Lufthansa pilots renewed their threat to strike for four days starting April 13 unless they can agree with the German flag carrier on terms for arbitration. The Vereinigung Cockpit union denied several German media reports that it had dropped its strike call as demanded by the airline. A one-day pilots strike in February cost LH around €48 million ($64.7 million) as it was forced to cancel 2,000 flights.
Continental Airlines and US Airways implemented passenger deplaning procedures for lengthy tarmac delays in preparation for the US Dept. of Transportation's new rule taking effect April 29 that will require airlines to let passengers disembark when delays reach 3 hr. or face hefty fines.
Two of the airline industry's ancillary revenue pioneers are attempting to see how far the fee-for-service concept can be pushed, with Spirit Airlines announcing that it will charge passengers up to $45 for carryon bags and Ryanair revealing that it is continuing to pursue its pay-per-use toilet idea.
Turkish Airlines reported a 2009 net profit of TRY559.1 million ($369.5 million), down 50.7% from the TRY1.13 billion it earned in 2008, according to selected financial results released to the Istanbul Stock Exchange. Revenue increased 15% to TRY7.04 billion from TRY6.12 billion in 2008 and operating profit rose 12% to TRY832 million. The carrier grew its fleet by 4% during the year to 132 aircraft. Traffic lifted 17% to 40.11 billion RPKs on a 22% gain in capacity to 56.55 billion ASKs, producing a load factor of 70.9%, down 3.1 points.
Boeing is pressing forward with the 787 flight test program and believes first delivery to ANA by the end of November is feasible. The manufacturer expects to obtain Type Inspection Authorization for the 787 this week after passing flutter and structural wing bending tests. TIA will formally kick off the FAA certification process.
AerCap Holdings signed a five-year, $120 million corporate debt facility agreement with UBS as lead arranger. The facility will be used for "general corporate purposes," it said.
Ameco Beijing redelivered a 767 to Bangladesh GMG Airlines March 20 after providing line maintenance and continuous airworthiness engineering services. Ameco Beijing said this was the first time it provided third-party engineering services not involving airframe maintenance.
Republic Airways Holdings will rebrand Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines, both of which it acquired last year, under a single name and plans to announce the new moniker (likely either Frontier or Midwest, though there is some speculation that a combined name or new brand could be revealed) in dual ceremonies in Denver and Milwaukee on April 13, The Indianapolis Star reported. The rebranded airline will be managed out of Republic's Indianapolis headquarters.
Pinnacle Airlines and United Steelworkers AFL-CIO reached a tentative agreement to amend the collective bargaining accord covering 930 ground operations employees at Memphis and other locations. Ground operation employees now must ratify the agreement, it said.
AirTran Airways flew 1.74 billion RPMs in March, a 9.6% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity grew 5.5% to 2.07 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 3.1 points to 83.8%. AirTran said the load factor and RPMs represent new all-time company records for both the month of March and the first quarter. Allegiant Air flew 571.2 million RPMs in March, up 15.4% year-over-year, against a 14.4% lift in capacity to 636.7 million ASMs. Load factor rose 0.8 point to 89.7%.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said business travelers are returning to the airline, generating yield growth for the first time in more than a year. Speaking to The Australian, he said domestic yields topped year-ago figures in December and international yields followed suit in February. Over the past 18 months, business travelers stopped flying or downgraded to economy, resulting in the airline's premium yield falling by as much as 40%. Joyce is confident that domestic premium yields will remain strong throughout the year and noted that QF is raising domestic capacity by 3% in 2010.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. said the US Dept. of Transportation should not approve the Delta Air Lines/US Airways slot-swap deal. Under an arrangement announced last month intended to alleviate DOT concerns, DL would gain a net 110 slot pairs at LGA and US a net 37 at DCA
FedEx moved to take another step in the effort to automate air cargo, yesterday introducing Electronic Trade Documents, which will allow shippers to upload international shipping documentation electronically. IATA has been pushing the air cargo industry to embrace "e-freight," arguing that paper accompanying airfreight adds more than $1 billion in costs annually and creates mistakes, lost documents and related confusion that cause cargo to get held in customs facilities ( ATW, June 2008).
CFM International said the firm CFM56-7B engine order placed by Virgin Blue Group in conjunction with its firm order for 50 737-800s finalized last week is valued at $700 million. The Australian carrier is expected to begin taking delivery of the new aircraft in June 2011 ( ATWOnline, April 2) and CFM said all of the engines will be of the CFM56-7BE variant ( ATWOnline, March 8).
Jazz Air and Thomas Cook Canada signed a flight service agreement, expected to generate approximately C$100 million ($99 million) in annual revenue, under which Jazz will operate "no less than" six 757-200s to "various sun destinations" from Canada November-April. The charter routes previously were flown by Skyservice Airlines, which shut down operations last week ( ATWOnline, April 1).
AirAsia X complained that the Malaysian government has "protected" Malaysia Airlines on routes from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney and Seoul Incheon, creating uncertainty over whether the former can launch services to the Australian and South Korean capitals by June as planned.
Japan Airlines will submit a reorganization plan by the end of June that includes cutting 47-51 routes, according to reports by multiple Japanese media outlets.
Gulf Air will launch service from Bahrain to Alexandria (four-times-weekly on June 2) and Aleppo (thrice-weekly on June 17). Air Canada launched daily Montreal-Ottawa-Iqaluit service aboard a Jazz Air CRJ700 and thrice-weekly Calgary-Tokyo Narita service aboard a 767-300. Midwest Airlines launched flights from Milwaukee to Raleigh-Durham (13-times-weekly aboard an E-170) and St. Louis (13-times-weekly aboard an E-135).
Qantas A380 suffered a dual tire blowout on landing at Sydney last week. Flight QF32 from Singapore arrived at SYD on Wednesday at 8.30 p.m. local time and on touchdown is understood to have suffered a brake problem that apparently locked the wheels.
ANA confirmed the merger of its Air Japan charter and ANA & JP Express cargo subsidiaries, following up on a corporate plan announced last month ( ATWOnline, March 22). Both operate 767s. ANA & JP will be dissolved following the acquisition by ANA of shares held by Japan Post Service (33.3%), Nippon Express Co. (10%) and Mitsui OSK Lines (5%) last week. Air Japan employs 411 and ANA & JP 207. ANA said the impact on its consolidated results "will be minor."
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said last week that the airline wound up flying "well over 80%" of those customers booked on flights during the March 27-30 flight attendants' strike
FAA said that pilots taking specified antidepressant medication will be permitted to fly on a case-by-case basis if they have been treated with the medicine for at least one year. Additionally, it said it will not take action against pilots who take advantage of a six-month opportunity "to share any previously nondisclosed diagnosis of depression or the use of these antidepressants." FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said, "We need to change the culture and remove the stigma associated with depression.
Air Berlin phased out its remaining Boeing long-haul aircraft, one 767-300ER and two 757-200ERs, which were operated by Swiss subsidiary Belair. The group now uses 13 A330-200s/300s on its long-haul network. It has 15 787s on firm order. Oman Air added its fourth A330, a -300, to its fleet on April 1.
