Republic Airways reached agreement with Delta Air Lines for the removal of its final 11 37-seat ERJ-135s from service effective Sept. 30. Aircraft originally were scheduled to be removed at a rate of two per month between November 2008 and April 2009. Revised agreement provides for three aircraft to be removed tomorrow and four on both Aug. 31 and Sept. 30. Republic will operate two additional E-170s for DL during the spring and summer of 2009. The 11 ERJ-135s will be sold by October 2009, the regional said.
Lufthansa Group yesterday reported a €402 million ($632.1 million) first-half net profit, implying a robust €345 million second-quarter return that represented a 21.2% decline from the €438 million earned in the year-ago quarter. The company earned €992 million in the first half of 2007, a figure that was fueled by large nonoperating gains related to the sale of its Thomas Cook stake.
Delta Air Lines yesterday doubled its fee for checking a second bag for domestic flights to $50 for tickets purchased from tomorrow for travel on or after Aug. 5. "As fuel costs remain at record levels, Delta believes revising the fee structure for excess bags and specialty items is essential," the carrier stated.
Austrian Airlines Group, which yesterday reported an €11.7 million ($18.4 million) second-quarter profit that represented a 51.9% increase from the €7.7 million earned in the year-ago period, asked the government to grant quick approval for divestment of state holding company OIAG's 42.75% stake in the flag carrier, freeing it to pursue a strategic equity partnership.
Jet Airways reported a INR1.43 billion ($33.7 million) profit in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, more than four times the INR309 million earned in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 46.2% to INR28.99 billion as passenger numbers climbed 18% to 3.2 million. The Indian carrier's domestic operation posted a INR5.02 billion pre-tax profit, nearly four times greater than the INR1.31 billion reported last year, while internationally the company suffered a pre-tax loss of INR2.83 billion, widened from an INR817 million deficit in the June 2007 quarter.
JetBlue Airways CEO Dave Barger will take a 50% cut in his base salary for the July 1-Dec. 31 period "in recognition of the challenges faced by the company and its employees in the current industry environment," the airline said. Barger makes $500,000 per year.
Continental Airlines unveiled details of a 180-deg. lie-flat business-class seat to be installed on its 787, 777 and 757 aircraft. "Customers will begin seeing lie-flats seats on [777s] that primarily serve transatlantic and transpacific routes in the fall of 2009, with installation on [757-200s] beginning in 2010 and on [787s] as the aircraft are delivered," CO said. New seats will recline to a flat bed extending 6.5 ft. and can be as wide as 25 in. owing to an adjustable arm rest.
Honeywell delivered the nitrogen generation system for the 737NG, which it said "is the first fully FAA-certified fuel tank inerting solution for commercial transport aircraft." Two weeks ago, US FAA announced that within two years all new aircraft must include technology designed to reduce significantly the risk of center fuel tank explosions such as the one that is believed to have resulted in the 1996 loss of TWA 800 ( ATWOnline, July 17), and all passenger aircraft built after 1991 must be retrofitted.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau pointed to an exploding oxygen cylinder as the likely culprit in last week's Qantas 747-400 decompression and fuselage hole incident ( ATWOnline, July 28). ATSB Senior Investigator Neville Blyth told media in Manila, where the aircraft made an emergency landing, that parts of the valve of a missing oxygen cylinder and its handle were found near the 1.5-m. breach in the aircraft's hull. However, the full cylinder itself was missing.
OpenSkies will open its second European gateway when it launches daily Amsterdam-New York JFK on Oct. 15. It currently serves the New York area from Paris Orly. A 757 currently operated by British Airways is undergoing modification and will join the OpenSkies fleet when the AMS service begins. Etihad Airways will operate daily Abu Dhabi-Melbourne from March 2009 aboard an A340-600. It will be EY's third Australian destination.
Sichuan Airlines is preparing the launch of a new business jet joint venture with European Flight Services despite the decline in domestic demand that has accompanied surging fuel prices. Shanghai-based Genesis Investment Management also is expected to be a stakeholder in the new company, which will be named EFS Asia Pacific and will adopt the Legacy 600 as its main fleet type.
Lufthansa reported no cancellations and "only a few minor delays" yesterday despite 5,000 cabin and ground workers starting a strike to demand a 9.8% pay increase ( ATWOnline, July 28). The ver.di union insisted that the effects of the work action will be felt in coming days. There is no indication of how long the strike may last, with the union describing the walkout as "indefinite."
