EasyJet CEO Andy Harrison, who will leave the airline at the end of June ( ATWOnline, Dec. 10, 2009), yesterday was named CEO of Whitbread effective Sept. 1. Whitbread owns hotel and restaurant brands in the UK. IATA named Gulf Air CCO Willy Boulter regional VP-Asia/Pacific.
American Airlines flew 8.44 billion system RPMs in February, a 2.2% decline from the year-ago month, while capacity dropped 4.2% to 11.18 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.5 points to 75.5%. American Eagle Airlines flew 527.3 million RPMs, up 1%, against a 1.3% cut in capacity to 790.5 million ASMs. Load factor increased 1.5 points to 66.7%.
Continental Airlines will make economy seats with 7 in. of extra legroom available for purchase at check-in or within 24 hr. of departure beginning March 17. Number of available seats will depend on the aircraft and pricing "will vary depending on a number of factors, including the length of flight and the market," CO said.
Boeing announced the delivery of two 777 freighters to Southern Air, which will operate them on an ACMI contract with Thai Airways. Southern also operates 16 747Fs. Aeronautical Engineers Inc. yesterday delivered its first completed 737-400 converted freighter to Istanbul-based MNG Airlines, which plans to use the aircraft on routes connecting Istanbul Ataturk to Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Luton and Cologne. The aircraft, converted at AEI's Miami facility, can carry a maximum payload of 47,100 lb.
Dutch authorities arrested a Swedish man about to pilot a Corendon Airlines 737 from Amsterdam to Ankara with a forged license Tuesday evening. The suspect used to have a valid Commercial Pilot's License but had been flying for 13 years with the forged document for companies in the UK, Belgium and Italy, spending some 10,000 unlicensed hr. in the air. Apparently he had received a validation of the forged Airline Transport Pilot License allowing him to operate Turkish commercial aircraft. An arraignment hearing has been scheduled for Friday.
Turkish Airlines applied to the country's Capital Markets Board for approval to increase its registered share capital from the current TRY500 million ($325 million) to TRY2 billion.
Air Slovakia ceased operations Tuesday owing to financial troubles and unpaid debts. It is the third Slovakian airline to shut down in the past six months following SkyEurope Airlines ( ATWOnline, Sept. 3, 2009) and Seagle Air ( ATWOnline, Oct. 26, 2009). Air Slovakia was founded in 1993 and operated two 737 Classics and one 757-200.
FAA yesterday announced that two New York JFK tower employees, a supervisor and an air traffic controller, are on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation into "an incident last month when a child was permitted to talk with pilots on an air traffic control frequency." The widely available audio clips feature a child making five transmissions to pilots preparing for takeoff.
SAS Group President and CEO Mats Jansson told Dagens Nyheter that the company likely will be sold to another airline once it recovers financially. "My understanding is that, after this crisis is over, SAS will be part of a structural deal," he said, according to Reuters. "It is tough out there and there are obvious synergies and advantages to be had from being part of a bigger entity."
Air France KLM said it plans to reduce its summer schedule capacity by just 0.3% year-over-year, comprising an 8% lift in long-haul ASKs and a 4% reduction in the medium-haul network, as "tentative signs of recovery, depending on the country, have been perceived." The company will add Abu Dhabi (five-times-weekly from May 3) and Bata (twice-weekly via Malabo) as new AF destinations from Paris Charles de Gaulle and new KLM flights from Amsterdam to Denpasar (four-times-weekly via Singapore) and Aruba (twice-weekly). The summer program begins March 28.
Both passenger and cargo demand are rebounding, particularly in Asia and developing markets, but there are "very large geographical differences" in the recovery and rising fuel costs hamper the "ability to turn stronger demand into profit," IATA stated in its latest "Airlines Financial Monitor" released yesterday.
