American Eagle Airlines Begin Flight Service Between O’Hare International Airport and Tri-Cities Regional Airport

American Eagle Airlines, the regional affiliate of American Airlines, will begin nonstop jet service between Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and Tri-Cities Regional Airport (TRI) beginning July 2. The Tri-Cities airport is centrally located between the cities of Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City, Tenn., and serves the communities of Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina. Eagle will operate the service with 44-seat Embraer ERJ-140 jets.

“American Airlines was the first carrier to operate at Tri-Cities Regional Airport, launching service Sept. 1, 1937, and we are delighted to bring the American brand back, with service to the Tri-Cities area from our hub in Chicago,” said Gary Foss, Vice President – Planning and Marketing for the AA Regional Network. “From the Birthplace of Country Music to NASCAR racing at the Bristol Motor Speedway, the Tri-Cities area has a tremendous amount to offer. With these new flights to Chicago – one of American’s premier international gateways – local business travelers will have convenient connections to the West Coast as well as destinations throughout American’s global network.”

Known as ‘America’s First Frontier,’ the Tri-Cities area also boasts numerous historic sites and a rich heritage forged by America’s first settlers.

“American Eagle’s new commercial airline service in Tri-Cities will bring even more business to East Tennessee,” said U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). “This connection to a big commercial center like Chicago makes sense and will help create jobs and grow the economy in the region.”

“New air service from the Tri-Cities to Chicago will be a big plus for the region and the local economy,” said U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).

“I am pleased that American Airlines will now offer direct flights from Tri-Cities Regional Airport to Chicago,” said Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.). “This new opportunity will directly impact accessibility, strengthen our economy, and influence development.”

“The Airport Commission is pleased to be able to work with American Airlines on providing direct service to their Chicago O’Hare hub from Tri-Cities Regional Airport,” said Ken Maness, Chairman, Tri-Cities Airport Commission. “The connections available in Chicago will give travelers many new opportunities for national and international destinations.”

Seven U.S. Airlines Sued Federal Aviation Administration

Seven U.S. airlines have sued the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, claiming the agency broke its own rules and may have compromised flight safety when it set new standards for pilot rest times last year without input from the carriers.

The airlines, including AMR Corp’s American Airlines, Continental Airlines and UAL Corp’s United Airlines, filed the lawsuit on December 24 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The airlines said in the complaint that they should have had a chance to comment on the rules, which would place yet another financial burden on them.

“FAA has neither demonstrated how the rule will advance safety, considered the potential that the rule may actually diminish safety, nor justified the significant costs of the rule against any purported benefit,” the carriers said.

Delta Air Lines, which recently merged with Northwest Airlines, was not a party to the lawsuit. Both Delta and Northwest have negotiated separate rules with the FAA governing crew rest requirements on long-haul flights.

The FAA did not comment on the lawsuit on Monday.

The government rules require additional rest time and longer layovers for pilots on nonstop flights that last more than 16 hours. To comply, airlines would have to put more pilots on those flights and provide more in-flight rest facilities for them.

These changes would drive up labor costs for airlines, which hope to claw their way out of a financial downturn in 2009.

The vast majority of international flights are shorter than 16 hours, but weather delays can unexpectedly lengthen trips and pilots’ workdays.

Iceland’s Volcanic Cloud Caused Air Travel Crisis

An air-travel crisis caused by a spectacular volcanic cloud emanating from Iceland escalated sharply Saturday, with President Obama and other world leaders forced to cancel plans to attend the Polish president’s funeral and millions of passengers from Washington to New Delhi left stranded by a bottleneck that could last for weeks.

Across Europe, commercial flight bans were in force in 24 countries, with some closing airports through Monday. But as majestic Eyjafjallajokull volcano continued an eruption that began Wednesday, the reality was dawning that air access to much of the region could be cut off for far longer, with potentially severe consequences for aviation-related industries and businesses dependent on air freight, such as those dealing in perishable goods.

Concerns have also been raised that a long period of closures and delays could affect the pace of European economic recovery when it is lagging behind that of the United States.

On Saturday, no end seemed in sight. Even when the eruption does stop, experts said, the high-altitude plumes of grit, which can cause jet engines to fail, could take at least two days to disperse.

“We’re at the mercy of when the volcano dies down,” said Graeme Leitch, of Britain’s national weather agency. “It’s up to the gods how long this goes on for.”

Given the global links of international air travel, the problems in Europe were beginning to spread chaos worldwide. As far away as Singapore, the backup of international passengers was so bad that hotels rooms were becoming hard to find in the city-state.

Some airlines were offering little compensation, leaving cash-strapped travelers to turn a number of international airports into impromptu emergency shelters. Across Europe, meanwhile, authorities were weighing cancellations of championship soccer matches and heads of state were altering travel plans.

In addition to Obama, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper abandoned plans to fly to Poland for the funeral Sunday of late President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, who were killed in an air crash April 10. All airspace in the country remained closed Saturday to flights above the cloud level of 20,000 feet.

In a statement released by the White House hours before his scheduled departure Saturday, Obama said: “Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our thoughts and prayers, and will support them in any way I can as they recover from this terrible tragedy. President Kaczynski was a patriot and close friend and ally of the United States, as were those who died alongside him, and the American people will never forget the lives they led.”

