Alitalia's first-quarter pre-tax loss widened to €156.6 million ($201.6 million) from €141.2 million in the year-ago quarter as January's labor unrest ( ATWOnline, Jan. 27) aggravated the low-season effect that marks the March quarter. Revenues decreased 3.1% to €965 million, mainly owing to the deconsolidation of the Alitalia Servizi services unit and the drop in passenger income caused by the strikes. Passenger revenues slid 1.6% to €764 million, with yield falling 3.4%.
EU and US aviation officials concluded aviation negotiations in Brussels last week with predictable results: The pushing back of the deadline to reach agreement on the transatlantic Open Aviation Area. The stumbling block remains limits on foreign ownership in US carriers and the recently revised Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the US Dept. of Transportation ( ATWOnline, May 4).
General Electric said it finalized the architectural design for the version of the GEnx that will power the 747-8. Completion of this milestone, referred to as "Tollgate 6" in GE's new product nomenclature, "begins the detailed design phase of the engine." It will feature a 105-in. fan compared to 111 in. for the 787 and will be rated at 66,500 lb. thrust versus 75,000 lb. maximum takeoff thrust for the 787. Certification testing for 747-8 variant will begin next year with flight-testing aboard the 747-8 scheduled for late 2008.
Embraer announced first-quarter earnings of $65.3 million on net sales of $808.3 million, down from earnings of $96.5 million on sales of $763.3 million in the 2005 period. Firm order backlog stood at 341 jets valued at $10.4 billion. Embraer still expects to meet its forecast delivery of 145 aircraft for 2006.
Aer Arann signed a contract to purchase 10 new 72-seat ATR 72-500s over the next three years. The deal is worth more than $180 million. The carrier will use the aircraft to "replace and supplement" its existing fleet of 14 ATR 42s and ATR 72s, increasing it to 20 by the end of 2009. It will take delivery of two dash 500s in 2007, five in 2008 and three in 2009. "This is a significant milestone for Aer Arann and marks a consolidation of our strategic policy in going forward with an ATR fleet," MD Padraig O'Ceidigh said.
Hurt by excess capacity, Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo parent Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings posted a first-quarter net loss of $3.7 million, down from a $675,000 profit in the year-ago quarter. "Results for the quarter reflect some tough comparables, with a reduction in military charter activity compared with last year and a related excess of 747-200 aircraft capacity that could not be fully and sensibly deployed elsewhere," outgoing President and CEO Jeffrey Erickson said.
EADS confirmed Friday that it will push forward with the restructuring of its heavily loss-making MRO provider EADS Sogerma Services and close down its main site at Merignac near Bordeaux. EADS Sogerma Services posted losses of €237 million and had debts of €339 million in 2005, a deterioration resulting from a growing domination of the civil MRO market by countries with lower labor costs, the loss of French military maintenance markets and the failure of various diversification operations, EADS said.
Airbus conducted A318 airport compatibility tests at London City on May 13 and said the type offers twice the range of aircraft currently serving LCY. The A318 was granted steep approach certification in March, paving the way for Saturday's compatibility tests.
Aero Maintenance Group was chosen by Delta Air Lines to manage exclusively the repair of more than 1,400 unique components on the carrier's aircraft. AMG said it will provide Delta "with a single point of contact for communications, invoicing and performance measurements for nearly 15,000 repair orders annually on a volume of approximately 80,000 individual units."
Air One signed a deal for six 90-seat CRJ900s and four options, Bombardier announced yesterday. List price for the firm-order aircraft is $215 million. Italy's second-largest carrier operates a fleet of 30 737s but reached a deal with Airbus in January for 30 A320s plus 60 options ( ATWOnline, Jan. 13).
Continental Airlines signed five-year, full-content agreements with Sabre Travel Network and its Travelocity online travel site, as well as with Expedia.
Singapore Airlines increased its fuel surcharge to $60 per ticket from $50 on most flights and to $20 from $15 on select regional operations, effective yesterday.
Luxair reported a net profit of €5.5 million ($7.1 million) in 2005, down from earnings of €13.4 million in 2004, ending its "year of transition." Its airline unit lost €11.7 million, a deficit that was made up by its "booming" tour operation business and handling services unit. Luxembourg's flag carrier said the earnings decline largely was due to €15 million "taken as a provision to finance the social aspect of the ongoing restructuring program," dubbed Building a New Airline, which aims to return the airline segment to profitability by 2008.
