Satyam Computer Services of India signed a seven-year deal with Qantas covering development and maintenance for more than 150 applications across various technologies.
Southwest Airlines will establish both pilot and flight attendant bases in Las Vegas by October 2007. The 17,000-sq.-ft. facilities will be located near McCarran Airport's C Concourse and initially will accommodate 350 pilots and 600 cabin staff. When fully staffed, SWA will employ 600 pilots, 1,000 flight attendants and 2,500 total staff at the airport. It operates 225 daily flights out of LAS to 53 cities. Separately, Southwest will launch Detroit Metro-Orlando International service and add a Denver-MCO service on Dec. 20.
SAS Ground Services will provide handling for Air China at London Heathrow. SAS will take care of passenger services and load control and has subcontracted Aviance to provide ramp handling. Air China operates six weekly 747 flights from Beijing to LHR.
Assn. of European Airlines said the punctuality of European carriers fell during the third quarter owing to the Aug. 10 terrorist scare and subsequent security measures. On long-haul services, just 62.3% of flights departed within 15 min. of schedule, a drop from 69% in the year-ago period. Short/medium-haul flights departed on time at a 77% rate, a decline from 79.9% last year. Baggage irregularities were measured at 18.9 missing bags per 1,000 passengers, up from 15.6 in the 2005 quarter.
Northwest Airlines intends to recall approximately 150 furloughed pilots by July 2007, according to the Air Line Pilots Assn., which issued a clarification in response to several press reports indicating the carrier was recalling "hundreds" of pilots. "The recall pace is expected to be steady throughout 2007 although the staffing situation is extremely fluid," ALPA said. Separately, NWA flew 6.49 billion RPMs in October, a 0.2% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.7% to 7.83 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.7 point to 82.8%.
Qantas informed investors yesterday that 46.08% of the carrier is now owned by foreign investors following "recent" sales, an increase of 1.18 points since May 10. The ceiling is 49%.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, reported third-quarter net income of $7.1 million, significantly narrowed from a $29.9 million profit in the year-ago quarter.
Boeing began using a moving assembly line--moving at 1.6 in. per min.--during final assembly of the 777. The company said it plans to complete a continuous, one-bay moving 777 assembly line that will include systems installation, final body join and final assembly in 2008. Separately, Boeing announced the delivery of the first of four 777-200ERs to Thai Airways, which will take an additional two next year.
SAS Group reported third-quarter net income of SEK604 million ($84.3 million), up 14.2% from a profit of SEK529 million in the year-ago quarter, on an 8.9% rise in revenues to SEK18.04 billion. Acting President and CEO Gunnar Reitan called the results "positive" but noted that a "strong economy is a significant contributory factor," adding, "The result is far from the group's return requirement and, accordingly, it is necessary to continue focusing full energy on cost-cutting measures."
AAR signed a three-year agreement to manage supply chain service for Chautauqua Airlines. AAR will provide asset planning and repairs and maintain rotable parts to support 24 CRJ200s joining the fleet from January for Chautauqua's new service agreement with Continental Airlines. AAR also will perform heavy MRO and interior modifications on up to 15 Northwest Airlines 757s. Work begins this month in Indianapolis and will continue through July 2007.
Japan Airlines emerged from a year in the red with a ¥28.2 billion ($239.2 million) profit in its second fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, a figure calculated by ATWOnline based on the carrier's half-year results released yesterday. For the six-month period, JAL posted a ¥1.5 billion profit that represented a reversal from a ¥12 billion net loss in the semester ended Sept. 30, 2005. Six-month revenues rose 3.4% to ¥1.15 trillion.
Vietnam Airlines and the US Export-Import Bank announced a preliminary agreement for a loan "in excess" of $400 million that will support the carrier's acquisition of four 787-8s that it ordered last year ( ATWOnline, June 22, 2005). The deal was announced in Hanoi by Michael Marine, US ambassador to Vietnam. The bank previously financed four 777-200ERs for VN.
