US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters vowed to take action "swiftly" if "serious allegations" that FAA safety inspectors were negligent in their oversight of Southwest Airlines are true.
SAS Group said it will receive "slightly more" than SEK1 billion ($163.3 million) in cash and credit toward new aircraft purchases in settlement with Bombardier and Goodrich over the Q400 landing gear incidents that led the airline to retire its 27 Q400s last fall. As part of the settlement, SAS ordered 13 firm CRJ900 NextGens worth $474 million and 14 Q400 NexGens worth $356 million. It optioned a further 17 CRJ900s and seven Q400s. Delivery of the firm aircraft begins this fall and continues through 2011.
China Southern Airlines will shift its priorities from its traditional focus on domestic routes to a more ambitious commitment to international expansion, Chairman Liu Shaoyong said yesterday. Last year CZ opened 10 new international routes from Guangzhou. "We plan to open more international routes starting from Beijing to New York, London and Detroit, [plus] Guangzhou-Moscow by 2012," Liu revealed. He claimed that CZ's cargo business also will grow significantly. "I expect our cargo transport volume will increase threefold in the next few years," he said.
British Airways said it intends to seek a High Court injunction to prevent its pilots from taking strike action after conciliated talks broke down Friday night ( ATWOnline, Feb. 25). "If strike dates are issued, we will act to protect our customers by applying for an injunction," BA said. The parties are in dispute over the new OpenSkies subsidiary, which is scheduled to commence Paris-New York JFK service in June using non-BALPA pilots.
Emirates is expending significant effort to enter its first A380 into service earlier than the Oct. 1 target date, when it intends to operate Dubai-New York JFK with its first delivery ( ATWOnline, March 4). It expects to take the first aircraft in August, "but we will try to get it earlier, by midsummer, and start scheduled services ahead of October," an EK spokesperson told ATWOnline in Berlin. It is possible the first destination may change from JFK as well.
ExpressJet Holdings reported a $70.2 million loss in 2007 compared to a profit of $92.6 million in 2006. Revenue rose just 0.2% to $1.69 billion while expenses soared 16.3% to $1.79 billion owing to higher fuel costs and expenses related to the launch of its branded flying operation. It had an operating loss of $106.9 million compared to a profit of $140.1 million a year earlier. In an effort to stem the losses, the company will reduce its number of branded aircraft from 44 to 36 in April. The number of daily departures will be cut from 220 to 172.
Lufthansa released further details about its plans to operate its own private jet service beginning this year to replace the agreement it had with NetJets to provide the service. First announced three months ago ( ATWOnline, Dec.
Air China Acting Chairman Kong Dong said Friday that CA plans to introduce Cathay Pacific Airways as its partner in its bid for China Eastern Airlines to help improve CEA's management if the Shanghai-based carrier reverses its decision and accepts Air China's offer. CEA formally rejected Air China's bid last month ( ATWOnline, Feb. 19), but CA parent China National Aviation Holding Co. urged the airline to reconsider earlier last week.
Rumors of further delays to the first flight of the 787 gained momentum Friday as Goldman Sachs indicated the world may have to wait at least an additional three months. In a client note, GS analyst Richard Safran said, "Our sources indicate 787 power-on, scheduled for March end, may be delayed until the end of June. First flight, expected three months after power-on, may be further delayed. We now think deliveries will start in the third quarter of 2009 versus the current 'early '09' target."
Southwest Airlines claimed that both Boeing and US FAA approved its continued operation of 46 737 Classics for nine days in March 2007 even though the aircraft had not undergone required inspections, expressing dismay at the size of the agency's proposed fine for alleged safety lapses.
Delta Air Lines promoted Delta TechOps Senior VP Tony Charaf to president of the MRO division. VP-Maintenance Operations John Laughter was promoted to senior VP and VP-operational control and reliability while Neil Stronach was elevated to senior VP-operations control. Gil West will join DL as senior VP-airport customer service.
Avionica said Continental Airlines secured its ACARS communications in passenger service over the Iridium satellite network. One of CO's satLINK-equipped 737-800s reached its Houston headquarters as it flew over the Pacific. The carrier also plans to install satLINK on 757-200s.
Qatar Airways plans to start all-premium flights out of Doha on medium-haul routes, CEO Akbar Al Baker told ATWOnline at last week's ITB tourism fair in Berlin, and aircraft configured with an all-first-class cabin should be operating by year end.
Flight Safety Foundation, winner of Air Transport World's Joseph S. Murphy Industry Service Award for 2008 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 29), announced a partnership with Aviation Safety Foundation-Australasia designed to "better spread the FSF safety message through Australia and Southeast Asia" and offer the Melbourne-based organization access to FSF resources and assistance.
GE Aviation began a scrap reclamation program with Turkish Airlines as launch partner to recycle hardware containing rhenium. Program calls for customers to return scrap HPT blades made from nickel superalloys containing rhenium to GE. "The program will help them with their environmental efforts as well as help reduce the costs associated with material disposal. For GE, it will help us reduce our need for rhenium, which is a rare and costly element," VP-Supply Chain Scott Ernest said. Material is to be cleaned and melted for reuse.
Tiger Airways will add two leased A319s this year and a fifth A320 in April to its Australian operation, growing seat capacity 65%, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reported. The 144-seat A319s will afford Tiger access to airports with shorter runways. CEO Tony Davis said the announcement of its second Australian base after Melbourne is due within three months.
Italian conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi toned down his opposition to Air France KLM's acquisition of Alitalia ( ATWOnline, March 6), telling Rai Uno television, "I think it's possible to envision a public company with Alitalia, Air France and KLM, so long as Alitalia remained a national company with the Italian flag on the planes and offices across the world," Agence France Presse reported. Exclusive negotiations between AZ and AF KLM must conclude by March 14.
Delta Air Lines flew 8.47 billion system RPMs in February, a 6.7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.6% to 11.31 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 74.9%. Northwest Airlines flew 5.92 billion consolidated RPMs in February, up 5% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.5% to 7.38 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 80.2%. Republic Airways flew 712.7 million RPMs in February, up 39.7% on the year-ago month, against a 37.9% increase in ASMs to 1.02 billion. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 70%.
Qantas yesterday introduced into service its first aircraft, a 747-400, fitted with a premium economy cabin ( ATWOnline, July 24, 2007). Executive GM John Borghetti said the product will be installed in all of QF's 747-400s and A380s. It will be available initially on Sydney-Hong Kong -400 service, with London Heathrow and Johannesburg coming on line as three more -400s are outfitted later this month. The PE cabin has 32 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. Pitch is 42 in.
ATA Airlines said yesterday that it will discontinue service at Chicago Midway, where it has operated since 1992. On April 14 it will cease its flights to Oakland and Dallas/Fort Worth and on June 7 it will end service to Cancun and Guadalajara. Chief Commercial and Planning Officer Rob Binns said, "This was a difficult decision, but the high cost of fuel has made it economically unfeasible to continue our low-fare service at Midway." He added that aircraft used on the routes will be redeployed to more profitable charter operations.
Emirates President Tim Clark said the carrier will "have to raise fares and strip costs to compensate" for rising fuel prices. He told Zawya Dow Jones yesterday that EK is targeting cost savings of "at least $100 million" as well as higher fares in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.
British Airways, which will close the books on its fiscal year at the end of this month, said yesterday that it expects its operating margin to fall in the 2008-09 financial year to approximately 7%. CEO Willie Walsh said last fall that BA was targeting a 10% margin for the current year ending March 31 ( ATWOnline, Nov. 5, 2007). Its operating margin for the nine months ended Dec. 31 was 11.1%.
