York JFK hub and Houston next month, and to mark its entry into the heart of the nation's oil patch, JetBlue is promoting a one-way fare that is the same as the price of a barrel of oil. That was in the low $70s when the airline announced the deal, and JetBlue will calculate the fare daily based on oil's closing price on the commodities exchange. The service would probably been promoted with a fare in the $110 to $125 range without the gimmick, and you sort of wonder if they're sort of wishing some days that the price would go up. Sort of. The guys at JetBlue probably know what they're doing, but their gimmick does raise the question: what would the fare be for new service to other cities? What if, say, an airline finally began flights into Chicago? Would it be the price of the Windy City's well-known deep dish pizza? Would Seattle fares be pegged to one of Starbuck's coffee specialities? And flights to New York? WHYDOYAWANNAKNOW, BUDDY?

Qantas Airways today became the first Airbus A380 customer to disclose how much compensation it will receive from Airbus for mounting delivery delays, writes Airline Business deputy editor Brendan Sobie. If A$104 million ($79 million) in payments to Qantas for delays to its 12 A380s are any indication of what Airbus will have to pony up for the 15 airlines and one leasing company which have ordered 168 A380s, the European manufacturer could be facing total penalties of over $1 billion.

The delivery of nearly every A380 on order has been delayed by at least a half year. However, not all of the customers may be entitled to the $6.6 million per aircraft in penalties Qantas has negotiated. Qantas' first A380 has been delayed by one year, from late 2006 to late 2007. Only Emirates and Singapore Airlines (SIA) also face delays of one year; the delays to the customers which follow them in the programme are not as severe. And generally manufacturers are not required to pay significant penalties if aircraft are delivered only six months late or less.

How much exactly Airbus will have to pay in penalties is unclear because negotiations with most customers continue and both sides have so far been tight-lipped about these sensitive discussions. Some customers including Emirates, which is by far the largest of the A380 customers with 43 aircraft on order, are also not publicly traded so may not reveal how much Airbus will pay them even after negotiations conclude.
Some customers may also opt for discounts on additional aircraft rather than cash payments. For example Singapore Airlines, which is still planning to place the first A380 into service by year-end, placed an order last month for nine additional aircraft.
Qantas disclosed the A$104 figure in releasing its financials for the fiscal year ending 30 June. It says the funds are being recognised as liquidated damages from Airbus and will be paid over time until the delivery of its last A380.

In announcing the second major delay to A380 delivery schedule earlier this year, Airbus said it expected to deliver only one A380 in 2006, followed by only nine aircraft in 2007. Airbus was originally committed to delivering the first A380 to Emirates, Qantas and SIA in 2006 and was planning to deliver 20 aircraft in 2007.

The frustration over the past few days at the delays and problems encountered at London Heathrow in particular as a result of the terror scare of 10^th August have boiled over.

British Airways chief Willie Walsh has expressed his anger at seeing some of his aircraft departing virtually empty because passengers cannot make it through the new exhaustive security checks in time. BAA has come under fire for not bringing in enough security staff to cope.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary is equally peeved by the new requirements, and his airline is criticizing BAA for not putting enough security lines into action at Stansted. He wants the UK government to step in, and even suggests bringing in the army to help.

This is uncharted territory for all. In the past, similar crisis points have been restricted to one airport or even one airline. They have been more manageable, with others able to help and measures to cope coming in relatively fast.

This time the crisis has been all encompassing, with unprecedented levels of security and requirements that have been changing day by day. It is also the busiest time of the year.

Airline calls for compensation, as some are asking for from BAA, will most likely wane. They know it is probably wasted energy. Better to refocus attention on encouraging governments to finally step up and help pay for the extra and onerous security measures.

However, once again, this crisis reveals the void in communication and proper co-ordination between BAA and its customers. That void is troubling, and over the past few years has shown little tendency to narrow.

Airbus has begun testing a new maintenance tool which should help airlines release flights more promptly when small malfunctions develop.

