US National Transportation Safety Board released documents in which Comair conceded that the pilots of the CRJ200 that crashed last August after attempting to take off from the wrong runway at Lexington Blue Grass Airport ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16, 2006) violated sterile cockpit guidelines. The airline added that "it would be simple but inaccurate to conclude that the only cause of this tragic accident was a mistake by Comair's well-trained and experienced flight crew," the Associated Press reported.
Ural Airlines reported 2006 net income of RUB27.1 million ($1 million), up from a RUB4.5 million profit in 2005, Russia's AK&M reported. Passenger traffic rose 11% to 1 million. The company flies mainly Russian-built aircraft but leased its first A320s last year.
Estonian Air will lease two Saab 340s from the manufacturer. The aircraft will join the fleet in May and September and will replace F50s. The carrier said it will use them to develop several new regional routes, starting with St. Petersburg.
Airport Coordination Ltd., which administers slot allocation at 16 airports in the UK and EU including London Heathrow, said the EU-US open skies agreement will not necessarily open up new opportunities for airlines at crowded LHR, where incumbent carriers will have "grandfather rights" to 97% of available slots when the new accord eliminates Bermuda II limits on March 30, 2008.
Swissport International said Air New Zealand has reversed course and opted not to outsource ground handling in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to a Swissport-Transfield Services New Zealand joint venture. The proposed contract, reached last October, was for 10 years.
The subject of significant speculation following last month's execution of the new EU-US open skies agreement, bmi moved to strengthen its transatlantic operation through a tie-up with Star Alliance partner United Airlines. The pair filed a joint motion with the US Dept. of Transportation this week requesting approval for antitrust immunity, which the government put on hold five years ago absent an open skies accord.
Gulf Air CEO Andre Dose, who took charge this week ( ATWOnline, April 4), announced a reduction of his senior staff in order to "drive the necessary efficiencies and to allow our management to focus on our customers." VP-Finance Ahmed Al Hammadi, VP-Services Tariq Sultan and VP-Business Units Ali Murtada will be leaving the airline.
Lufthansa will install a new first class cabin on one of its long-haul aircraft for a test run this year. "Even though the A380 is delayed for Lufthansa, we will introduce our new first class on time on our A340 fleet, starting the reconfiguration process with the 2008 winter schedule," Executive VP-Marketing and Sales Thierry Antinori told ATWOnline. LH will complete the retrofit of its 83 long-haul aircraft with its new business class next month. Economy passengers should benefit from the installation of individual video screens starting this fall.
IATA raised its 2007 global airline net profit forecast to $3.8 billion from $2.5 billion and projected a 2008 collective industry net of $7.6 billion, pointing to "better than expected traffic coupled with careful control of capacity."
Mishandled baggage costs continue to grow but can be mitigated through adoption of new technologies, particularly RFID baggage tags and sensors, experts said yesterday in the ATWOnline webcast "Innovations in Baggage and Aircraft Turnaround." The webcast, sponsored by SITA and available for replay here, examined ways carriers can handle baggage more efficiently and cost-effectively.
British Airways flew 9.67 billion RPKs in March, up 3.3% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.3% to 12.67 billion ASKs and load factor lifted 0.7 point to 76.3%. Ryanair transported 3.8 million passengers in March, up 26% on the year-ago month. Load factor fell 1 point to 79%. WestJet flew 1.02 billion RPMs in March, a 23% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 18% to 1.2 billion ASMs and load factor was up 3.3 points to 85.2%.
As the three global alliances angle for a foothold in the Chinese market, China Eastern Airlines is leaving its options open, preferring to identify a new strategic investor before committing to one of the groupings.
Garuda Indonesia said it posted a IDR131 billion ($14.4 million) profit in the first two months of 2007, a period in which it has lost money each of the past three years. It suffered a IDR173.9 billion loss in the first two months of 2006. It cited a 9-point increase in load factor to 76% and an 8% lift in yield to $0.074 as key factors in the result. Passenger numbers rose 9% to 1.4 million. "Enhanced efficiency and consolidations" pushed the number of profitable domestic routes to 24 from three in the first two months of last year, it said.
The European Commission yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the application of its air passenger rights regulation, saying that customers confronted with denied boarding, delays or cancellations remain "in a weaker position compared to airlines" and that carriers and member states now have six months effectively to implement the two-year-old rule or face sanctions.
JetBlue Airways will launch flights from San Francisco to New York JFK (five-times-daily) and Boston (daily) on May 3. Frontier Airlines will operate thrice-weekly Dallas/Fort Worth-Mazatlan service from June 7 aboard A319s. Southwest Airlines will launch daily Denver-Tampa service on May 4. Aer Arann will launch four-times-weekly Sligo-Manchester service on May 14.
Gol received approval yesterday from Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency for its planned acquisition of Varig ( ATWOnline, March 29). "Varig will incorporate modern concepts of efficient administration and reduce operating costs to become a competitive company," Gol CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr. said. The transaction, valued at $320 million, still requires approval from the Brazilian antitrust authority.
Mobiqa and Nok Air are partnering to make tickets available for download on customers' mobile phones via an SMS containing a barcode that can be scanned at check-in. Separately, Nok launched twice-daily Bangkok-Krabi service aboard a 737-400.
American Airlines filed an application with US DOT to operate daily Chicago O'Hare-Buenos Aires service beginning Oct. 28 onboard 219-seat 767-300s. AA already serves EZE from Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami and New York JFK. The US and Argentina signed an expanded air services agreement last week ( ATWOnline, April 2).
ARINC Engineering Services opened an 81,000-sq.-ft. aircraft modification and operations facility at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport yesterday. Certified as an FAA Part 145 Repair Station, the facility can provide heavy aircraft modifications, upgrades and maintenance and offers avionics installation, aircraft systems integration and engineering design.
Naverus was designated by US FAA as the first RNP Approval Consultant. "Airlines looking for the benefits of RNP are often frustrated by the implementation process. Having helped a number of airlines outside of the US through this process, Naverus has a unique perspective and significant experience from which applicants can benefit," VP-Flight Operations Hal Andersen said. The company has assisted Qantas, Air China and WestJet in securing RNP approvals from their respective civil aviation authorities.
Shandong Airlines posted net income of CNY44 million ($5.7 million) in 2006, a reversal from the prior year's loss of CNY273.6 million, on a 45.2% lift in operating revenue to CNY 4.2 billion.
Those hoping to use their mobile phones or PEDs onboard US aircraft will have to wait awhile longer following yesterday's announcement that the Federal Communications Commission is terminating its review of the December 2004 NPRM proposing a relaxation or replacement of the regulations banning the devices.
Northwest Airlines' full reorganization plan, filed Monday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, includes detailed P&L projections through 2010. It projects net income of $794 million this year on $12.77 billion in revenue, a reversal from its $2.84 billion loss in 2006 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7). Net earnings in 2008 are expected to fall 12.6% to $694 million on rising expenses and taxes, but 2009 profit will be back up 21.6% to $844 million on revenues of $13.94 billion.
Amadeus said KLM, Kenya Airways and Martinair successfully switched to Altea Reservation. More than 1.4 million PNRs migrated to Amadeus and 22 applications were adapted as part of the cutover. "By now using the same reservation system as Air France, this migration represents an important step in realizing common IT platforms and applications between Air France and KLM," KLM Executive VP and CIO Boet Kreiken said.
