Qantas announced an agreement with State Capital Investment Corp., the investment holding arm of the Vietnamese government, to purchase 30% of Pacific Airlines, the country's second-largest carrier. Financial details were not disclosed on a deal first flagged by this website three months ago ( ATWOnline, Jan. 25).
Republic Airways Holdings reported $19.3 million in net income for the first quarter, a 14.1% increase over the same period a year ago, as operating revenues rose 12.9% to $290.4 million while expenses grew 12.5% to $235.6 million to produce an operating income of $54.8 million, up 14.4%.
Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, recorded a first-quarter net loss of $10.3 million compared to a loss of $79.1 million in the 2006 quarter, but said that excluding special items in both years it would have reported a 2007 quarterly loss of $15.8 million versus a 2006 profit of $2.8 million.
Lufthansa yesterday released a full first-quarter earnings report in which it highlighted the €554 million ($755.7 million) net profit announced Wednesday and said that it will achieve a €1 billion full-year operating profit assuming "the current positive framework conditions remain intact."
Air Philippines ordered three Q300s plus three options, Bombardier said yesterday. Firm aircraft are worth $56 million at list prices. The 50-seaters will be used primarily on the leisure route between Manila and Caticlan.
EADS co-CEO and Airbus CEO Louis Gallois said negotiations with labor unions on Airbus's Power8 restructuring plan, which calls for 10,000 job cuts, will begin today with an aim toward concluding by mid-July. Speaking in Toulouse at the manufacturer's Technical Press Briefing, Gallois conceded that "I can't ask the unions to support my plan. . .I can ask them to accept my plan. It's difficult [for them] to be enthusiastic when 10,000 workers are being cut."
Northwest Airlines announced a tentative labor deal with cabin staff represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, perhaps ending a protracted dispute that has been in and out of the courts ( ATWOnline, April 17) and that featured two rejected deals last year. The new agreement would give flight attendants a $182 million unsecured claim in NWA's bankruptcy and provides for the $195 million in savings the carrier says it needs.
Airbus did not contend for this week's $2.8 billion aircraft order by Virgin Atlantic Airways, the manufacturer admitted ( ATWOnline, April 25). Virgin placed orders for 15 787-9s plus options and purchase rights for an additional 28. With deliveries to begin in 2011, the A350 XWB, which won't begin delivering until 2014, was unable to compete, Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy conceded this week in Toulouse at the company's Technical Press Briefing. "We didn't put an offer in on the A350 at Virgin," he said.
Boeing yesterday confirmed Air Canada's order for 23 787s ( ATWOnline, April 25) as interest in and orders for the type intensified ahead of June's Paris Air Show and the July 8 rollout. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer suggested that Qatar Airways is the mystery customer for the 30 unidentified 787s on Boeing's website ( ATWOnline, April 20).
Emirates' star continues to rise, as evidenced by the record AED3.46 billion ($941.8 million) profit the parent company reported for the fiscal year ended March 31, representing a 23.5% increase over the prior year's profit of AED2.8 billion and based largely on the AED3.1 billion in net earnings contributed by the airline.
Midwest Air Group reported an $8 million profit for the first quarter, reversing an $8.7 million loss in the year-ago period, as operating revenue climbed 10% to $165.8 million and expenses dipped 0.6% to $159 million, turning a 2006 operating loss of $9.3 million into an operating profit of $6.7 million. "While the first quarter of 2007 was positive on several levels, overall it fell short of our expectation," said Chairman and CEO Tim Hoeksema.
Copa Airlines will launch 737NG service from Panama City to Washington Dulles (daily) and Punta Cana (twice-weekly) on July 15. Iberia will start twice-weekly Madrid-St. Petersburg flights on June 2 aboard two-class A319s. It also will increase its daily service to Moscow Domodedovo to 12-times-weekly.
BAA parent Ferrovial yesterday said it will spend £9.3 billion ($18.59 billion) over the next 11 years on upgrades at London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, where it expects combined traffic to increase 2.8% per year through the period. BAA CEO Stephen Nelson promised the improvements will be delivered "on time and on budget" and require nothing from taxpayers. Planned facilities include a second runway and terminal at STN and replacement of LHR's Terminal 2, renovation of T3 and T4 and a second satellite at T5.
