Embraer delivered 122 commercial aircraft in 2009 compared to 162 in 2008, comprising seven ERJ-145s, 22 E-170s, 11 E-175s, 62 E-190s and 20 E-195s. The Brazilian manufacturer delivered 244 aircraft overall, a 19.6% surge from the record 204 delivered in 2008, as deliveries of executive aircraft like the Phenom 100 and Legacy 600 nearly doubled.
The US Dept. of Transportation issued a proposed rule mandating changes in the way lithium batteries and cells are transported in passenger and cargo aircraft, stating that "they could pose a hazard when transported" by air.
Spring Airlines reported a profit of CNY158 million ($23.1 million) in 2009, a sevenfold increase over the CNY20 million earned in 2008, on a 27% lift in operating revenue to CNY1.99 billion. China's most successful LCC credited "effective cost control" for the improved result. "We saved about CNY103 million in operating expenses last year," a Spring spokesperson noted. The airline's costs are about 35% below the industry average.
US National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating Sunday's emergency landing by a United Airlines A319 at Newark after its right landing gear failed to deploy. The aircraft, en route from Chicago O'Hare, reportedly abandoned its initial landing attempt at EWR owing to the landing gear problem. The pilots said that it would not deploy and decided to land the aircraft on a second attempt with just the nose and left main gear deployed. There were no injuries among the 53 passengers and crew.
Aeronautical Engineers Inc. of Miami was selected by Cargo Air, a Bulgarian charter carrier, to perform a 737-300SF passenger-to-freighter conversion. Aircraft was built in 1987 and is scheduled for redelivery in April. It is the second -300SF AEI has converted for Cargo Air.
Tiger Airways is striving to raise S$273 million ($195.7 million) in an initial public offering that values its shares at S$1.35-S$1.65. The LCC plans to sell 165 million shares, approximately 30% of its final register, and the funds would be used to expand operations and pay off loans. Analysts have suggested the valuation is optimistic given that it is nearly 14 times the carrier's 2010-11 forecast earnings. It posted a net loss of S$51 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, and an S$8.3 million deficit in the fiscal semester ended Sept.
CIT Aerospace said it signed agreements for the current and future lease of 130 commercial aircraft last year and added 13 new customers. It delivered 54 aircraft.
Unite union will re-ballot British Airways cabin crew members for industrial action starting Jan. 22, according to a union letter cited in UK press reports. A strike could begin as early as March 1. The new ballot comes despite last week's statement from Unite that it had reached agreement with BA to "hold talks aimed at finding a negotiated settlement to their dispute over cabin crew terms and conditions under the auspices of the [Trades Union Congress]" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 7).
The European Commission claimed that "creation and evolution" of its public list of airlines banned from operating in the EU, updated 12 times since its March 2006 launch, has been a "success story from every angle."
Boeing took orders for four 737s from an unidentified customer during the week ended Dec. 31 and also recorded cancellations of commitments for two 747s and one 777. Guggenheim Aviation Partners confirmed to ATWOnline that it canceled orders for two 747-8Fs. It still has two on order. That left the manufacturer with a full-year gross order total of 263 aircraft (197 737s, five 747s, seven 767s, 30 777s and 24 787s) and a net total of 142 aircraft (178 737s, two 747s, two 767s, 19 777s and -59 787s).
Japan Airlines is expected to announce within days that it will file for bankruptcy later this month as part of a turnaround plan that will include eliminating 15,600 jobs, according to news reports from Tokyo.
Airlink leased four ERJ-135s from Embraer subsidiary ECC Leasing, the manufacturer announced. Delivery of all four aircraft is scheduled to occur this month. They will seat 37 and will be based at Johannesburg. Airlink CEO Rodger Foster said they will replace the regional's "oldest turboprops" and will "meet the growing demand of our domestic and intra-regional markets."
