International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James Hoffa placed Union Local 747, the bargaining agent for pilots at several US regional and smaller cargo and charter airlines, into an "emergency trusteeship," alleging financial impropriety by some senior union officials at the unit and failure to properly represent affiliated pilots.
Boeing incurred four more aircraft cancellations than orders booked and customers deferred delivery of 60 aircraft in the first quarter, for which it reported net income of $610 million, down 49.6% from $1.21 billion in the year-ago period.
United Airlines promoted VP-Pacific Mark Schwab to senior VP-alliances, international and regulatory affairs and named James Mueller, leader of the customer solutions team, to succeed him. Schwab succeeds Mike Whitaker, who is leaving the company.
Messier Services will overhaul landing gear on LAN Airlines' fleet of 68 A320 family aircraft under an exclusive agreement with the Chilean carrier. Work will commence immediately at Messier's Queretaro facility. A second deal with LAN covers exchange and overhaul of landing gear for its A340s beginning in 2010. Work will take place in Mosheim.
TIMCO Aviation Services and Hindustan Aeronautics signed a joint venture agreement to provide MRO in India and the "neighboring region," focusing on scheduled C checks and heavy maintenance services for operators of Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies. They plan to operate out of a facility at HAL's Bangalore complex and said they are "assessing groundbreaking schedule alternatives with a focus on the shifting growth outlook for the Indian and regional fleets."
Mxi Technologies announced that its software supporting the first three A380s within the Qantas fleet has gone live. Implementation of the Maintenix software "provides Qantas with such features as Field Loadable Software configuration management and Civil Aviation Safety Authority-approved electronic certification and recordkeeping," Mxi said.
Aeroflot said the Czech government's decision to pass on its bid for CSA Czech Airlines "objectively corresponds with the interests of Aeroflot's management" because SU "detected considerable risks in the bid, which would have entailed serious financial obligations at a time of a global financial crisis." The Russian airline said it came to that conclusion "following a thorough examination of CSA's financial and operational situation." Air France KLM and the Unimex/Travel Service consortium were chosen to advance to the second round of bidding for a 91.5% stake in CSA
Emirates will increase service from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur from 12-times-weekly to 14-times-weekly and to Jakarta from daily to 10-times-weekly on May 1. Allegiant Air will launch twice-weekly Oakland-Eugene service on June 8. SpiceJet launched daily Ahmedabad-Bangalore, Pune-Kolkata, and Mumbai-Coimbatore flights. Its summer schedule will comprise 119 daily flights aboard 19 737-800s/-900ERs.
SR Technics announced that Mubadala Development Co., the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, "acquired sole control" of the company and increased its shareholding to 70% by acquiring the 30% held by Istithmar. Dubai Aerospace Enterprise holds the remaining 30%. SRT said it will continue to operate as an independent brand. The three UAE-based companies acquired it in 2006 from 3i (56%) and Star Capital (20%), other institutional investors (12.7%) and SRT management ( ATWOnline, Nov.
Nordam Repair Group of Tulsa announced a three-year contract with Boeing to provide MRO on 737NG CFM56-7 thrust reversers. A service bulletin calls for inspection of the thrust reverser inner walls and insulation blankets and correction of any heat-related issues.
Delta Air Lines yesterday announced the imposition of a $50 fee for a second checked bag on international flights and the grounding of its 14 747-200 freighters, as well as 36 additional aircraft by year end, in response to a $794 million first-quarter loss, narrowed from a $6.39 billion deficit in the year-ago period when heavy goodwill impairment charges dragged on the bottom line.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. reported a first-quarter net loss of $382 million, narrowed from a deficit of $549 million in the year-ago period, but conceded that its net loss for the three months ended March 31 would have been $579 million absent noncash mark-to-market fuel hedge gains and accounting changes.
Japan Airlines applied for a ¥200 billion ($2.03 billion) loan from the Development Bank of Japan, a spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg News, which said the carrier has ¥35 billion in bonds maturing over the next four months. JAL forecast a ¥34 billion net loss for the fiscal year ended March 31 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 9).
Alaska Airlines said it became the first airline approved by US FAA to conduct its own Required Navigation Performance flight validation, which could lead to faster RNP procedure approvals.
Chicago Midway's privatization plan collapsed after a group of private investors failed to raise the funds needed to secure a $2.52 billion long-term lease for the facility. City officials said Monday that Midway Investment and Development Corp., the group that made the successful bid on the 99-year lease, was unable to raise the required financing. The consortium included Vancouver Airport Services, Citi Infrastructure Investors and John Hancock Life Insurance ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2008).
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras, the Campinas-based startup, expects to be operating in the black by year end and is flying at more than 70% capacity this month. It posted a 67% load factor in March, founder David Neeleman told Bloomberg News, and currently flies nine E-190s/195s. "People can afford to fly," Neeleman said. "They just have not been in the habit of doing it because fares have been so high in the past and service hasn't existed."
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol must lower tariffs that took effect April 1 by €3.5 million ($4.5 million), Dutch competition authority NMa ruled yesterday. Schiphol Group incorrectly passed several nonaviation costs--including the costs of building a sound barrier around one runway, of training baggage handling employees and of an accountancy control--to airlines when setting landing and handling fees, NMa said. Under rules introduced in 2006, airport fees must reflect the actual cost of operations, be nondiscriminatory and reasonable.
Ultra announced that its Controls business, based in the UK, delivered its 1,000th aircraft active noise cancellation system. The system was delivered to Bombardier's Toronto facility as standard equipment for its Q400 production line.
China Southern Airlines subsidiary Xiamen Airlines posted a net profit of CNY210 million ($30.7 million) in 2008, its 22nd consecutive year in the black despite the collective loss suffered by Chinese carriers last year. Xiamen did not disclose its revenue or expense figures but cited the "effective cost control" facilitated by its all-Boeing fleet and "proper capacity adjustments" for the result.
Allegiant Air parent Allegiant Travel Co. reported first-quarter net income of $28.3 million, nearly three times the $9.7 million earned in the year-ago period, citing rising load factors and an increase in ancillary revenue. "We held our own in a challenging revenue environment, more than offsetting fare weakness with increased load factors," CFO and MD-Planning Andrew Levy said.
The European Commission confirmed yesterday that it has opened antitrust investigations against four Star Alliance members and three oneworld carriers regarding concerns that their current or planned agreements to coordinate commercial, marketing and operational activities on transatlantic routes might breach EU rules.
Honeywell said Wizz Air selected a safety and navigational avionics suite and the 131-9A APU for installation on 70 new Wizz Air Hungary A320s, with a long-term service agreement on the APU.
