Comair pilot instructor said in a deposition that the pilots of Comair Flight 5191, which crashed last August in Lexington, Ky., would have failed a flight test that day for several rules violations, the Associated Press reported. The testimony was excerpted in a brief filed by Blue Grass Airport, which is responding to a claim filed by the carrier relating to a lawsuit filed by a victim's relatives, AP said.
Alitalia flew 3.47 billion RPKs in June, up 1.5% on the year-ago month, against a 0.9% climb in ASKs to 4.44 billion. Load factor rose 0.5 point to 78.2%.
Virgin America began selling tickets yesterday on its website and through a toll-free phone number for flights to San Francisco, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Washington Dulles and Las Vegas.
WestJet said yesterday that it has discontinued negotiations with Travelport on installing aiRES and will incur a noncash pre-tax writedown of C$31.9 million ($30.6 million) as a consequence of the failure to implement the reservation system to replace its aging OpenSkies platform.
Ryanair yesterday announced 11 new routes and the cancellation of 11 others. Starting Oct. 28 the LCC will operate Dublin-Stockholm Skavsta and the following day it will launch Girona-Brno, GRO-Linz and London Stansted-Billund. GRO-Poznan, Bremen-Budapest, Brussels Charleroi-Pau, Marseille-Fez, Marseille-Marrakech and Milan Orio al Serio-Lamezia will launch Oct. 30 and GRO-Basel will start Oct. 31.
Italian government is scheduled to discuss today the fate of its national carrier following the withdrawal of all previously committed and potential bidders from the privatization process ( ATWOnline, July 19). Liquidation is among the options, Economy and Finance Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa told Corriere della Sera.
Continental Airlines posted second-quarter net income of $228 million, up 15.2% over a profit of $198 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 5.8% lift in revenue to $3.71 billion.
3m FKI Logistex won a contract from Australian air Express for two cross-belt sortation systems. The two S-3000CB sorters will be installed in June 2008 in AaE's purpose-built domestic freight processing centers in Melbourne and Sydney.
China Eastern Airlines may post a net profit as high as CNY40 million ($5.3 million) for the first half of 2007, a source told ATWOnline. The carrier expects to release its financial results next month and, as a listed company, was unable to confirm the figure. China Eastern Group President Li Fenghua said this month that CEA is targeting the black following a net loss of CNY2.78 billion last year ( ATWOnline, July 4).
One day after reporting a 16.5% decline in second-quarter earnings and promising that the company will take a more cautious approach to growth, Southwest Airlines announced that Executive Chairman Herb Kelleher and President Colleen Barrett, the faces of the carrier that irrevocably altered US commercial aviation, will step down from their positions in 2008 at the conclusion of their contracts and leave the company five years later.
UPS yesterday took delivery of its first CF6-80C2B5F-powered 747-400F, which it plans to deploy on international services to the Asia/Pacific. The company will take delivery of two more -400Fs this year and five in 2008. In addition, it will acquire five of the type from other carriers by 2010, bringing its total -400F fleet to 13. The -400F has a payload of 273,300 lb. with a range of 4,400 nm. It has 30 load positions on its main deck and can carry 32 smaller containers on the lower deck. It will be the first freighter in the UPS fleet with a hinged nose.
Aerolineas Argentinas, a founding member of ALTA, has returned to the organization. The move follows AR/Austral's readmission to IATA last month. AR currently operates three 747-400s, two 747-200s, four A340-200s, two A310-200s, 22 MD-80s, 13 737-500s and five 737-200s.
ATR signed a contract with Guernsey-based Aurigny Air Services for two ATR 72-500s valued at some $37 million. Both will be delivered in 2010 and join the carrier's current fleet of three 72-200s.
The pilot of the TAM A320 that crashed late Tuesday at Sao Paulo Conganhas apparently tried to abort the landing and pull up as he contacted the rain-slickened, 6,365-ft. runway at Brazil's busiest airport.
Admitting it was unable to keep pace with rising fuel costs, Southwest Airlines yesterday reported a second-quarter net profit of $278 million that represented a 16.5% drop from earnings of $333 million in the second quarter of 2006.
World Air Holdings said yesterday that its stockholders "overwhelmingly indicated their support" for a merger agreement that would see WAH, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, acquired by ATA Airlines parent Global Aero Logistics ( ATWOnline, July 13). Stockholders voted by a 98% to 2% margin to approve the transaction and WAH said it anticipated the deal will close by the end of the current quarter.
Alitalia's privatization as currently envisioned by the Italian government appears to be history following the withdrawal of Air One parent AP Holding ( ATWOnline, July 18), although reports varied on the level of interest maintained by US private equity fund MatlinPatterson. Late yesterday, Reuters reported that MP would consider a bid if sale conditions were altered, contradicting earlier statements that it had withdrawn completely.
Astar Air Cargo yesterday extended the deadline for a response from ABX Air to its "indication of interest" to acquire its fellow DHL subservice carrier for more than $450 million in cash to July 27, noting it has been assured that ABX's board will meet with legal and financial advisers on June 20 to consider the proposal and formulate a response ( ATWOnline, July 2).
China Airlines is considering a $1.26 billion purchase of seven 787s, according to China Times. Sources at the airline told ATWOnline that the 787s, if selected, would replace the carrier's A340-300s, which a source revealed will leave the fleet first due to higher maintenance expenses and lower operating efficiency. MD Zhao Guoshuai said the company is appraising a variety of replacement aircraft. For a time it was thought to be the launch customer for the 747-8.
Royal Jordanian will launch twice-weekly Amman-Budapest service on July 28. Etihad Airways will start four-times-weekly Abu Dhabi-Kathmandu service in October aboard A330-200s. Germanwings will add a sixth daily Munich-Cologne flight on Oct. 30.
Delta Air Lines reported net income of $1.77 billion for the second quarter, a striking turnaround from a $2.21 billion loss in the year-ago period, as it emerged from bankruptcy on April 30 and benefited from one-time reorganization gains in the June quarter. Excluding reorganization items, which included noncash adjustments to its revalued assets and liabilities that "significantly impacted" its balance sheet, DL posted net income of $274 million for the quarter.
Qantas board met yesterday to consider a range of issues related to the future structure of the airline following the failed Airline Partners Australia buyout. On the agenda was the appointment of a new chairman to replace the highly respected Margaret Jackson, who was forced out by ill health and the fallout from the failed bid ( ATWOnline, May 18). CEO Geoff Dixon and CFO Peter Gregg still want to move forward with a number of initiatives suggested by APA.
Unisys Corp. was selected by the US Cargo Sales Joint Venture to provide "a broad range of IT outsourcing support services" for the organization. USJV is an alliance of Delta Air Lines, Air France and Korean Air offering cargo-related services in the US. Under the terms of the contract, Unisys will provide USJV with outsourced data center, security, network and desktop management services over a three-year period.
Compass Airlines, the wholly owned Northwest Airlines regional subsidiary, took delivery of the first of 36 E-175s. They will be configured with 12 seats in first class and 64 in coach. Compass, flying as Northwest Airlink, launched its first flight in May with a CRJ200. It plans to operate 10 E-175s by year end and all 36 by the end of 2008.
