ATR

ATR selected Servigistics, a leading strategic service management solution provider, to manage the company's global and worldwide service parts inventory. It is part of the scope of its ASTRE project (ATR Spares Total Re-Engineering).

BAE

BAE Systems Regional Aircraft place three Avro RJ70s with Transwede Airways, a specialized wet lease operator, which will use the aircraft on new routes from London City Airport on behalf of Italy's independent airline - Air One. The new service launched November 19 to Milan's Linate Airport. Deliveries of the remaining two aircraft are scheduled for December and January and will be deployed on three other new Air One routes to Rome's Fiumicino, Turin and Genoa. Transwede Airways is a sister company to Sweden's Malmo Aviation and the new aircraft will bring the combined fleet to nine RJ100s and four RJ70s. Transwede already operates one RJ70 on behalf of SAS, linking Stockholm's Arlanda with London City Airport.

Caribbean Star

Caribbean Star has reinstated plans to serve Curacao, with launch plans scheduled for December 1. The new service will operate daily between Trinidad and Curacao. It comes on the heels of re-certification under new Civil Aviation Regulations passed in Antigua and Barbuda earlier this year. Curacao is at the center of the airline's expansion plans, according to CEO Skip Barnette. The airline operates a fleet of 11 50-seat aircraft - four Bombardier (BBD) Q300s, plus seven Dash 8 300s.

In separate news, Caribbean Star and its sister airline, Caribbean Sun launched a new toll-fee reservations hotline, providing a centralized point of contact for intra-regional air travel. The move centralizes all previous numbers, none of which was accessible to its entire service area.

Cessna

Cessna's recently certificated Mustang very light jet will have a $2.06 nautical mile cost, significantly slashing the cost of operating a business jet. The six-place Citation Mustang has a top speed of 340 ktas (nearly 400 miles per hour), a range of 1,150 nautical miles (1,323 statute miles/2,130 km) and a service ceiling of 41,000 feet (12,500 m) - suited for getting above most weather and commercial traffic for more efficient operations. The aircraft has been cleared by the FAA for flight into known icing (FIKI). While not a requirement, Cessna said it wanted to have it in place prior to the start of this icing season.

Chautauqua

AAR will provide supply chain services for Chautauqua through its Allen Asset Management division under a new, three-year contract. The company will provide asset planning and repairs and will maintain rotable and expendable inventories at three line stations for the introduction of 24 Bombardier CRJ 200s it will operate as a Continental Express.

FAA

Midwest Air Group's Skyway, American, American Eagle and TAESL, the maintenance joint venture between American and Rolls Royce were awarded the FAA Diamond Award. It is the ninth consecutive year that Skyways has been honored with an FAA award.

Mesa

Mesa Air Group (MESA), through its subsidiary Air Midwest, is launching service to Decatur, Marion and Quincy, Ill from Chicago Midway, under a revenue guarantee agreement with the state of Illinois. The new service will be operated under its own brand - Mesa Airlines. It is part of the Illinois "I-Fly" program that provides enhanced intra-state air service to Illinois communities. It provides a minimum level of revenue to help reduce the inherent risks of starting new service. The service will be operated with Beech 1900Ds.

In separate news, Mesa reported October traffic results, increasing revenue passenger miles (RPM) 4.8 percent to 574 million; available seat miles (ASMs) 3.5 percent to 790.1 million; passengers carried 15.5 percent to 1,321,779 and load factor one point to 72.7 percent. The report includes its new go! operation in Hawaii, now in its fifth month of service. go! had an overall completion factor of 99.3 percent, despite the disruption of the recent earthquake there. On time arrival was 89.4 percent. It generated 13.5 million ASMs, 8.5 million RPMs and 60,466 passenger enplanements, resulting in a load factor of 62.9 percent.

Porter

As part of the launch of its new Toronto City Airport-Montreal service, Porter installed an additional Instrument Landing System (ILS) at Toronto City Center Airport to ensure schedule reliability in lower visibility conditions. It will also further limit noise exposure around the airport. Porter paid $1.85 million to install the ILS, which allows aircraft to fly a "straight in" approach path over the water. NavCanada installed the new approach which was then approved for use by Transport Canada in time for Porter's October 23 first flight.