Falling revenue, resulting primarily from the implementation of a deferred revenue accounting policy for its loyalty program, contributed to a $152 million first-quarter net loss for United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and a $237 million loss before reorganization items, taxes and equity in earnings of affiliates that narrowed from a $311 million loss on a similar basis in the year-ago quarter. The company reported a $22.6 million net profit in the first quarter of 2005, during which it exited bankruptcy protection, due to the adoption of fresh-start reporting.
Embraer's board officially elected Frederico Fleury Curado as president and CEO, succeeding Mauricio Botelho, who will remain chairman. Curado was selected last summer ( ATWOnline, Aug. 7, 2006). Mauro Kern Jr. succeeds Curado as executive VP-airline market while Antonio Julio Franco was named executive VP-organizational development and Flavio Rimoli is the new executive VP-legal counsel.
EADS and United Aircraft Building Corp. will operate a joint venture to convert A320s and A321s to freighters for entry into service beginning in 2011 ( ATWOnline, May 17, 2006). Speaking yesterday at Airbus's annual Technical Press Briefing in Toulouse, COO-Customers John Leahy said the conversions will take place at facilities in Dresden and north of Moscow. The cost for an A320P2F will be $4.5 million, rising to $5 million for an A321P2F.
A day after Virgin Atlantic and Air Canada ordered 787s, Boeing reported a thumping 26.7% increase in first-quarter net earnings to $877 million from $692 million in the year-ago period. Revenue grew 8% to $15.4 billion and earnings from operations rose 36% to $1.3 billion. Backlog reached a record $262 billion, up 23% in the past 12 months due to continued strength in commercial airplane orders and additional defense orders for the F-18 and C-17.
ATR said Swiftair of Spain ordered three 68-seat 72-500s worth a combined $55 million for delivery between December and mid-2008. Swiftair currently operates 16 ATR aircraft and expects to increase that number to 30 by 2010.
AirTran Holdings reported net income of $2.4 million for the first quarter ended March 31, reversing the $8.8 million loss posted in the same period a year earlier. Revenues jumped 21.3% to $504.5 million while expenses rose 14.9% to $491 million, producing an operating profit of $13.4 million compared to an operating loss of $11.3 million in the 2006 quarter. "We obviously feel a sense of satisfaction with the first quarter even though the profit is not larger," Chairman and CEO Joe Leonard said.
China Southern Airlines reported a first-quarter net loss of CNY188 million ($24.3 million), narrowed from a CNY665 million deficit in the year-ago quarter, on a 26.1% year-over-year lift in operating revenue to CNY11.89 billion. Operating expenses rose 24.3% to CNY10.58 billion. Industry analysts cited falling domestic oil prices and the appreciation of the yuan as key to CZ's improved performance.
Engine Alliance GP7200, which will power the A380, attained EASA CS-E certification, the GE-Aviation/Pratt & Whitney joint venture announced. US FAA certified it in December 2005. Joint EASA and FAA aircraft certification is expected by year end. Emirates, Air France, Korean Air and ILFC have selected the engine.
Delta Air Lines received confirmation of its reorganization plan yesterday from the US Bankruptcy Court, paving the way for it to exit Chapter 11 protection on April 30 after its $2.5 billion in exit financing has closed ( ATWOnline, April 17). Trading of its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange is expected to commence April 26 on a "when issued" basis and on May 3 on a "regular way" basis.
British Airways yesterday signaled its intent to delist its American Depository Shares from the New York Stock Exchange and terminate its reporting obligations under the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, a move it said will save it approximately £10 million ($20 million) annually. BA will file the required form with the US Securities and Exchange Commission "on or about" May 8 and its deregistration form "as soon as practicable" after June 4. Its American Depository Receipts will trade on the over-the-counter market.
Emirates is looking to leverage its new seven-hangar, $353 million maintenance facility in Dubai, which it said is the largest civil aviation MRO facility in the world, to become the maintenance "Center of Excellence" for the A380. "We have made a huge investment. We now have the capacity and can look for third-party A380 work," Senior VP-Aircraft Maintenance Iain Lachlan told this website.
