Airline worker found dead

THE body of a man was found at Waimalika, Sabeto, in Nadi, yesterday morning.

West crime officer Vijay Singh said the body was found with facial and stomach injuries.

Acting Assistant Superintendent Singh said police believed the man had been murdered.

"The identity of the deceased is known.

"He is Solomoni Saukuru, a cabin crew member with Air Pacific and who lives in Vatutu Village, Nadi.

"He was last seen in Nadi Town at 10pm coming out from a nightclub," he said.

ASP Singh said police were seeking information from people concerning the deceased's movements after he left the nightclub on Friday He said 30 police officers from Lautoka, Nadi and Namaka and a forensic team from Suva were working on the case.

The deceased's younger brother Jerry Batirua, 28, said his brother had flown into the country on Monday morning from Los Angeles and was supposed to fly out again today for Sydney.

"We spoke on the phone yesterday (Friday) and he was telling me to come and see him.

"But I didn't because I was working.

"The last I heard about him was when a cousin of mine who works at a nightclub in Nadi said he saw him (the deceased) leaving around 10pm.

"Until the police came home this morning that was the last I had heard," he said. Mr Batirua said since the deceased had arrived on Monday they had not met and kept missing each other at home.

He said when the deceased went missing from home for two days or more, they did not really care because he would be with friends.

"I still can't believe it.

"We were very close.

"I'm going to miss him very much.

"I did everything for him," he said.

He said the deceased was the second eldest of seven siblings and was the first to die among the four brothers and three sisters.

He said the late Mr Saukuru was single and in the middle of building his home when he died.

Original Article 

African airline chiefs seek alliances to cut cost

Africa's top airline chiefs have called for a collaborative strategy to enable successful airlines share resources and expertise with the commercially viable airlines to accelerate economic development across the continent.

The Kenya Airways (KQ) Chief Executive Officer Titus Naikuni, the Air Seychelles CEO Captain David Savy said that the continent's profitable airlines must join forces with the other commercially viable airlines across the continent to grow.

"We have strong feelings about aviation in Africa, how do we make sure we who are successful ensure we make others like Air Rwanda successful. We have a lot we can do with each other," Naikuni said during a banquet party for visiting aviation dignitaries.

The Boeing Corporation, an American airplane maker, has launched a new campaign targeting mainly African and Middle East airlines to acquire its latest design, the 787 Dreamliner carrier, suitable for long haul flights and huge cargo compartments.

Boeing Corporation CEO Allan Mually, who is also the president of the corporation's Commercial Airplanes Division, arrived in Nairobi Thursday for an African marketing tour, which sources said would culminate in high-level talks with the Ethiopian Airlines.

Kenyan carrier, the Kenya Airways was among the first three African airlines to acquire the 787 Dreamliner jets.

Air Seychelles has also secured a deal through which it would gain access to the new commercial plane.

Naikuni called for closer working relationships with other African airlines, insisting that the intensifying competition on the African skies should be a better sign for the improvement of services.

"We need to work together as Africans. I have told the Group of Eight, club of the world's most industrialized nations, that even though Africa is poor, it does not need money for aid, we need to develop human resource," Naikuni reiterated.

Captain Savy said Kenya Airway's success is a role model for other African airlines." It is not a question of size, KQ is the star airline of Africa, and it is an example for other airlines

The aviation chiefs were unanimous that Africa's development depends on the speed at which the continent develops its human resource capacity and devises ways and means of pulling its resources.

Meanwhile, KQ has opened a new training complex for aviation experts, which it says would enable the airline to provide better services.

The Boeing Corporation has invested heavily in the new training complex, dubbed the Leadership Center, aimed at developing a world- class aviation training facility in Africa.

Currently, Kenya trains most of its aviation experts in South Africa and Ethiopia.

KQ executives say it would be open to aviation firms and would eventually be opened up to other sectors.

Source: Xinhua

Original Article 

Airline fires about 11 workers after walkout

By Joe Napsha
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 5, 2006

PSA Airlines, which operates as US Airways Express, said Friday it fired 11 of an estimated 125 ramp and gate workers who walked off their jobs last week at Pittsburgh International Airport in protest of over the company's failure to reach a new contract with their union.Teamsters Local 926 of Pittsburgh, which represents the fired airline employees, on Thursday appealed the firings by filing a grievance with the company, which is standard procedure under its contract, Charles Brynes, secretary-treasurer of the union, said Friday. If the company does not reinstate the workers, the union will seek an independent arbitrator to rule in the case.

