Qantas Group announced a series of changes to its international network owing to fuel expense. CEO Geoff Dixon said Japan and Southeast Asia will be most affected. "The Japan-Far North Queensland market has also been particularly difficult for Qantas for a number of years," he noted.
Hawaiian Airlines will lease four 717-200s from Boeing Capital Corp. to "better meet the needs of Hawaii's interisland travelers" following the shutdown of Aloha Airlines two months ago ( ATWOnline, June 3). Two aircraft will enter service in September and others in November and December. HA currently flies 11 -200s and operates 150 daily inter-island flights. In support of its inter-island expansion it has hired 230 additional employees and plans 160 more.
Smiths Detection signed a $25.2 million contract with the US Transportation Security Administration for provision of advanced threat identification x-ray systems featuring carry-on baggage viewing and algorithm intelligence capabilities. Already in place at Denver International, Albuquerque International Sunport and numerous UK airports, aTiX systems will be deployed across the country.
Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey expressed "profound disappointment" with an Australian JP Morgan report that claimed in one of its scenarios that the airline "could collapse under the weight of higher fuel prices." The gloomy forecast was reported widely in Australia by most major papers with alarmist headlines. Speaking to ATWOnline from Brisbane, Godfrey pointed out, "The doomsday scenario was only one of three in the JP Morgan report and the report actually forecast that the airline's share price would rise and its profit would be 600% higher than the 2008-09 profit."
Gol and VRG parent Gol Linhas Aereas said Executive VP and CFO Richard Lark will be elevated to the board effective June 16 and serve as an "adviser" to CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr. He will transition his former responsibilities to Treasurer Anna Bettencourt, who will become finance director and investor relations officer, Controller Fabio Pereira and Accounting and Tax Director William Cattan, who also will serve as principal accounting officer. Schiphol Group appointed Jos Nijhuis president and CEO effective Jan. 1, 2009.
Emirates will receive its first A380 on July 28 at a ceremony in Hamburg. First service will be from Dubai to New York JFK, possibly as early as Aug. 1. At the recent IATA AGM in Istanbul, EK President Tim Clark made waves when he announced that the airline had no plans to reduce flying because of soaring fuel prices and the softening of the market. "We are not cutting back but in fact are looking to expand," he told delegates. The expansion could include the conversion of an order for 10 787-8Fs to the passenger version, according to some observers in Dubai.
The 787 delay is having a "quite dramatic" effect on Royal Jordanian's long-haul growth strategy, Chairman and CEO Samer Majali told ATWOnline at this week's IATA AGM in Istanbul. "The [787] delay hits our strategy," he said, noting that the carrier's regional and mid-haul fleet renewal will be finalized by next year.
Boeing reached a deal with Japan Airlines to equip current and future 777s with Class 3 EFBs following a validation trial that began last year. Two 777s have been operating with the EFBs since June 2007 and JAL expects to take delivery of three EFB-equipped -300ERs this year. Retrofit kit installation will begin in April 2009 and completion is slated for late 2011.
Oneworld airlines generated "record" revenues from the alliance's sales activities in 2007, Managing Partner John McCulloch said during a presentation at this week's IATA AGM.
Flyglobespan launched weekly Dublin-Vancouver. Service will run through September. Ryanair announced the following new routes for its winter schedule: From Bristol to Gdansk, Marrakesh and Szczecin; Brussels Charleroi to Fez, Gdansk, Manchester, Marrakesh, Riga, Tangier and Wroclaw; Frankfurt Hahn to Birmingham, Klagenfurt and Prague; London Luton to Beziers, Derry, Kaunas, Rzeszow, Szczecin and Trapani; Madrid to London Stansted and Milan Orio al Serio; Milan Orio al Serio to Berlin, Brindisi, Fez, Ibiza and Madrid; Rome Ciampino to Alghero.
