Embraer will deliver fewer planes than predicted this year owing to an ongoing problem with its supply chain and suppliers. "We will deliver 135 aircraft rather than the 145 that we had foreseen," CEO Mauricio Botelho said during a conference call Friday. "We are postponing deliveries of 10 aircraft this year but we are getting the situation under control."
Boeing had another robust week, with orders for an additional 16 747s, four 767s and one 787 listed on its website. The customers are unidentified. ATWOnline understands that 14 of the 747s are dash 8Fs going to two customers while the remaining two are VIP aircraft listed as Boeing BBJs along with the order placed in June for one 747-8 Intercontinental ( ATWOnline, June 12). The single 787 also is a BBJ, bringing VIP orders to four. Total orders for the year now stand at 723 net of cancellations.
Use of mobile phones onboard commercial aircraft is inevitable, a panel of experts agreed during last week's ATWOnline webcast on the future of the inflight communications market. But the emergence of cabin standards is "a major issue, and cannot be ignored," stated Wale Adepoju, CEO and chief analyst of the Inflight Management Development Center. "Travelers are positive to the concept," said David Coiley, director-marketing and strategic relationships for AeroMobile, a joint venture with ARINC and Telenor. "We are ready to go and this thing is coming.
EasyJet raised its full-year profit guidance following a strong final month. The UK LCC now expects pre-tax profit growth for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 to be slightly ahead of the forecasted 40%-50%, putting year-end earnings in the £115-£124 million ($216.6-$233.5 million) range, up from £82.6 million in the previous year. Full-year revenues rose 20.6% to £1.62 billion on an 11.5% lift in passengers to 32.9 million. EasyJet will announce preliminary full-year results on Nov. 14.
The EU and US reached an interim agreement on the transmission of PNR data on Friday. The deal, which replaces the 2004 accord and is valid until July 2007, comes one week after a deadline set by the European Court of Justice, which voided the original arrangement. Officials said earlier last week that little separated the two sides ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3).
Southwest Airlines flew 5.2 billion RPMs in September, up 9.8% on the year-ago month. Capacity increased 10.1% to 7.73 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 0.2 point to 67.2%. JetBlue Airways flew 1.64 billion RPMs in September, an 8.2% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 15.8% to 2.26 billion ASMs and load factor fell 5.1 points to 72.6%. AirTran Airways flew 949.9 million RPMs in September, an 11.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity surged 28.6% to 1.54 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 9.4 points to 61.8%.
Swiss European Air Lines, the Regional subsidiary of Swiss International Air Lines, and the Swiss Pilots Assn. opened discussions on a new labor agreement at the carrier's invitation. Both parties agreed not to comment further on the details of the talks. Flight operations were interrupted last week when SPA pilots staged a two-day strike, forcing the cancellation of 142 flights.
Smiths Detection said it was awarded a $10 million contract to supply a comprehensive integrated security system for Thai Airways at the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Smiths is partnering with EMC Group Public Co., a Thai electrical and mechanical engineering contractor.
Aer Lingus's life as a publicly traded company got off to a surprisingly rocky start with archrival Ryanair announcing yesterday the launch of a hostile €1.48 billion ($1.88 billion) bid for the Irish flag carrier. The LCC confirmed it already has acquired more than 16% of the issued share capital of Aer Lingus Group, which listed on the Dublin and London stock exchanges Monday at €2.20 per share. Ryanair will pay €2.80 per share in cash for the remaining shares if it is able to acquire at least a majority of them.
SR Technics reached a five-year deal with Cathay Pacific Airways for the remaining 18 CFM56-5Cs in CX's fleet. The companies already had a contract covering 49 engines of the same type powering A340-300s running until 2013. SRT will provide MRO on the engines out of its Zurich service center.
Boeing said it delivered 100 commercial aircraft in the third quarter, a significant increase over the 62 delivered in the third quarter of 2005 when production was compromised by a 27-day assembly workers' strike. Deliveries comprised 81 737NGs, three 747s, three 767s and 13 777s. Year-to-date deliveries total 295 compared to 217 in the year-ago period. The vast majority (223) were 737NGs, followed by five 717s (including three under operating lease), 11 747s, nine 767s and 47 777s.
Lufthansa Technik signed a five-year Total Technical Support contract with Nigerian startup Arik Air covering two 737-300s, three CRJ200s and three CRJ900s. Arik plans to launch Oct 17, flying from its Lagos base to 10 domestic and three international destinations. It plans to start intercontinental service next spring. Lufthansa CityLine will provide line maintenance and engineering services on the Regional aircraft.