The union still is attempting to determine whether 15 or 18 workers were discharged Thursday by PSA, Brynes said.

Brynes, who is chairman of the Teamsters' negotiating committee, said the union will ask the company for an expedited hearing and will seek to have a ruling on a "pilot" case for one or more of the workers. If the union can win that case before a neutral arbitrator, Brynes said he hopes the ruling could be applied to all of the discharged workers.

A few more workers might be terminated as a result of the two walkouts by about 125 workers on the morning and afternoon shifts on April 26, said Phil Gee, a spokesman for US Airways, which owns PSA.The discharged workers walked off their jobs on April 26 in frustration over stalled contract talks, which had been occurring between the union and company in Washington, D.C., last week. The walkout violates the 1997 union contract that prohibits work stoppages and subjects those leaving their jobs to discipline that includes termination, according to a lawsuit PSA Airlines filed against the Teamsters on April 27 in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.

The lawsuit claims that four union stewards were among those who walked off the job and did nothing to get the employees to return to their work.

The first walkout lasted between two and four hours and delayed about a dozen planes, affecting between 200 and 300 passengers on the morning and afternoon of April 26, PSA Airlines said in its lawsuit. A second walkout occurred about 8 p.m. April 26, which prompted the airlines to use about 35 managers to perform the work handled by the Teamsters.

The union said there was frustration over the company's offer to raise wages by just 7-cents-an-hour after four years of bargaining, but PSA Airlines denied in the lawsuit it ever made such a wage offer in negotiations on April 25 and April 26 in Washington, D.C. Those talks produced little progress, the company said.

U.S. District Judge David Cercone Friday dissolved the temporary restraining order banning any union walkout, which the PSA had requested and he approved on April 28. The judge on Thursday also rejected the company’s request that the court issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting future walkouts.

Original Article 

Armenian airline loses second Airbus in 2 days

YEREVAN (Reuters) – An Airbus A320 plane belonging to Armenian air company Armavia and identical to its airliner which crashed two days ago, burnt down overnight in Belgium during maintenance works, an Armenian official said on Friday.

The plane, made in 1996, was being serviced by Sabena Technics, said Armenian civil aviation spokeswoman Gayane Davtyan, giving no further details.

"This was a reserve airliner. We hope this accident will not wreck our overall flight schedule, and we will try and make up for the losses," said Armavia press secretary Zhasmin Vilyan.

Russia's ORT First Channel television ran video footage of a smouldering plane body and an engine painted in Armavia's hallmark white and orange colours. It said four local workers had been injured in the accident.

Sabena Technics' facilities are located at Brussels National Airport where it serves the aviation industry at large, the independent aviation maintenance firm said on its Web site www.sabenatechnics.com. Company officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

Another Armavia Airbus A320 crashed into the Black Sea off the Russian coast on Wednesday, killing all 113 passengers and crew on board as it tried to land in torrential rain.

Armavia's Vilyan said the two planes had been insured but declined to give any further details.

Before this week's accidents, Armavia's fleet had counted five Airbus airliners and two Soviet-made Yakovlev Yak-42 planes.

Original Article 

Expert sees airline ‘baggage meltdown’

WASHINGTON, May 5 (UPI) — An aviation expert in the U.S. Congress is predicting one of the worst summers in history for U.S. airline baggage problems.

Increased air traffic and a shortage of security screeners are the main reasons for a possible "baggage meltdown," said Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee.

This year, with a number of airlines saddled with staff shortages and financial difficulties, there likely will be fewer personnel and even more luggage plus the occasional security bottleneck, Mica said.

USA Today quoted statistics showing a 23 percent increase in lost or mishandled luggage in 2005. About 3.6 million bags were mishandled last year, according to Department of Transportation data.

Original Article 

Group of airline workers aims to fight against concessions

DETROIT – Just as Northwest Airlines pilots Wednesday accepted a new contract that cuts pay, a new group is trying to unite airline workers to fight concessions in the industry.Airline Workers United, made up of airline employees from carriers and labor activists from across the country, doesn't want to represent airline employees. Instead, it wants to help workers talk about their experiences with concessions, think of ways to stop them and eventually reclaim the wages and work rules they lost.

