United Airlines expects first-quarter consolidated passenger RASM to rise 16%-17% year-over-year to 11.44-11.54 cents, while mainline unit revenue should surge 16.5%-17.5% to 10.5-10.59 cents, parent company UAL Corp. said yesterday in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It said lower capacity and revenue resulting from the February storms in the eastern US boosted consolidated RASM growth by 0.4 point. First-quarter mainline unit cost excluding fuel, profit sharing and "certain accounting charges" will increase 4.5%-5.5% to 8.36-8.44 cents, it said.
Air France flight attendants reportedly will strike March 28-31 in protest of an airline proposal to reduce crew numbers on some domestic and European flights. Six unions are involved. CGT Secretary Eyal Jonas told Bloomberg News that the walkout will occur unless the sides can come to an agreement, while The Connexion reported that AF plans to cut the equivalent of 750 fulltime cabin staff positions by the end of 2011. The airline did not acknowledge the threat.
Boeing agreed to pay Air India $145 million in compensation for the delay in its 787s, the Indian government announced. AI parent National Aviation Co. of India had requested $710 million. It has 27 787-8s on order and has seen first delivery pushed back from the originally scheduled May 2008 to April 2011.
Spring Airlines expects to earn a net profit of more than CNY200 million ($29.3 million) this year owing to the economic recovery and Expo 2010 in Shanghai, according to Chairman Wang Zhenghua. The LCC reported earnings of CNY158 million in 2009 and posted a profit in excess of CNY50 million through the first two months of this year (double the year-ago period) as demand rebounded. It plans to introduce seven A320s to the fleet before July, expanding to 21 aircraft. It took one this month and will add another on March 25.
US FAA is issuing an Airworthiness Directive this week mandating a software fix for autopilot flight director computers on 777s to prevent runway overruns on takeoff, Boeing confirmed. "Boeing had received operator reports of flight crews inadvertently engaging the autopilot while on the ground," the company told the
US and Zambia signed an open skies aviation agreement. Zambia is the US's 96th open skies partner and 20th in Africa. EU and Jordan announced a common aviation area agreement that is expected to be signed in June.
Alitalia will increase summer capacity by 5.5% year-over-year and will operate some 2,500 weekly flights on 140 routes to 82 destinations on its summer schedule beginning March 28. Thrice-weekly Milan Malpensa-Miami service will launch June 3 and five-times-weekly Rome Fiumicino-Los Angeles flights begin June 5. AZ also will launch new service from FCO to Malaga (daily) and Vienna (twice-daily) on March 28 and will resume seasonal flights from FCO and Milan Linate to Lampedusa and Pantelleria as well as its four-times-weekly Venice-Cagliari service.
News from Travel Technology Update: LUTE Technologies AG, based in Zug, Switzerland, rolled out LUTE 2, its full-product, multisource travel distribution system. LUTE currently has connections with Lufthansa, United, Continental, American, Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Air Canada and US Airways will be connected shortly, and the company expects to add more airlines in the future.
Air Berlin yesterday announced the cancellation of 10 firm 787 orders worth a combined $1.7 billion at list prices, along with five options, "to account for a change in market conditions and in order to meet. . .specific operative requirements."
WestJet President and CEO Sean Durfy announced his resignation effective April 1, insisting he was leaving on his own accord to "spend more time with my young family," and Executive VP-Operations Gregg Saretsky was appointed as the Calgary-based LCC's new president and CEO.
American Airlines yesterday followed Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways in asking the US Dept. of Transportation for a partial exemption from the tarmac delay rule set to take effect April 29, the latest indication of the airline industry's wariness over the new requirement.
TAP Portugal pilots represented by the SPAC union have called a six-day strike starting March 26. SPAC warned that all flights will be affected except those to Madeira, which they will continue to serve to support efforts to rebound from last month's flooding. Pilots staged a two-day strike last September and have been negotiating with the carrier since. TAP President and CEO Fernando Pinto told
Shanghai Hongqiao International's new Terminal 2 became operational yesterday as the city prepares for Expo 2010 scheduled to run from May to October. Eleven carriers--China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Shandong Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Juneyao Airlines--have transferred to the new terminal. The old T1 will continue to house local LCC Spring Airlines and charter flights to Japan and South Korea.