Optimism regarding the gradual recovery of India's commercial aviation industry was dampened yesterday in Hyderabad as the India Aviation show and conference opened amid concerns that a new 10% tax on domestic tickets could stifle growth. On the bright side, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the industry handled the recession "with composure" and that he has "cautious optimism" about 2010.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said he believes the carrier is "as prepared as we can be" for a flight attendants strike with a contingency plan including 23 aircraft wet-leased from other UK and European airlines.
Panasonic Avionics Corp. will install its overhead Panasonic Digital Multiplexed Passenger Entertainment System on three Israir Airlines A320s. DMPES incorporates the company's X Series System, "which reduces space, weight and power when compared with traditional overhead systems." Oman Air yesterday completed its first A330 flight offering Honeywell Inmarsat SwiftBroadband mobile and Wi-Fi Internet access.
Spatial Composite Solutions of Dubai received a $2.6 million order from Oman Air for two cabin evacuation trainers (one A330-300 and one 737NG). Delivery is expected in October.
LAN Airlines yesterday resumed limited domestic and international service from Santiago, where it has helped set up a temporary tent facility for passengers. "The situation is far from normal operations. We are working to be able to resume just 15% of our domestic and international operations," President and COO Ignacio Cueto said Monday. Until Friday LAN will focus on transferring passengers affected by cancellations. Afterward, "operations are expected to begin getting back to normal," the airline said. Saturday's earthquake was centered some 200 mi.
United Airlines will launch daily Washington Dulles-Accra flights, its first nonstop service to Africa, on June 20. UA is awaiting Nigerian approval to extend the flight to Lagos.
IATA reported that international passenger traffic grew 6.4% year-over-year in January on a 1.2% lift in capacity, pushing load factor up 3.7 points to 75.9%. International cargo traffic jumped 28.3% compared to the prior year, when the airfreight traffic decline was near its lowest point. Cargo traffic is still 3%-4% below early 2008 levels, the organization noted. January passenger and cargo demand reflected "a steady improvement from the precipitous fall in demand that characterized the early part of 2009 rather than a dramatic improvement," it said.
Qantas Group CFO Colin Storrie announced his resignation "for personal and health reasons" effective March 5, the airline announced yesterday. Gareth Evans, currently CFO of the QF airline unit, will fill in for Storrie on an interim basis. The company said it "will consider internal and external candidates" in its search for a permanent successor. Storrie, 41, was appointed CFO and finance director in September 2008.
Vereinigung Cockpit union, which represents the Lufthansa pilots who went on strike briefly last week, now plans to call on pilots at Air Berlin and its LTU subsidiary to stage 3-hr. wildcat strikes over the next few days. Negotiations on new working conditions have stalled, and VC complained that AB has not presented a viable offer to the union since the pilots presented their demands in January 2009. A key issue is the union's request for a third pilot to be added on certain long-haul routes. A tentative labor deal reached last October will expire on Dec.
Japan Airlines announced that it has ended negotiations related to a possible merger of its cargo operations with Nippon Cargo Airlines. JAL and NCA parent Nippon Yusen announced last August that talks about a merger were underway ( ATWOnline, Aug. 24, 2009).
Continental Airlines said last month's snowstorms and their impact on its Newark operation cost it approximately $25 million in lost passenger revenue. At the same time, the resulting cancellations were worth a 1-point increase in RASM. February consolidated unit revenue rose an estimated 7.5%-8.5% from the year-ago month while mainline RASM was up an estimated 5.5%-6.5%. CO flew 6.07 billion consolidated RPMs during the month, up 3.3% year-over-year. Capacity fell 3.8% to 7.81 billion ASMs and load factor surged 5.2 points to 77.7%.
Air Canada said more than 1,000 mechanics who perform MRO work on its aircraft via Aveos Fleet Performance, formerly Air Canada Technical Services, will be laid off owing to reduced utilization of its A320 family aircraft resulting in lower MRO demand. Machinists based in Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver will be affected, with 470 dropped in April followed by an additional 540 in June. AC said that as many as 815 could be recalled later. International Assn.
