United Airlines parent UAL Corp. named VP-Corporate Real Estate Ajay Singh as VP-business management and information technology and appointed MD-Procurement Kate Gebo to succeed Singh. In addition, Praveen Sharma was named MD-Mileage Plus finance, strategy and information technology.
News from Travel Technology Update: The dispute between Expedia.com and Choice Hotels International may seem like déjà vu to those who remember the battle between the online agency and InterContinental Hotels Group in 2004. But there is a key difference between the old fight and the new, according to observers close to the issue.
United Airlines will terminate the agreement under which Mesa Air Group operates 10 Dash 8s as United Express. Mesa said it plans to work with UA on an "orderly transition plan" that will result in the aircraft leaving UA service by April 30. Leases on four aircraft expire on that date. "We face a challenging period during the next few quarters and will strive to mitigate the impact of the termination of aircraft under our codeshare agreement with United Airlines," Mesa Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein said.
Southwest Airlines pilots represented by the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn. ratified the five-year labor agreement reached in mid-September. The contract runs through Aug. 31, 2011, and was ratified by 87.5% of voting members. The union said more than 93% of the approximately 5,900 members participated. The vote concluded a process that began in September 2006.
Delta Air Lines' pilots union slammed the US National Transportation Safety Board for its handling of the recent Northwest Airlines A320 "overflew" incident, saying the board overstepped its bounds as a safety investigation organization. FAA last week revoked the licenses of the two NWA pilots who flew 150 mi. past their destination on an Oct. 21 flight from San Diego to Minneapolis-St.
Air India and Aerostar Asset Management of Sharjah announced the launch of an engine MRO partnership called The A Team, which will use AI's Mumbai facility and Aerostar's marketing connections in the Middle East to secure third-party work on CF6-50/80, PW4000, GE90 and CFM56-7 engines, as well as CFM56-5s in the "near future."
Ryanair yesterday threatened to cancel or defer aircraft orders from Boeing if it fails to secure a fleet-renewal agreement before year end as the LCC announced an adjusted net profit of €250.5 million ($368.5 million) in the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, a 29.4% increase from the €193.6 million earned in the year-ago period.
Hainan Airlines posted a CNY175.5 million ($26.3 million) third-quarter profit, reversed from a CNY260.8 million deficit in the year-ago quarter, as operating revenue soared 34.2% to CNY4.57 billion. Like other Chinese airlines, it credited a recovery in the domestic market and favorable financial policies from Beijing for the improved performance. Its third-quarter expenses climbed 18.7% year-over-year to CNY3.65 billion. Nine-month profit of CNY350.5 million compared to a CNY50.2 million surplus in the year-ago period.
Turkish Airlines exercised options on three A330s for delivery in 2012 and said it has decided to purchase two A330-200Fs, while Air New Zealand yesterday said it will replace its 15 leased 737-300s with an order for 14 A320s plus 11 purchase rights.
TNT reported third-quarter net income of €97 million ($142.7 million), down 6.7% from €104 million in the year-ago-period, and noted that it has seen "some early signs" of an improving economy. Its air-intensive Express unit continued to struggle, posting a 36.4% drop in operating profit to €63 million on an 11.4% dip in revenue to €1.47 billion. But CEO Peter Bakker noted that "the rate of decline of Express volumes has modestly improved.
The US National Mediation Board yesterday issued a proposed rule change that would allow an airline work group to unionize if a majority of those casting ballots in a union-certification vote approve, potentially lowering the threshold for unionization.
British Airways pleaded guilty in Canadian Federal Court to " fixing surcharges on the sale and supply of international air cargo exported on certain routes from Canada" in 2002-06 and agreed to pay a C$4.5 million ($4.1 million) fine, the country's Competition Bureau announced. Canada now has recovered more than C$14.6 million from BA, Air France, KLM, Martinair and Qantas, and its "investigation into the alleged conduct of other air cargo carriers continues," it said.
