IATA said second-quarter financial results reported by airlines to date show "disappointingly small" improvement and cautioned that "stabilizing" passenger demand is "largely due to fare discounting" rather than a broad economic recovery.
US airlines canceled 1.5% of their scheduled domestic flights in June, down from 1.8% in the year-ago month, according to the US Dept. of Transportation. The 19 reporting carriers also improved their on-time performance (to 76.1% from 70.8%) and baggage handling (to 4.17 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers from 5.15). Hawaiian Airlines' 93.3% ontime arrival rate was the best, followed by Alaska Airlines (84.5%) and ExpressJet Airlines (82%). Worst was Comair (59.8%), followed by Frontier Airlines (68%) and American Airlines (69.2%).
Merpati Nusantara Airlines Twin Otter 300 that disappeared Sunday with 16 people onboard was located yesterday morning in mountains a little more than 20 mi. from its intended destination of Oskibil ( ATWOnline, Aug. 4). A search and recovery operation reportedly was underway yesterday.
A Boeing supplier has warned that the 787 may not fly for another six months. Mark Rollins, CEO of Senior, a multinational component manufacturer based in the UK that is furnishing air ducts and other parts for the Dreamliner, told Bloomberg News this week that "we estimate another six-month delay" to first flight and that Boeing's "credibility is somewhat in question."
A Bangkok Airways ATR 72 that departed from Krabi Island crashed on landing in Koh Samui yesterday, skidding off the runway and colliding with an unused airport control tower, killing the flight's captain and requiring hospitalization of seven others including the copilot.
Aero-Instruments said yesterday that it secured FAA Parts Manufacturer Approval for its 0851HL-AI Pitot Probe, which it claimed can replace Thales pitot probes on Airbus aircraft. Airbus last week told airlines that Thales pitot probes should be replaced with Goodrich models on all A330s/A340s as a "precautionary measure" and EASA said it will issue a similar order shortly ( ATWOnline, Aug. 3).
Malaysia Airlines will suspend its thrice-weekly Kuala Lumpur-Stockholm Arlanda-New York JFK service in October. ANA and US Airways announced a codeshare agreement effective Sept. 16 under which US will place its code on ANA flights from Tokyo Narita to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles and New York JFK while ANA will place its code on US flights from the aforementioned American airports to Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Etihad Airways transported more than 616,000 passengers in July, a record for the airline and up 9% from the year-ago month. July 31 was the busiest day in its with 21,640 passengers. July load factor was 88% on a 20% increase in the number of weekly flights.
Shanghai Airlines yesterday said it expects to report a first-half net loss, which will follow its CNY1.36 billion ($198.8 million) deficit in 2008. It cited the global decline in air travel, especially "the sharp drop in cargo traffic" at its Shanghai Airlines Cargo International subsidiary, in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. SAL has begun the merger process with China Eastern Airlines ( ATWOnline, July 14), which revealed last month that it was profitable through the 2009 first half.
Austrian Airlines Group returned to the red in the second quarter, reporting a €78.5 million ($112.3 million) loss compared to an €11.7 million profit in the year-ago period, but expects to benefit from approximately €80 million in annual synergies as a Lufthansa subsidiary, AAG Executive Board members Andreas Bierwirth and Peter Malanik told ATWOnline yesterday in Vienna.
Aer Lingus Group reached agreement with Airbus on deferred delivery of its new long-haul aircraft and terminated lease agreements on two A330s ahead of schedule. One leased A330 will leave the fleet in October, 18 months ahead of schedule, and the second will depart next March, 14 months ahead of schedule. EI already has returned two leased A330s this year and now plans to operate eight long-haul aircraft until 2013. The carrier placed an order in June 2007 for six A330-300Es and six A350s with A330 deliveries scheduled for 2009-11 and the A350s in 2014-15.
Baltia Air Lines, a New York JFK-based startup intending to serve Eastern European countries from the former Soviet Union, said it has signed a letter of intent to purchase one 747. It did not identify the source of the aircraft.
