Monarch Airlines placed a complete fleet order with CTT Systems for 27 Zonal Drying Systems to be installed on its A300s, A320s, A321s, A330s, 757s and 767s.
BAA confirmed Sunday that it received and rejected a "preliminary highly conditional and confidential approach" last month from a consortium led by Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Group making a cash offer at 870 pence per share, valuing the UK-based airports operator at £9.4 billion ($16.46 billion). "The Board of BAA rejected this approach because it clearly fails to reflect the true value of the Company. Since then, BAA has received no further communication from the Consortium," the company said in a statement.
JetBlue Airways yesterday named former US Airways MD-Pricing and Revenue Management Development Richard Zeni its new VP-revenue management. The appointment was effective from March 29. Zeni had worked in revenue management at US since 1996. "The area of revenue management is vital to JetBlue as we face industry challenges and opportunities ahead.
Bombardier Regional Aircraft President Steven Ridolfi announced a new management lineup that he said is designed to "better serve the needs or our expanding customer base." James Dailly was appointed senior VP-sales. Reporting to Dailly will be Ric Allison, VP-Americas sales; Steve Crowley, VP-Asia/Pacific sales, and Kevin Smith, VP-international sales. Rod Williams was appointed VP-commercial operations.
US Airways yesterday announced completion of the redemption of approximately $112 million in principal amount of America West Holdings' 7.5% convertible senior notes due 2009 ( ATWOnline, April 4). The airline said the transaction did not result in a cash outlay "other than a modest payment for accrued interest in unconverted notes," as more than 99% of the holders chose to convert their notes into US Airways common stock at a rate of 34.376 shares per $1,000 principal amount.
Cathay Pacific flew 5.78 billion RPKs in March, an 8.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 10.5% to 7.5 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.4 points to 77.1%. US Airways Group flew 5.6 billion consolidated RPMs in March, down 10.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 11.3% to 6.92 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.6 point to 81%. Domestic traffic dropped 11.3% to 4.68 billion RPMs against a 12.8% decrease in capacity to 5.76 billion ASMs. International RPMs declined 7.4% to 923.2 million and capacity slipped 2.7% to 1.15 billion ASMs.
Gulf Air signed an MOU with SR Technics establishing terms of a five-year, $750 million contract covering MRO of the carrier's fleet of 10 A320s, six A330s, nine A340s and nine 767-300s. SR Technics will establish a $50 million, three-bay hangar and maintenance facility and training center in Oman. Gulf Air moved its MRO work from Abu Dhabi following that government's withdrawal as an investor in the carrier ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8).
Crane Aerospace & Electronics was selected to supply the onboard tire and brake monitoring system for the 777. First deliveries of aircraft with the new system are scheduled for next year.
China Southern Airlines and KLM expanded their codeshare agreement to include twice-weekly 777 service between Chengdu and Amsterdam operated by KLM. Separately, China Southern signed Carlson Marketing China to renovate and upgrade its Sky Pearl Club loyalty program. The airline said it now is selling at least 20% of its tickets on its website at a rate of 570,000 per month. It sold more than 600,000 tickets in March worth in excess of $41 million.
US FAA named Wilson Felder as the new director of the William J. Hughes Technical Center. He succeeds the retired Ronald Esposito. Felder most recently served as the transition executive and director for technology development in FAA's Air Traffic Organization.
VarigLog, the former cargo and logistics subsidiary of Varig, raised its offer to buy the struggling Brazilian airline to $400 million Friday, according to a VarigLog statement cited in press reports. It had offered $350 million two weeks ago ( ATWOnline, April 5). Reports from Brazil indicated the carrier is canceling flights, running out of cash and at risk of shutting down. Varig said in a statement that the buyout proposal requires approval of its board.
Iberia flew 4.28 billion RPKs in March, up 3.4% compared to the year-ago month. Capacity increased 4.5% to 5.5 billion ASKs. Load factor slipped 0.9 point 77.7%. EasyJet transported 2.8 million passengers in March, a 7.1% increase over the year-ago month. Load factor dropped 4.8 points to 86.3%. WestJet reported a 15% increase in March RPMs to 831.3 million and a 9% rise in capacity to 1.01 billion. Load factor rose 4.1 points to a March-record 81.9%.
