Malaysia Airlines this week reported a MYR321 million ($88.4 million) loss for the three months ended March 31, a quarter it called "Q1 2006" even though its last reporting period, ended Dec. 31, 2005, was labeled the third quarter of its fiscal year ( ATWOnline, Feb. 28). The result, which compares to a MYR109.2 million profit earned in the quarter ended March 31, 2005, beat MAS's forecast loss of MYR349 million and was boosted by a "small" MYR7 million profit in March.
Cathay Pacific Airways exercised two of its 20 purchase rights for 777-300ERs for delivery in 2008. Late last year, Cathay ordered 16 777-300ERs plus the purchase rights ( ATWOnline, Dec. 2, 2005). The first aircraft will be delivered in September 2007. They will be powered by GE90-115Bs.
Delta Air Lines said yesterday that it lost $27 million in April, a significant improvement over a net loss of $163 million in the year-ago month. Net income excluding reorganization items was $22 million compared to a $163 million deficit in April 2005. The carrier has $3.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, $2.5 billion of which is unrestricted. Mainline unit costs increased just 1.6% to 10.29 cents in April, and fell 3.8% to 7.26 cents excluding fuel. Consolidated passenger RASM climbed 17.1% to 10.97 cents.
IATA reported a 9.9% rise in international RPKs in April compared to the year-ago month. Capacity increased 5.5% and load factor was 76.5%. Strongest traffic growth was in the Middle East, which showed a 22.1% rise in RPKs against a 16.2% climb in ASKs.
Oman Air plans to add two more 737-800s, one of which will replace an existing 737-700. The new aircraft will increase the fleet to five 737-800s and two 737-700s.
Qatar Airways is expressing caution regarding its order for 60 A350s valued at $10 billion given the uncertainty surrounding the likely redesign of the aircraft. Qatar, which signed a letter of intent for the A350s last year and is slated to be the aircraft's largest customer, is holding off on signing a definitive purchase agreement pending the redesign, which is expected to be completed this summer.
Although airlines serving European airports have worked with common-use passenger handling systems for decades, US carriers have resisted the technology and US airports have been reluctant to impose it on them. Gradually this is changing. Raleigh-Durham International will build the system into its new Terminal C, making it the first airport in North Carolina to adopt it.
US deregulation of the global distribution systems market in 2004 had all the immediate impact of a whisper in the woods. At the time, most of the US Major airlines already were locked into three-year, "full-content" direct connect agreements with GDS providers that guaranteed the status quo would linger regardless of the Dept. of Transportation's decision to let the CRS rules expire (ATW, 4/04, p. 33).
The international terminal at Istanbul Ataturk International Airport is a pleasant surprise: Luxurious without being overwhelming or tacky, with modern architecture, glass curtain walls, stainless steel and ceramic panel finishes, granite flooring, plenty of space and very, very cleaneven the toilets.
When information overload hit the information technology department at Vancouver International, officials concluded that IT support wasn't one of the airport's core businesses and outsourced it. By contrast, when the same thing happened at Las Vegas McCarran International, officials decided to beef up their in-house team to take on the new work.
One thing that can be said about Mesa Air Group Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein is that he loves a challenge. Whether on the basketball court or in the boardroom, his natural instinct is to play hard and play to win. His acumen as a corporate leader is demonstrated by the Phoenix-based carrier's track record of growth and profitability during a period of financial hardship for most of the commercial aviation industryincluding some of Mesa's Regional counterparts.
Maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations are investing millions of dollars in IT systems to manage their operations. Those facilities equipped with the latest software are far more likely to get the work than those without IT.
JetBlue Airways is "looking seriously" at GDS participation, according to David Neeleman, chairman and chief executive officer. At the Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference, Neeleman said the airline was missing out on business by not being in corporate travel departments' booking systems.
If US passenger airlines succeed in posting a cumulative operating profit for 2006after five years of negative EBITtwo dates will loom large in the story of their turnaround: Sept. 14, 2005, when Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines entered Chapter 11 and began dropping capacity like a cat sheds fur, and Jan. 5, 2006, when Independence Air closed down, bringing some semblance of sanity to East Coast pricing. Give some credit as well to a couple of furies named Katrina and Rita for driving oil prices so high that even the most logic-challenged carrier had to raise its fares.
