Posts Tagged ‘Delta Airlines’

Mouse sighting delays Nepal Airlines flight in Hong Kong

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Passengers hoping to fly with Nepal Airlines to Kathmandu from Hong Kong have been given a second night’s hotel accommodation after a mouse was spotted in the airliner’s cockpit. According to general manager for the airline, Sita Gurung, the plane will not be allowed to leave the tarmac until the problem has been dealt with. She explained that the mouse could disturb passengers and also posed a safety risk because it could chew through cables on the plane.

This is the second time in a week that the same Boeing 757 has been delayed because of rodents. On Monday, the plane was not allowed to leave Tribhuvan International in the Nepalese capital for 11 hours as crew hunted down a stowaway mouse.

In August, a mouse sighting on board an SAS jet was the cause of 250 passengers being stranded in Stockholm. Delta Airlines was also forced to cancel two flights to the UK from New York in November 2009 after mice managed to get on board.

According to Ms Gurung, if the mouse is not caught soon, alternative arrangements will be made to fly the 80 stranded passengers out of Hong Kong.

So far, attempts to capture the rodent using traps have been unsuccessful. A passenger facing a second night in Hong Kong was overheard to comment that the mouse was probably an angry relative of the rodent captured on Monday in Nepal.

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Air travel hit by Middle East and Japan

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Demand for air travel around the globe dropped from 5.8 per cent growth in February to 3.8 per cent growth in March compared to a year ago according to the International Air Travel Association. The fall has been directly blamed on the earthquake which hit Japan and the continuing troubles in the Middle East.

Also being blamed is the rising price of jet fuel. Leisure passengers are being put off by a number of airlines continuing to hike their fuel surcharges.

Despite astonishing growth recently, it was airlines in the Asia-Pacific region which were hit hardest with a drop of over two per cent on last year. In the US traffic fell by one per cent and in Europe demand was down by 0.5 per cent. Japan’s domestic air travel fell by 22 per cent on the year before. Following the earthquake, and subsequent nuclear disaster, airlines cut capacity to the country. Delta Airlines, which is one of the largest international carriers to serve Japan, estimated the crisis could cost it some $400 million.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director-general, said he expected the recovery of the airline industry to be supported by the recovery of the world’s economy, but warned that the high price of a barrel of oil was still a significant problem. Airlines around the globe are being forced to slash capacity because fuel accounts for around a third of their operating costs.

The Middle East continues to be an issue with travel demand to Tunisia and Egypt still well below what it was before the troubles started.

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FAA Revokes Northwest Pilots’ Licenses

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

The Federal Aviation Administation has announced that it has revoked the licences of two Northwest Airlines pilots who overshot their destination, telling investigators that they had lost their bearings while discussing company policy as well as using their personal laptop computers.

The two pilots of Northwest Flight NW188 from San Diego to Minneapolis on October 21 had lost contact with air traffic controllers for over an hour and missed their destination by 150 miles, according to aviation officials.

Officials said that both of the pilots told the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that they had lost track of time during the conversations about new crew schedules, and were also using their personal laptop computers as part of that discussion.

The schedules were put in place as a result of the merger of Northwest and Delta Air Lines last year.

Delta has since suspended both pilots, identified by Minneapolis-St. Paul airport police as Timothy Cheney and Richard Irwin, pending the outcome of the NTSB investigation and a company probe.

Several violations were cited by the Federal Aviation Administration for the revocation, and is effective immediately. The agency said that the penalty could be appealed within 10 days.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the union representing Delta pilots, has urged the NTSB to proceed with caution and to avoid a rush to judgement.

Lee Moak, chairman of the pilots union said that they implore all interested parties to move with deliberate and unemotional professionalism as the events surrounding this event are investigated.

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Woman sues airlines over breast-feeding row

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Three U.S. airlines are being sued by a woman who was asked to leave an aircraft cabin for refusing to cover herself in a blanket whilst breast-feeding her baby. Emily Gillette claims that she was sitting in a window seat breast-feeding her tired and hungry baby on board a flight that had already been delayed for three hours when she was approached by a flight-attendant who asked her to cover herself with a blanket. When she refused the attendant allegedly told her that her breastfeeding was offensive. When Gillette once again refused the demands by the attendant to cover the baby’s head, she was asked, along with her family, to get off of the aircraft.

The incident occurred three years ago and caused outrage when it was first reported. Gillette has since decided to sue all three airlines involved in the incident. She is demanding an unspecified sum as compensation for her ordeal from Delta Airlines, Mesa Air Group and Freedom Airlines. Gillette claims that the experience has left her feeling embarrassed and anxious whenever she tries to breast-feed her second baby in public.

Delta Airlines has said that although they cannot discuss litigation they do recognize a mother’s right to breast-feed her child. Mesa has as yet declined to comment.

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Global alliances will allow airlines to grow

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

In an attempt to expand business airlines around the word which have been suffering because of a lack of passengers, rising fuel prices and a poor global economy are now looking to build partnerships with other airlines.

At the moment there is a bidding war going on between American Airlines and Delta who are trying to form tie ups with beleaguered Japan Airlines. The fact that the two U.S. carriers are fighting over Japan Airlines, which is in an awful lot of trouble at the moment, shows how much importance is being placed in forming global alliances. The domestic market is showing little sign of any immediate recovery and therefore airlines need to look to the international markets.