ExpressJet Holdings, a Regional partner of Continental Airlines, reported a 10.9% drop in third-quarter net income to $22.7 million from $25.4 million in the same period a year ago. Operating revenues increased 8.8% to $428.6 million while operating expenses grew 10.8% to $394.1 million. Operating income was down 9% to $34.5 million. Traffic rose 14.1% to 2.7 billion RPMs, which bumped up load factor 1.5 points to 78.1%. ASMs increased 12% to 3.5 billion. Earlier this year, CO removed 69 ERJs from ExpressJet's network after the two companies failed to agree on new financial terms.
Now the sole shareholder in Airbus, EADS felt the full impact of the aircraft manufacturer's troubles as it reported a €195 million ($248.8 million) third-quarter loss, a reversal from a €279 million profit in the year-ago quarter. At Airbus, operating result plunged to a €350 million loss from a €410 million profit even as revenues rose 14% to €5.42 billion.
Cameroon Airlines will migrate its legacy communications system to SITA's Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network service. The five-year, $4.3 million contract is part of the carrier's effort to increase operational efficiencies as it prepares for privatization next year.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.56 billion system RPMs in October, a 1.7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity fell 4.5% to 12.4 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4.7 points to an October record 77.1%. Domestic traffic dropped 5.5% to 6.72 billion RPMs against a 14.1% decline in capacity to 8.57 billion ASMs, sending load factor up 7.1 points to 78.4%. International RPMs grew 24% to 2.84 billion, ASMs increased 27.2% to 3.83 billion and load factor dipped 1.9 points to 74.2%.
Air New Zealand unveiled a reconfigured Pacific network "following a review of route profitability." It will suspend its thrice-weekly Los Angeles-Papeete-Rarotonga service beginning April 2 and reinstate a weekly LAX-Rarotonga flight. It will codeshare with Air Tahiti Nui on its four-times-weekly LAX-Papeete service and cooperate with ATN on a four-times-weekly Papeete-Auckland service. The ANZ-ATN codeshare is subject to government approval. United Airlines will launch service to Huntsville from Denver (daily from Feb.
FedEx Express yesterday cancelled its $2.3 billion order for 10 A380Fs and placed an order for 15 777Fs with 15 options, becoming the first airline to cancel an A380 order and dealing a serious blow to beleaguered Airbus.
Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz are boosting capacity in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador by 16% through more frequencies and fleet reallocation, the carriers announced yesterday. The increase will equal more than 10,000 additional seats per week and will cover 21 additional weekly flights to/from and within Newfoundland and Labrador, 27 in New Brunswick and 73 in Nova Scotia. Centralwings will launch twice-weekly flights from Lodz to Rome Ciampino and Paris Beauvais from Feb. 19 aboard 737-300s/-400s.
AirBridge Cargo, the 747F scheduled freight airline launched by Volga-Dnepr in 2004, said yesterday it has received an Air Operators' Certificate from the Russian government, which Volga-Dnepr called a "a key milestone" in its effort to establish ABC as an independent operator.
Pinnacle Airlines yesterday reported a third-quarter profit of $15.8 million, a reversal from a $21.4 million loss in the year-ago quarter when it was hit hard by the bankruptcy of codeshare partner Northwest Airlines.
TAP Portugal and Espirito Santo International signed the contract for TAP's acquisition of 99.81% of PGA Portugalia Airlines. Purchase price was "some €140 million," according to a statement, and thus higher than the price indicated by TAP CEO Fernando Pinto last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 1). TAP also is purchasing PGA's 6% holding in the Groundforce handling company for €4 million.
SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express announced that Brussels Airlines will be the name of the merged company, a "new-generation" carrier that will meet "the real needs of...both business and low-cost travelers: Flexibility, service and timesaving for the former, and the lowest fare guarantee for the latter."
Airbus announced a 12-year agreement with Skybus Airlines of Ohio for a Total Support Package covering the 65 A319s that the startup LCC purchased last month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 27). Airbus said the deal "is the most comprehensive selection ever of Airbus fleet maintenance solutions built on the Air+ by Airbus services." The manufacturer selected MRO network partner Singapore Technologies Aerospace and Messier Bugatti to provide the support. Skybus expects to launch service next spring.