Air New Zealand confirmed it will be the launch customer for the 787-9 following an agreement signed with Boeing last week to substitute its order for four dash 8s, as had been anticipated ( ATWOnline, Feb. 3). ANZ was the second customer for the 787 after ANA. The new aircraft were purchased for $183 million each and will begin entering service in December 2010. They will be powered by Trent 1000s.
Lufthansa resumed service to Bahrain Sunday after a 10-year absence, launching thrice-weekly flights from Frankfurt aboard an A330 and six-times-weekly freighter service. Delta Air Lines last night launched daily services from New York JFK to Manchester and Dublin/Shannon aboard all-economy 767-400s. The flights are the sixth and seventh of 11 new transatlantic routes the carrier will launch by next month. Service to Athens starts May 29. DL also announced a daily Atlanta-Sioux Falls flight beginning Aug. 7 operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines using CRJ200s.
Northwest Airlines and Farelogix signed a distribution agreement under which users of the Farelogix FLX Platform will gain direct access to NWA's full content. "Our strategy is to offer travel agents and corporate accounts access to our products through the most economical channels, using a variety of distribution technologies," NWA VP-Distribution and E-commerce Al Lenza said.
US National Transportation Safety Board will hold a two-day public hearing into the Southwest Airlines runway overrun accident at Chicago Midway last December ( ATWOnline, Jan. 30) beginning June 20 in Washington.
News from Travel Technology Update: The latest skirmish in the distribution wars turns the spotlight on whether traditional GDSs can accommodate new types of airline product differentiation. On May 4, Air Canada withdrew its Tango fare for travel within Canada and between Canada and Florida from the GDSs and from its own dedicated travel agency Web site, aircanada.com/agents.
WestJet flew 763.8 million RPMs in April, a 30.4% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 14.4% to 973.4 million ASMs, lifting load factor 9.7 points to 78.5%. Mesaba Aviation flew 129.8 million RPMs in April, a 19.5% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 28.1% to 182.3 million ASMs and load factor rose 7.6 points to 71.2%. Finnair reported a 5.3% increase in April traffic to 1.35 billion RPKs against a 5.2% decline in capacity to 1.8 billion ASKs. Load factor climbed 7.6 points to an April record 75.3%.
Boeing boosted the range of the 747-8 from 8,000 nm. to 8,300 nm. after the latest round of wind-tunnel testing, which included high- and low-speed lines development and fine-tuning of the noise characteristics on the fully integrated airframe. More than 3,000 hr. of wind-tunnel time have been logged to date. The recent series of four major tests ran simultaneously at three wind tunnels in Seattle--the Boeing Transonic Wind Tunnel, the Low Speed Acoustic Facility and the Nozzle Test Facility--and at the QinetiQ tunnel in Farnborough.
Bankrupt Delta Air Lines reported a first-quarter net loss of $2.1 billion, widened from a net loss of $1.1 billion in the year-ago quarter on special charges, as it continued to navigate Chapter 11 reorganization. Excluding $1.7 billion in reorganization costs, accounting adjustments and special items, the company lost $356 million, narrowed from $684 million. "While continued losses are clearly unacceptable, Delta's financial performance for the quarter was in line with expectations, especially in light of fast-rising fuel prices," CEO Gerald Grinstein said.
JetBlue Airways named John Harvey executive VP and CFO effective immediately. He replaces John Owen, who served in the position since the airline's formation in 1998. Owen will assume the newly created post of executive VP-supply chain and information technology. Harvey, who will join the JetBlue board, had been serving as senior VP-corporate finance and treasurer. He joined the carrier in 1999 as VP and treasurer but left in 2003 to join SkyWorks Capital, an aircraft finance company. He returned to JetBlue in 2004.
Bombardier announced Friday that Japan Air Commuter, part of Japan Airlines Group, ordered an 11th Q400. JAC carried 1.4 million passengers in its fiscal year ended March 31.
Ryanair said it will appeal the decision of the regional administrative court of Lazio banning the Irish LCC and its competitor easyJet from operating flights from the Italian mainland to Sardinia. The case went before the court after the Italian Transport Ministry and Civil Aviation Authority placed the route under PSO protection ( ATWOnline, April 7). Ryanair operated Rome-Alghero service while easyJet flew between Milan Malpensa and Olbia. Air One and Meridiana also operate to Sardinia.
