Rockwell Collins won a deal with Hainan Airlines to provide communication, navigation and surveillance avionics for 13 A320s. Products include RC's MultiScan Hazard Detection System, GLU-920 MMR, ADF-900, DME-900, HFS-900D Data Radio, CPL-920D Coupling Unit, VHF-920 transceiver and VOR-900 receiver. Deliveries will begin in 2010.
SR Technics won a five-year extension on its contract with Air Caraibes Atlantique to provide MRO services for two A330-200s and two A330-300s. Valued at more than CHF100 million ($89.1 million), the contract covers technical fleet management, base and line maintenance and component services. SRT recently opened a line station in Cayenne and will continue to support operations at Paris Orly.
Jetstar Airways revealed that its first 787-8 will not be delivered until the latter half of 2010. The Qantas Group subsidiary was expecting the first aircraft in the second quarter of 2010 after the most recent delay in the 787 schedule was announced last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22, 2008). A Jetstar spokesperson told The Australian yesterday that "it's obviously all predicated around the timing of first flight and how the program rolls from there.
Air France KLM warned that its operating result in the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31 "likely" will be negative, although it said the full-year result "should remain positive." "The deterioration in the economic environment during the third quarter has led to a slight weakening in passenger unit revenues and a strong decline in cargo revenue," AF KLM said yesterday, adding that unit costs "were not able to benefit from lower oil prices because of the negative effect of the oil hedges."
Japan Airlines plans to cut 2,140 jobs from its International unit by April 2011 and eliminate 1,640 of those positions altogether, while the remainder will be transferred elsewhere in the company, a spokesperson told Bloomberg News. The unit currently employs 16,240 and the move is part of an effort to reduce labor costs by an additional $109 million. JAL said there will be no layoffs and that the job cuts will come through attrition.
Singapore and the Czech Republic signed an open skies agreement on Jan. 19. There currently are no direct services between the countries. Singapore has concluded open skies agreements with more than 30 countries, including 16 in the EU.
The US Airways A320 that ditched safely in New York City's Hudson River following a bird strike last week previously had suffered a compressor stall on one of its engines, investigators said. A US National Transportation Safety Board spokesperson told reporters Monday that maintenance records of the nearly-10-year-old aircraft revealed the stall occurred on Jan. 13. The pilot on that flight will be interviewed by investigators.
Delta Air Lines is holding firm on a tentative agreement it reached last month with the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which manages Minneapolis-St. Paul International, saying that it will not renegotiate terms and expects the commission's board to approve the deal at a Jan. 26 meeting.
Ryanair is willing to raise its offer for rival Aer Lingus though it warned it will not engage in a lengthy regulatory clearance process unless it receives significant support from EI shareholders, including acceptance of the offer by either the Irish government or the Employee Shareholder Ownership Trust.
Fraport received approval from the Hessen state court to begin construction of the fourth runway and third terminal at Frankfurt Airport ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20, 2007). However, the approval contains a "proposed restriction on night flights," according to IATA, which "should be reconsidered in a future court ruling." Fraport said in June that the runway should be operational by the 2011 winter schedule.
Iberia flew 3.96 billion RPKs in December, down 7% from the year-ago month, against a 5.7% decline in capacity to 5.21 billion ASKs. Load factor fell 1.1 point to 76%. TAM flew 2.15 billion domestic RPKs in December, up 5% year-over-year, against a 14.3% rise in capacity to 3.25 billion ASKs. Load factor dropped 5.8 points to 66.1%. International traffic climbed 22.1% to 1.46 billion RPKs, capacity rose 21.9% to 2.05 billion ASKs and load factor was up 0.1 point to 71.4%.
Okay Airways applied to CAAC for permission to resume operations following its suspension last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 8, 2008). CAAC North China Regional Administration spokesperson Sun Defu confirmed to ATWOnline that the regulator received Okay's application on Jan. 15 and will conduct a safety check before granting approval, for which Sun did not provide a timetable.
