VarigLog CEO Joao Luiz Bernes de Souza said at ALTA's Latin American Airline Leaders Forum in Cancun that Varig, which the logistics company purchased over the summer ( ATWOnline, July 21), will add 16 aircraft to its fleet once it gets its new operating certificate, Reuters reported. It currently operates 15 aircraft.
Alaska Airlines made a voluntary cash contribution of $50 million to four defined benefit pension plans covering 7,300 employees in its airport, dispatch, maintenance, management and pilot work groups. It has contributed $122 million this year.
Swissport International named Philipp Joeinig executive VP-operations, Michel Jansen executive VP-cargo and Adrian Melliger head of Swissport Station Zurich.
A bipartisan group of US House of Representatives members who sit on transportation and aviation committees launched a preemptive strike last week, urging the White House not to push forward plans that would allow foreign investors to own majority shares in or control US airlines.
US Transportation Security Administration last week gave approval for a Registered Traveler program that will allow passengers to submit voluntarily to a background check to get an "RT card" permitting expedited security clearance at select US airports. The program will be administered only by approved private-sector providers. The first such provider is Verified Identity Pass, which has been operating its Clear Registered Traveler program on a trial basis at Orlando International.
Aer Lingus presented its unions with a 12-point cost-cutting plan Friday as part of its continuing effort to thwart Ryanair's floundering takeover bid and succeed as an independent carrier. According to press reports, EI has promised not to cut jobs without workers' consent. It also intends to simplify pay grades, enact standard work rules, renegotiate airport and ground handling contracts, introduce a fuel efficiency plan and look into the establishment of overseas bases, according to The Irish Times.
TAM Director of Institutional Relations Paulo Castello Branco has thrown cold water on recent reports that TAM is set to join one of the three major airline alliances.
South African Airways said it will lay off 1,000 employees, or approximately 9% of its workforce, next year in a cost-cutting measure, according to widespread South African press reports citing a statement from CEO Khaya Ngqula, who said the airline is enjoying increased traffic and revenue but cannot hold down its expenses. SAA's profit for the fiscal year ended March 31 plunged 90% year-over-year ( ATWOnline, July 7). Separately, SAA announced that it will start serving Chicago in May.
SOMEDAY IN THE NOT-TOO-distant future, perhaps within the next 5-6 years, unmanned aerial vehicle systems will begin to share the airways with passenger aircraft. Although some have voiced concern about the pace at which this is occurring, a consensus is growing that nothing will stop the march of this new dimension of aviation.
US PASSENGER AIRLINES' SOLID financial year continued in the third quarter as the 10 largest carriers again kept capacity growth to a minimum and strictly controlled nonfuel costs, reporting an aggregate operating profit of $1.64 billion, significantly widened from operating income of $241.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The airlines did report a collective net loss of $737.2 million, but the figure was dragged down by bankrupt Northwest Airlines' heavy restructuring costs. Excluding NWA, the other nine companies reported a collective net profit of $441.8 million.
TALK TO ANYONE IN THE AIR transport industry about legacy airlines versus low-cost carriers and you are likely to hear the word "blending." The LCCs are growing up and looking to adopt some of the same growth strategiescodesharing and interlining, for -exampleas their networked brethren.
Alaska Airlines named Bob Bernicchi MD-maintenance engineering. Alteon Training appointed Sherry Carbary president. ATA Airlines elevated Subodh Karnik to president & CEO succeeding John G. Denison, who remains chairman. Aviareps selected Nadja Frank as PR mgr. British Airways tapped Robert Boyle to replace Martin George as commercial dir. and Thomas Coops to succeed Iain Burns as head of communications. Crane Aerospace & Electronics chose Tom Berghan as site leader-Redmond, Wash.
Recently, Southwest Airlines has been running television commercials tweaking those rival (legacy) airlines that are charging customers for services that formerly were included in the ticket price. Although the advertisement exaggerates this trend for humorous effect--to the best of our knowledge no airline has installed pay toilets--nevertheless it is instructive for a few reasons.
IF THERE IS A SILVER LINING TO the pall that high fuel prices have cast over the airline industry during the past three-and-a-half years, it is that it has forced carriers to say a final goodbye to hundreds of old aircraft that have lingered far too long. Absent $70-per-barrel crude that made those metallic fossils economically as well as technologically obsolete, carriers well might have surrendered to the primal urge to add marginal-cost capacity at the first sign of rising travel demand, thereby snatching defeat from the jaws of a still-fragile victory.
