Lufthansa will strengthen its Munich hub with the addition of 180 weekly European frequencies and new services to Bilbao, Klagenfurt and Cluj in the summer schedule beginning March 30. It will base three additional A321s at MUC, increasing its Bavarian fleet to 102 narrowbody aircraft. It plans to operate 5,000 weekly flights from MUC to 90 destinations this summer.
Continental Airlines said it will distribute $158 million in profit-sharing payments to employees on Feb. 14. It paid $111 million to employees last year. It said its profit-sharing plan shares 30% of the first $250 million in pre-tax income, 25% of the next $250 million and 20% of amounts over $500 million. It claimed its 2007 profit-sharing payout was tied for the highest among the six US legacy carriers.
Thales will provide US Airways and Swiss International Air Lines with its Topflight FMS for Airbus aircraft. Features include undo functions, multi-revision temporary flight plan capabilities and a versatile display system.
Astar Air Cargo and the Air Line Pilots Assn. reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year labor contract. The parties have been negotiating since January 2005. Astar pilots' pay will increase more than 20% over the course of the contract. "In addition, the pilots will receive furlough protections and a commitment by the company to secure new aircraft," ALPA said, adding that an undisclosed amount of "retro compensation" will be paid out to pilots. The contract is subject to ratification by the pilots.
CMC Electronics said Airbus Transport International selected its CMA-9000 FMS for the retrofit of five A300-600ST Beluga aircraft. Features include civil certified multisensor GPS, INS and DME navigation capabilities as well as advanced communication functions such as data link. Compatible with ACARS, ACMS and satcom, the technology conforms to the ARINC-739 multifunction control display unit standard. Avionica won 757 and 767 FAA STCs including ST03529AT and ST03529AT for its Iridium Satellite-based voice and data communications alternative satLINK.
SAS Group nomination committee will propose Fritz Schur as chairman at the company's annual general meeting scheduled for April 9. Egil Myklebust plans to step down, SAS said. Schur has sat on the SAS board since 2001.
British Airline Pilots' Assn. yesterday reiterated that it will not accept any kind of outsourcing at British Airways and stressed its readiness to strike if the carrier goes ahead with its plans to recruit non BA-crew for its new OpenSkies subsidiary, which will operate flights between mainland Europe and the US.
Silverjet announced that TFB Mortgages declined to convert its £10 million convertible loan into new ordinary shares in the all-business-class airline at £0.60 per share ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3, 2007). The loan is due to be repaid on Dec. 17, 2009. TFB said in a statement, "Because of recent market conditions, we have decided not to exercise our right to convert our loan to Silverjet into equity. Instead, we will continue to work with the company and monitor its performance going forward.
Royal Jordanian enjoyed a 17% increase in full-year revenue to a company record JOD524 million ($733.9 million) in 2007, President and CEO Samer Majali said at its annual commercial conference Sunday, adding that RJ will report a profit for the fourth consecutive year. The airline transported more than 2.3 million passengers last year, up 16% over 2006, and saw load factor rise 4 points to 71%. Costs were approximately JOD495 million, with fuel representing one-third of expenses. RJ currently operates 26 aircraft.
The US House of Representatives is expected to vote today on another temporary extension to fund FAA, while thousands of agency employees have been warned that they may be out of a job at the end of the month.
Transaero added seven aircraft (one 747-400, one 747-300, four 737-500s and one Tu-214), opened 12 new routes and reported a 51.7% growth in passengers to 3.2 million in what the Russian airline called a "record" 2007. Traffic rose 50.9% year-over-year to 11.76 billion RPKs and load factor was 79.4%. A year-ago comparison was not provided. Transaero, which claims to be Russia's second-largest international carrier, now operates eight 747s, seven 767s, 14 737s and the Tu-214. It employs 3,600.
JetBlue Airways announced the appointment of Swiss International Air Lines CEO Christoph Franz to the LCC's board, effective immediately. Franz will represent Lufthansa, which completed its 19% stake purchase in JetBlue last month ( ATWOnline, Jan. 23).
SkyWest Inc., parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported net income of $159.2 million for 2007, a 9.2% increase over the $145.8 million earned the previous year. Revenue rose 8.3% to $3.37 billion and expenses climbed 9.2% to $3.03 billion. Operating income was up 1.6% to $344.5 million from $339.2 million in 2006.
Swiss International Air Lines and Kuoni Travel Holding will launch a comprehensive partnership under which Swiss will acquire Kuoni's leisure carrier, Edelweiss Air, while Kuoni will offer a range of hotel options on Swiss's website beginning next year. "This collaboration is a win/win situation for everyone involved," Swiss CEO Christoph Franz said. The parties agreed not to divulge financial terms, but Swiss media reported last week that Swiss will pay nearly CHF75 million ($68.2 million) for Edelweiss.
JAL Group reported net income of ¥13.1 billion ($122.9 million) for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, reversed from a net loss of ¥10.8 billion in the prior year period, citing "shifting of resources to high-profit routes" and a sharp reduction in personnel costs.
STAR Capital Partners combined its flight training organizations under the Oxford Aviation Academy name. Oxford predecessor companies are GCAT Flight Academy (formed through the combination of GE Commercial Aviation Training and SAS Flight Academy), Oxford Aviation Academy and BAE Systems Training. Oxford operates 10 training centers in Europe, Asia and North America ( ATWOnline, June 25, 2007).
Lufthansa is filing a lawsuit over restrictions to night operations linked to the future expansion of Frankfurt International. The move follows similar lawsuits by Condor Airlines and TUIfly. As a condition for the expansion approval, the Hesse State Economy Ministry said it would restrict frequencies between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. to an average of 17, down from 41. LH is asking for the limit to be raised back to the original threshold, Reuters reported.
The Clean Sky research program, a Joint Technology Initiative aimed at reducing the environmental impact of air transport, was launched officially in Brussels last week.
VEM was contracted by Aerolineas Sudamericanas to provide corrosion prevention and control program services for 727s. TAT on the first 727 was under eight days.
American Airlines flew 10.92 billion system RPMs in January, a 0.2% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity dipped 1.5% to 14.26 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.3 points to 76.6%. American Eagle flew 635.4 million RPMs, a 4% decrease, while capacity fell 5.3% to 972.9 million ASMs. Load factor was up 0.9 point to 65.3%. Delta Air Lines flew 9.08 billion system RPMs in January, 2.5% more than in the year-ago month. Capacity rose just 0.2% to 12.04 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 1.7 points to 75.4%.
Northwest Airlines will launch twice-daily Minneapolis/St. Paul-Dubuque on June 20 aboard a Mesaba Airlines Saab 340B. Qatar Airways will add a fourth daily Doha-London Heathrow flight on March 30.
Air New Zealand said Friday that an attempted hijacking that morning aboard an Eagle Air Jetstream 32 operated by Air National was a "one-off" but "has naturally given us cause to conduct a thorough review of our safety and security systems and processes on regional domestic flights." According to widespread reports, a 33-year-old Somali woman who was a passenger on the Blenheim-Christchurch flight rushed the cockpit (the flight deck reportedly is separated from the cabin by a curtain) with a knife, threatening to blow up the aircraft. She cut the two pilots before being subdued.