British Airways found some common ground with its unions, announcing an agreement on a reduction of its £3.7 billion ($5.58 billion) pension funding deficit that was a roadblock in its merger with Iberia. BA yesterday said it "has concluded consultations with its joint trade unions on the future benefits of its defined benefit pension schemes" and that the "proposals are intended to avoid the closure of the pension schemes and maintain British Airways' contributions at the current level of £330 million per annum." Unite, GMB and the British Air Line Pilots Assn.
Norwegian Court of Appeal upheld and increased a 2008 judgment against SAS Group, which now must pay damages of NOK160 million ($27.3 million) to Norwegian, plus nearly NOK15 million in court costs, to settle an industrial espionage case regarding SAS's improper use of data in DY's reservation system. The original ruling was for NOK132 million in damages plus court costs
Lufthansa regional subsidiary Eurowings, which plans to reduce its fleet from the current 34 aircraft to 15, will close all its bases except for Dusseldorf in order to reduce costs, a spokesperson told the Neue Ruhr/Neue Rhein Zeitung. Bases at Dortmund, Munster Osnabruck, Paderborn, Cologne, Nurnberg, Berlin Tegel, Hannover, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich will close. No details were provided regarding a timetable or layoffs ( ATWOnline, Jan. 20).
Delta Air Lines will close one of its two concourses at Cincinnati on May 1, potentially leading to the layoff of 840 employees of DL's Regional Elite Airline Systems subsidiary, according to a memo cited by
Air France and KLM will begin charging all economy passengers €55/$55 for a second checked bag on tickets sold from March 28. They previously levied that charge only on routes from Europe to the US and Canada and said the move is "in line with industry standards." The baggage allowance will be raised from 20 kg. to 23 kg. per bag, and a third piece will be charged €200/$200. Premium economy passengers will be allowed two 23 kg. bags free of charge and business class passengers three. Customers will receive a 20% discount if they book online.
Air New Zealand will increase capacity on its domestic jet network by 10.5% beginning next January owing to growing demand and the expected jump in tourism prompted by the Rugby World Cup in September-October 2011, during which ANZ will raise capacity 26%. It will begin taking delivery next year of its A320s, which boast 171 seats compared to the 133 on its 737s, and also will extend the lease on one 737 by eight months.
Philippine Airlines took delivery of its first two 777-300ERs ( ATWOnline, June 7, 2007) and announced a resumption of service to Brisbane and Riyadh. PAL will serve Brisbane twice-weekly via Melbourne Tullamarine aboard an A330-300 beginning today, allowing its five-times-weekly Manila-Sydney service to be operated with a 777. Four-times-weekly MNL-RUH flights will begin March 28 aboard a 747-400. PAL's 777s seat 370 in two classes and currently serve Hong Kong, Tokyo Narita, SYD and MEL.
AWAS delivered a fifth A330-300 to Singapore Airlines. Aircraft will serve Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Male and Kuwait City beginning this month, with Fukuoka and Taipei added in April and Colombo in May.
Sun Country Airlines will operate weekly flights between Minneapolis-St. Paul and London Stansted June 11-Aug. 15 aboard a two-class 737-800. STN will be the Minnesota-based leisure carrier's first destination outside the US, Mexico and the Caribbean since the mid-1990s, a Sun Country spokesperson told ATWOnline. The flight will refuel in Gander, the spokesperson said, adding that the airline currently has no plans for further international service "right now," although it will "see how [the new route] goes." It operates a fleet of nine 737-800s.
Bmi, which recently has been adding "British Midland International" to its name to emphasize its international route network, specifically in non-EU markets served by the former BMED, is launching four-times-daily London Heathrow-Berlin Tegel service on March 28 aboard a two-class A319. RwandAir launched daily Kigali-Kamembe service and said it plans to add flights to Kinshasa to its summer schedule.
SIA Engineering announced a three-year extension (plus two-year option) to its comprehensive MRO and fleet management support agreement with Singapore Airlines worth S$2.2 billion ($1.57 billion). New contract commences April 1.
LUTE Technologies AG, based in Zug, Switzerland, rolled out LUTE 2, its full-product, multisource travel distribution system. LUTE currently has connections with Lufthansa, United, Continental, American, Emirates and Singapore airlines. Air Canada and US Airways will be connected shortly, and the company expects to add more airlines in the future.
