Notams

Nearly 30 percent of airline flights were delayed in August, according to government data. The news came less than a week after President Bush promised to help address the problem, reported the Associated Press. The nation's 20 top carriers reported on-time arrivals of 71.1 percent in August, down from 75.8 percent a year ago, according to the Transportation Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. "Through August, more than 25 percent of flights have arrived late--the industry's worst on-time performance" since the collection of comparable data began in 1995. "August's on-time performance was the second worst on record for that month, topped only by a 70-percent arrival rate in 2000," the news report said. Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the lowest on-time arrivals: 55 percent.

Continental looks to China, India

Continental Airlines will add destinations in booming India and China, tapping their booming economies to boost the carrier's international revenues, a top company official told Reuters. Continental recently began a nonstop New York-Mumbai service and plans to add more Indian cities on taking delivery of its Boeing 787s, said James Summerford, vice president of European, Middle East, and Indian operations. "The two places to be in today are China and India," he added. Continental launched New Delhi-New York flights in 2005.

Talks stop between American, mechanics

American Airlines and one of its labor unions discontinued talks on extending a contract for mechanics and other ground workers. Now the airline and the Transport Workers Union will attack the task of negotiating an entirely new contract, reported the Associated Press from Forth Worth, Texas. The change was seen as a setback for American's hopes of buying an interval of labor peace with ground workers that would allow it to focus on negotiations with pilots and flight attendants. American is in early-stage talks with pilots and plans to begin negotiations with flight attendants in late 2007 or early 2008.

Delta sees record traffic

Delta Air Lines Inc. said overseas travel drove traffic and capacity gains in September. Occupancy reached a record for the month, the Associated Press reported from Atlanta. The airline's traffic rose 7.8 percent to 9.79 billion revenue passenger miles, from 9.08 billion during the year-ago period. A 14.1-percent surge in international traffic and 4.7-percent growth in domestic movement contributed to the result. "Overall occupancy rose to a record 77.6 percent of seats filled in September from 74.6 percent last year--driven by mainline, domestic, and Latin America gains," the report said. Capacity increased 2.1 percent.

ASA, pilots reach tentative agreement

Following five years of talks, pilots at Atlantic Southeast Airlines represented by the Air Line Pilots Association International (ALPA) reached a deal with management. The tentative agreement was to be finalized and considered by the pilots' union leadership before being sent out to the pilots for final ratification, ALPA said.