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. (continue reading…)

American Airlines Inc. told its pilots Friday that the carrier won’t have to furlough any pilots April 1 as feared.

With the carrier continuing to reduce capacity, American warned in January that it would need to furlough up to 175 pilots in 2010. It laid off 78 pilots on Feb. 28 and expected to send more out the door on April 1.

However, the plans have changed as the carrier re-evaluated how many pilots it would need compared with the number it had.
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Federal regulators are proposing more maintenance-related penalties against American Airlines.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it would fine American $787,500 for three cases of alleged maintenance problems.

In one case, regulators say the airline operated a plane without replacing a central computer on the jet. The FAA says mechanics improperly put off the maintenance.
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For the convenience of passengers using the service to American Airlines flights. The airlines provide mobile services boarding pass at some airport. American Airlines this year to expand the mobile boarding pass service on 19 new airport.

The airports participating in the mobile boarding pass system are: Albuquerque (ABQ), Atlanta (ATL), Austin (AUS), Charlotte (CLT), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Cleveland (CLE), Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW), Denver (DEN), El Paso (ELP), (continue reading…)

European antitrust regulators on Wednesday took a step toward approving an expanded alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia after the airlines offered to give up landing and takeoff slots at airports serving London and New York.

The European Commission said the three airlines, all members of the Oneworld alliance, had offered to cede slots at Heathrow, Gatwick and Kennedy Airports.
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Airlines worldwide will lose a collective $2.8 billion in 2010, half the previous forecast, as emerging markets lead a rebound in traffic, the International Air Transport Association said.

The loss estimate was cut from $5.6 billion after a “much stronger recovery in demand” at the end of 2009 that continued into the first months of this year, the Geneva, Switzerland- based association said in a statement today.
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U.S. airline passenger numbers will reach 1 billion in 2023, two years later than projected, because of slow economic growth, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The revision in the agency’s annual forecast follows an “unprecedented” drop in operations last year, when take-offs and landings fell 10.4 percent, said Nan Shellabarger, the agency’s director of aviation policy and plans.
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An American Airlines jet scraped a wingtip and partially veered off the runway while landing in poor visibility Sunday night at Charlotte, N.C., and federal air-safety regulators are looking into why it took the carrier four hours to notify them about the event.

While none of the crew or the 110 passengers aboard Flight 1402 was injured, the Federal Aviation Administration is treating the event as an accident. On Monday, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said American’s timing in notifying the agency “is part of the investigation.” (continue reading…)

British Airways goes to court today in a desperate bid to get the Christmas strike by cabin crew ruled illegal.

The 12-day walkout could cost loss-making BA £30million a day and ruin the airline. It will also wreck Christmas travel plans for more than a million passengers.

Many were yesterday scrambling to book with other airlines. But increased demand has led to carriers bumping prices even higher and thousands of travellers will be priced out.
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