The manufacturer says it has developed a new connection that links Airman, its maintenance software tool used by most of its major operators, and the Airbus Technical Aircraft on Ground Centre (Airtac). Airbus senior director for maintenance, repair and overhaul support management Wolfgang Kortas says the new Airman-Airtac connection will allow Airbus technical experts, who staff Airtac every hour of the year, to more quickly authorise flights in the event of a malfunction.

Under certain scenarios, airlines must receive a "no technical objection" from Airbus before proceeding with flights. With the Airman-Airtac connection, Airbus technical specialists will be able to instantaneously access data from the aircraft before even receiving a phone call from the airline. By receiving quicker authorisation from the manufacturer when certain non-critical equipment malfunctions, airlines will be able to improve their dispatch reliability and on-time performance, thereby saving on crew costs.

If more serious malfunctions develop, Airbus technicians will also be able to more quickly begin seeking a fix. This in turn will minimise a costly delay to the flight.

"We can work on a problem, locate spares and plan logistics before the customer even calls us," Kortas told Airline Business deputy editor Brendan Sobie.

Currently Airman can only be connected to airline maintenance centres, providing information and maintenance messages that allow mechanics to start preparing for maintenance while an aircraft is out of station or airborne. When required this data is relayed by the airline to Airbus.

The new Airman-Airtac connection is being offered as standard equipment on the new A380. Airbus last month began testing the connection using an A380 test aircraft. To further test the new maintenance tool ahead of the A380's entry into service, Kortas says Singapore Airlines has agreed to participate in a trial programme using its Airbus A340-500s.

"We'll make sure it works before the A380 enters service," he says.
He says the trial, which will for the first time test the connection on commercial flights, will begin in October and include all five of SIA's A340-500s. SIA operates its A340-500s on ultra long-haul non-stop services linking Singapore with Los Angeles and New York.

Kortas says Airbus aims to make the connection standard on other new models, including the A350 and is also designing a retrofit for other aircraft types. But he says designing the retrofit involves a lot of work and time because of the high volume of data involved.

The UK's Bank of Scotland clearly does not subscribe to the belief that the term "long-haul low-cost" is an oxymoron. It has paid C$12 million ($10.7 million) for a 7.5% stake in Canada's Zoom, a transatlantic carrier with big plans that so far has copied the low-cost model in many respects.

Launched in 2002, all bookings with the carrier are online or through call centres, distribution costs are low and Zoom flies only point-to-point without interlining. There the low-cost model gets a little blurry, however. With sector lengths of nine or 10 hours on flights between Canada and the UK travellers need some creature comforts. Despite its low-cost tag, Zoom provides a full service meal, complimentary drinks, a reasonable seat pitch and has a two-class configuration.
The injection of the Bank of Scotland cash will enable Zoom to create a UK-based subsidiary. This is likely to be based at London's Gatwick Airport and operate services from London to non-Canadian destinations. The likely start-up date for operations is May 2007 and, according to Zoom chairman Hugh Boyle, while routes are still under discussion, India and the USA are probable target markets.
As Zoom UK plans to take to the skies, however, three other carriers are also set to take the long-haul low-cost challenge - Australia's Qantas Airways and Virgin Blue and Hong Kong start-up Oasis Hong Kong Airlines. Oasis has now acquired some aircraft and has announced a launch date of September, although this date has already been delayed several times. It intends to fly between Hong Kong and London Gatwick. Qantas will be next when its wholly owned Jetstar launches longer-haul flights in November. Jetstar International will fly sectors up to 10 hours long from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to six destinations in South-East Asia, Japan and Hawaii.
Virgin Blue's long-haul low-cost plans are due to take off by February 2008 and compete with Qantas on lucrative transpacific US routes. It will also have the opportunity to connect traffic with its potential US ally, Virgin America, when that carrier finally gets off the ground.

The devil is in the detail it is said. A recent press release from IATA as it deepens co-operation with China's aviation authorities shows just how significant the country's air transport business has become: 17 Chinese carriers are IATA members; China's airlines flew 138 million passengers and three million tonnes of cargo in 2005.

Impressive and growing numbers for sure. But are carriers making money out of all this activity? IATA's press release noted in brackets: "Industry lost CNY 2.4 billion ($300 million) in the first half of 2006, so we would rather not mention this."

