Continental Airlines said Dec. 28 it will withdraw 69 of 274 Embraer RJs from its capacity purchase agreement with ExpressJet Airlines because the latter's rates "are above the current market."ExpressJet may continue to sublease any of the 69 aircraft at higher rates but cannot operate them into any of CO's hubs. The ERJ-135s and dash 145s operate in the Continental Express network. ExpressJet at one time was a wholly owned subsidiary of CO but now is publicly traded.

Delta Air Lines reported a November net loss of $181 million in a Dec. 30 filing with the US Bankruptcy Court compared to losses of $1.14 billion during the six weeks following its entry into Chapter 11 (ATWOnline, Dec. 2) and approximately $300 million in October.November's net loss minus reorganization items and taxes was $164 million. Operating loss was $107 million on revenues of $1.29 billion and expenses of $1.4 billion.

While some analysts are forecasting a spike in airfares out of Washington Dulles as a result of the shutdown of Independence Air tomorrow, others believe the departure of the carrier formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines will cause barely a ripple."There is no vacuum created by the elimination of this airline," analyst Mike Boyd told ATWOnline. "This was clearly excess capacity in terms of need." Boyd said FLYi routes with fares as low as $29 to destinations like Portland, Me., or Charleston, W.Va., will not be missed; "You won't have another carrier rushing in to fill that Charleston route."

Qantas plans to use mainland China as a hub to European and other ports as part of a strategy that will see the airline launch its first non-stop flights to Beijing on Monday.

China Southern Airlines has recently entered into a new frequent flyer program partnership with Taipei-based China Airlines.

Australia's top-secret air marshals are under a cloud after Virgin Blue cast doubt on the need for the expensive anti-terrorist program.

Air China has recently signed an agreement with Dragonair that will see the Air China wet-lease two of its aircraft.