Boeing won a USD$10 billion order from Qantas to deliver 65 Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets, with an option for a further 50 planes, dealing a blow to rival Airbus. Qantas, the world's eighth-biggest passenger airline by market value, said it ordered 45 twin-aisled B787 jets with options for a further 20. The value of the 65 B787s was AUD$13 billion (USD$10 billion) at list price, Qantas said, adding it also took out purchase rights for an extra 50 B787 aircraft. "We regard the firm orders and the options as basically a done deal," Qantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon told reporters, referring to the first batch of 65 planes. He said the B787 -- to have its first test flight in 2007 -- was chosen because of the price of the aircraft as well as the technology, fuel efficiency and the distance a B787 would fly.

Up to five airlines are looking to take advantage of a new type of very precise airport approach procedure that FAA will roll out at some of the nation's busiest airports next year, and these carriers are looking to duplicate the cost-saving success that Alaska Airlines has achieved as the first airline to trial the new approaches at a handful of airports. The required navigation performance (RNP) procedures use aircraft flight management systems to fly approach paths with almost no deviation. This means aircraft that meet RNP standards can use autopilot to follow complicated approach paths mapped out by FAA, even during bad weather. The procedure can prevent diversions and increase arrival rates, and is also helpful for airports surrounded by mountains or congested airspace. So far, FAA has introduced RNP approaches for airports in Juneau, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Portland, Ore., and, most recently, Washington National. Alaska was the carrier selected by FAA to help develop RNP-enabled procedures, and is the only one certified to use the new approaches. FAA has identified -- with the help of airline industry groups -- 75 RNP approaches that it would like to introduce in the next three years. Next year, the agency plans to create 25 RNP approaches, at airports such as New York Kennedy, Chicago Midway, and Houston Intercontinental. JetBlue, Continental and Delta are all expected to certify to use RNP approaches early next year, and another two major carriers will probably join them by the end of the year, FAA officials

The U.S. Department of State's International Information Programs issued the following press release: The United States and Mexico have signed a new aviation accord that increases the number of airlines that can fly between U.S. cities and 14 destinations in Mexico. The U.S. Department of Transportation said in a December 12 statement that the agreement, signed that day in Mexico City, increases from two to three the number of airlines that passengers in each country can select from when flying between the United States and the 14 Mexican cities, which include all of Mexico's major tourist destinations. The agreement expands on a similar 1999 pact that allowed the two airlines from each country to operate between U.S. and Mexican destinations. U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said tourists in the United States and Mexico now will have "more flights to choose from when planning their next vacation," adding: "Travelers in markets covered by this new agreement will enjoy better service as well as the benefits of greater competition."

Eleven air traffic controllers who were fired from their jobs at the New York Tracon in Westbury earlier this year were back on the job yesterday morning after a settlement agreement was reached with the controllers' union. The Federal Aviation Administration notified the veteran controllers in August that they would be fired because they didn't acknowledge on routine medical forms that they had seen doctors for on-the-job stress. Controllers at the Tracon guide planes in and out of the New York area. Air traffic controllers are required to undergo periodic physicals to show they are fit for work, and in that process they fill out forms that ask if they have been treated for mental problems or seen other doctors. The fired controllers had all taken time off for disability for on-the-job stress, but did not disclose it on their medical forms. Under the settlement, the controllers were reinstated, and 10 received five-day suspensions without pay. One controller received a 30-day suspension without pay

IATA predicted the industry could return to profit in 2007 after six years of heavy losses and lowered its forecast for 2005 worldwide losses to USD$6 billion. Making cuts in operating costs and strong passenger growth were helping to restore profitability but the high price of fuel still weighed heavily on the sector, IATA chief economist Brian Pearce said. The International Air Transport Association said global industry losses would narrow further to USD$4.2 billion in 2006 and then head into the black in 2007, posting aggregate net profits that could exceed USD$6 billion -- a level that still fails to cover the sector's costs of capital. "Fuel prices remain a major risk but now appear to be on a slow downward trend as global economic growth and demand for oil slows," Pearce said.