US FAA yesterday announced measures to improve its response to safety issues and whistleblower contributions and said it is "renewing efforts to ensure consistent interpretation of agency regulations and policies" in the wake of questions regarding its relationship with the airlines it is charged with regulating ( ATWOnline, March 3) and waves of flight cancellations related to carriers' lack of compliance with airworthiness directives ( ATWOnline
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. yesterday said it obtained $2.9 billion in additional liquidity and aircraft financing while announcing plans to further downsize operations at St. Louis and Raleigh/Durham and signing a letter of intent to firm options on 22 CRJ700s for American Eagle. Capacity taken from the aforementioned airports will be spread among AA's major hubs and focus cites: Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago O'Hare, Miami, New York JFK, LaGuardia and Los Angeles. AA yesterday also said it chose GEnx-1B engines to power up to 100 787-9s it expects to order from Boeing.
Air France is working to form a committee of 5-6 members that "will have a look into the internal practices and the decision-making processes having an impact on the security of our flights," a spokesperson told ATWOnline yesterday. The airline is assessing its internal safety practices in the wake of the May 31 A330-200 accident and subsequent complaints from its pilots. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that AF's SkyTeam partner Delta Air Lines may be represented on the committee.
FedEx Corp. reported a $181 million net profit in its fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, down 53% from the $384 million earned in the year-ago period, as operating income at its FedEx Express segment plunged 70% to $104 million.
StandardAero yesterday broke ground on a 27,000-sq.-ft. expansion to the Winnipeg facility where it currently performs CF34 engine MRO, growth that will enable it to begin working on CFM56-7Bs next year. The company this year inked a 12-year agreement with WestJet valued at more than $850 million to perform maintenance on CFM56-7Bs powering the LCC's 81 737NGs. It also reached an agreement with GE Aviation that made the Winnipeg facility, which currently stands at 135,000 sq. ft., a "designated fulfillment center" for CFM56-7B engines.
Spirit Airlines yesterday was assessed a record $375,000 civil penalty by the US Dept. of Transportation "for failing to comply with rules governing denied boarding compensation, fare advertising, baggage liability and other consumer protection requirements," the agency said.
American Airlines announced it will add 57 daily mainline and Eagle flights at Chicago O'Hare for the summer 2010 schedule versus the 2009-10 winter schedule, bringing daily departures at its second-largest hub to 487. New flying is made possible by the pulldowns at St. Louis and Raleigh/Durham (see story above). In addition to Beijing service set to start next spring, AA will introduce mainline flights to Honolulu, Anchorage and Vancouver while Eagle will start operating to Calgary, Allentown, Harrisburg, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Charleston, W.
Macquarie Airports will sell its 35.5% stake in Bristol Airport to the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan for £128 million ($211.7 million). MAp also will purchase an additional 3.9% share in Copenhagen Airports from OTPP for DKK570 million ($111.9 million), raising its stake to 30.8%. MAp said the transactions, subject to EU clearance, will result in net cash inflow of some A$120 million ($103.3 million) and should be concluded before year end.
Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday announced two transactions designed to increase its liquidity: The divestment of a stake in Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. and a sale-and-leaseback deal with BOC Aviation. CX will sell its 20.7 million shares in HAECO, or 12.5% of its holding, for approximately HK$1.9 billion ($245.3 million), or HK$91.83 per share, to Swire Pacific. The deal is subject to approval of CX's independent shareholders and would reduce its stake in the MRO provider to 15%. Swire's would increase to 46%.
Honeywell signed a $65 million contract with China Southern Airlines to provide 131-9A APUs, along with materials, parts and service, for 192 aircraft (36 existing A320s, 71 existing 737s, 20 ordered A320s and 65 ordered 737s).
Southwest Airlines yesterday moved to clarify its international future, stressing that it "does not have any plans to fly distant, long-haul international flights at this time or in the near future."
Brussels Airlines will launch 12-times-weekly Brussels-Milan Linate service Oct. 25 aboard an Avro RJ. Lufthansa will codeshare on the flight. SN and LH also announced an expansion of their codeshare arrangement covering more routes to Africa. LH will place its code on SN flights from Brussels to Abidjan, Banjul, Bujumbura, Nairobi, Monrovia, Douala and Yaounde. SN's code will be on LH services from Frankfurt to Accra, Khartoum, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Aegean Airlines will launch service from Athens to Madrid (daily on Dec. 1) and Vienna (five-times-weekly on Dec.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.24 billion RPKs in August, down 17.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 20.5% to 2.94 billion ASMs and load factor rose 3.1 points to 76.1%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.05 billion RPKs, down 18.1%, against a 21.9% cut in capacity to 2.66 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 3.5 points to 77.1% and yield was down 3.2%. Air Berlin said August unit revenue rose 12% year-over-year to 6.21 euro cents (9.08 cents). It transported 2.7 million passengers, down 3.7%, and load factor rose 1.1 points to 84%.