THE WORD SCIENCE, WHEN USED TO DESCRIBE the selection of a fleet of transport aircraft, means not only the collection of data and evaluation of guarantees by verifiable methods but also refers to "social science" or the study of human behavior. History shows that decisions involved in aircraft purchases more often have been swayed by the latter.
AN ANNUAL "AIRCRAFT crash" emergency drill is winding down on a bright autumn morning at Edmonton International Airport and firefighters who had been simulating a search for debris and victims are beginning to relax. They toss a blue rubber ball in the expansive grass field where the drill has taken placeadjacent to the airport's two 10,500-ft.-plus runwaysand watch as Badge the fire dog chases after it. The canine gallops at full speed, snares the ball and returns it to the firemen, who toss it again. Badge races after it, stretching his legs on the wide-open field.
TEN YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, TAM was awarded the right to fly trunk routes in Brazil. It was a major step for the airline, which had begun life as a regional carrier in 1976 during the era of fare and route regulation. Henceforth TAM could serve the top markets nationwide, competing head-to-head with the country's leading carriers: Varig, Vasp and Transbrasil. Owing to the drive and commitment of its visionary founder, the late Capt.
Galileo International, founded by a consortium of European airlines in 1987, and Apollo (then known as Covia) formed the Galileo Partnership in 1993, but they have remained discrete systems. It is not clear whether Travelport plans to integrate Worldspan into Apollo or Galileo. Some observers predict that Travelport will retain certain elements of Worldspan's technology but jettison the basic platform. "From a technology perspective we see significant synergies in consolidating the infrastructure, application development, etc.," Travelport chief executive Jeff Clarke said.
THE TRAVEL POSTERS PORTRAY a world of blue skies, waving palm trees, tropical beaches and rolling surfan archipelago of peace and tranquility unspoiled by the unpleasant realities of the outside world. But there is trouble in paradise as the two mainline carriers, Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines, wage a battle against an upstart from the mainland, go!, which began inter-island services last June. A fourth combatant, privately owned turboprop operator Island Air, is caught in the crossfire and recently ditched expansion plans in the face of new competitive realities.
AirTran Airways will launch service from Newburgh, N.Y.--its 51st destination--on Jan. 11 with 717-200 flights to Atlanta (twice-daily), Fort Lauderdale (five-times-weekly becoming daily from Feb. 15), Orlando (daily) and Tampa (five-times-weekly becoming daily from Feb. 15). Tampa Cargo launched operations to Los Angeles (twice-weekly from Bogota) and Manaus (twice-weekly from LAX via Colombia). Tampa Cargo now serves 17 destinations in North and South America and the Caribbean.
Pratt & Whitney Canada said yesterday it will open a new parts distribution center in Amsterdam to provide "rapid parts deliveries" for its engine customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The facility will carry "a large inventory of new parts, accessories and line-replaceable units for all P&WC engine models" and will assume responsibility for parts orders previously processed by its Southampton facility.
Avianca Chairman German Efromovich said the company is in the final stages of negotiating a "big" fleet purchase expected to be completed before the end of January. Speaking at ALTA's third annual Latin American Airlines Leaders Forum in Cancun, Efromovich, who also is CEO of Brazil's Synergy Group, said the value of the order excluding options is in the area of $2.5 billion and comprises single- and twin-aisle aircraft. They will be divided between Avianca and OceanAir of Brazil, which both are under the Synergy Aerospace umbrella. He said he was talking to Airbus and Boeing.
Kingfisher Airlines posted a INR1.07 billion ($23.9 million) loss for the first six months of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, The Economic Times reported. CEO Vijay Mallya said Indian LCCs are undercutting the market by offering low fares from which even the LCCs cannot earn profits. He has complained formally to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, writing in a letter to the agency that the fares are "not sustainable" and that "cash losses will only keep mounting."
Mesa Air Group pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., filed a federal lawsuit this week in an effort to force management to follow what the pilots consider to be terms of their collective bargaining agreement. The dispute centers on the awarding of flight schedules and reassigning of flight duties. "Competent pilot scheduling is key to our pilots' quality of life," Mesa ALPA unit chairman James Ackerman said. "It dictates how long you're away from home, how much you're paid and how productive you are while on duty."
