- American Airlines is insisting it needs gynecological records, as well as psychological records of the daughter a woman killed on American Airlines 587, which crashed on November 12, 2001 in Queens. A hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow. Only six passenger cases from the crash are left unsettled and there seems to be no reason why this information is relevant.
- American will also be experimenting with providing in-flight personal entertainment media players offering on-demand media options for its MD-80 aircraft…free in premium classes and for a small fee in economy. The test will last from now until August 31st. It will also introduce the players as a permanent feature for premium passengers on its transatlantic flights operated by 767 aircraft.
- Boeing has announced that Continental will receive the first U.S. carrier to use Boeing Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag(EFB) on its 777s. It has delivered the second 777-200ER equipped with this technology and will retrofit earlier 777s they received. EFB digitally delivers charts and manuals that pilots need to fly the plane.
- Air Canada will be adding a year-round nonstop Saturday flight from Toronto to Fort Myers, FL starting June 16th using a 73-seat Embraer 175 configured with two-classes.
- Delta has exited bankruptcy…here is their press release announcing the good things about it. Apparently….they are celebrating by spending money they just barely have to repaint all their aircraft.
- Delta will be offering HBO for a fee in economy and free of charge in premium classes. A thirty-minute block of programming will be offered at no cost on overhead entertainment systems. It will also be introducing a signature cocktail line called Midnight Sky.
- United Airlines will be switching from Pepsi to Coke after signing a five year agreement with the Coca-Cola company as a beverage supplier. As this press release mentions, the switchover took effect May 1st.
- Jetblue has begun service with its 100-seater Embraer 190s from Boston to Charlotte and to Bermuda, with once daily service to each.
- Southwest Airlines raised fares Monday. Flights under 250 will increase by $1, flights between 250 and 750 miles will increase by $2. That would be account for about 25% of Southwest’s flights. American matched the increase and it is likely to hold.
- The EU-US Open Skies agreement was signed this week. It will take effect March 30, 2008 and will allow carriers between any city in the US to any city in the EU and vice-versa…subject to regulatory approval. The EU hopes to further liberialize air travel with additional concessions.
- Air traffic controllers are seeking to return AM/FM radios, which have been banned for the last eight months…in order to monitor weather information from local sources. Since the ban, their union says there have been at least a half-dozen near miss tower v tornado events. In a statement, the FAA said that “controllers have a large amount of weather information in the tower, as they regularly relay that information to pilots. However, the controllers want the FAA to compromise and allow the installation of weather-band radios in the towers…
- Expressjet launched service on Monday to Colorado Springs, Fresno, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Jacksonville. We wish them good luck in their independant endeavors.
- Pinnacle Airlines will be operating 16 CRJ-900 aircraft for Delta as a Delta Connection carrier. The planes will feature 76-seats in a two-class configuration. Pinnacle is best known as a Northwest Airlink carrier.
