Northwest Airlines flight attendants continued to rattle their sabers following Monday's rejection of the latest labor agreement ( ATWOnline, Aug. 1), announcing their "intent to exercise their right to strike" on the evening of Aug. 15.
Latin American Air Transport Assn. said yesterday that its member airlines reported a combined net loss of $141 million for full-year 2005. Consolidated revenues increased 20.4% to $16 billion as overall RPKs grew 12.1% on an 8.1% rise in capacity. Load factor increased 2.5 points to 70%.
FedEx yesterday extended its contract with the US Postal Service to provide domestic airport-to-airport carriage of mail aboard its aircraft. The new seven-year deal replaces the last two years of a seven-year agreement reached in 2001 and runs through 2013. FedEx predicted the contract, which calls for it to fly more than 4 million lb. of mail daily, will generate $8 billion in revenue over the seven-year period.
A one-time gain from the sale of property in Singapore and record traffic helped lift Singapore Airlines Group to a S$575.1 million ($364.3 million) profit in the first fiscal quarter ended June 30, more than double the S$234.6 million earned in the year-ago period.
China Aviation Oil Supply Corp. raised fuel prices 5%, or CNY300 ($37.59) per tonne, effective July 21 in order to cut its own operating losses, Reuters reported. Prices will be adjusted every three months based upon the previous quarter's ex-refinery and import rates. CAOSC has been forced to raise jet fuel imports as domestic refineries cut back on production to produce more diesel.
CSA Czech Airlines flew 2.5 million passengers in the first six months of 2006, an increase of 6% over the year-ago period. The carrier credited increased service to Russia.
Flybe will increase its Southampton-Glasgow service to six-times-daily from four and deploy Embraer 195s on the route, boosting capacity 75%. It also will add a seventh daily Birmingham-Belfast service and raise capacity on that route by 25%. Flybe said BA Connect is discontinuing the route on Aug. 21. Continental Airlines will launch weekly Newark-Bonaire service aboard a 737-700 from Dec. 16. Sterling Airlines will add service from Copenhagen to Krakow (thrice-weekly from Sept. 19) and Geneva (twice-weekly from Dec. 30).
Air China secured approval last week from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for the sale of up to 2.7 billion shares, or 28.6% of its existing share capital, on the Shanghai stock exchange. The airline said it is in the process of conducting a required preliminary price consultation to determine the exact number of shares to be issued as well as an offer price. An Air China official previously told reporters the carrier plans to raise CNY8 billion ($1 billion) through the sale ( ATWOnline, June 15).
Austrian Airlines Group will launch a wholly owned subsidiary that will offer third-party MRO work at its 1,200-employee maintenance facility. "Our primary goal is to make better use of our quite expensive resources at the base in Vienna," CEO Alfred Oetsch told ATWOnline. Currently, AAG is doing work for Lufthansa and a few other carriers. Oetsch said Austrian Technik can compete in the tough MRO business. Further details about the project will be available in September.
Dniproavia of Ukraine said yesterday it has filed suit against the State Service for Aviation Security Supervision for creating "privileged conditions" for Lufthansa by failing to enforce the 1999 bilateral between Ukraine and Germany. It said German authorities prohibited it from operating Dnipropetrovsk-Frankfurt service in March based upon "deceptive allegations" from LH and Ukrainian aviation authorities did nothing to respond.
Ethiopian Airlines and General Electric completed a purchase agreement for 20 GEnx engines plus three spares to power 10 787s ordered by the carrier ( ATWOnline, May 2). The value of the deal is $330 million at list prices.
Boeing said this week it has firmed the design configuration for the 777 freighter, which was launched 15 months ago with an order from Air France ( ATWOnline, May 25, 2005) and will be the sixth version of the 777. The manufacturer said AF "has been closely involved in the airplane's design and development." The airline will take delivery of the first of five 777Fs in the last quarter of 2008.
Pinnacle Airlines is feeling the effects of Northwest Airlines' decision to remove 15 aircraft from its partner's fleet. Pinnacle reported net income of $11.9 million for the quarter ended June 30, down 13.1% from $13.7 million in the 2005 quarter. Operating revenue fell 4% to $204.5 million and operating income was $19.5 million, a 14% drop from the year-ago period.
Ryanair warned of possible fourth-quarter losses and a winter season "characterized by much more difficult trading conditions" and said it did not expect "yield buoyancy to be maintained at similar levels" in the next six months but at least it will be negotiating those hurdles from a position of strength, as it announced a record €115.7 million ($147.6 million) profit in the first fiscal quarter ended June 30, a 79.7% improvement from the €64.4 million earned in the year-ago period.
Boeing named Jim Jamieson senior VP-engineering, operations and technology, adding to his role as senior VP, chief technology officer and head of Boeing Technology. It also announced that Judge J. Michael Luttig of the US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit will replace the retired Douglas Bain as senior VP and general counsel. Luttig resigned from the bench. Mesa Air Group yesterday named CD Lauritsen COO of go!, its Hawaii inter-island subsidiary, and Joe Bock chief marketing officer.
Air Botswana said in a statement that it will conclude its privatization in September, with the government considering eight prospective partners. The airline carries 150,000 passengers per year across seven routes, generating $20 million in revenues.
Raytheon Aircraft Services signed a three-year extension with International Flight Training Academy to continue its Bonanza and Baron pilot training program in California for ANA.
Aerospace Industries Assn. named Cord Sterling VP-legislative affairs. AeroTurbine welcomed Michael King as senior VP-material sales. Air Astana chose Richard Ledger as regional GM-EU, USA & Canada. Air France tapped Florence Parly as dir.-strategy & investments. Air Wisconsin introduced James P. Rankin as president & CEO. Alaska Airlines elected Chris Glaeser VP-safety. Aviation Partners Boeing appointed Jerome David CFO. AWAS announced the departure of Crispin Maunder as head of strategic planning.
American has designated the Worldspan Super Access and Galileo Content Continuity programs and the Farelogix and G2 SwitchWorks GDS products as "competitive booking sources. It said it will impose a $3.50 "source premium" for each segment booked by travel agents through any other GDS product, including Amadeus, beginning Sept. 1.
Two well-known sayings immediately spring to mind when summing up the 787 cockpit and its avionics systems: "A picture is worth a thousand words," and "information is power."
Their moves follow close on the heels of announcements by Sabre and, more reluctantly, Galileo that they will introduce "opt-in" programs in which agencies trade some of their booking incentive payments for access to full content. Worldspan also had hinted for some weeks that it would unveil an opt-in program, the details of which it would reveal "later this year." But American Airlines effectively "outed" Worldspan's plans when it introduced its "Source Premium Program," and Worldspan was forced to reveal details of the program much earlier than it had planned.
