British Airways announced the purchase of 28.7 million shares of Iberia at an average price of €2.34 ($3.69) per share, lifting its stake in its oneworld partner to 13.15%. BA CEO Willie Walsh said, "We will consider further opportunities to increase our stake."
Some 100 small communities stand to lose air service if the US Dept. of Transportation moves forward with a congestion pricing plan, the Regional Airline Assn. said in a statement released yesterday. Another 450 airports would be "at significant risk of losing air service," according to the organization that represents regionals in the US and Canada. DOT has proposed a two-part formula for restructuring landing fees based on aircraft weight and a per-operation charge rather than the current weight-based standard.
Global Aero Logistics, parent of ATA Airlines, North American Airlines and World Airways, named Chairman John Denison as interim president and CEO following the resignation of Subodh Karnik. A search for a permanent replacement is underway.
Indonesia's transport ministry, as expected, grounded low-fare carrier Adam Air over safety issues following an incident last week when a 737-400 skidded off the runway at Batam Island's Hang Nadim Airport, injuring five of the 176 passengers and crew onboard. The right wing, hydraulic system and main landing gear were damaged. The incident was Adam's third in 18 months ( ATWOnline, March 12).
Delta TechOps, the maintenance arm of Delta Air Lines, next month will begin reporting financial results "as a standalone business with our own profit and loss sheet," TechOps President Tony Charaf said Tuesday at the SpeedNews Commercial Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference in Los Angeles. TechOps intends to build its third-party MRO business in engines and components and views itself as competing with giants such as Lufthansa Technik and Air France Industries in an increasingly globalized market for MRO services.
EasyJet yesterday said rising fuel costs have forced it to reduce its full-fiscal-year forecast of a 20% year-over-year increase in pre-tax earnings ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8). The LCC said that at the time of its forecast, forward fuel price for summer 2008 was $840 per tonne but now has risen to more than $1,000 per tonne.
Japan Airlines and ANA are expecting that four unions representing cockpit crew, ground staff and some cabin attendants may conduct a one-day strike today that would affect about 2% of domestic services.
Honeywell was selected by Airbus to provide the FMS and Aircraft Environment Surveillance System for the A350 XWB. Honeywell said the contract would generate more than $1.5 billion in revenue over the life of the program. The AESS, which combines systems traditionally housed in up to eight boxes into two, according to Honeywell, already is certified and operating on delivered A380s and will be enhanced for the A350. It signed a $16.5 billion deal with Airbus last September to provide Air Management Systems and APU technologies for the A350.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines pilots have been unable to reach an agreement on the merger of their respective seniority lists ( ATWOnline, March 7), perhaps delivering the final blow to a potential combination of the carriers, DL Air Line Pilots Assn. MEC Chairman Lee Moak said in a letter posted on the union's website.
Bombardier's proposed CSeries "is our entry into the mainline commercial aircraft business," Gary Scott, president-aircraft services and new commercial aircraft program, said at the SpeedNews Commercial Aviation Suppliers Conference yesterday in Los Angeles.
Wings Aviation Beechcraft 1900D crashed en route from Lagos to Obudu Saturday, killing all three occupants. Wings is a charter carrier based in the Nigerian capital and the flight was a positioning operation with no passengers aboard. Aircraft first flew in 1998, according to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network.
Neither Airbus nor Boeing will bow to today's record oil prices and consider bringing forward the launch of a more fuel-efficient successor to the A320/737 platforms, which has slipped over the past 12-18 months from a 2015 entry-into-service schedule.
Driven by a growing domestic economy and the appreciation of the yuan, Air China and Air Macau parent Air China Ltd. posted a net profit of CNY4.23 billion ($595.5 million) in 2007, up 57.3% over the CNY 2.69 billion reported in 2006, on a 14.2% lift in operating revenue to CNY 51.33 billion.
Singapore Airlines launched its Singapore-London Heathrow A380 service yesterday. Flight SQ308 with 449 passengers took off from Changi Airport just after 9 a.m. local time. The return flight, SQ319, is scheduled to arrive back in Singapore this afternoon.
JetBlue Airways said yesterday at the JP Morgan Aviation and Transportation Conference in New York that it will sell four additional A320s this year, bringing to nine the number of the type it will sell in 2008. It also plans to sell an additional A320 next year.
ABX Holdings, parent of US cargo carriers ABX Air, Air Transport International and Capital Cargo International Airlines, reported a 78.2% drop in net income for 2007 to $19.6 million compared to $90.1 million the previous year. The company downplayed the earnings decrease, attributing it in large part to "the effect of noncash tax items," and noting that its acquisition of ATI and CCIA parent Cargo Holdings International at year end would pay dividends in the future. ABX enjoyed a noncash tax benefit of $54 million in 2006 but incurred a tax expense of $13 million in 2007.
Delta Air Lines announced yesterday that it will follow United Airlines and US Airways in charging passengers $25 for a second checked bag starting May 1. The move comes as US carriers are scrambling to contend with rising fuel prices and a weak domestic economy (see story above) and looking for "revenue enhancement" measures to help offset escalating expenses ( ATWOnline, Feb. 27).
Sukhoi SuperJet 100's first flight "is imminent," Superjet International CEO Alessandro Franzoni said yesterday at the SpeedNews Commercial Aviation Suppliers Conference in Los Angeles. To date, the 78/98-seat regional jet family has garnered 73 firm orders plus 46 options, the bulk of them from Russian customers ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7). But after first flight, the company intends to make a major sales push to win US airline customers.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines yesterday announced a domestic downsizing to help negotiate rising fuel costs and a slowing US economy, with each carrier planning to ground 15-20 mainline aircraft this year and DL also aiming to slash its workforce by approximately 2,000. UA plans to reduce domestic capacity by an unspecified amount later this year as it grounds 15-20 737-500s, while DL said it will cut domestic capacity by 10% year-over-year in the second half of 2008.
US FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell yesterday ordered the agency's principal maintenance inspectors to conduct an audit of airlines under their oversight to "reconfirm that commercial carriers operating within the United States have complied with all airworthiness directives."
Virgin America today will launch thrice-daily San Francisco-Seattle. AirTran Airways will launch daily Washington National-Milwaukee on May 3 aboard a 717. Cimber Air will launch flights from Norrkoping to Helsinki and Munich on March 30.
Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management announced the delivery of a new 737-800 to Transavia France. It is the third of five new -800s the lessor will lease to the Air France KLM subsidiary. Final two are scheduled for delivery in April and May.
The Alitalia board on Saturday unanimously agreed to accept an offer by Air France KLM to acquire control of the ailing Italian carrier--subject, however, to a number of what the parties call "effectiveness conditions" that must be fulfilled by March 31.
News from Travel Technology Update: Travelport GDS said all new airline contracts will cover participation in Galileo, Apollo and Worldspan. The company also confirmed that it has moved to a "home and away" pricing system for airline bookings that "more closely aligns with the greater value we provide in reaching a global customer base." The pricing structure, which appears to be reminiscent of the "value-based" structure introduced by Amadeus at the beginning of 2004, sets lower fees for bookings made within a carrier's home market and higher fees for bookings made outside its prim
Alaska Air Cargo said it is automating its cargo tracking system to enable customers to get "near real-time" updates on freight shipments. Using scanner-equipped cellular devices, it will scan cargo when it arrives at its final destination and wirelessly upload the information to its cargo data management system and to alaskaair.com. Customers will be able to go to the website to get information on their shipment's status. Alaska's cargo arrivals previously have been tracked manually, delaying the amount of time before information can be provided to customers.
