Airline News

Airguide Online, July 30, 2004

A federal grand jury in Miami returned an indictment charging two former America West Airlines pilots with operating an AWA A319 while under the influence of alcohol, US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Marcos Daniel and Miami-Dade Police Dept. Director Robert Parker announced. The charges stem from an incident at Miami International Airport in July 2002 when the two pilots, Thomas Porter Cloyd and Christopher Scott Hughes, were pulled from an America West flight destined for Phoenix after airport personnel suspected them of being intoxicated. Breathalyzer and blood alcohol tests showed blood alcohol levels of .091 and .084 for the pilots, police said. The legal limit for operating an automobile in Florida is .08. If convicted on the charge, each defendant faces a maximum of 15 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Jul 12, 2004

Debis AirFinance signed an agreement with Asiana Airlines to purchase two new A321-200s and lease them back to the airline on operating leases. Asiana took delivery of the first aircraft last month and the second is scheduled for delivery in Sept. 2004. Jul 7, 2004

ATA Airlines flightdeck crewmembers, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., ratified concession and new equipment letters of agreement to their current collective bargaining agreement. Roughly 72% of the 896 crewmembers voted in favor of the deal. The amendments to the existing contract will save the company approximately $43 million over the next two years, according to the airline. A new contract amendable date extends the term of the current agreement by one year to 2007. In addition, the amendment includes a new competitive pay scale for a proposed 110-seat aircraft the company is contemplating acquiring in the next 12 months, ATA said. Jul 2, 2004

Atlantic Southeast Airlines - ASA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, marked its 25th anniversary last month with the delivery of a CRJ700 bearing a special livery commemorating the occasion. ASA took to the skies in 1978 with a single 19 passenger de Havilland Twin Otter. It was founded by George Pickett, John Beiser and Robert Priddy, who met while working at Southern Airways. The three spoke at a luncheon in Atlanta recently and shared memories of the early days of the airline. "We realized there were a lot of so-called commuters around, but not one in Atlanta," Pickett recalled. When the founders sought financing for their business plan, they were told they needed at least $3 million in startup costs but they were only able to raise about $500,000. Nevertheless, ASA managed to get off the ground and in 1984 it became a Delta Connection carrier. It was "a goldmine after that," according to Priddy, and when it was sold to Delta in 1999 it was valued at $1 billion. ASA currently operates 133 aircraft to 108 destinations in the US, the Bahamas, Canada and Mexico. Since 1999 it has added 93 new regional jets and another 3,000 employees. It expects to board more than 10 million passengers in 2005. "We've worked very hard over the past five years to get where we are today," said CEO Skip Barnette. Jul 5, 2004