06 Nov 2017

USA Aviation Industry Newsletter 6 November

Etihad To End Dallas Service Once AA Code Share Expires Etihad Airways plans to close its Abu Dhabi-Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) route effective March 25, in the first service suspension the Persian Gulf airline has announced in reaction to American Airline’s decision to end the  partners’ code-share agreement. The decision comes some five months after American notified both Etihad and fellow Gulf carrier Qatar Airways of its intention to sever code-share ties next March. American sent the notifications on June 29 in protest of what it and the other major U.S. carriers characterize as illegal subsidies from the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the respective OneWorld alliance partners. Florida Republican And Democratic House Leaders Announce Support For U.S. House Bill To Modernize Outdated Air Traffic Control System Citizens for On Time Flights announced that House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-37), Minority Leader Janet Cruz (D-62) and nearly a dozen other officials and business leaders, including Miami-Dade Aviation Department CEO Emilio T. Gonzalez, the Florida and Jacksonville Chambers of Commerce, and the Republican Mayor of Jacksonville Lenny Curry, have written letters to Florida's congressional delegation, including Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL), Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-26) and Rep. Kathy Castor (D-14), to urge them to support reforms to modernize the nation's outdated and inefficient air traffic control (ATC) system. Gogo Conducts First Successful Test Flight on its Next Generation ATG Network Gogo announced it has conducted its first successful test flight and has begun the nationwide rollout of its new regional Air-to-Ground (ATG) inflight network called ATG-NG. The ATG-NG network combined with Gogo's proprietary aero antenna, in-cabin network and software platform will bring up to 30 times more bandwidth to an aircraft than our original ATG solution.  Once the network upgrades are complete, Gogo will have a North American ATG solution that will deliver performance on the aircraft that is comparable to Gogo's 2Ku global satellite solution. Southwest Airlines Launches Service To Turks And Caicos Islands Furthering its reach Southwest Airlines began operating new international service daily from Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) to Providenciales International Airport (PLS) in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the carrier's 11th country served. In addition, Southwest® initiated new service between its South Florida gateway at FLL and both San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO), and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ), giving Customers nonstop access from Fort Lauderdale to 10 destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

U.S. Airfares Set To Rise In 2018

Rising labor costs and a slew of investment projects at U.S. airlines means that passengers can expect to pay higher ticket prices in 2018. American Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines are among the carriers projecting higher non-fuel expenses in the coming months – prompting a slide in share prices and warnings that passengers will likely foot the bill through fare hikes. New contracts for pilots and cabin crew are the main culprits, with record-high profits in the sector fueling demands for better employment terms. “In an industry that took so much away from its employees … of course once they were earning billions of dollars in net profits again they were going to have to give some of that back,” Airline Weekly’s Seth Kaplan told Bloomberg. Acumen Aviation © 6 November All Rights Reserved.