Virgin America unveiled a new product called Main Cabin Select allowing passengers to reserve exit row or bulkhead seats with 38-in. pitch. Service also includes complimentary food and drink, dedicated overhead bin space and priority check-in, security screening and boarding. MCS will be available from mid-October.
Iberia flew 4.58 billion RPKs in June, down 2.3% year-over-year, against a 0.9% lift in ASKs to 5.65 billion. Load factor fell 2.7 points to 81.1%. SAS Group airlines flew 4.13 billion RPKs in June, up 3.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.9% to 5.53 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.8 points to 74.7%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.73 billion RPKs, up 3.8%, against a 7.4% lift in ASKs to 3.54 billion. Load factor fell 2.7 points to 77.1%.
Ryanair reported an 85% plunge in its fiscal first-quarter profit to €21 million ($33 million) from the €139 million earned in the three months ended June 30, 2007, as a near doubling in oil prices and falling yield overshadowed a 19% increase in passengers.
Emirates took delivery of its first A380 in Hamburg yesterday and during the handover ceremony signed a letter of intent to firm options on 30 A350 XWBs and order 30 A330-300s.
Hedging gains helped insulate Singapore Airlines parent SIA Group from the difficult operating environment during the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 as it reported a S$358.6 million ($263.5 million) profit that represented just a 15.4% decline from the S$424.1 million reported in the year-ago period. "The outlook for the airline industry remains uncertain," it said. "Under these circumstances, the companies in the group are tracking trends closely and are in a good position to react nimbly."
As Qantas continued to investigate last Friday's 747-400 incident (see next item), it continued to plan for its future with the announcement that Jetstar Airways CEO Alan Joyce, 42, will replace outgoing CEO Geoff Dixon effective Nov. 28. Joyce, a Dublin native who also holds an Australian passport, has led QF's no-frills subsidiary since 2003. He previously worked at Aer Lingus and Ansett Australia.
Embraer unveiled plans for two new industrial facilities to be located in Evora. One will manufacture complex airframe structures and the other will focus on metallic assemblies and other composites. It will invest up to €148 million over the next six years to develop the new facilities. Sites were selected based on access to qualified labor, logistical infrastructure and a planned technological center dedicated to aeronautics, the manufacturer said.
B/E Aerospace yesterday completed its acquisition of Honeywell Aerospace's Consumables Solutions business, which distributes fasteners and aerospace hardware, for $1.05 billion comprising $901.4 million in cash and 6 million shares of B/E common stock. The sale of Consumables Solutions, which generated $524 million in revenue last year, was revealed last month ( ATWOnline, June 10).
Former SAS Cargo Director-Sales and Marketing for North America Timothy Pfeil agreed to plead guilty and serve six months in prison "for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices for air cargo rates," the US Dept. of Justice announced yesterday. SAS pleaded guilty and agreed last month to pay a $52 million criminal fine ( ATWOnline, June 27). The investigation also has ensnared British Airways, Korean Air, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Martinair and Air France KLM.
Southwest Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said last week that the LCC's recently announced partnership with WestJet ( ATWOnline, July 9) likely will not be its last codeshare tie-up with another airline as it seeks to expand its reach beyond the continental US. While the deal with WS gives SWA extensive access to the Canadian market, "we're working very hard on a Hawaiian solution and also a Mexican and Caribbean solution," Kelly told analysts.
Austrian Airlines introduced a long-haul passenger amenity initiative called the Feel Good Program that will feature a "specially designed water bottle" filled with Voslauer spring water, glassware from Riedel and turndown service for business class passengers.
Satyam Computer Services and Infospectrum agreed to collaborate in integrating clients' resource planning networks with other maintenance technologies and flight operations systems. Satyam will provide implementation and support capabilities, configuration and installation expertise, technical training, integration services, and remote SaaS model hosting. Infospectrum will offer its infoTRAK suite of enterprise and supply chain software products to support MRO activities, engineering and lifecycle management.
Iberia announced a labor agreement with 16,500 ground staff represented by the CC.OO. and UGT unions that will run through 2008. Deal includes a 3.5% wage increase and "new productivity and flexibility measures to streamline administration in all company areas."
