Embraer reported 2008 net income of $388.7 million, a 21% drop from $489.3 million the previous year, citing losses on currency hedges as the value of the real fell and sagging sales owing to the global economic downturn. Full-year revenue rose 20.8% to $6.33 billion. Fourth-quarter profit plunged 44% to $111.6 million from $200.9 million a year ago and revenue for the quarter was down 3% to $1.81 billion.
Pratt & Whitney executives said last week that interest in the PurePower PW1000G geared turbofan engine has increased since Lufthansa's recent commitment to Bombardier's CSeries and that additional orders may boost a company whose parent, United Technologies, has launched a major restructuring featuring up to 11,600 job cuts this year.
While it still is completing evaluations of three recently conducted biofuel test flights, Boeing already has drawn enough conclusions to state that it is "very confident. . .high quality jet fuel" can be composed of plant-derived oils, a company official told US lawmakers last week.
Gulf Air entered into a three-year fleet management program with SIA Engineering Co. covering the airline's Airbus fleet including A and C checks, fleet technical management, material management and engineering services, which will be performed at Gulf Air's base in Bahrain as well as in Singapore. According to the airline, the contract has a provision "for SIAEC to work with Gulf Air to insource the MRO services provided by SIAEC," which also will provide training to Gulf Air engineering staff.
US President Barack Obama's administration has not formed a position on the inclusion of US airlines in the EU's emissions trading scheme, State Dept. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs John Byerly said yesterday at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Aviation Symposium.
Pratt & Whitney announced yesterday that its PW4000-100 engine with the Advantage 70 upgrade completed its first test flight aboard an Air Comet A330-200 in Toulouse. The test program will continue through early April. The PW4000-100 is designed to deliver 70,000 lb. thrust for the A330 and will enter revenue service on the Air Comet -200 and an Air Caraibes A330-300 in the summer. Advantage 70 offers a 1% reduction in fuel consumption and increased durability, Pratt said.
Pratt & Whitney Canada expects turboprops to increase in popularity despite the industry downturn and is well positioned to work with Bombardier on the stretched version of its Q400, according to Senior Manager-Marketing Communications Pierre Boisseau.
Australian government will conduct an inquiry into security at the nation's airports amid allegations that it is well below recommended standards. Federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the inquiry will be independent of the Australian Federal Police, who are responsible for airport security, and initially will focus on the events surrounding the brutal killing of a man at Sydney Airport on March 22 in what appears to have been part of a feud between two biker gangs.
Airlines experienced their toughest month of the financial crisis yet in February, according to IATA, with passenger traffic dropping 10.1% year-over-year (a sharp fall from the 5.6% decline in January) and cargo demand down 22.1%, the third consecutive month that freight traffic plunged at least 22%.
Paris Air Show to take place June 15-21 will be well-attended despite the global financial downturn and will feature aviation industry players from around the world, including 2,000 international exhibitors, Chairman and CEO Louis Le Portz told reporters in Washington yesterday. "Concerning the major companies, everyone will be there," he said. The 48th edition of the world's largest international air show marks the 100th anniversary of the event, which started as the Airborne Locomotion Exhibition at the Grand-Palais in the center of Paris in 1909.
Virgin Blue grounded five 180-seat 737s and cancelled 28 daily flights from its schedule of 300. The moves affect 400 workers, who will be offered leave without pay, job sharing and shorter hour options. The Australian airline emphasized that it has not withdrawn from any destinations but only consolidated flights. CEO Brett Godfrey said in a statement that the reductions are a prudent interim capacity management plan necessitated by the continued and forecast deterioration in domestic demand.
The primary initiatives of "Core SAS," the restructuring plan unveiled last month to transform the airline following a heavy 2008 loss, should be completed by the end of April, SAS officials told ATWOnline this week in Copenhagen.
CAAC said it will disallow competition on 51 new domestic routes that Chinese airlines will add between March 29 and Oct. 24. The regulator said that each one of the new routes will be operated by only one Chinese carrier for three years. Industry analysts noted that the 51 routes are not particularly sought after and airlines would be reluctant to operate flights on them absent the protection against competition.
Lufthansa Systems said it will provide a package of aeronautical IT solutions to Meridiana under a five-year contract that also covers Eurofly. Solutions include Lido RouteManual navigation charts, the Lido FMS navigational database and the Lido OC flight planning solution.
ILFC said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it needs to find secured financing to continue meeting its obligations through the spring. The lessor is hampered by its parent company, American International Group, which was bailed out by the US government last year and had its credit rating downgraded. ILFC's access to credit has been curtailed and it now needs more money from AIG via the US government or funds from an outside lender.
Air France KLM yesterday announced that it completed the acquisition of a 25% stake in Alitalia through a reserved share subscription worth approximately €323 million ($439.1 million). Its partnership with the restructured Italian carrier was announced in January but required approval from competition authorities ( ATWOnline, Jan. 13). At that time, AZ said AF KLM would be entitled to nominate three of the 19 members of the board and two members of the executive committee.
Turkish Airlines informed the Istanbul stock exchange yesterday that it will purchase five 777-300s. In a statement on its website, the carrier said the aircraft will "be delivered each month starting October 2010 until February 2011." It currently operates three leased 777-300s and has been hinting that it is on the verge of making a big long-haul order ( ATWOnline, Jan. 14).
Mesa Air Group, which ended its codeshare agreement with Mokulele Airlines earlier this week, forged a new agreement with another Hawaiian carrier, Island Air. Mesa subsidiary go! yesterday began marketing services by Island Air, which operates a fleet of 37-seat Dash 8s between Honolulu and Molokai, Lanai, Maui (Kapalua and Kahului), Kauai (Lihue) and the "Big Island" of Hawaii (Kona and Hilo).
El Al posted a 2008 net loss of $38.8 million, reversed from a $44.8 million profit in 2007, citing fuel expenses. The Israeli airline said high fuel prices in the first half of the year, followed by hedging charges in the second half when the price of oil dropped, led to a 45% year-over-year increase in fuel costs to $771.2 million. But President Haim Romano said the carrier "recorded a drop in most expense items aside from fuel" and has focused on "becoming more efficient."
In the biggest management shakeup in its history, Qantas eliminated 90 senior management positions to cut costs and streamline the airline as analysts warned that further layoffs and aircraft deferrals are inevitable. CEO Alan Joyce would not rule out the option. "It is certainly a lever we may have to use," he conceded to ATWOnline yesterday.
CAAC put an A320 full flight simulator into service at its Hua-Ou Aviation Training Center, the facility's third FFS. The Thales simulator will increase Hua-Ou's training capacity by more than 25%, it said.
B/E Aerospace received an FAA STC for installation of its Overhead Flight Crew Rest on British Airways' 777-200ERs, replacing the B/E Aerospace Overhead Attendants Rest. The OFCR order is valued at $15 million.
FedEx said that it will cancel 15 firm orders for 777Fs if a proposed US House of Representatives bill that calls for the delivery giant to be governed by the National Labor Relations Act rather than the Railway Labor Act becomes law.