Lufthansa Technik announced a 10-year extension to its Total Component Support contract with Wizz Air, which will include wheel and brake support. Wizz plans to grow its fleet from the current 26 A320s to 132 in 2017.
Finnair and the Finnish Flight Attendants Assn. reached a labor stabilization agreement valid from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2010, covering the €12.3 million in cost cuts targeted by the airline. Among the terms are a 5% salary cut during the period and cancellation of incentive bonuses. The deal also includes a "pay-back" stipulation depending on Finnair's 2010 and 2011 results. The carrier said the terms "are not easy, but they are necessary. . .We reached an outcome by which redundancies will be avoided."
United Airlines expects third-quarter consolidated passenger RASM to fall 15.8%-16.8% year-over-year to 10.83-10.96 cents, while mainline unit revenue should decline 17.8%-18.8% to 9.91-10.03 cents, a slightly slower rate than the 19.5% plunge reported in the second quarter. Consolidated system capacity is forecast to fall 5.9% to 36.97 billion ASMs, with load factors rising as consolidated RPMs slip just 3%-4% to 31.09-31.41 billion. Mainline system traffic is expected to drop 5.4%-6.4% to 27.3-27.6 billion RPMs against an 8.4% cut in capacity to 32.14 billion ASMs.
Delta Air Lines is planning a private debt offering of $500 million in aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes due 2014, it announced yesterday. It said it would use the proceeds, along with initial borrowings under proposed new senior secured credit facilities, largely to repay all outstanding debt under Northwest Airlines' senior corporate credit facility. The notes will be secured by DL's Pacific route authorities, slots and gate leases, which also wil constitute the collateral for the new credit facilities.
Contact Air F100 that landed wheels-up at Stuttgart Monday had a faulty valve, according to MD Manfred Gaertner. "Part of a valve came loose internally and blocked a hydraulic line. It worked like a stopper," he told Bloomberg News. None of the 73 passengers and five crew was injured ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15).
Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Savelyev said yesterday that the carrier expects to conclude 2009 in the black but that it plans to cut 2,000 jobs over the next six months and is evaluating a reduction of a further 4,000. "The trend is still going toward a decline," he said at an investment conference, according to Reuters. SU employs some 15,500. Savelyev also said the airline's interest in pursuing tie-ups with European carriers may be a thing of the past ( ATWOnline, May 5). "No one wants Aeroflot there.
KLM will equip its entire intercontinental fleet with a new "comfort zone" in economy cabins, offering passengers up to 10 cm./4 in. more legroom and back supports that can recline twice as far as standard seats. The carrier's 777-200ERs and 747s offer 31-in. pitch in economy and its A330s 32 in. The comfort zone will be located at the front of the cabin and will be available starting in December. Each widebody will be fitted with 35-40 of the new seats, a spokesperson told ATWOnline. The service in economy comfort will be identical to standard economy.
British Airways said 140 flight attendants have applied for voluntary redundancy as part of its plan to cut some 2,000 positions. "We have a small surplus in the number of our senior-grade cabin crew and, combined with our reduced flying program, we have been able to accept applications for voluntary redundancy from the equivalent of 140 cabin crew," a BA spokesperson told reporters. In addition, 125 cabin staff on temporary contracts will be released.
Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of one 737-800 from CIT Aerospace. Aircraft is powered by CFM56-7B27s and seats 154 passengers in two classes. ET now operates 10 767-300ERs, eight 757-200s, two 757-260Fs, two 747Fs, two MD-11Fs, five 737-700s, two 737-800s and five F50s.
Lufthansa Systems will provide its Lido OC flight planning solution to airBaltic under a five-year deal. Implementation will be completed in the 2010 first quarter.
AirBaltic is launching its own frequent-flyer program called BalticMiles, which is set to go into effect on Oct. 1. The airline left SAS Group in January ( ATWOnline, Dec. 19).
Embraer announced the delivery of its 600th E-Jet, an E-175, to LOT Polish Airlines. The first E-Jet was delivered in March 2004. LOT's aircraft seats 82 passengers. It currently flies 10 E-170s, six E-175s and six ERJ-145s. It ordered an additional 12 E-175s, plus two options and 10 purchase rights, in January 2008.