"We all face the same problems. It's just they come at us at different times in different places," said Richard Turk, a mechanic at United Airlines and a founder of Airline Workers United.

The new group makes its debut today in Dearborn, Mich., as part of a larger labor conference, sponsored by grass-roots labor newsletter Labor Notes. The three-day conference aims to strengthen the labor movement at the rank-and-file level.

Founding members of Airline Workers United will talk about industry trends, including concessions, bankruptcy and outsourcing as well as how to develop a strategy to resist more givebacks.

"It's pretty clear that one union at one airline can't stop what's happening," said Kip Hedges, a Northwest ramp worker in Minneapolis and an Airline Workers United founder.

The creation of a rank-and-file group is a sign to unions to figure out how to avoid concessions in the future, said Gary Chaison, professor of management at Clark University, in Worcester, Mass. "This is the pent-up frustration with concessions that occurs with the rank and file," he said.

Airline Workers United's goals are enormous considering the financial problems at the nation's major carriers. Northwest and Delta are reorganizing under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and United exited bankruptcy in February.

All have negotiated lower wages and stricter work rules with unions, negotiating under a looming threat that a bankruptcy judge could throw out their contracts.

On Wednesday, Pilots at Northwest ratified a contract that cuts wages 24 percent. Flight attendants start voting Sunday on their own concessionary deal that cuts wages 21 percent.

Flight attendants at United took two rounds of wage cuts at about 9 percent each. Pilots at Delta took a 32.5 percent pay cut in 2004 and are considering additional concessions.

Original Article 

Govt mulling incentive package to back biofuel-related projects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government is considering offering fiscal and administrative incentives to investors planning to produce biofuel as part of an alternative energy program designed to reduce the use of fossil-based fuels.

"We are considering offering incentives related to taxation and customs duties, and the simplification of licensing procedures," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Friday after opening a seminar on biofuel at his ministry.

He explained that the Finance Ministry would formulate the taxation and import duty incentives for biofuel production equipment.

Other ministries and governmental offices would also formulate incentives other than fiscal ones, he said. "The local administration, for example, could simplify the land use permit arrangements, the Agriculture Ministry could encourage the production of raw materials, the Industry Ministry could simplify plant licensing procedures, and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry could set out guidelines on the types of biofuel that the market needs," he explained.

The government still needed to discuss in more detail the types of the incentives that would be made available, he said.

Purnomo said biofuel could be produced from various raw materials, including crude palm oil (CPO), sugar and cassava, in this vast tropical country.

Crude palm oil can be used to produce biodiesel, a replacement for diesel, while sugar and cassava can be used to produce bioethanol to replace gasoline.

Besides biodiesel and bioethanol, the government would also promote the production of bio-oil, made of straight vegetable oil, and biogas, made of liquid waste and poultry droppings, both of which could be used as alternatives for kerosene.

According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's head of research, Neni Sri Utami, her staff had been researching biofuel since 1996.

"Actually, some biofuel is already available in the marketplace, such as E-10, a combination of 10 percent bioethanol and 90 percent gasoline, and B-10, a combination of 10 percent biodiesel and 90 percent diesel," she said.

In promoting the production of biofuel, the government already had a number of legal instruments at its disposal, including the Oil and Gas Law (No. 22/2001), Presidential Regulation No. 5/2006 on national policies for optimizing energy use, and Presidential Instruction No. 1/2006 on biofuel.

With the addition of the proposed incentives, the country has the potential to produce 720,000 kiloliters (kl) of biofuel per year between 2005 and 2010, 1.5 million kl per year over the five years after that up to 2015, and 4.7 million kl per year over the following ten years up to 2025, Purnomo said. (07)

Original Article 

Brazil airline TAM posts record quarterly profit

SAO PAULO, Brazil, May 5 (Reuters) – Brazil's leading Airline, TAM Linhas Aereas (TAMM4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research), posted a record quarterly profit on Friday as it carried more passengers and kept a lid on costs.

The Sao Paulo-based carrier made a net profit of 111.2 million reais ($53.98 million) in the first quarter, up from 53.5 million reais in the year-earlier period and 65.3 million reais in the fourth quarter of 2005.

Under U.S. GAAP accounting rules, TAM's quarterly profit reached 268 million reais, a 283 percent increase over the same period in 2005.

