Bombardier Aerospace reported a 3.5% increase in operating profit to $199 million for its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 31 despite a 4.2% decline in revenue to $2.3 billion.
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi will be "open for full services including check-in and immigration" today, Airports of Thailand said yesterday, but foreign governments and airlines warned that the airport may not be ready to resume operations safely. After a one-week siege by antigovernment protesters shut down BKK ( ATWOnline, Dec. 4), leaving more than 200,000 foreign passengers stranded in Bangkok and stalling international cargo transport, Thailand is eager to get the capital's main airport up and running.
British Airways faces some turbulence in its bid to take major equity stakes in both Iberia and Qantas, with IB CEO Fernando Conte claiming that BA's ambitions are "too complex." Speaking Wednesday at an Aviation Club lunch in London, Conte reportedly argued that it would be "more reasonable" and "more rational" for BA to focus on intra-continental consolidation before trying to strike a transcontinental deal. He also revealed that BA CEO Willie Walsh told him about the Qantas discussions only an hour before the UK carrier publicly confirmed them.
A US-EU Open Aviation Area that would include a relaxation of US foreign ownership and control restrictions "is not going to happen in the near term," US Dept. of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Affairs John Byerly cautioned yesterday, adding, "I don't see any changes coming to cabotage, for example."
Denmark's Cimber Air acquired bankrupt Sterling Airlines' operating certificate, slots and brand, among other assets, and plans to relaunch the carrier and extend its European presence. Purchase does not include aircraft, leases of which will be negotiated with present owners. Cimber plans to put two 737s back into service in January and 6-8 in the long term. It will operate the airline under the Sterling name and said it hopes to rehire a portion of Sterling's former workforce.
Lufthansa's supervisory board yesterday approved the acquisition of Austrian Airlines Group, starting with the purchase of state holding company OIAG's 41.56% share for €366,000 ($463,000). LH said it also will issue a debtor warrant potentially worth up to €163 million, "depending on Austrian Airlines' economic performance and the Lufthansa share outperforming its competitors."
GE Capital estimates a pre-tax exposure of $300-$550 million for megalessor GECAS owing to the anticipated traffic downturn in 2009. In an investor presentation this week, GE Capital estimated that a 1%-2% decline in global airline traffic would result in the smaller exposure, while the "downside case" assumes a 3% decline in RPKs and the liquidation of two airlines, resulting in the higher figure. GECAS represents 7% of GE Capital's assets. Its aircraft portfolio is worth $47 billion and it has earned $6 billion since 2001, according to the parent.
Transaero took delivery of the second of 10 Tu-214s it will lease from Financial Lease Co. under a 2005 contract. Aircraft will seat eight in business class and 186 in economy and will enter service early next year on medium-haul flights to Spain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan. The first PS-90A-powered aircraft entered the fleet in April 2007.
Jet Airways said that all employees earning a gross salary of more than INR75,000 ($1,473.15) per month will take a "graduated wage cut" over the next 12 months as part of an effort "to cover the challenges faced. . .due to the current economic slowdown worldwide." Pilot givebacks will comprise a wage cut and allowance rationalization. "Top management" has taken a voluntary 25% pay cut effective this month ( ATWOnline Oct. 20).
Tianjin-based Okay Airways will shut down for one month owing to conflicts between airline management and controlling stakeholder Juneyao Group, which sent a letter to CAAC claiming it no longer is able to guarantee Okay's operational safety. The carrier will suspend operations from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15, as instructed by CAAC, which will send staff to audit Okay's safety standards. It has delayed taking delivery of its second MA60 ( ATWOnline, Oct. 21).
US Air Transport Assn. named Delta Air Lines GM-Security Technology, Compliance and Facilitation Eric Thacker as director-security operations responsible for daily coordination with the Transportation Security Administration, effective immediately. It also appointed DL Director-Government Affairs Sametta Barnett as MD-security effective next month.
Air Berlin reported a €45.6 million ($57.7 million) third-quarter profit, up 43.2% from the €31.9 million earned in the year-ago period, on an 8.6% year-over-year lift in revenue to a company record €1.06 billion. Operating profit rose 57% to €89.1 million from €56.8 million. AB said its efficiency program "is bearing fruit," citing an 8.8% fall in passenger numbers to 8.6 million but a 15.3% lift in unit revenue to 7.66 euro cents. Nine-month EBIT swung to a €35.1 million profit from a €9.5 million loss in the year-ago period.
