Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, a startup slated to launch in October, said it hired 213 flight and cabin crew this week and appointed Jardine Aviation Services as its ground handling agent.
Delta Air Lines and KLM announced a codesharing deal that will see KLM place its code on DL flights to 15 US destinations from Atlanta while the US carrier puts its code on KLM flights from Amsterdam to 10 European cities. The two intend to expand the agreement.
El Al issued a profit warning yesterday indicating that hostilities in the Middle East, increased competition and rising fuel costs will lead to a full-year loss, according to press reports. The carrier earned a record $64.1 million in 2005 ( ATWOnline, April 3). "The company does not have a clear forecast as to the amount, especially because of the uncertainty regarding the security situation and its consequences," it said in a statement cited by Reuters.
Horizon Air converted one option for a Q400 turboprop into a firm order worth $25.4 million at list price. It has 31 of the type on firm order and has acquired two others from Hainan Airlines. Caribbean Star Airlines took delivery of the second of four Q300s it is adding to its fleet this year.
Reaping the benefits of capacity cutbacks by its legacy competition, Southwest Airlines enjoyed record revenues in the second quarter ended June 30 and more than doubled its net income to $333 million from earnings of $144 million in the year-ago quarter. More good times are ahead, according to CEO Gary Kelly, who said the carrier is "excited about our near-term growth opportunities and pleased with our earnings momentum" and that "assuming continuance of the current healthy revenue environment, we expect to easily exceed our 15% 2006 annual earnings growth goal."
Northwest Airlines filed documents with the US Bankruptcy Court Tuesday related to the refinancing of $1.1 billion in existing bank obligations at more favorable terms, offering the carrier access to $250 million in incremental liquidity. NWA asked the court to allow it to convert the funds to permanent exit financing it said will secure part of the debt financing needed to emerge eventually from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. earned $291 million in the second quarter ended June 30, widened from a profit of $58 million in the same period last year and only the carrier's second profitable quarter in the last 5.5 years.
US Airways Group flew a combined 5.87 billion RPMs in June, a 5.8% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 8.6% to 7 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.5 points to 83.8%. Domestic RPMs declined 7.6% to 4.69 billion against an 11% fall in capacity to 5.6 billion ASMs. International RPMs rose 2.1% to 1.18 billion and ASMs increased 2.2% to 1.41 billion.
AirTran Airways launched a twice-daily Rochester (N.Y.)-Boston service, a daily Indianapolis-San Francisco flight, daily Tampa-Gulfport/Biloxi service and a second daily flight from IND to Los Angeles. It flew 1.30 billion RPMs in June, 25.6% higher than the year-ago month. ASMs increased 25.4% to 1.62 billion and load factor rose 0.1 point to 79.8%.
Frontier Airlines will launch weekly seasonal San Diego-Cancun service from Dec. 16. Air Transat will operate thrice-weekly London Gatwick-Toronto flights from December through March 2007, when it will resume daily service on the route. American Airlines will switch from a 767 to a 777 on its second daily Miami-Buenos Aires flight starting Sept. 6. It already operates one 777 on the route daily. It also will switch from a 767 to a 777 on its daily New York JFK-Buenos Aires flight from Oct. 29 to April 2, when it will revert back to a 767.
Aeroflot plans to increase its increase its fleet of nine 767-300ERs and is looking to lease three from ILFC. It would take delivery in the last quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2007.
Alaska Airlines announced the ratification of two four-year labor deals covering more than 3,700 clerical, customer service and ramp workers represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Agreements were reached in May ( ATWOnline, May 31). Separately, Alaska will launch thrice-weekly Los Angeles-La Paz service from Oct. 30 aboard 737-400s and thrice-weekly San Francisco-Cancun flights on Oct. 28 running through April aboard 737-800s.
The European Commission yesterday released its "Proposed Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on Common Rules for Air Services in the European Union," which among other things will require airlines to include all extra charges and taxes in advertised airfares, including those published on carrier websites, beginning in December 2007.
Love Terminal Partners, a group that owns the vacant Legend Airlines terminal at Dallas Love Field, filed suit in a US court Monday to block the deal forged by Dallas, Fort Worth, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines to gradually repeal the Wright Amendment ( ATWOnline, June 16). The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that LTP alleged the agreement violated antitrust law and compromised the value of the terminal, which the group has been attempting to sell to Pinnacle Airlines for $100 million.
ARINC said Philippine Airlines chose its GLOBALink/VHF data link service for operational communications, mostly on transpacific routes. The company also signed a GLOBALink/VHF data link contract with Canadian startup Porter Airlines, which is expected to launch later this year.
Rolls-Royce projects that 114,000 jet engines will be required to meet global demand for 51,000 commercial aircraft ranging from business jets to long-haul passenger planes over the next 20 years. That adds up to a worldwide market for jet engines through 2026 potentially valued at $600 billion, the engine-maker said in its long-term forecast released this week. Underpinning the demand will be 6.6% annual growth in Asia/Pacific air traffic over the 20-year period, Rolls said.
Cathay Pacific Airways signed a $1 billion, 20-year OnPoint Solutions service agreement with GE covering MRO of 40 GE90-115B engines on 777-300ERs. It has ordered 18 of the type, the first of which is scheduled to enter service in September 2007 ( ATWOnline, Dec. 16, 2005).
British Airways said it reached an agreement with unions representing 1,800 London Gatwick-based crew on work rule changes that will save the carrier £13.2 million ($24.1 million) per year.
Air Canada sales, customer service and scheduling employees represented by the Canadian Auto Workers Union were awarded a 1% wage increase effective this month, a 1.75% raise in July 2007 and another 1.75% raise the following year by an arbitrator. The raises cover approximately 5,540 workers. AC mainline and Air Canada Jazz flew a combined 4.4 billion RPMs in June, a 4.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 2.4% to 5.32 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 1.7 points to 82.7%.