TAM, which was founded in 1961 as a small cargo carrier, said an increase in passenger traffic and a new electronic ticketing system helped it keep a lid on costs, bolstering its bottom line.

Net revenue jumped 24.6 percent in the quarter from a year ago, to 1.66 billion reais, with 1.26 billion reais coming from TAM's domestic routes and 317.9 million reais coming from its international flights.

TAM's strong performance contrasts starkly with that of Brazil's unofficial flag carrier, Varig (VAGV4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research), which is saddled with some $3.3 billion in debt and is struggling to stave off collapse.

TAM carried 5.55 million passengers in the first quarter, up from 4.22 million in the year-ago period and 5.4 million in the fourth quarter. Its load factor, or occupancy rate, rose to 72.6 percent from 69.9 percent in the first quarter of 2005.

TAM finished the quarter with the top spot in Brazil's aviation market, with 43.8 percent, up from 40.1 percent a year earlier but down from 46.1 percent at the end of December. Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (GOL.N: Quote, Profile, Research)(GOLL4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research), a fast-growing low-cost carrier, remained in second place, followed by Varig.

On the operating level, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure of cash flow known as EBITDA, rose to 375.5 million reais from 295.2 million reais a year ago.

Original Article 

Hawaiian Airlines expands West Coast service

By Rick Daysog, The Honolulu Advertiser

HONOLULU — Hawaiian Airlines is ramping up its service to the West Coast.

The state's largest airline said it will add 21 round-trip flights a week to the Mainland starting this fall, increasing the total weekly round-trip flights to 116.

The airline also plans to recall 22 furloughed pilots and hire 100 new flight attendants to staff the new flights.

"This expansion allows us to bring back more of our furloughed employees, which is an important goal," said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian's president and chief executive officer.

The move comes as Hawaiian has faced increased competition on its Mainland routes from large U.S. carriers. Last year, US Airways began flights to Maui from Phoenix, and Delta Air Lines added an Atlanta-to-Honolulu route.

The expansion includes:

Adding Honolulu-to-Seattle flights. Hawaiian will add three flights a week to this route, starting Nov. 19, bringing the total weekly flights to 10.

Adding Honolulu-to-Sacramento flights. Also on Nov. 19, the airline will add four weekly flights on this route, increasing to 11 the number of weekly flights to the Northern California destination.

Adding Maui-to-Portland-and-Seattle flights. Hawaiian will add seven weekly flights starting Oct. 13 to this route.

Making its summer daily service between Maui and San Diego year-round starting Sept. 6.

Converting its Honolulu-to-Los Angeles flights, which now run four times a week, to daily service in summer 2007.

Hawaiian, which emerged from bankruptcy protection last June, initiated or was the dominant carrier on many of the West Coast routes, Dunkerley said. During Hawaiian's two-year reorganization, the local airline lost some ground on those routes to its Mainland competitors, the airline said.

Dunkerley noted that customer demand on the West Coast routes has remained strong. He added that the expansion is being made possible by the airline's plans to purchase four Boeing 767-300 jets from Delta for $31.8 million, first announced in February.

The new planes will increase Hawaiian's trans-Pacific fleet from 14 to 18 aircraft. Dunkerley added that Hawaiian's West Coast expansion doesn't bar the company from developing new routes to the Mainland and to international destinations.

Hawaiian has expressed interest in flying to China but last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected the local airlines' request to operate the lucrative routes and selected American Airlines and Continental Airlines instead.

Original Article 

Air crash families to receive $20,000 – airline head

YEREVAN, May 4 (RIA Novosti) – Each family who lost relatives in Wednesday's Black Sea air crash will receive about $20,000 in compensation, the head of the airline that owned the plane said Thursday.

An Airbus A-320 belonging to Armenia's Armavia Airlines flying from the country's capital, Yerevan, crashed about six kilometers from the Russian coast en route to an airport in Adler, which services the resort of Sochi. Eight crewmembers and 105 passengers were on board.

"The plane and its passengers were insured by an Armenian company, which reinsured its risks in London," Armavia head Mikhail Bagdasarov told Armenian television.

Bagdasarov said compensation would be paid after independent insurance experts had completed an investigation.

The Armenian government also said Thursday that it would pay the families about $3,400.

Original Article