Bankrupt Delta Air Lines' reorganization efforts seemingly were boosted when the carrier reached a tentative agreement with its pilots last month on $280 million in annual concessions ( ATWOnline, April 25) , but the US government's pension insurer said the deal violates US bankruptcy law and should be rejected.
SN Brussels Airlines this week unveiled new inflight amenities on A330-300s that operate from Brussels to 13 African destinations. The first of three aircraft to be retrofitted at a cost of more than €10 million ($12.8 million) is already completed and the remaining two retrofits will be finished by the end of June. SN said the biggest enhancement is new business class seats that are equipped with massage tools and can be transformed into flat beds. Also upgraded for both classes are audio and video equipment.
South Korea and Thailand agreed this week to liberalize passenger services between the two countries. Cargo operations already are liberalized under a 2004 accord. The new agreement comes as the limit of 42 weekly flights previously allowed by each nation's airlines is under strain, with load factors reported at 88%.
Swissport Aviation Security, a product line of Swissport International, is providing passenger security screening on behalf of US airlines at stations outside the US, including Delta Air Lines at Dusseldorf and United Airlines at Zurich. It will provide screening for North American Airlines at Lagos when NAA begins service there next month.
Spanair is extending its "punctuality guarantee" for all domestic flights to Dec. 31. Under the program, business class passengers receive a free ticket and economy class passengers a 25% discount on their next ticket if the aircraft pulls back from the gate more than 15 min. after the scheduled departure for reasons attributed to the airline.
Rockwell Collins extended its current Preferred Supplier Agreement with Air France through 2010 and signed a new five-year PSA with KLM. Under the terms of the agreements, both airlines will purchase Rockwell Collins communication, navigation and surveillance avionics for their forward-fit aircraft and retrofit activities. The Air France agreement also covers data link avionics, while a separate KLM agreement covers MultiScan weather radar on 777s.
NAV Canada will replace 100 DME units across the country at a cost of some C$15 million ($13.4 million). Contract for the purchase of the DMEs together with associated spares and services was awarded to UK-based Fernau Avionics.
Istanbul Ataturk Airport's cargo facilities were mostly destroyed by Wednesday's fire and it remains unclear when and how regular airfreight operations can resume at the airport. The area destroyed by the fire included warehouse space for storing and sorting international air cargo and was used by nearly all major carriers operating cargo services at IST. Estimated total damage from the blaze, which claimed no lives, is as high as $50 million, including $10 million in lost cargo. IST is Europe's 13th busiest cargo airport, according to Airports Council International.
Delta Air Lines announced a winter schedule in which it will start service to Telluride and Steamboat Springs and expand existing service to other "ski destinations" in the western US and Canada beginning Dec. 23. SkyWest Airlines will operate daily Salt Lake City-Telluride flights aboard CRJs and Delta will operate Saturday Atlanta-Telluride flights aboard an MD-88. Delta will start daily Atlanta-Steamboat Springs flights and expand service between SLC and Aspen and between Atlanta and Bozeman, Jackson Hole and Calgary.
Air China is set to buy two more 747-400Fs for its Air China Cargo unit, in which it holds a 51% stake, according to London financial market sources. The cargo carrier will take one 747-400F this year from Boeing and two 747-400BCFs.
Etihad Airways CEO Robert Strodel has stepped down, a spokesperson confirmed. According to the spokesperson, Strodel resigned almost two weeks ago but the airline made no public announcement. He had been CEO for less than a year, taking over on July 5, 2005. A search for a new CEO is underway, the spokesperson said. Separately, Etihad took delivery of its fifth and final 777-300ER this week. The aircraft will be used on flights to Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and London Gatwick. Etihad will add Casablanca in June and Khartoum in July to its network.
A chapter of aviation history came to a close Tuesday when the final two 717s, numbers 155 and 156, were delivered to Midwest Airlines and AirTran Airways respectively, the No. 2 and No. 1 largest customers for the twinjet, which started life as the MD-95 in 1995.
Farelogix signed a distribution agreement to provide a direct connection to American Airlines content via the Farelogix FLX Platform. As part of the agreement, American also will be implementing the Farelogix Distribution Manager. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Amadeus said that travel agencies connected to the GDS now have access to all Copa Airlines fares, including Web fares.
United Airlines announced that subject to approval by the Kuwait government, it plans to launch thrice-weekly nonstop service between Washington and Kuwait City in late 2006. The service, its first to the Middle East region, will be operated with 777s. SriLankan Airlines will start service to the Indian resort town of Goa with twice-weekly flights from Colombo beginning in October.
Frontier Airlines unveiled a new website this week that it intends to be the "primary driver" of ticket sales. "Our goal with the new site is to increase our Web bookings by over 40% in the next year, which would reflect a significant savings for us in terms of distribution costs," President and CEO Jeff Potter said.
East Star Airlines, a Chinese startup based in Wuhan, operated its first revenue flight Monday from Wuhan to Shenzhen aboard a leased A319. East Star is slated to take delivery of 10 leased A320 family aircraft and also has firm orders for 10 purchased A320s to be delivered in 2009-10 ( ATWOnline, Nov. 29, 2005).. Its initial network will comprise Wuhan, Shenzhen, Haikou and Guangzhou.
Istanbul Ataturk International Airport was closed temporarily yesterday afternoon after a large fire broke out in a cargo facility around 3:15 p.m. local time. The fire did not reach or damage the passenger terminal, which is located about 1,000 m. away, and authorities said it had been contained some hours later. All aircraft were moved away from the area successfully, according to Airport Director Irfan Balta, who said the fire caused "great financial damage." Parts of the cargo building collapsed, the Associated Press reported.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is sending a team to Bangalore to assist in the investigation of a reported left wing fuel tank explosion on a Transmile Airlines 727-200. According to NTSB, the incident occurred on May 4 and involved a Malaysia-registered aircraft during a ground repositioning. There were no passengers onboard and no injuries were reported.
El Al Israel Airlines posted a first-quarter net loss of $12.4 million, a 33% improvement over a net loss of $18.5 million in the year-ago period. The carrier said "the drastic increase in fuel costs" prevented it from recording a quarterly profit on the heels of its highest-ever full-year profit of $64.1 million in 2005. It added that the winter quarter is usually its weakest and that prospects for the rest of 2006 remain strong.
Austrian Airlines Group is under increasing pressure to stabilize its negative financial situation. "Austrian has a chance to survive. The only problem I see is that we are running out of time," new CEO Alfred Oetsch told ATWOnline. The group narrowed its first-quarter adjusted net loss before taxes to €67.7 million ($83.7 million) from €76.8 million in the year-ago period after losing €129.1 million for all of 2005.
Alitalia's acquisition of the assets of bankrupt Volare Group was suspended yesterday by Italy's top administrative court, AFX reported. The state council supported an appeal by Air One, which argued that the flag carrier should not have been allowed to bid for Volare because of its precarious financial position and for antitrust reasons. Volare Group, which includes charter carrier Air Europe and LCC Volareweb, was put up for sale in November by a government-appointed administrator.
Spirit Airlines promoted President and COO Ben Baldanza to CEO replacing Jacob Schorr, who left the chief executive post but will remain as chairman. Baldanza has been with the LCC since January 2005. Separately, South African Airways appointed Spirit VP-Sales and Distribution Marc Cavaliere executive VP-North America based at SAA's US headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale.