Air Canada Technical Services appointed Stephane Guerin CFO, Danielle Poudrette senior VP-business strategy, Pat Iaconi VP-corporate development, Mark Swearingen executive VP-airframe maintenance and Ron Elvidge VP-components & engine maintenance. Air Wisconsin's former chairman & president, Preston Wilbourne, died April 20 at the age of 80. Alaska Airlines welcomed Paul McElroy as dir.-internal communications. ASIG promoted Dan Sellas to VP-sales & marketing. ATA Airlines welcomed John Kelly as VP-maintenance & engineering.
Singapore Changi Airport is perhaps best known for its upscale terminals that cater to the whims of every passenger. There are a movie theater, swimming pool, health clubs and lush interior orchid gardens, to name a few of the amenities. The new S$45 million ($28.5 million) Budget Terminal that opened in March offers a study in contrast. It features a functional, no-frills, utilitarian design that caters specifically to low-cost carriers.
For some, the Electronic Flight Bag is a rather neat way of displaying airport and approach plates and is supplied by a teaming of Astronautics, Jeppesen and Boeing. Certainly the EFB is a cool technology, but it also is available from 15 other system providers using software from 28 vendors and marrying it to hardware from seven other suppliersand the list of capabilities appears to be growing daily. Now pilots have at their fingertips moving maps, graphical weather forecasts, terrain mapping and a host of additional features that they never knew they needed.
Here's a switch: A Major carrier opting to insource a formerly outsourced operation, and willing to shell out millions of dollars to do it. The carrier is US Airways and the operation is reservations. "We're beginning to insource at least part of reservations," says Executive VP-Sales and Marketing Scott Kirby. The reason? "Customer service and quality are not meeting our standards."
As the world's governments increasingly adopt Advance Passenger Information as a requirement for air travelers, airlines once again find themselves on the brink of a complex proliferation of standards. And once again they are calling for development of a global solution before the situation gets out of hand.
Count us among those who applauded when Northwest Airlines began offering passengers the opportunity to reserve a select number of aisle or exit row seats in the economy cabin for an additional fee of $15. Whether or not the program is successful over the long termand early returns are encouragingNorthwest has taken an important step down the road toward product differentiation. All coach seats are not the same, so why behave as if they are? Moreover, it has put the consumer in charge of the purchase decision.
Norwegian is about to make a daring move. Next month, the Oslo-based low-cost carrier will open a base at Warsaw's Frederic Chopin Airport and commence flights to Alicante, Barcelona Girona and Malaga in Spain and Nice in the south of France. It intends to place a second 737-300 in Poland in August and launch service to 3-4 additional destinations.
When Catherine Mayer found herself waiting in an airline customer service line to find out why her luggage didn't show up after an international flight in early April, she knew there had to be better way. In fact, she knew exactly what that way should be. Mayer is VP-airport services for SITA, which is at the forefront of an industrywide push to accelerate passenger self-service options.
Sweden's FlyMe yesterday reported a SEK63.2 million ($8.8 million) loss in the first quarter ended March 31, a period it called "one of the most demanding and exciting" in its two-year history. The loss was nearly three times heavier than the SEK23.9 million reported in the year-ago quarter and reflected the LCC's significant commitment to growing its business. Toward the end of the quarter it launched new services to 11 European cities, overhauled its aircraft and increased daily utilization from an average of 4 hr. to 11 hr.
A milestone quarter that featured the Malaysian government's decision to shift the bulk of domestic operations to AirAsia starting Aug. 1 and the opening of the low-cost terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport did not end with very good news on the LCC's bottom line, which showed a profit of MYR22.8 million ($6.3 million) for the fiscal third quarter ended March 31, narrowed from earnings of MYR40.7 million in the year-ago quarter.
ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance of Kuwait said it purchased five new 737-800s valued at $250 million that it plans to lease to Turkish Airlines for 12 years.