Thai Airways flight from Phuket landed at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi yesterday, marking the resumption of service at the capital's international airport following a one-week closure caused by a siege by antigovernment protesters ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3). BKK is expected to reopen slowly over the coming days. Normal service still may be some time away as the first order of business is arranging flights to ferry more than 200,000 foreign passengers still stranded in Bangkok.
ATWOnline webinar "How IT can help airlines meet the environmental regulatory burden" featured experts discussing how carriers will need to upgrade information technology systems to meet rigorous monitoring, reporting and verification requirements related to new environmental regulations, particularly the EU emissions trading scheme set to include airlines from 2012.
Assn. of European Airlines Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus is forecasting that AEA's 35 members collectively will post a meager net profit of €300 million ($379.5 million) for 2008, down from €3.7 billion in 2007 and the €1.1-€1.8 billion forecast earlier this year, and a heavy loss in 2009.
British Airways flew 8.71 billion RPKs in November, down 5.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 3.1% to 11.72 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.2 points to 74.4%. American Airlines flew 9.53 billion system RPMs in November, down 14.5% year-over-year, against a 9.3% drop in capacity to 12.45 billion ASMs. Load factor was down 4.6 points to 76.6%. American Eagle flew 568.1 million RPMs, down 21.5%, while capacity fell 15.9% to 844.2 million ASMs. Load factor dropped 4.8 points to 67.3%.
South African Airways and the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union reached an agreement under which the carrier cancelled plans to outsource call centers to Dimension Data on Dec. 1 pending further discussions with the union. SATAWU engaged in industrial action last weekend. Separately, SAA said it will launch twice-weekly Johannesburg-Buenos Aires flights on April 8 aboard an A340-200. A third weekly flight begins in July. EZE is SAA's second South American destination after Sao Paulo Guarulhos.
Norwegian announced an expansion at its recently opened Copenhagen base comprising six additional 737-800s that will operate 12 new routes beginning in April. On April 2 it will launch flights from CPH to Amsterdam, Budapest, Krakow, Paris Orly and Palma. The following day service will begin to Edinburgh and Prague, with Faro and Pisa flights beginning April 4. Service to Heraklion and Split will launch May 2, bringing to 17 the number of routes Norwegian operates from CPH. It said it plans to fly to Barcelona, Rome and London as well.
Proposed merger of British Airways and Qantas announced Tuesday already is generating controversy in Australia, some 19 months after similar sentiments helped derail a leveraged buyout of QF by a multinational consortium.
Aircell announced that its Gogo inflight Internet service is available to passengers with Wi-Fi enabled devices on select Virgin America flights. Service launched as a beta test on a single aircraft Nov. 22 ( ATWOnline, Nov. 26) and was offered free over the Thanksgiving holiday. With the official commercial launch, pricing will be set at $12.95 for flights over 3 hr. and $9.95 for flights of 3 hr. or less.
Boeing engineering and technical employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace voted to ratify two four-year collective bargaining agreements covering nearly 21,000 employees in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah, the manufacturer announced. The deal was reached last month ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17). Both SPEEA and the machinists represented by the International Assn.
JetBlue Airways will launch daily flights from Fort Lauderdale to Santo Domingo (aboard an A320) and Cancun (E-190) in May. Romavia yesterday launched a twice-weekly Bucharest Otopeni-Vienna service aboard a BAe 146-200.
Travelport GDS concluded a full-content, multiyear agreement with TAP Portugal providing all Galileo- and Worldspan-connected travel agents with access to TAP's published fares and inventory, including Web-only fares. Travelport and TAP also agreed on a joint sales program to strengthen both parties in key markets across Africa as well as in France, Italy and Brazil.
Southwest Airlines won US Bankruptcy Court approval to purchase ATA Airlines' 14 slots at New York LaGuardia for $7.5 million ( ATWOnline, Nov. 20), Bloomberg News reported. Sale will be finalized when ATA's bankruptcy plan is approved. SWA currently flies to Chicago Midway, Baltimore, Las Vegas and five Florida destinations from Long Island Islip. SWA flew 5.26 billion RPMs in November, down 8.3% year-over-year. Capacity rose 0.4% to 8.33 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 6.1 points to 63.2%.
Mesa Air Group finalized a deal with Fokker Services for the sale, management and repair of its Dash 8-200 spare parts inventories. Fokker will pay Mesa approximately $3 million for the parts and provide inventory management and repair services for 16 Dash 8-200s, while Mesa will receive about $1.6 million in deferred monthly fee payments.
