Aviation Daily, August 26, 2014

Monarch Airlines will end charter operations and move completely to short- and medium-haul scheduled flying as part of its strategic review. The U.K. airline will also close one of its six U.K. bases next year. The airline has gradually shifted capacity to scheduled flying under the ZB code from charter flying under the MON code, and scheduled operations now represent 85% of the airline’s business.

Estonian Air managed to reduce losses in the first six months of the year, but increasing competition and the situation in Ukraine is prompting the need to implement additional restructuring measures, warned CEO Jan Palmér. Net loss in the first half improved 18% compared to the year-ago period to €5 million (U.S. $6.6 million) and the airline has continued to perform in line with the restructuring plan, “but nevertheless we expected to see more positive results,” Palmér said. Total revenue declined 8% year-over-year to €32.9 million.

Singapore-based lessor BOC Aviation has placed an order for 80 Boeing 737-family aircraft to refresh the company’s current narrowbody fleet and also help meet global demand from network and low-cost carriers (LCCs). The order comprises 30 Boeing 737-800s scheduled for delivery between 2016 and 2018, and 50 737-8s from the MAX range for delivery between 2019 and 2021. BOC CEO Robert Martin tells Aviation Week that while the lessor has not yet inked any contracts with customers for the new orders, talks have begun and it has “good ideas where we will put some.”

Cathay Pacific, continuing its North American market resurgence, is adding destinations and frequencies to take advantage of strong demand. The latest addition is a four-times-weekly nonstop route from Hong Kong to Boston, set to launch in May 2015. The carrier also increased capacity to its Los Angeles gateway in June and to Chicago earlier this month, as well as launching service to Newark in March. New Boeing 777-300ER deliveries have been aiding the growth in these markets.

Lufthansa has started preparing for the next pilot strike, which could happen later this week. The airline, in collaboration with alliance partners and affiliate carriers, is working on an emergency schedule that would ensure uninterrupted service on key routes. Raimund Mueller, head of Lufthansa’s flight operations for Munich, said the airline does not expect pilots to launch a massive strike affecting the entire network. The airline is working on the assumption that it will be given 24 hours’ notice and only parts of the operation will be affected.

After years of financial struggles, Air Canada believes it has turned the corner and is positioned to be consistently profitable going forward. “Momentum is heading towards long-term sustainable profitability,” Air Canada VP-global sales Duncan Bureau told the Boyd Group International Aviation Forecast Summit in Las Vegas Monday. He cited the Montreal-based carrier’s 2014 second-quarter net profit of C$223 million (U.S. $203.6 million), noting it was “the most profitable [June] quarter in the airline’s 75-year history.”

LAS VEGAS—The price of crude oil has remained roughly steady during the last year and increasing supplies means it is just as likely to fall as rise in the near-term, a petroleum industry analyst said. The futures price for West Texas Intermediate has held steady at about $90 per barrel for the last year, Ben Brockwell, director of data at petroleum-industry consultancy OPIS, said at the Boyd International Aviation Summit here. But the day-to-day trading price—not the futures price—has been much lower, trading between $60-$70 per barrel.

A battle between the Independent Pilots Association (IPA) and cargo carrier UPS has landed both in trouble with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). According to a release issued by the NTSB earlier today, both the IPA, which represents UPS pilots, and the carrier have been removed as parties to the Flight 1354 investigation, which is to be concluded in a final public hearing on Sept. 9.

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