Iberia launched the upgrade of its long-haul business class, part of a €150 million "Total Customer Care" program aimed at enhancing customer service. IB's remodeled Business Plus cabin will feature lie-flat seats versus the previous 170-deg. Recline, and an extended 2.2 m. between rows. It will reduce the number of business class seats on its 12 A340-600s to 42 from 52 and on its 20 A340-300s to 36 from 42. Three aircraft already have been fitted with the new cabin by IB's maintenance unit, with the fleetwide upgrade scheduled to be complete in March.
IATA, following up on its recent court victory in its dispute with Travelport, said it is seeking "an EU-wide declaratory judgment from the Amsterdam District Court confirming that the PaxIs product does not infringe on Travelport's database rights in any of the member states of the European Economic Area." On Oct. 1, the Amsterdam District Court denied an application for a preliminary injunction preventing IATA's use of airline data stored in Travelport databases ( ATWOnline, Oct. 21).
Amadeus and ICAO announced an agreement under which ICAO will supply Amadeus with data from its carbon emissions calculator, which Amadeus said, "will allow Amadeus's worldwide customer base to estimate the carbon footprint of air travel." Amadeus will integrate the data into its travel reservation platforms by mid-2010.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued a draft determination finding that the planned transpacific joint venture between Virgin Blue and Delta Air Lines "is likely to assist Virgin Blue and Delta to compete more effectively against the incumbents on the routes, Qantas and United Airlines." The partnership also requires approval from the US Dept. of Transportation ( ATWOnline, July 10).
CIT Group, parent of operating lessor CIT Aerospace, filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday, proceeding with a so-called "prepackaged" financial restructuring approved by most of the company's debt holders. In a statement, CIT said that "none" of its operating subsidiaries were included in the filing. "As a result, all operating entities are expected to continue normal operations during the pendency of the cases." According to Ascend Online, CIT Aerospace is the industry's fifth-largest operating lessor with a fleet of 237 aircraft.
Qantas joined the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, the industry coalition established to accelerate the development and commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel ( ATWOnline, July 14).
S-Air BAe 125-800B crashed on approach to Minsk last Thursday, killing the two crew and three passengers onboard. The flight originated at Moscow Vnukovo. There was a "light drizzle," according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network. The aircraft first flew in 1986. S-Air also operates two Yak-42s, three Tu-134s and two additional 125s.
ANA reported a ¥3.8 billion ($42.2 million) profit in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, a 75.2% drop from the ¥15.3 billion earned in the year-ago period, but its inability to recover adequately from a steep first-quarter loss prompted it to predict a ¥28 billion deficit for the full year (reversed from its original forecast of a ¥3 billion profit) and to unveil a revised business plan that includes 1,000 job cuts.
Air France took delivery of its first A380 Friday in Hamburg and will become the first European airline to operate the jumbo aircraft when it places it on Paris Charles de Gaulle-New York JFK service on Nov. 20. The Engine Alliance GP7200-powered aircraft seats 538 passengers (nine in first, 80 in business and 449 in economy), will carry 22 flight attendants and is one of three that AF will take through next spring. Johannesburg is scheduled to be its next A380 destination.
Embraer reported third-quarter net income of $60.6 million, slightly ahead of the $59.3 million earned in the year-ago period, and warned that 2010 likely will be another difficult year for sales. CFO Luiz Carlos Aguiar told analysts Friday that the manufacturer is "going through a rough ride in terms of new sales" and cautioned that "a decline of 10% in our revenue" in 2010 is possible. He added that its firm order backlog, which stood at 306 commercial aircraft valued at $18.6 billion at the end of the third quarter, would "make the business sustainable" until sales rebound.
Kenya Airways reported a KES860 million ($11 million) profit in the fiscal semester ended Sept. 30, up 16.8% from the KES736 million earned in the year-ago period thanks to relatively stable operating results and gains on its fuel hedges. Six-month revenue fell 1.7% year-over-year to KES33.5 billion while costs inched up 1.7% to KES33.3 billion, resulting in an 8% fall in operating profit to KES162 million. KQ said the "volatile" political climate, an August strike and the "global economic meltdown" all impacted the results.
