THERE ARE SOME PLACESLOTS OF PLACES ACTUALLYWHERE PURCHASING IS NOT A PREROGATIVE. AIRTRAN AIRWAYS IS ONE OF THEM. AT THE ORLANDO-BASED LCC, PURCHASING MANAGER JEFF LONG "HAS TO GO OUT AND SELL OUR SERVICES TO OUR INTERNAL CUSTOMERS." THERE'S NO MANDATE THAT DEPARTMENTS FUNNEL THEIR BUYING THROUGH LONG'S SHOP; "IT'S LIKE I'M A CONSULTANT HERE." AND ONE OF THE MOST POTENT TOOLS IN ANY CONSULTANT'S KIT IS PERSUASION.
While e-procurement has been around for roughly a decade in the airline industry and has become somewhat "second nature" to many participants, there are still a lot of opportunities for expansion and resulting efficiency improvements and cost savings, according to experts in the field.
THE 47TH PARIS AIR SHOW (JUNE 18-24) arrives with the airline industry in better shape than at any time since the summer of 2001 and the commercial aerospace industry enjoying a third consecutive year of strong aircraft orders. Add to this the fact that the US government and military will be making their largest appearance at the biennial event since the US and France fell apart over the Iraq war and the result is that attitudes at Le Bourget should be upbeat.
"Content is king." Or is it? The driver of the last two rounds of airline-GDS negotiations was the perceived need for subscribers, particularly travel management companies, to have access to full airline content. But the No. 2 executive at Amadeus believes the drive for full content may have shifted the balance of power between airlines and travel agencies, to the detriment of those who sought it.
To get a sense of the excitement that the possibility of owning an airport is generating these days, consider that within the past six weeks, more than $6 billion was committed separately to purchase control of three of them. None of the airportsBudapest Ferihegy, Antalya Airport in Turkey and Leeds Airport in the UKcracked ACI's Top 50 last year, but that didn't matter.
TWELVE MONTHS AGO, AEROPORTS de Paris initiated its oft-delayed privatization process with the sale of 32.8% of the company. In addition to raising €1.12
US Airways' aggressive attempt to acquire Delta Air Lines, which fizzled earlier this year when DL's creditors refused to endorse the takeover, might have sparked a consolidation frenzy that could have reshaped the world's largest air transport market. If the merger actually had gone through, it's unlikely the US's other four legacy carriersUnited Airlines, American Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlinescould have afforded to stand pat.
Transavia.com nearly doubled its full-year net earnings and enjoyed a 29th successive year in the black despite "a strongly competitive market with prices under continual pressure," the Dutch LCC said. It reported a €20.1 million profit for the fiscal year ended March 31 compared to an €11.1 million profit the year before. The Amsterdam-based airline, whose French spinoff commenced operations from Paris Orly last month ( ATWOnline, Nov.
HNA Group subsidiary Lucky Air will launch West China Airlines, HNA's new LCC, by June 18 in Chongqing with three 737-300s transferred from the parent company. The new carrier is expected to receive its operating license from CAAC soon. It will join HNA's other western venture, Western Airlines, which it has been working on since December 2005 with Chongqing Real Estate Group. That carrier has yet to be approved by CAAC. HNA is the parent of Hainan Airlines.
Austrian Airlines announced it is moving to the Star Alliance Common IT Platform for its inventory and check-in systems. The CITP is hosted by Amadeus for participating Star member carriers and is based on the Altea customer solutions suite. Austrian joins Lufthansa and United and regional member carriers Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines in choosing to migrate to the new platform, expected to occur by mid-2009.
VT Airside Solutions is taking delivery of 127 Linde tow tractors for the British Airways ground fleet services operation at London Heathrow's new Terminal 5 set to open next year.
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe said the airline intends to "open one new long-haul destination every year" and wants to increase its offering of round-the-world services. It currently operates Auckland-London Heathrow via Los Angeles and Hong Kong and is starting flights to Vancouver this year. "We want to use our existing Auckland-Shanghai service to continue onwards to Europe," Fyfe told ATWOnline, adding that the number of ANZ passengers taking advantage of round-the-world services is increasing.
US Airways said the 600 new self-service kiosks it promised to install in the wake of first-quarter operational difficulties ( ATWOnline, April 27) will come from Kinetics and will be deployed at the 107 airports US serves domestically and in the Caribbean. The agreement with Kinetics includes a three-year maintenance provision. The replacement kiosks will be installed from mid-June through September.
The pace of Indian consolidation appears to be ramping up as Kingfisher Airlines took a significant step toward acquiring Bangalore rival Air Deccan with the purchase of a 26% stake for INR5.46 billion ($133.6 million).
Servisair will provide full passenger, ramp and cargo handling services for British Airways' thrice-weekly 777 flights at Port of Spain International Airport.
Alaska Airlines will offer daily flights from Seattle to Honolulu (from Oct. 12) and Lihue (from Oct. 28) and seasonal service from Anchorage to Honolulu starting Dec. 9, all aboard two-class 737-800s. Copa Airlines yesterday said it will add frequencies to eight destinations from its Panama City hub for the summer season.
Ryanair exercised options for an additional 27 blended winglet-equipped 737-800s with deliveries scheduled from September 2009 through March 2010. The order, previously assigned to an unidentified customer, is worth $1.9 billion at list prices and brings the LCC's 737-800 order book to 308, of which 137 have been delivered. It plans to operate a fleet of 262 aircraft by 2012.
Northwest Airlines' new NWA common stock began trading yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange at $25.10 per share, marking the carrier's emergence from a 20-month bankruptcy restructuring process and ending a period dating back to December 2002 during which at least one US legacy airline was operating under Chapter 11 protection.
WestJet announced that Executive VP-Culture and co-Founder Don Bell will retire effective July 2. Bell has been chairman of the Air Transport Assn. of Canada since November 2005.
Aviareps and its Airline Centre subsidiary will take over all future sales and marketing activity for Air Italy in Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain and the UK.
A J Walter Aviation signed a new power-by-the-hour parts and MRO agreement with Air Moldova for its A320 fleet. Contract runs for in excess of three years.
Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen now is a member of the Airbus Spares repair station network, offering structure and composite repairs for Airbus proprietary parts in Asia.
Brussels Airlines is talking with Mauritius about establishing a local airline, the carrier confirmed Monday. The project is part of the carrier's strategy to expand its African network, which includes adding new destinations, increasing direct flights and frequencies and participating in local airlines ( ATWOnline, May 24).
Air Astana, the Kazakh flag carrier, enjoyed a 60% lift in passengers last year to 2 million that CEO Peter Foster joked had "absolutely" nothing to do with the success of the film "Borat." Talking to ATWOnline from Almaty, Foster said the airline is expanding rapidly and evaluating both the A350 XWB and 787 to replace its 757s and 767s from 2011. It currently operates 18 aircraft. Key to its success has been the country's mineral boom. Air Astana took delivery of its seventh A320/A321yesterday, with an additional three A320s and one A319 due next year.