Assn. of European Airlines admitted airBaltic, Aegean Airlines and Montenegro Airlines as members. It now comprises 36 carriers. AEA also announced that British Airways CEO Willie Walsh will serve as the organization's chairman in 2010, succeeding Croatia Airlines President and CEO Ivan Misetic.
Two Australian Qantas executives have been restricted from leaving Vietnam while the former CEO of Jetstar Pacific has been arrested over losses at the budget carrier, a joint venture between QF (27%) and the Vietnamese government and investors ( ATWOnline, May 26, 2008). COO Daniela Marsilli and CFO Tristan Freeman were not charged and are assisting authorities in investigating currency losses at the airline.
Airbus said Virgin Atlantic Airways' contract for six A330-300s was signed Dec. 30. The airline announced the order, plus the lease of an additional four A330s from AerCap for 12 years each, last June ( ATWOnline, June 23, 2009). VS currently operates 19 A340-600s and six A340-300s and has six A380s on order. Airbus is scheduled to release its year-end order and delivery numbers today in Seville.
OnAir announced that Afriqiyah Airways selected its Mobile OnAir and Internet OnAir connectivity suite for the Libyan carrier's A330s and Mobile OnAir for its A320 family aircraft. The order marks the first time an airline has announced its intention to install connectivity on both its long- and short-range fleets, according to OnAir.
Germanwings will open its sixth German base in Hanover in the spring, a source close to the airline told ATWOnline. A formal announcement is expected today. German media reported that up to three A319s will operate approximately 70 weekly flights from HAN.
Air New Zealand confirmed Friday to ATWOnline that it has joined Qantas in withdrawing from the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines. An ANZ spokesperson told this website that the airline chose not renew its membership late last year. Neither ANZ nor Qantas sent a representative to AAPA's Assembly of Presidents in Singapore in late November ( ATWOnline, Jan. 7).
Boeing announced completion of a "detailed site survey" of the Terma facility in Grenaa, Denmark "to assess the capabilities for possible Commercial Airplanes work." Terma is a supplier for Boeing's defense business and "has highly specialized production capability in composites." It already produces winglets for commercial aircraft.
US airlines canceled 0.5% of their scheduled flights in November, improved from 0.8% in the year-ago month, while the ontime arrival rate of 88.6% set a record and was up 5.3 points year-over-year. The 19 reporting airlines also posted a record mishandled bag rate of 2.78 per 1,000 passengers compared to 3.75 in November 2008. JetBlue Airways and Hawaiian Airlines cancelled just 0.1% of their November 2009 flights, followed by Northwest Airlines' 0.2%. Mesa Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the highest cancellation rate at 0.9%, followed by Alaska Airlines at 0.8%.
The US Dept. of Transportation issued a ruling last week that Virgin America "remains a US citizen and remains under the actual control of US citizens" after the San Francisco-based airline agreed to changes regarding investment and board composition.
UPS said Friday that it is "streamlining" its US domestic management structure, leading to elimination of 1,800 management and administrative jobs this year. The delivery giant said it is "leveraging technology" to simplify its domestic small package business, which uses both air and ground, by dividing the US into three regions from April instead of the current five.
Delta Air Lines flew 14.69 billion system RPMs in December, a 7.5% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 8% to 18.08 billion ASMs, boosting load factor 0.4 point to 81.2%. Southwest Airlines said December passenger RASM rose an estimated 7% year-over-year. It flew 5.97 billion RPMs during the month, up 3%, against a 5.8% cut in capacity to 7.83 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 6.5 points to 76.2%.
Air Berlin will launch weekly flights to Rimini from Hamburg, Munster Osnabruck, Baden-Baden and Nurnberg on May 15, Stuttgart on May 16 and Berlin Tegel on June 5. Emirates will increase its 11-times-weekly Dubai-Jakarta 777 service to twice-daily on March 1.
Aer Lingus Group will scale down its base at London Gatwick to three A320s from five at the start of the summer schedule as it anticipates demand will remain "soft" in the first half of 2010, although it expects to report a "small" operating profit before exceptional items in the second half of 2009.
