British Airways teamed with Google to launch an interactive service on its website allowing passengers to "zoom in on their destination of choice" electronically using Google Earth.
SkyEurope Airlines suffered a €16.5 million ($21.2 million) loss in its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, widened from a €10.1 million deficit in the year-ago quarter, despite making what it called "significant operational improvements." The Bratislava-based low-fare carrier said it remains committed to growth, having announced a €56.3 million capital increase and financing package last week ( ATWOnline, Aug. 30).
Northwest Airlines reported a net profit of $101 million in July in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Operating revenues totaled $1.2 billion and expenses came to $1.02 billion, resulting in a $180 million operating profit. It recorded $39 million in reorganization costs. Meanwhile, both the airline and its flight attendants, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, were awaiting a ruling late Friday from US District Judge Victor Marrero on whether work actions can go ahead. Marrero granted NWA's request for a temporary injunction on Aug.
Comair received an extension Friday from Delta Air Lines to Oct. 2 for submitting its bid for Regional jet services. At the same time, the first lawsuit was filed against the carrier by a family of one of the victims from last week's fatal CRJ200 crash ( ATWOnline, Sept. 1).
It's being called a revolution in air traffic management, but as history shows, with any revolution there are complications and disappointments. And so it is with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, a technology that when fully implemented will offer radar-like coverage with more accuracy at a much lower cost and will give pilots the information about other traffic that currently is available only to ground controllers.
Farnborough Hat Trick for Airbus Airbus came to Farnborough needing to accomplish three things: Demonstrate that it understood and was attacking the A380 production snags; present a new A350 that would capture airlines' attention, preferably via an order from a premier league airline; and sell a few airplanes after a first half that was virtually all Boeing.
Amadeus said it would reimburse subscribers for fees assessed by American Airlines and Northwest Airlines as an "interim relief measure" while it worked toward obtaining full-content agreements from the carriers. Meanwhile, Delta on Sept. 1 took the industry by surprise and announced that it, too, would impose fees of $3.50 for each segment booked through non-preferred channels beginning at noon the same day. However, it singled out Amadeus as a non-preferred channel. Curiously, it made no mention of Worldspan, with which it had not yet announced an agreement.
Runway safety and runway incursions shot up the priority list in Europe following the ground collision between an SAS MD-87 and a Cessna Citation in fog at Milan Linate in October 2001. The Citation strayed across the active runway as the MD-87 was taking off and 114 people on both aircraft were killed, as were four baggage handlers on the ground. It was Italy's worst aviation accident and made Europe sit up and take note.
Six weeks ago, American Airlines parent AMR Corp. surprised Wall Street with a handsome second-quarter net profit of $291 million. To put this achievement into its proper perspective, the last time AMR earned as much, fuel was selling for around 80 cents a gallon, yields were rising toward 14 cents per passenger mile, Bill Clinton was completing his second term in the White House and 911 was what you dialed in an emergency.
If this kind of thinking is not reversed, airplanes in Europe may be required one day to carry a warning label on their fuselages: "Warning: Air travel is hazardous to your health."
Look back into the history of any large company and odds are you will find some ironies lurking in its past. Cathay Pacific Airways, celebrating its 60th birthday this month, is no exception. Here's one: Although its name is virtually synonymous with Hong Kong, the two men who initially got it off the ground were from Texas and Australia. Here's another: What they really wanted to do was to start a trading company, not a passenger airline.
On any given night, tens of thousands of pilots and flight attendants are tucked away in hotel rooms in hundreds of cities around the globe awaiting the next duty day or the trip home. No other industry uses as many rooms as do airlines. It is fundamental to the nature of the businessmany carriers used to own hotels specifically for this purpose, although this is much less so todayand the ability to travel to faraway places and spend a bit of time there always has been one of the major attractions to persons considering careers as cabin attendants or pilots.
Look around any airport terminal in India these days and you notice the change from even five years ago. Gone are the gents in suits and women in muted silks; people in the waiting areas today are a truer reflection of the country at large. A rapid increase in the number of airlines and the reduction in fares that followed have brought air travel within the reach of millions of people who had never flown before.
AeroTurbine named Michael King senior VP-material sales. Air Wisconsin promoted Vince Portaro to VP-customer service. Alaska Airlines selected Tom Kemp as system chief pilot. Austrian Air Group tapped Peter Baumgartner as head-product management & customer services division, Rudolf Mertl as head-network & sales divisions, Christian Fitz as head-quality collective decision making & process management division, and Friedrich Strahammer as head-flight operations.
Although it is too early to tell whether the second quarter marked the beginning of US passenger airlines' financial comeback or was merely a brief respite from years of red ink, flat capacity growth and strong demand were enough to overcome $2.10 fuel for at least three months. Following on the heels of a solid first period, the quarter ended June 30 clearly was the industry's best since 2000. For the first time since 9/11, the phrase "net income" appeared far more frequently in earnings reports than "net loss."
Lise Fournel, the airline's senior vice president of e-commerce and chief information officer, said the new system will take a modular approach and include all reservations, inventory control, seat availability, check-in and airport operations systems. The transition to the new reservations system is slated for next year. Airport modules will probably be rolled out in 2008. ITA already has some modules in place, she said, such as domestic and international faring, but the airport systems will be entirely new.
Delta Air Lines is back in the black, reporting a July net profit of $69 million in a filing this week with the US Bankruptcy Court. It lost $41 million in the year-ago month. The result included $30 million in reorganization items, without which its monthly profit would have risen to $99 million. "July's results reflect the continued momentum of our restructuring," Executive VP and CFO Edward Bastian said.
IATA revised its earnings forecast for 2006, lowering projected industrywide full-year losses to $1.7 billion from the $3 billion estimated in June ( ATWOnline, June 6). "Stronger than anticipated economic growth has boosted airline revenues, and restructuring efforts have elevated load factors to record levels," the organization said in a statement. The collective industry 2006 fuel bill will total $115 billion, it added.
Air China today will launch services to Seoul from Dalian (daily aboard an A319) and Tianjin (Saturdays on a 737). Northwest Airlines will expand its freighter service to Guangzhou to daily from thrice-weekly from March 25. Return flights will stop in Japan. NWA already serves Shanghai daily.
Aloha Airlines parent Aloha Airgroup named Gordon Bethune chairman. He retired as Continental Airlines chairman and CEO in December 2004. ATA Airlines named Gary Ellmer, formerly of American Eagle, as senior VP-operations and GM-charter.
Aviareps reached a GSA agreement with Air Greenland covering the US, where a new route is to open in May 2007 to Baltimore/Washington International. GL operates a fleet of 24 aircraft, including one 757-200 and one A330-200 for international services.