Clang, sorry you just did. The first half has been a tough period with rising fuel costs, new competition, price regulation in the domestic market and overcapacity all hampering the ability of carriers to make money. The recent Airline Business World Airline Ranking in the August issue showed the big three - Air China, China Eastern and China Southern - collectively did actually made a $11.4 million net profit in 2005. However, Air China's $294 million profit compensated for losses at the other two.

Encouraging China to adopt e-ticketing as part of its Simplifying the Business campaign is one of IATA's main motivations for signing the memorandum of understanding with the General Administration of China to "expand strategic co-operation to further the safe, efficient and sustainable development of China's air transportation system".

IATA has long been an admirer of China's aviation minister Yang Yuan Yuan, whose backing has helped the country increase e-ticketing penetration from 0.2% to 60% of transactions in just 19 months. By the end of this year IATA believes this will rise to 80% and that China will achieve IATA's 100% e-ticketing target by the end of 2007.

IATA adds that all Chinese carriers are committed to making the end of 2007 deadline for the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). Seven carriers have already been put on the IOSA registry.

This is all good work. However, a renewed focus on the bottom line must certainly be on the agenda in the boardrooms of Chinese carriers.

Opponents of Chicago O'Hare Airport expansion (and they are quite a body) aren't taking their latest defeat lying down.

They have vowed a stiff fight against a court ruling that killed their latest bid to block a growth plan for the nation's number two airport, an expansion that would force the relocation of a suburban cemetery. The owners of the burial ground joined with Chicago suburbs that have fought O'Hare growth for more than a decade, arguing that if they were compelled to move the 157-year-old cemetery, it would constitute a grave violation of their religious rights.

The appeals court disagreed, saying that the FAA wasn't the one compelling the resting-place relocation. The government was really only approving Chicago officials' plans to do so. One judge questioned the suburbs' standing to sue, but folks in Bensenville, the leading O'Hare opponent, have vowed to fight to the last man standing (or lying?). The case, they vow, is far from dead.

Delta's drive, or flight, to hip-dom involves nice touches like Richard Tyler uniforms and upscale food and drink such as a mixed drink called the mojito. Delta chief Jerry Grinstein admits that he's not sure exactly what goes into a mojito, but says it's a cool drink.

Not to be outdone, United has linked up with Trader Vic's, the restaurant that pioneered pastel drinks with little parasols, to offer onboard mao-tai's and other Polynesian specialties.

We don't know if United chief Glenn Tilton has the keys to the secret recipe. But the drinks duel raises an interesting question: if airlines served drinks reflecting their CEO's palate, what would be on the menu? Suggestions, from orange juice for Southwest's straight-laced Gary Kelly to a tall beer for Continental's towering Larry Kellner, or even hemlock for your least-favourite strategist, are welcome.

One of the industry's most highly respected and successful chief executives, Geoff Dixon of Qantas, will not be bowing out as expected next year. The carrier has confirmed that the 66-year-old, whose contract was due to expire on 1 July 2007, has signed an "ongoing" contract that will extend his service at least into 2008 and possibly beyond.

Qantas is clearly not ready to begin a succession process that had penciled either chief financial officer (CFO) Peter Gregg or executive general manager John Borghetti as potential candidates to take over from Dixon. The carrier announced that Gregg, whose contract was up later this year, has also agreed to remain with Qantas as CFO. He too will have an "ongoing" contract.

Chairman Margaret Jackson said that continuity of leadership in the current aviation environment was important in the airline's decision. She described Dixon as "an outstanding chief executive. His leadership and experience have been invaluable since he took the role in March 2001, with Qantas outperforming most of its peers in the global airline industry."

Perhaps Qantas is ready to take a leaf out of the book of arch-rival Emirates, where 77 year-old Maurice Flanagan continues to lead the Middle Eastern carrier and is encouraged to do so. Age, for the Arab leaders of Emirates, is immaterial. It is the capacity and ability to do the job that is important.

Who's always right? Well, it used to be the customer but in Washington it's the Congress. Take for instance the case of pensions. Some airlines have sought changes in the government's rules on retirement schemes for years, largely because airlines in bankruptcy need to stretch out their payments or, they say, they'll have to dump their pension obligations on the federal government. In fact, several have already done so.