A340-600HGW received certification from EASA. Airbus claims the 380-tonne variant, powered by improved Trent 500s, provides up to 18% higher productivity compared to earlier versions. The dash 600HGW has a range of 7,900 nm. (14,600 km.), an improvement of 250 nm. (463 km.) over the base A340-600 in a typical three-class arrangement seating 380. Qatar Airways will take the first aircraft this summer followed by Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic and Etihad Airways. Airbus also is working on an improved variant of the dash 500, certification of which is due to take place early next year.
Aeroflot became the 10th member of SkyTeam Friday during a ceremony in Moscow at which Air France Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta called the alliance's expansion strategy "simple," saying it is "committed to serving the destinations our customers want to travel to most." SkyTeam carriers now will operate nearly 15,000 daily flights to 728 destinations in 149 countries. Aeroflot and SkyTeam signed an MOU in May 2004 and the airline passed its IATA Operational Safety Audit last October.
Delta Air Lines and its pilots avoided having the fate of their protracted labor negotiations, and possibly the carrier itself, decided by a panel of arbitrators by reaching a tentative agreement, the parties announced Friday. A three-man arbitration panel was prepared to rule Saturday on whether or not Delta could void its deal with approximately 6,000 pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn. The pilots voted this month to strike if the panel ruled in the airline's favor ( ATWOnline, April 4).
Icelandair and SAS signed an interline agreement. Icelandair will double its frequency to Copenhagen to four daily flights this summer. Allegiant Air will launch twice-weekly Orlando Sanford-Roanoke service on May 24. Eurofly of Italy will launch twice-weekly service between Naples and Moscow Domodedovo using A320s beginning April 29. It also will introduce a weekly flight between Catania and Moscow in the near future, according to East Line Group, which manages the airport.
Ukraine International Airlines took delivery of two 737-500s on lease from Boeing Capital Corp. UIA now operates 12 737s. It expects 2006 traffic to be up 26% compared to 2005 and is considering whether to add another 737 before year end.
The Australian airline landscape is set for some dramatic changes after the country's dominant port operator, Patrick Corp., which has a 62.4% stake in Virgin Blue, accepted Friday a A$6.20 billion ($4.52 billion) takeover bid from Australia's Toll Holdings ( ATWOnline, August 24, 2005).
Phoenix Sky Harbor received US government approval Friday to proceed with an enhancement program comprising a new, 33-gate West Terminal, demolition of Terminal 2, an automated people-mover, realignment of Sky Harbor Blvd. west of Terminal 3, two new taxiways and improvements to the Terminal 4 International Concourse. Approval from the Phoenix City Council still is required. The airport said its three runways should be sufficient "well into the future."
In a move likely to chill slowly thawing labor relations at United Airlines, parent UAL Corp. is providing a generous severance package to Douglas Hacker, a longtime member of the company's executive management team who sued UAL in March to recover bonus and incentive payments he claimed he was owed. Hacker was named executive VP-strategy two days after UAL filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2002 but currently is listed on the airline's website as executive VP. He joined United in 1993.
Mesa Air Group's new Hawaiian Regional carrier go! is prepared to launch inter-island service June 9 following an agreement with state authorities for use of facilities at Honolulu International Airport's Commuter Terminal. "The state has been very supportive of our project and we greatly appreciate their efforts in helping us move our plan forward expeditiously," go! COO Greg Stephens said. Separately, Mesa announced it is looking to hire more than 100 captains and first officers for immediate openings in the Northeast US.
Air Mauritius announced an overhaul of its long-haul product beginning in December on its route to London Heathrow operated with two soon-to-be-delivered A340-300Es. Three revamped cabin classes will include flat-bed cocoon seats in first class and on-demand audio and video. Upgrades across all three classes will be retrofitted to the remainder of the fleet.
JetBlue Airways will launch four-times-daily New York JFK-Charlotte service on July 12 and four-times-daily flights to Raleigh-Durham on July 20 aboard Embraer 190s. Separately, JetBlue flew 2.06 billion RPMs in March, an increase of 24.2% over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 29.1% to 2.38 billion ASMs and load factor fell 3.5 points to 86.5%.
