Virgin America reported a $5.9 million loss in the third quarter, narrowed significantly from the $59.1 million deficit in the year-ago period, and reported its first three-month operating profit since launching service in August 2007.
Republic Airways Holdings CFO Hal Cooper said the CSeries represents "a pretty interesting opportunity" as the company considers fleet renewal at its Frontier Airlines subsidiary. Republic also in talking with Airbus and Boeing, he said at an investor conference last week, according to Reuters, but "unlike Airbus and unlike Boeing, we believe we can tap into some very attractive export financing through the [Export Development Canada] there," he said.
Flybe announced the following new routes scheduled to launch March 28: From Birmingham to Avignon, Limoges, Rennes (each thrice-weekly) and Bordeaux (four-times-weekly); from Guernsey to Edinburgh (thrice-weekly) and Belfast City (twice-weekly); from Jersey to Glasgow Prestwick and Durham Tees Valley (each weekly); from Manchester to Bergerac, Limoges (each thrice-weekly) and Avignon (twice-weekly); thrice-weekly London Gatwick-Limoges; weekly Southampton-Verona. Forty seasonal routes will be restarted. The airline plans to operate 3,738 flights per week during its summer schedule.
Tiger Airways parent Tiger Aviation suffered a S$50.8 million ($36.5 million) loss in its fiscal year ended March 31, reversed from a S$9.9 million profit in 2007-08, according to a recent company statement cited by press reports. Revenue rose 24.3% to S$378 million.
US Airways said consolidated November RASM was flat year-over-year, while mainline unit revenue fell approximately 2%. It flew 4.35 billion consolidated RPMs, down 1.6%, against a 1.4% cut in capacity to 5.65 billion ASMs. Load factor slipped 0.1 point to 76.9%. Air Canada and Jazz flew 3.18 billion RPMs in November, a 1.2% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.7% to 4.26 billion ASMs and load factor declined 2.9 points to 74.7%.
Hawaiian Airlines and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers-Clerical Division, which represents 1,245 HA airport customer service, ramp, reservations, schedule planning, purchasing, records and crew scheduling employees, announced a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract. A ratification vote by union members is expected in the coming weeks.
The US Transportation Security Administration said it is moving ahead steadily with procuring and deploying next-generation airport security technology to screen both checked and carry-on baggage, spurred by $1 billion that was allocated to the agency for aviation security in the $787 billion stimulus passed by the government.
Turkish Airlines will continue its aggressive expansion next year with a planned capacity increase of more than 20%, CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline at last week's Star Alliance event in Brussels. Most if not all of the growth will occur on its international network. "Crisis is the perfect opportunity to grow. We are growing through [taking] market share [from competitors]," he said. According to the Assn. of European Airlines, through the first nine months of 2009 THY increased ASK market share by 1.3 points to 5.4% and RPK market share by 1 point to 5%.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber confirmed last week to ATWOnline that the company is targeting a 40% reduction in costs on its European network, with the LH mainline bearing the responsibility and no plans in place to use Germanwings aircraft instead.
US Congress last week passed another three-month extension in FAA funding to March 31, formally conceding that it will fail to enact reauthorization legislation for the third straight year. The agency's authorization officially expired on Sept. 30, 2007. It has remained operational via a series of temporary extensions passed by Congress ( ATWOnline, Sept. 24).
US Air Transport Assn. welcomed passage of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 by the House of Representatives. The massive bill, which is intended to prevent a recurrence of last year's credit meltdown through new regulations on Wall Street and the credit markets, also takes aim at excessive speculation in the commodity markets that many blame for last year's wild fluctuations in oil prices. ( ATW, September 2009).
Irkut Corp., manufacturer of the MC-21 passenger aircraft scheduled to enter service in 2016, selected Pratt & Whitney's PW1000G geared turbofan engine to power the plane. The MC-21 family (sometimes identified as the MS-21) will comprise three variants seating between 150 and 212 passengers, with first flight planned for 2014. Irkut announced design freeze 11 months ago ( ATWOnline, Jan. 7).
Delta Air Lines said the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission granted authorization for its proposed joint venture with Virgin Blue to operate flights between Australia and the US ( ATWOnline, July 10). "Delta and [Virgin Blue subsidiary] V Australia are eager to move forward with their joint venture and to bring new services to the market," DL said. "We look forward to a similar decision from the US Dept. of Transportation and urge the DOT to quickly conclude its review."
Lufthansa Systems said Malaysia Airlines will use FMS data from the Lido/FMS navigation database for its new 737-800s. It also inked a five-year contract with Brussels Airlines for the use of its SchedConnect codeshare management solution.
Air India Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav expects the carrier will become a Star Alliance member sometime between June and October 2010, he told ATWOnline in Brussels, although an alliance executive told this website that questions remain concerning AI's readiness. "Making fleet updates, a merger and preparing the carrier for the alliance all at the same time is a difficult task. We will see if AI is able to make it," the Star source said.
US FAA said that the Depts. of Agriculture and Energy awarded $600 million in grants to advanced biofuel projects, including projects that could "produce. . .renewable jet fuels." It noted that "a number of the awardees also have a longstanding relationship with the FAA co-sponsored Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative."
Emirates said it has raised more than $1.13 billion to finance the delivery of six A380s. The first, and EK's sixth overall, is scheduled to arrive early next week, the second in late December and the remaining four next year, the airline announced. The A380 arriving next week will begin flying to Incheon on Dec. 14. The seventh will operate to Paris Charles de Gaulle starting Dec. 29. Two weeks ago, EK President Tim Clark claimed the airline would be unaffected by the Dubai debt crisis ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1).
EasyJet will launch service at Doncaster Sheffield in April and will base a fifth aircraft in Manchester in the spring. It plans to cease operating at Nottingham East Midlands on Jan. 5 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4).
India is making a considerable effort to join commercial aviation's environmental effort, Civil Aviation DG Nasim Zaidi said this week at the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in Washington, with authorities committed to establishing a national inventory of carbon dioxide emissions for the sector (with a base year of 2005) along with programs compelling both airlines and airports to be more efficient and green.
Asiana Airlines will construct a second maintenance hangar at Incheon. The hangar, which will cost KRW1.1 billion ($948,000) to build, will be 63,800 sq. m. and able to fit two 747s and one 767 simultaneously. Construction will begin at the end of 2010 with completion targeted for April 2013.
ST Aerospace won a three-year contract to provide A320 and 767 airframe MRO to an unidentified "major US airline." Contract is valued at $90 million, which could increase to $170 million if two option years are utilized. Work will begin in the 2010 first quarter in Mobile, Ala.
US Air Transport Assn. said it expects 41 million passengers to travel on US airlines over the Dec. 17-Jan. 6 winter holiday period, down 2.5% year-over-year. "We are continuing to see fewer air travelers over the holidays, a trend that has been apparent throughout 2009," President and CEO James May said. "Capacity reductions will likely mean fuller flights on many days." ATA said it expects the US government to make military airspace in congested areas available for commercial use during business days.
