Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe lashed out at governments for their "money-grabbing" emissions taxes and criticized ICAO for "its paralysis" on forging an agreement on limiting emissions from aviation.
Austrian Airlines Group CEO Peter Malanik predicted that the carrier will encounter "several difficult situations" over the next two years as it endeavors to return to profitability, but said it must push forward with reforms.
News from Travel Technology Update: The unbundled fare is the airlines' new best friend, enabling them to boost revenues through fees for checked bags, seat assignments and other items that used to be included in the fare. And while the airlines know that the fees can be a lifeline -- the industry collected $669.6 million in baggage fees in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics -- they have difficulty pinpointing which flights are ancillary revenue generators.
LTU reached a settlement with ver.di, the service workers' union representing its 1,400 flight attendants, on a new labor contract. The Air Berlin subsidiary now has concluded collective bargaining negotiations with all its unions. The flight attendants' agreement is subject to ratification by Nov. 13 via a secret ballot vote to be conducted by ver.di.
AirBaltic launched four-times-weekly flights from Lappeenranta to Tallinn continuing to Riga using 737s. It also started Turku-Tallinn service. Flydubai will launch its first intra-Gulf States route Oct. 18 with twice-daily flights between Dubai and Doha. SilkAir will take over Singapore Airlines' daily service between Singapore and Penang from Dec. 1. As a result, the SIA regional affiliate that already offers twice-daily service on the route will up its offering to thrice-daily.
Aviareps expanded its agreement with Asiana Airlines to represent Asiana in Italy, Spain and Portugal. It now serves as GSA for the Korean carrier in 10 European countries.
Transaero Airlines and Austrian Airlines reached a codeshare agreement on the Moscow Domodedovo-Vienna route in which Transaero will add its UN code on Austrian's thrice-daily service and Austrian will put its OS code on Transaero's daily DME-VIE flight.
Pilots from European airlines held an "action day" yesterday at 22 airports across the continent and various sites in Brussels, including the European Parliament and European Commission, protesting EU flight/duty-time rules that they claim are "potentially dangerous."
GECAS delivered two new A320-200s to Air Berlin. Acquired through a purchase/leaseback transaction with the airline, the aircraft are part of an existing order agreement.
Midwest Airlines pilots and flight attendants likely will find themselves out of work when the carrier, acquired over the summer by Republic Airways Holdings, begins to return its nine remaining 717s to Boeing next month.
AirAsia said it will defer eight A320-200s scheduled for delivery in 2011 to 2014, bringing to 16 the number of 2010-11 deliveries it is pushing back. It originally had 48 A320s slated for delivery in 2010-11 but now will take only 32 during the timeframe. It also plans to terminate leases with GECAS on nine 737s and return them ahead of schedule in 2010. The moves were confirmed by CEO Tony Fernandes to Malaysia's The Star. He added that the LCC is considering selling two 737s to Mexican carrier VivaAerobus.
Alaska Airlines' September traffic increased 1.4% to 1.45 billion RPMs on a 1.4% cut in capacity to 1.86 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 90%, up 2.2 points. AirTran Airways flew 1.37 billion RPMs in September, up 11.4%, while capacity lifted 7.2% to 1.78 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 77%, up 2.6 points. US Airways' September mainline traffic lowered 1.6% to 4.57 billion RPMs on a 0.6% capacity decrease to 5.76 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 79.3%, down 0.8 point.
United Airlines plans to borrow more than $659 million, using 31 of its aircraft as collateral, to refinance debt, the Associated Press reported. "We are seeking to refinance existing debt to take advantage of current market conditions to strengthen our balance sheet and reduce our debt payment obligations over the next couple of years," UA said in a statement.
Japan Airlines likely won't reach an accord with a potential foreign investor until after it and the Japanese government settle on a firm restructuring plan for the carrier, according to multiple media reports.
Navtech signed an agreement with Cebu Pacific Air to provide its flight planning software Navtech Flight Plan, which features cost indexing and least-cost route calculations that it says allows airlines to maintain the most efficient daily routes and optimized flight plans.
Alitalia took delivery of another three new A320s, bringing the number in its fleet to 35. A further five will be delivered by year end. The three newest A320s replace three MD-80s. AZ's fleet renewal plan calls for arrival of a further 55 A320s and 12 A330s. The carrier's new A320s feature leather seats equipped with individual LCD screens. Separately, AZ opened its first business-class lounge at Rome Fiumicino's Terminal C.
Air Niugini, the Papua New Guinea flag carrier, placed a firm order for two Q400 NextGen turboprops valued at $92 million plus one option. "The Q400 NextGen aircraft follows in the footsteps of a long line of robust and reliable de Havilland and Bombardier turboprops that have served our airline very well over the years," CEO Wasantha Kumarasiri said. Bombardier now has taken firm orders for 363 Q400s with 257 delivered as of July 31.
Etihad Airways moved its thrice-daily London Heathrow-Abu Dhabi service from LHR's Terminal 3 to the new Terminal 4. The carrier is investing £200 million ($124.2 million) in its space at the new terminal, building a lounge, spa and shower facilities and installing Wi-Fi capability.
Air Berlin and subsidiary LTU reached a tentative agreement with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots union on a new labor contract retroactive to Jan. 1, 2009. It includes a guarantee of no pilot layoffs through Dec. 31, 2010, when the contract will expire. The VC membership will vote on ratification at a Nov. 13 meeting.
Continental Airlines revealed last week that its September mainline RASM plunged an estimated 20%-21% year-over-year, larger than its August mainline year-over-year RASM drop of 17.9%, raising concern across the US industry that carriers could be in for a difficult autumn. The RASM numbers were particularly alarming given that its mainline load factor for the month was 82.2%, up 4.8 points compared to September 2008.
JAT Airways resumed flying Friday after reaching an agreement with JAT Tehnika to begin paying debt it owes to the MRO company today. JAT Tehnika's mechanics, which service JAT Airways aircraft, stopped working for two days last week to protest the airline's failure to pay the maintenance company in a timely fashion, forcing the Serbian carrier to ground its fleet temporarily ( ATWOnline, Oct. 2). JAT Airways has admitted that it owes JAT Tehnika about $1.5 million and is a month behind in making payments.
Timco signed a five-year contract with Thomson Airways covering maintenance and modification on its 767-300s. Contract includes a two-year option. In the first year of the program, Timco will install APB 767 winglets and new inflight entertainment systems on the 767-300s. GE Aviation inked a 15-year OnPoint solution agreement with Azul covering maintenance, repair and overhaul of CF34-10E engines that power the carrier's 36 E-190s/-195s on firm order plus four on lease. The agreement is valued at $1 billion. Work will take place at the GE facility in Petropolis.
Malaysia Airlines' new MD and CEO Azmil Zahruddin told reporters Friday in Kuala Lumpur that the carrier will accelerate its "business transformation plan" with a focus on lowering costs while raising service standards.
Travelport said Brussels Airlines selected its ETAT e-ticketing solution to enable approved Galileo-connected users in Rwanda to issue e-tickets on bookings made with the airline.