Rolls-Royce reported a £1.55 billion ($2.6 billion) profit in the first half of 2009 compared to a £339 million surplus in the year-ago semester, a surge largely due to financing income. Profit before financing was £593 million compared to £322 million the prior year. Its civil aerospace division reported an underlying profit before financing of £257 million, down 5.5% year-over-year. It delivered 424 engines, down from 462 in the first half of 2008, although underlying revenue rose 8.5% to £2.28 billion.
Austrian Airlines Group said it is "highly probable" that its deal with Lufthansa will be successfully concluded this month, or next month at the "latest,, following the European Commission's July 31 confirmation that it will approve the takeover ( ATWOnline, Aug. 3). It also said there are "clear signals that a positive decision is forthcoming in the financial aid proceeding," which Lufthansa has said is a condition of its acquisition.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. yesterday announced the closure of a $276 million private placement offering of senior secured notes due 2016 initiated in order to refinance, in part, debt scheduled to repaid in October.
Embraer reported that earnings for the second quarter fell 49.5% to $67.8 million compared to $134.4 million in the year-ago period largely owing to fewer higher-value commercial aircraft deliveries. Total deliveries for the quarter numbered 56, up from 52 last year; however, the number of E-Jet deliveries declined from 41 to 33. It delivered 15 Phenom 100 microjets. Net revenue was $1.46 billion, down 10.9%, also owing to the different product mix between the quarters.
Thai Airways took delivery of an A330-300 last week in Toulouse, the 1,000th A330/A340 family aircraft delivered by Airbus. Thai operates 15 A330-300s, four A340-500s and six A340-600s.
ANA released details of the "emergency income recovery plan" designed to produce an additional ¥30 billion ($316.7 million) in revenue during the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, and keep it on course for a full-year profit of ¥3 billion. It reported a ¥29.2 billion net loss in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 3).
US FAA yesterday announced new standards for transport category aircraft requiring either the automatic activation of ice protection systems or a method informing pilots that they should be activated. Rule applies to new aircraft designs and "significant changes" to current designs but may be expanded to cover existing types, the agency said.
China Southern Airlines reached agreement to sell six A300-600Rs, plus five spare PW4158-3 engines and spare parts, for $124 million to Tigris International of the Netherlands Antilles. Hong Kong-based Galink Aviation Technology acted as broker, CZ said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. CZ has been operating the aircraft for 14-16 years, it said, and expects a gain of approximately CNY46.6 million ($6.8 million) from the sale.
Air France started selling seats for its first commercial A380 flight on Nov. 23 from Paris Charles de Gaulle to New York JFK. It will be the first European airline to operate the A380 and the first carrier to fly transatlantic between Europe and the US. It also will operate the aircraft on a westbound flight Nov. 20 and return Nov. 21 and will auction off 380 of the 538 seats to benefit childrens' charities. The Web-based auction is scheduled for October.
Timco Aviation Services announced that its Aerosystems subsidiary was awarded Organization Delegation Authorization from US FAA. Timco said it was "the first major aircraft maintenance and modification provider to be appointed as a Supplemental Type Certificate and Parts Manufacturing Approval ODA." TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil was certified by US FAA to perform heavy maintenance on A330 and A340 aircraft. Company also is FAA-certified for the A300-B4, A300-600, and A310. It is a member of the Airbus MRO Network.
United Airlines, the Air Line Pilots Assn. and the International Assn. of Machinists submitted joint letters requesting mediation services from the US National Mediation Board. UA and the unions had agreed to seek mediation if they did not reach new labor agreements by Aug. 1. Similar deals exist with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Professional Airline Flight Control Assn., although those unions have agreed to continue with direct negotiations, UA said. A request for mediation with the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA is expected to be filed Friday.
Boeing moved to water down a Sunday report in The Seattle Times that painted a bleak picture of both the scale and time required to fix the 787's structural delamination problem. Citing two engineers "with knowledge of the problem," the paper claimed that "the wing damage that grounded. . .the 787 occurred under less stress than previously reported--and is more extensive."
