WHILE THE AVIATION WORLD AWAITS with great anticipation the fuel saving promises of the Single European Sky and the related ATC modernization, air navigation services providers and airports around Europe already are achieving greater environmental efficiency in today's skies.
Showing an uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, US airlines finally may have made inevitable the enactment of an airline passenger bill of rights requiring them to permit passengers to disembark from aircraft stuck in extended tarmac delays or to compensate customers for their lost time when such events occur.
In late July and early August, the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission held three days of hearings on whether federal position limits should be set by the CFTC for "commodities of finite supply" such as the energy markets.
American Airlines' decision to work with HP to build a new passenger services system dubbed a "bold move" by Monte Ford, the carrier's chief information officer took many observers by surprise.
GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO wait. Bombardier Aerospace is betting on the truth of that adage as its CSeries development program kicks into high gear after what only can be described as a challenging beginning since the company first proposed the aircraft in early 2004.
Confusion reigned as the Aug. 31 deadline for aircraft operators to submit their tonne-km. plans for the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme came and went amid growing concerns that operators could lose their free allowance allocations.
German court approved a €4 billion expansion of Frankfurt International, which will include a fourth runway and third terminal and a cargo maintenance center. The new runway could be opened for operation by 2011.
For the last few years, airlines and other travel companies have tried to figure out what to do about social media. Since the advent of TripAdvisor in 2000, suppliers at one industry conference after another were warned that they should not ignore the phenomenon. "It's out there," speakers would say. "You can't ignore it." But suggestions about the appropriate response were uniformly vague.
FOR AIRCRAFT SPOTTERS, WHO REVEL IN variety, Kuala Lumpur International is becoming positively boring, with 44% of the flights being AirAsia A320s as the airline becomes the largest user of the airport. That statistic is more extraordinary given that just 7.5 years ago it had two aircraft and six routes and founder and CEO Tony Fernandes rarely if ever received an audience with regulators and politicians, let alone a cup of coffee from a banker. Now the red carpet is unrolled wherever he goes as airports build new terminals to accommodate AirAsia's expansion.
Airports are not the major cause of the economic woes of the airline industry, Airports Council International World Director Angela Gittens told ATW's Airports Today. In recent months, IATA and the Assn. of European Airlines, as well as individual carriers like Ryanair, have complained about airport fees and charges in vocal and sometimes harsh terms. IATA even erected a metaphorical "Wall of Shame" with the names of airports it believes are guilty of overcharging airlines.
JetBlue Airways and Lufthansa, which owns 15.6% of the New York JFK-based LCC, yesterday announced a codeshare agreement. Subject to US Dept. of Transportation approval, LH initially will place its code on connecting flights from JFK and/or Boston to Austin, Buffalo, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Raleigh-Durham, Rochester, San Juan, Syracuse, Tampa and West Palm Beach.
SkyEurope Airlines suspended operations yesterday, hours after airport operators in Prague and Bratislava said they would stop handling the LCC's flights beginning today because it is behind on payments. Vienna halted the LCC's flights in mid-August and SkyEurope had been shuttling VIE passengers to/from Bratislava ( ATWOnline, Aug. 24).
French BEA Director Paul-Louis Arslanian said investigators have not determined the cause of the May 31 Air France A330-200 crash in the Atlantic Ocean and reiterated that there still is no evidence that speed sensors caused the accident. "At the moment, we can't explain the accident," Arslanian told journalists yesterday in Paris. "We are making progress and will make progress and I'm optimistic, but this will take time. It takes a year-and-a-half, being responsible and reasonable, in order to make progress and ensure that we've run through all of the questions."
Jazeera Airways lost KWD1.3 million ($4.4 million) in the second quarter, widened 39.8% from the KWD897,900 net loss reported in the year-ago period. Revenue dropped 11.5% to KWD10.1 million against a 5.6% lift in expenses to KWD11.5 million. Operating loss of KWD1.4 million compared to a KWD516,100 profit in the 2008 second quarter. Six-month net loss of KWD2.2 million deepened from KWD152,100 in the year-ago semester.
Thai Airways suffered a THB5.4 billion ($156.5 million) loss in the second quarter, a 41.6% improvement from the THB9.25 billion deficit reported in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 31.9% to THB34.63 billion and expenses were down 34.8% to THB39.92 billion. Capacity was cut 11.2%, but a 22.7% fall in RPKs lowered load factor 9.9 points to 66.2%. The airline said the traditional low season, the global downturn, the H1N1 flu and domestic political unrest combined to produce the loss. Yield dropped 11.6% to THB2.37.
Oman Air will launch flights from Muscat to Frankfurt (four-times-weekly from Sept. 30) and Munich (thrice-weekly from Oct. 1) aboard A330-200s. Routes will be operated with A330-300s from December. Eastern Airways will launch five-times-weekly flights to Bergen from both Newcastle and Aberdeen on Oct. 5.
Southwest Airlines and US FAA were working toward accommodation today on a plan and timetable to replace unapproved exhaust gate assembly hinge fittings on some 49 of the airline's 737s. When the agency became aware of the existence of the unapproved parts, it issued a letter giving SWA conditional approval to operate aircraft with the parts for 10 days, a deadline that expires today at 5 p.m. local time ( ATWOnline, Aug. 27).
Beset by continuing problems with the 787 program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson announced that he will retire from the company at year end. He will be succeeded effective today by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems President and CEO Jim Albaugh. A Boeing spokesperson said Carson will help with the transition and work on special projects during his remaining time with the company.
Frontier Airlines reported a $17.8 million net profit in July, reversed from a $3.2 million loss in the year-ago month. Operating profit was $24.9 million compared to a $1.2 million surplus in July 2008. Results were impacted by $5.5 million in reorganization expenses. Mainline unit revenue fell 5.1% to 11.26 cents while unit cost was down 27% to 8.58 cents.
Lufthansa Cargo would consider giving up some or all of its fleet of 19 freighters if night flights are banned at Frankfurt, CEO Carsten Spohr told Reuters. A German court recently ruled that the Hesse state government should decide on whether to reduce or ban night flights. The state made a reduction to 17 flights per night part of its agreement to permit construction of a fourth runway at FRA in 2011. LH said it would require 23 nightly flights by 2020 for both passenger and cargo service, Reuters reported.
Aegean Airlines earned a €13.4 million ($19.2 million) profit in the first half of 2009, more than double the €5.5 million reported in the year-ago semester. Revenue rose 5% to €275.4 million. It cited falling oil prices and reduced maintenance and fuel costs associated with its recent fleet renewal. It took delivery of eight A320 family aircraft during the six-month period. Aegean transported 2.9 million passengers, up 9%, boosted by a 20% gain in international boardings to 1.3 million.
Kingfisher Airlines board yesterday approved measures to raise up to $100 million, largely through global depository receipts, in addition to the INR5 billion ($101.4 million) rights issue approved last month, according to a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange cited by press reports from India. The board also approved a doubling of the carrier's authorized share capital to INR10 billion. All decisions are subject to shareholder approval.