But airlines that aren't bankrupt like American wonder if this is fair. After all, they still have to pay into their plans and wouldn't get special treatment. American became quite testy in the run-up to final consideration of the pension bill, enlisting almost a dozen members of the Texas congressional delegation to object. But then the congressional leadership decided that they'd had enough debate on the matter and would pass the bill so that they could go on holiday. So the next morning congratulatory statements came out from Northwest and others that had desperately wanted the bill - and from American, which praised the wisdom of Congress in passing the measure.

Jet Airways has launched its third service between the UK and India with a three times weekly Airbus A330 flight between London Heathrow and Amritsar.

The carrier was originally going to serve the northwestern Indian city, which is just 50km from the Pakistan Border, from late June with a Boeing 767 from fellow Indian carrier Air Sahara, which is was intending to buy. However, that deal fell through and Jet returned to its plan to serve the route with its own aircraft.

The arrival of a new A330 leased from ILFC gave it the opportunity to launch the route, says Emmanuel Menu, general manager UK & Ireland for Jet Airways. As further A330s are added to the fleet Jet will step up its Amritsar service to six times a week, he says.

At present the only direct service between Amritsar and the UK is an Air-India operation that operates from Amritsar via Birmingham to Toronto in Canada. Menu is confident that there is a strong demand for direct flights from Amritsar to London. It is mainly a VFR (visiting friends and relatives) market with some leisure element. Out of a total Indian community in the UK of around 1.3 million, an estimated 300,000 people have roots in the Punjab region.

Loads for the early flights look encouraging, says Menu. The service was launched on 4 July.

Jet now has four daily services from Heathrow to India. It has two flights to Mumbai, with the second added on 10 July, and one daily flight to Delhi.

The carrier has also expressed an interest in operating to some regional UK cities. However, before it enters regional markets, it will open its fourth route to Heathrow, says Menu. A service to another major Indian city, most likely Kolkata or Bangalore, will come in 2007.

Moscow's Domodedevo International Airport, which overtook the city's long-established Sheremetyevo as its major gateway last year, is sadly being forced to dismantle one of its landmarks as it grows.

A four-engined Tu-114 turboprop that has welcomed visitors to the airport for 30 years is being removed. This remarkable aircraft, which entered service with Aeroflot in 1961 and still holds world speed records, has to be moved as part of Domodedevo's reconstruction. But the aircraft is too dilapidated to be safely taken apart and rebuilt at the airport's planned new museum, says airport owners The East Line Group.

The full story with pictures of the aircraft being removed can be found on flightglobal.com.

Domodedevo goes from strength to strength. In 2005 it handled 13.9 million passengers, a 15.7% rise over 2004, while growth in the first six months of this year continued at a healthy pace with a 12.5% increase.

This year East Line will invest $180 million in the continuing development of the hub, and as the airport noted our Airport rankings placed it 14^th in terms of passenger growth among the world's top 100 airports.

The recent decision of United Airlines to sell its New York-London route authority leaves the Star Alliance without any presence on the most important transatlantic sector and puts on the market another two key slots at Heathrow Airport, writes Brendan Sobie.

Delta Air Lines has agreed to acquire United's rights to operate between New York and London, pending US Department of Transportation (DoT) approval. But the SkyTeam Alliance carrier is unable to also buy any of United's excess Heathrow slots because the current UK-US bilateral only gives Heathrow access to American and United Airlines.

A Delta spokesman says the rights acquired allow it to operate up to three flights per day between London and New York but it will initially operate only one frequency with the launch date to be set after DoT approval is secured. Delta already plans to add a second New York-London service in its spring/summer 2007 schedule but to operate a third would require more slots at Gatwick. Delta now how holds five pairs of slots at Gatwick but uses only four - three for Atlanta and one for Cincinnati - and will reduce its Atlanta service to two daily flights to make room for the new New York JFK service.

The Atlanta-based carrier has long eyed authority to serve New York-London to complement its fast-growing transatlantic line-up from JFK Airport, where it now operates 21 routes to Europe, including Edinburgh and Manchester. It refers to the new service as the "crown jewel" for its JFK hub.

