Nordic Airways, a charter and ACMI carrier based at Stockholm Arlanda that included a scheduled regional subsidiary called Nordic Regional, ceased operations over the weekend after losing its operating certificate. Swedish media reported that the carrier was granted a temporary AOC after refinancing in October but that authorities revoked the license after Nordic was unable to pay its bills. It operated MD-80s and counted Air Berlin, Germanwings and Spanair among its customers.
LAN Airlines managed to keep expense and revenue growth in line in 2008 and reported a full-year profit of $335.7 million, up 8.9% from the $308.3 million earned in 2007. The company credited its "solid and flexible business model and the leadership position it has established in the markets in which it operates" for its ability to produce positive results "despite the various elements that constantly affect the airline industry." It plans to continue its growth this year, increasing ASKs 10%. It will take delivery of four passenger aircraft and two 777 freighters in 2009.
American Airlines mechanics and technical specialists represented by the Transport Workers Union filed for US federal mediation yesterday following 14 months of negotiations. AA's negotiations with the Allied Pilots Assn. and Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants already are in mediation. TWU represents more than 12,000 mechanics, related workers and technical specialists at AA parent AMR Corp.
Aegean Airlines announced that it will begin A320/A321 flights from Athens to Brussels, Berlin, Barcelona and Venice in March, increasing its summer network to 47 routes. It transported 6 million passengers in 2008, up 14% from the prior year, on a 5% rise in flights to 57,635. It plans to take delivery of six more Airbus aircraft in the next four months and operate a fleet of 31 aircraft during the summer schedule.
FedEx ATR 42 operated by Empire Airlines crashed on landing at Lubbock, Tex., early yesterday morning, leading to a fire that destroyed the aircraft. Both crewmembers survived. En route from Fort Worth Alliance, the aircraft skidded off the runway after touching down and the right wing caught fire, according to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network. The accident occurred just after 4:30 a.m. in poor weather conditions that included "freezing drizzle and mist," ASN reported. FedEx said the two pilots escaped with only "minor injuries."
International Aero Engines won a deal with Lufthansa to provide its V2500 SelectOne engine to power 20 firm A321s plus options. Contract is valued at $850 million if all options are exercised. Deliveries are scheduled to begin this year. Pratt & Whitney, a partner in IAE, valued its share of the order at more than $283 million if all options are exercised.
Delta Air Lines reported a full-year 2008 net loss of $8.9 billion, a result that represented a major reversal from net income of $1.61 billion in 2007, attributing the huge deficit mostly to noncash charges related to goodwill impairment ($7.3 billion) and its acquisition of Northwest Airlines ($970 million).
Unfettered by a fuel hedge program that it ended 18 months ago, Allegiant Air parent Allegiant Travel Co. took advantage of falling oil prices and finished both the fourth quarter and full year in the black, the latter a $35.4 million profit, up 12.4% from $31.5 million earned in 2007.
Air Dolomiti took delivery of its first of six E-195s yesterday in Brazil. Aircraft is part of an order for 30 E-Jets placed by parent Lufthansa in June 2007 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 23). Air Dolomiti aircraft will be configured with 116 seats in a single class with a moveable partition and will be used to link its Italian network to Munich.
Goodrich Corp. reached a five-year flight-hr. agreement with Airbus to provide MRO and asset management services as part of an Airbus Total Support Package for Singapore Airlines' 19 leased A330s. Contract covers Goodrich evacuation, lighting, actuation, sensors, deicing and power products.
Schiphol Group, which operates Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, announced plans to cut 10%-25% of its workforce, currently numbering 2,200, by year end through a combination of natural attrition, outsourcing and layoffs. It cited a "strong decline in traffic and increasing international competition" as the reason and said it agreed to work with trade unions on a short-term redundancy program.
UAE General Civil Aviation Commission will increase the number of routes to/from the country to 35 from the current 27 by year end, the Arab Air Carriers Org. reported. It also promised to "enhance air traffic management and navigation services" in the UAE, including a AED300 million ($81.6 million) investment in the Zayed Center for ATM in Abu Dhabi.
EasyJet announced the cancellation of 12 flights to/from Athens scheduled for today and 16 flights to/from Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly because of scheduled strikes.
US House and Senate members reintroduced passenger rights legislation in the wake of President Barack Obama's election. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Olympia Snow (R-Maine) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) introduced bills to their respective chambers that would force airlines to provide passengers with basic necessities during a ground delay, offer the option to deplane every 3 hr. and create a complaint hotline administered by the Dept. of Transportation.
Malev Hungarian Airlines shareholders meeting that began yesterday was suspended until Feb. 10, with the airline citing "the requirement to reach properly grounded decisions," including a possible reduction in the value of its shares. It confirmed that Russia's Vneshekonombank will be its "indirect owner" and that its operation will be "conducted in partnership with Aeroflot" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 27).
Australian Consumer and Competition Commission announced a final rejection of plans by Air New Zealand and Air Canada's transpacific codeshare operation that included AC's Vancouver-Sydney service ( ATWOnline, Nov. 24, 2008). "The outcome is in stark contrast to trends in Europe, US and Asia where airlines are increasingly consolidating in response to toughening economic conditions dramatically affecting the industry," ANZ said.
Initial financial reporting for full-year 2008 indicates that the steep drop in fuel prices in the second half of the year was a double-edged sword for airlines around the world, many of which suffered significant losses on hedging programs. Some have serious hedging liabilities going forward if per-barrel crude oil prices remain low; programs that often paid off in the past now are biting back.
Iran Air will operate a fourth-weekly Tehran-London Heathrow flight from March 29 to Oct. 24 and announced it will now operate the route with a 747. Wataniya Airways launched its first route, a Kuwait City-Dubai A320 service, on Jan. 24. Flights to Bahrain and Beirut are scheduled to begin by April. Emirates and Jet Airways announced a partnership under which they will link their loyalty programs and EK will codeshare on Jet's daily flights to Dubai from Mumbai and New Delhi.
Malev Hungarian Airlines will be taken over by Russia's state-owned Vneshekonombank owing to the "previous owner's weak management and the global financial crisis," Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said at a Budapest news conference.
ANA said it will extend implementation of Line Operations Safety Audit technology to all six airlines within ANA Group in an effort to enhance flight safety. More than 30 airlines have implemented LOSA. Implementation at ANA is expected to be complete by June.
Kuwait Airways will receive $300 million from the Iraqi government in compensation for damage incurred during the 1990 invasion. A government spokesperson told the Associated Press that the cabinet "approved a final and comprehensive settlement," although a KU spokesperson said the carrier is claiming $1.3 billion plus interest ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4, 2008).
OnAir said British Airways will install its Mobile OnAir inflight communications service on its twice-daily, all-business-class service between London City and New York JFK. Kuwaiti startup Wataniya Airways also is offering the service on its Kuwait City-Dubai flights (see item above).
Turkish Airlines is abandoning its no-fuel-hedging policy and will hedge approximately 10% of its expected 2009 consumption "in order to fix expenses and to minimize the negative impact of spot price fluctuations on total costs," it said. THY transported 22.8 million passengers in 2008, up 15% from 2007, on a 12.9% rise in RPKs to 34.1 billion. Business class passengers climbed 23.2% and overall capacity was up 11.3% to 46.3 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.1 points to 73.8%.