Following in the footsteps of United Airlines and American Airlines, Continental Airlines yesterday became the latest US carrier to announce a major downsizing, revealing plans to retire 67 737s, lower 2008 fourth-quarter mainline domestic capacity by 11% and reduce its workforce by 3,000. In a message to employees, Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner and President Jeff Smisek said, "The airline industry is in a crisis. Its business model doesn't work with the current price of fuel and the existing level of capacity in the marketplace. We need to make changes in response."
Romania's Blue Air signed for three 737-900ERs, Boeing announced yesterday, adding to the two 737-800s ordered earlier ( ATWOnline, Feb. 6). Yesterday's order is worth $238.5 million at list prices. Blue launched in December 2004 at Bucharest Baneasa and now operates five 737 Classics. It will add two leased 737-800s this year and a third in early 2009.
United Airlines, facing rising fuel costs and a weak US economy, yesterday announced a dramatic downsizing that will see its Ted service discontinued and include the retirement over the next 19 months of 100 aircraft with the aim of reducing mainline capacity by a cumulative 17%-18% for 2008-09.
Spirit Airlines said its warning to employees regarding possible job cuts was not an indication that it plans to reduce flying ( ATWOnline, June 4). "Spirit has not made any decisions regarding capacity reductions," CEO Ben Baldanza said.
Despite the deterioration in the relationship between the East and West pilot groups at US Airways, the subsequent lawsuit and calls for executive intervention, it appears unlikely that US CEO Doug Parker will inject himself into the dispute, according to a US spokesperson.
Finnair CEO Jukka Hienonen is preparing the airline for what he considers to be an impending crisis in commercial aviation. "We are already looking at our network and we certainly will cut capacity in Europe and also look to some of our long-haul routes," he told ATWOnline at this week's IATA AGM in Istanbul. If the outlook remains gloomy, he said, "we will have to take additional measures." Finnair launched its new Helsinki-Incheon route this week as part of its continuing strategy to link the Finnish capital with Asia. But lately it has seen some softening in that market.
Amadeus reached 10-year agreements with 12 Arab Air Carriers Org.-affiliated airlines for distribution activities in their home markets. Six members who have partnered with Amadeus for the past seven years will be joined by another six when their current distribution agreements expire at year end.
Emirates SkyCargo carried 1.3 million tonnes of cargo in the fiscal year ended March 31, up 10.9% year-over-year, and boosted revenue 20% to AED6.4 billion ($1.7 billion), comprising 19% of Emirates' total revenue. But Divisional Senior VP-Cargo Ram Menen warned that the current fiscal year "will not be easy" and that cargo operators are entering into a "correction period" that will weed out inefficient players. "All carriers will have to refine their operating practices and airlines operating fuel inefficient aircraft will not survive," he warned at a gathering of SkyCargo employees.
Italy's Air One cemented its commitment to increasing its international profile with a firm order for 12 A350-800s plus 12 options and 12 A330-200s with eight options.
Boeing is on track for 787 power-on later this month and the supply chain and technical issues that have caused the program's extensive delays largely are resolved, according to Hamilton Sundstrand, the aircraft's largest systems supplier.
JetBlue Airways announced an expansion of the inflight connectivity services offered aboard its BetaBlue Wi-Fi-equipped A320, which launched last December ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12, 2007), to include "a more diverse e-mail and messaging platform" open to a variety of leading Web-based e-mail providers and a "simple yet extensive search and discover option" from e-commerce site Amazon.com. The expanded services are provided over JetBlue subsidiary LiveTV's Kiteline network platform and are free of charge.
Honeywell will acquire Intelligent Automation Corp. pending regulatory review under a contract signed yesterday. Based in Poway, Calif., IAC supplies onboard diagnostics for military and commercial helicopters as well health and usage monitoring systems for fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and ground vehicles.
Travelport GDS said it will invest millions of dollars in the Middle East to refine its distributor relationships in select markets and establish a support network for travel agents in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The company, which operates the Galileo and Worldspan brands, recently opened an office in Dubai.
ALAFCO announced the sale of five new A320-200s to Aref Logistics for $325 million. Aircraft will be operated by charter subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.