Jet Airways reported a INR2.14 billion ($42.8 million) loss in its third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, widened from a INR911.2 million deficit in the year-ago period, and said that it will maintain focus on "domestic market consolidation" and "cost reduction initiatives," including plans to "rationalize our workforce."
A preliminary US FAA report released Friday said a US Airways A320-200 "made a forced landing on the Hudson River after striking birds and losing engine power" moments after taking off from New York LaGuardia. Flight 1549 was on its way to Charlotte but wound up ditching in the river ( ATWOnline, Jan. 16). A National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. spokesperson told the Associated Press that Capt. Chesley Sullenberger III, 57, reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after taking off.
ACSS said it was selected by Air Berlin "to launch a collaborative program to implement and certify its SafeRoute Merging & Spacing function in the European airspace." ACSS is a joint venture between L-3 Communications and Thales. SafeRoute uses ADS-B to improve situational awareness and enhance an aircraft's operating efficiency during takeoff, flight, approach, landing and taxi, according to ACSS. The Merging & Spacing Function "makes flying more efficient by providing the pilot with speed cues that enable an aircraft to reach its approach point with greater precision. .
Singapore Airlines will cut 214 flights to China, Europe, Australia and India after passenger numbers slumped 7.5% in December. Cities affected are Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Mumbai, New Delhi, London and Zurich. SQ carried 1.6 million passengers last month and flew 8.05 billion RPKs, down 3.5% year-over-year. Capacity rose 1.7% to 10.07 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 4.4 points to 79.9%.
US Dept. of Transportation named Dr. Karlin Toner to serve as a senior staff adviser and coordinator of inter-agency development of the NextGen air transportation system. She will chair the Senior Policy Committee overseeing NextGen and will work directly under the Secretary of Transportation.
Qantas launched A380 flights on the Sydney-Singapore-London Heathrow "kangaroo route" last Friday. QF31 will operate on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with the QF32 return operating on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Bmi gained approval to operate a five-times-weekly London Heathrow-Kiev Boryspil service. UK and Ukraine recently signed a revised air services agreement permitting increased capacity. Specific airport and launch date were not announced. US Airways will launch daily seasonal Charlotte-Paris Charles De Gaulle on April 21 aboard a 767.
Cabot Aviation, on behalf of Aircraft Solutions A320, arranged the purchase of three V2500-A1-powered A320-200s from Cyprus Airways. First aircraft was delivered on Jan. 14 and the other two are due in the first half of this year.
ANA board promoted Senior Executive VP-Marketing & Sales, Customer Service Promotion, Products & Services Strategy Shinichiro Ito to the position of president and CEO effective April 1, succeeding Mineo Yamamoto, who will become vice chairman of ANA Group the same day. Ito, 58, has been at ANA for 35 years and previously held positions in engineering and maintenance, airport administration, personnel and corporate planning.
Finnair will lay off 120 employees as part of an effort to save €25 million ($33 million) in personnel expenses. It said it will achieve the remainder of the targeted savings through furloughs and the scheduled upcoming conclusion of 400 fixed-term contracts. Senior VP-Human Resources Anssi Komulainen said the layoffs will be "widely applied" and "arranged so as to minimize disruption to the flight program." Finnair said it offered employee representatives a 5% temporary pay cut, the cancellation of holiday bonuses and salary freezes but was rejected.
JetBlue Airways promoted VP-Network Planning Martin St. George to senior VP-marketing and commercial strategy and Director-Network Planning Scott Laurence to VP-network planning.
Zest Airways MA60 sustained significant damage after undershooting the runway and hitting a concrete barrier when landing at Caticlan Sunday. Flight was en route from Manila with 22 passengers and three crew. Minor injuries were reported. Aircraft first flew last year. Manila-based Zest operates four additional MA60s, three Dash 7s and two A320-200s.
Cebu Pacific Air transported 683,204 passengers in December, a one-month record for the airline. It said it will add frequencies on flights from Manila to 11 domestic destinations by March "despite the weak economic forecast for the country," increasing the number of weekly domestic flights 16.6% to 1,252. It expects to take delivery of one A320 family aircraft and two ATR 72-500s by March. Frequencies to Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Macau also will increase during March.