Airbus CEO Christian Streiff admitted that the manufacturer now is up to a whole decade behind rival Boeing, while parent EADS co-CEO Tom Enders conceded that it no longer may be feasible to pursue the A350 XWB program. The revelations came yesterday as Airbus continued to deal with the fallout from Tuesday's announcement that the A380 will be delayed an additional year and the company will undergo a radical restructuring dubbed "Power8" aimed at slashing overhead costs by 30% ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4).
Northwest Airlines yesterday set the stage for post-bankruptcy operations and the launch of its Compass regional subsidiary with orders for 36 CRJ900s and 36 Embraer 175s, plus an undisclosed number of options, which the carrier said will allow it "to pursue growth opportunities in important markets, including in the Heartland of the US, and provide Northwest with improved aircraft economics."
Southwest Airlines launched its Washington Dulles service yesterday. The carrier will use two gates on the B Concourse and operate 12 daily flights to Chicago Midway (seven), Orlando International (two), Tampa (two) and Las Vegas (one). It will base 40 employees at IAD.
Air France announced a reduction of its fuel surcharge following a 30-day stretch during which oil prices remained below $65 per barrel. Effective on tickets issued from today, the surcharge will drop €7 ($8.90) on long-haul flights, €2 on medium-haul flights and €1 on domestic flights.
Rolls-Royce announced that Monarch Airlines selected the Trent 1000 to power its order for six firm 787s scheduled for delivery from 2010 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21). The deal includes four purchase rights and a lifetime TotalCare service agreement and is worth $1 billion at list prices.
Silverjet, a UK startup that will offer business-class service between London Luton and Newark, announced the acquisition of charter carrier Flyjet and aircraft lessor Skylease, for which it will pay a combined £4-£5.5 million ($7.5-$10.4 million) over three years depending on its performance. Flyjet provides an AOC and an operating license while Skylease offers immediate use of a 767-200. It also leases two 757-200s to tour operators through Flyjet.
Ryanair will launch 10 new routes from its Nottingham East Midlands base to Alghero, Bratislava, Granada, Inverness, Knock, Krakow, Milan, Pisa, Santiago and Valencia from February, bringing its total routes from the airport to 27. It will base three additional 737-800s at NEMA and expects to carry 1.8 million passengers there in 2007. Transaero started a twice-weekly Moscow Domodedovo-Amritsar service aboard 767-200/300s.
Delta Air Lines named Kenneth Khoury executive VP and general counsel. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings named Adam Kokas VP, general counsel and secretary effective Oct. 9.
Turkish Airlines 737-400 hijacking ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4) came under increased scrutiny yesterday as it became clear the hijacker acted alone and was able to penetrate the flight deck despite possessing no weapons, a striking security breach given the institution of post-9/11 measures such as hardened cockpit doors and the restriction of passenger access to cockpits.
Ryanair Holdings said it hedged its fuel requirements for January-March 2007 at a rate equivalent to $73 per barrel of Brent crude. The LCC hedged most of its requirements to the end of 2006 at $74 a barrel. Separately, Ryanair transported 3.5 million passengers in September, up 14.5% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 1 point to 86%.
Travel Service of the Czech Republic placed an order for two firm 737-900ERs plus two purchase rights, Boeing announced this week. The order is valued at $150 million at list prices and deliveries to the Prague-based carrier will commence in the fourth quarter of 2009. Travel Service operates a fleet of 10 737s including seven dash 800s, offering scheduled services through its Smart Wings brand and charter services to more than 230 destinations.
The ExcelAire Legacy 600 pilots in control of the aircraft when it clipped a Gol 737-800 last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3) have been ordered to remain in Brazil but have not been arrested while authorities investigate the cause of the accident that killed 155 people, according to press reports.
Air France-KLM merger could deliver up to €1 billion ($1.27 billion) in savings to the airlines by 2009, double the initially anticipated cost benefit of €500 million, Air France KLM Vice Chairman and KLM President and CEO Leo van Wijk told Dutch magazine Zakenreis. Since the 2004 merger, the carriers have realized savings of €660 million, he noted. He also revealed that he is considering relinquishing his titles at KLM when his contract expires in May 2007 in order to take a strategic role in the merged company.