There are already alliances in place between airlines like oneworld and SkyTeam. However these alliances were made so that partners could offer passengers more choice in destinations. Analysts predict that the new alliances will be more about sharing revenues and staff and pooling resources whilst coordinating flights.

Alliances are seen by many to be far more attractive than straightforward takeovers because they do not require companies to spend large amounts of money on restructuring and relocation. Global alliances will also put airlines in a stronger position when it comes to dealing with travel organizations, airports and aircraft manufacturers.

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Minister declares that Japan Airlines will not be bankrupted

Monday, September 28th, 2009

There was a ray of hope for Japan Airlines at the weekend when Seiji Maehara, the Japanese Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister declared that it would be impossible for him to force the largest airline in Asia into bankruptcy. Japan Airlines is in dire straits at the moment having lost around $1 billion in the second quarter this year. Forecasts for losses for the current fiscal year ending March 2010 are a phenomenal $701 billion at present.

The airline has been looking for financial support from the Japanese tax payer recently and in June this year took a loan from the Development Bank of Japan for $668 million.

According to reports the president of Japan Airlines, Haruka Nishimatsu told the transport minister at a meeting last week that the airline would have to raise somewhere in the region of $5 billion before year end in March 2010 to cover up-coming debt repayments. Nishimatsu allegedly told Maehara that two of the ways he would try to start raising the cash would be by selling off the in-flight catering arm of Japan Airlines and looking into some sort of pension restructuring.

Maehara says that he felt the government had to step in and create a restructuring plan for Japan Airlines because plans by the airline itself were not sufficient. He said that his government appointed team should be in a position to give advice on how to proceed by the end of October.

At present Japan Airlines is still thought to be in talks with America’s Delta Airlines and American Airlines as well as Air France-KLM about potential investment tie-ups.

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American Airlines to sell 30 million shares

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

American Airlines are planning their second move in less than a week to increase the company’s liquidity. AMR Corp who own American Airlines have said that they will sell off 30 million shares in common stock and issue $250 million in convertible debt to be due in 2014.

AMR Corp has said that the money raised will be put towards general corporate purposes. However the airline is believed to be trying to prevent a tie up between rival carrier Delta Airlines and Japan Airlines. The move to free up cash may very well be linked with talks the airline has been engaged in with Japan Airlines, and comes ahead of a possible deal. AMR Corp has refused to comment.

Analysts say that it is probably a good time for AMR Corp to offer stock as it is believed that the American airline industry has finally turned the corner. Experts say that the drop in passenger numbers may well be leveling out and investors are now turning their attention back to the airline industry. Bill Warlick, an analyst at Fitch Ratings said that although the airline industry was getting better, he was cautious about using the term snap back, warning that the most profitable area of the industry, the business sector was still lagging behind the current rate of economic recovery.

AMR Corp have said that depending on how the initial offering of stock goes, it might consider upping its offering of shares by another 4.5 million and offering another $37.5 million in convertible debt.

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American wants Japan Airlines to stay in oneworld alliance

Monday, September 21st, 2009

Japan Airlines is being forced to reevaluate its business model according to analysts, a situation that would have been unthinkable for Asia’s biggest airline just a few years ago. It is no secret that the carrier is in talks with both American Airlines and Delta Airlines about a possible tie up which would involve a large cash injection from either one of the U.S. carriers to allow the Japanese airline to stay alive.

Japan Airlines has not only been hit hard by the recession but a change in Japanese policy has seen a rise in other airlines competing for customers. The open skies treaty with the U.S. will also mean the airline will face tougher competition in the future.

Japan Airlines Chief Executive, Haruka Nishimatsu has refused to say which of the U.S. airlines Japan is in discussion with, but if Delta is chosen as a partner it would mean a departure for Japan Airlines from the oneworld alliance it is currently a member of. It would be required to join Delta’s SkyTeam group. British Airways have allegedly spoken to Japan Airlines and asked them not to consider leaving oneworld as they are still seen as a very valuable member.

American Airlines is said to be desperate to keep Japan Airlines under the oneworld umbrella as it shares flight codes with the carrier. It has warned Japan that if it does decide to move then it will end up losing revenue whilst trying to get regulators to hammer out new commercial arrangements for the airline.

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Delta puts in offer to Japan Airlines as American hold talks

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Japan Airlines, who are under an increasing amount of pressure from the powers that be to reduce costs, prevent further losses and generally stabilize their accounts, had been meeting with American Airlines officials to discuss a possible transpacific partnership when American learnt that rivals, Delta Airlines, had offered to pump somewhere in the region of $300 million into Japan Airlines in return for it leaving the Oneworld Alliance and coming over to Delta’s SkyTeam. The Oneworld alliance contains American Airlines along with British Airways and Qantas.

The move could now see a bidding war breakout between American and Delta.

Japan Airlines is Asia’s largest airline in terms of revenue but it has been struggling and saw losses in the last quarter of around $1 billion. An overhaul of the company and its management is expected to result in selling off of assets, job cuts and a reduction in routes. The company has been looking for investors to help it with its financial problems.

The moves by American and Delta coincide with Japanese and U.S. discussions on an open skies agreement aimed at making it easier for Japan and the U.S. to have access to each other’s hub airports. Insiders have said that American will definitely want some sort of agreement in place with Japan Airlines before any accord is signed between the two nations.

American representatives will stay in Japan this week to continue talks. Although the investment from American may not be enough to sort out Japan’s difficulties it might send out a strong signal to other investors that the airline is a safe bet.

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