JFK-London has been a huge missing link in Delta's route portfolio since 1991, when it acquired Pan American's continental European route network. In the same year, Pan Am separately sold its London routes and Heathrow slots to American while United acquired its London routes and Heathrow slots from TWA.

American and United have since enjoyed strong market share out of London, while Delta has been by far the larger carrier out of continental Europe. United says it remains committed to London and will continue to operate three daily flights to Chicago O'Hare, three to Washington Dulles, two to Los Angeles and two to San Francisco. But only last year United had 13 daily flights from Heathrow and a few years ago it operated multiple frequencies to New York with services to both JFK and nearby Newark.

United declines to discuss slot sales, which is not surprising given the controversy created in 2003 after it sold two pairs of Heathrow slots to British Airways. The decision to cease its lone remaining JFK-Heathrow flight on 30 October will allow it to sell or lease another pair of highly coveted slots because it has no plans to increase frequencies on any of its four other Heathrow routes.

United's decision to abandon JFK-Heathrow is part of an overall strategy to focus on international flights that connect with its major hubs. In 2002 United moved its JFK-Buenos Aires and JFK-S縊 Paulo flights to Dulles, and later this year will also move its JFK-Tokyo Narita flight to Dulles.

But the closing of the JFK mini-hub leaves the Star Alliance without a major presence at the key New York airport. Oneworld now dominates the New York-London sector with 12 daily flights between American Airlines and British Airways, according to Innovata. SkyTeam now gains access to the route for the first time through Delta.

A Star spokesman says route decisions are "fully in the hands of the individual carrier and are not discussed" at the alliance level. He points out Star will still offer several options between the UK and USA. But without any non-stops between the largest cities in the UK and USA, Star will obviously be at a disadvantage when selling around-the-world tickets to jet-setting executives.

If the UK and USA could finally agree on an open skies deal, BMI would launch JFK-Heathrow in a heartbeat, again giving Star presence on the sector. An open skies pact would benefit nearly every airline - it would allow United to launch Heathrow-Denver and potentially give Delta and other US carriers access to Heathrow - and the consumer. But while the UK-US remains one of the world's most restrictive aviation markets, it is impossible for every major alliance to have equal access to such critical markets as London-New York.

So is it still different? When JetBlue Airways started out, it set out to be different: new planes, new plans, and new attitude. It would be a classic low-cost, low-fare airline with a big difference; it would offer a lot of service. Well, six years later, it still has service at least in the form of trendy snacks and much-liked live on-board television, but JetBlue is becoming more and more like a regular airline: it has a hub, where it increasingly connects flights and passengers, it has two fleet types, it has corporate accounts, and now it's about to go into the Global Distribution Systems in a big way.

Moving to break down one of the last walls between the legacy model and the low-cost model's heavy reliance on Internet distribution, JetBlue is "in final-stage negotiations with several of the GDSs", founder and chief executive David Neeleman told analysts and reporters during the carrier's most recent teleconference.

Neeleman said that since the GDSs were deregulated, they have "economics that work for us now. They fit our cost model. There is a channel of business, be it corporate, or people who go to travel agents, that we have not been able to participate in". JetBlue had been in several GDSs, but withdrew from Worldspan in 2001 and from Galileo in 2002, and finally from Sabre at the end of 2004, citing the cost of using the GDSs and the growing number of alternative. JetBlue was making just 2% of its bookings through Sabre, and it participated in Sabre at a low level. Other LCCs have moved back toward the GDSs, with both AirTran and Southwest participating, making JetBlue "the only airline" in the domestic US market not in any traditional GDS channel. "We think that is going to add some good incremental business and that will help us a lot", Neeleman added. He says that JetBlue "can plug in pretty quickly" through its existing Navitaire reservations system.

In reporting a slim return to profitability, Neeleman says that high gas prices are a two-edged sword for the airline: he related a conversation one of JetBlue's reservations people had with a caller who said he had always gone to Florida for $69 and was angry now that the fare was $89. The reservationist said, 'can you drive to Florida for $89, sir'? 'Gee, I guess you have a good point', said the man, who promptly booked a ticket.