U.S. troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan were being flown directly to Andrews Air Force Base for treatment in the United States rather than at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the usual first stop for the wounded. Military planes unable to land in Germany because of the volcanic ash will refuel in midair or in Italy, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

Immediate impact

In Europe, economists were assessing the longer-term impact of the historic flight disruptions, but winners and losers were emerging. Airlines and air-freight companies were the most affected, with the aviation industry facing losses estimated at $200 million a day. British Airways and other airlines said they are not insured against groundings by volcanic clouds.

Rail lines were seeing booming business, however, with many adding trains and operating at standing-room-only capacity. Auto rental agencies in Paris were running out of cars, and some taxi companies were scoring enormous cross-national fares.

“We have just arrived home after a 2,000 euro ($2,700) taxi ride from Courchevel in the French Alps,” Michael Gore of Redditch, England, wrote on the BBC blog about the disruptions. “It was a tough decision to outlay the extra cash, which cannot be recovered from insurance, but . . . we are just relieved to be home having a nice cuppa.”

Hotels were also cleaning up. Although many are seeing cancellations by guests who never arrived, in most cases those losses have been more than made up for by a captive market of travelers with no place to go.

Dora Paissiou, 36, said the hotel she owns in Vouliagmeni, a seaside resort town near Athens International Airport, has had a “full house” since the ash plume wafted over Europe. She described fielding calls from airlines with stranded passengers: “They call us and say, ‘How many rooms do you have tonight?’ And if we say 20, they take 20.”

A breakdown in air cargo shipments into the largest cities in Europe, including London, Paris and Berlin, left supermarkets warning of looming shortages of fresh produce. The groundings meant fruit from Africa and South America were rotting in crates in their countries of origin.

The scope of the flight restrictions surpassed any seen since World War II. European aviation authorities said Saturday that commercial flights had been grounded across northern and central Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Belarus, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, most of France and Germany, Hungary, Ireland, northern Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and Britain. Only 5,000 of the region’s 22,000 regularly scheduled commercial flights took off Saturday, with Sunday disruptions potentially worse.

Industry officials said that U.S. carriers have had to shuffle their fleets to replace planes stranded in Europe but that there have been no knock-on cancellations of U.S. domestic flights.

Once the skies clear, passengers trying to rebook — from the United States in particular — are likely to face long delays. As airlines have cut costs, they have also reduced capacity over the past two years, meaning there will be few spare seats when flights resume.

“Even if Heathrow opens tomorrow, it’s probably going to be days before you get on a flight,” said Steven Lott, spokesman for the North America branch of the International Air Transport Authority.

One bright spot appeared in Iceland, where Foreign Ministry officials noted somewhat decreased activity early Saturday at the bellowing volcano. But they said that the eruption pattern had not seemed to change much since Eyjafjallajokull blew Wednesday and that the duration of the eruption was anybody’s guess.

Prevailing winds have left Iceland’s one major airport, in Reykjavik, open for business. And Icelanders are deriving amusement from foreign broadcasters’ mangled attempts at the mouthful that is Eyjafjallajokull (EY-ya-fyat-lah-YOH-kuht). On Friday, Savannah Guthrie, co-host of MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown,” asked a colleague to pronounce the name and then said: “It’s like you took the alphabet, threw it up in the air and let the letters land where they were.”

Others, meanwhile, were reveling in the groundings. For residents of the area around Heathrow airport, Europe’s busiest, the empty skies offered a rare respite.

“It’s been wonderful,” said Monica Robb, 80, who on Saturday afternoon was sitting in her back garden under a clear, blue sky, enjoying a lunch of toast and fruit. “I can hear the bees humming.”

American Airlines may invest more for JAL alliance

American Airlines is upping the ante for an alliance with Japan Airlines in an effort to outbid Delta and gain access to JAL’s trans-Pacific routes.

American Chief Executive Gerard Arpey told JAL Wednesday that his company will not compete with the financially struggling Japanese carrier for connecting passengers to other points in Asia if it remains American’s partner in the Oneworld alliance, according to The Associated Press. American’s exclusivity offer would involve American feeding traffic between the U.S. and Japan but not elsewhere in Asia.

American, which has offered about a $1 billion investment for a deeper alliance with JAL, also may raise the amount “depending on circumstances,” Arpey told reporters following a meeting with Japan’s transport minister Seiji Maehara, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Delta, which has offered about $1 billion, has said it could provide far more passengers to JAL than American, the AP report says.

The battle for JAL has intensified since U.S. and Japanese negotiators agreed last Friday to an “open skies” treaty that will lift restrictions on trans-Pacific routes and possibly lower fares stemming from increased competition.

The deal would deregulate air service between the countries and allow U.S. and Japanese carriers to seek antitrust immunity as they coordinate on international routes and pricing and share costs and revenue.

While American and Delta pursue JAL, United Airlines plans to form an alliance with All Nippon Airways and Continental Airlines.

source : usatoday.com

Airlines and Hotel Services, cruise lines cut costs as economy drags

A sharp drop in demand precipitated by the economic downturn has prompted airlines, cruise lines and hotels to reduce their fares, fees and rates. Mike Driscoll, editor of Cruise Week, said the prices for cruises in Mexico, the Caribbean and other winter destinations have fallen as much as 10% on average. Increasing unemployment rates are keeping many consumers from planning a holiday vacation, and the dismal outlook for 2009 is expected to keep demand soft.

source : SmartBrief.com