IATA's November international traffic report indicated a 6.1% rise in RPKs over the year-ago month and 2.8% growth in cargo. "Overall the industry is growing, which is good news. But the pace of growth has geared down a notch as a result of weaker demand from some critical sectors, such as IT," DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said. Passenger capacity rose 4.6% and load factor was 73%. The Middle East led with a 16.4% increase in RPKs and a 10.6% rise in capacity. The Asia/Pacific region showed the slowest growth with RPKs up just 3.6%.
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, said its reorganization plan was accepted by all classes of creditors in voting tabulated and submitted last week to the US Bankruptcy Court. A confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18.
Delta Air Lines reported a November net loss of $181 million in a Dec. 30 filing with the US Bankruptcy Court compared to losses of $1.14 billion during the six weeks following its entry into Chapter 11 ( ATWOnline, Dec. 2) and approximately $300 million in October. November's net loss minus reorganization items and taxes was $164 million. Operating loss was $107 million on revenues of $1.29 billion and expenses of $1.4 billion.
Assn. of European Airlines selected Wolfgang Mayrhuber, CEO and chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa, as chairman for 2006. He takes over from TAP Portugal CEO Fernando Pinto.
Southwest Airlines launched service from Denver International Airport yesterday with 13 daily nonstops to Chicago Midway, Las Vegas and Phoenix. It also announced it will begin new services March 4 with a daily flight from DEN to Baltimore/Washington International Airport and four-times-daily service to Salt Lake City. It will increase DEN service to Phoenix from four daily flights to five and to Las Vegas from five to six on the same day.
Swiss International Air Lines reached agreement with the pilots of its regional fleet, avoiding a possible labor conflict, Reuters reported. Swiss announced plans last fall to spin off its Regional operations into a standalone subsidiary called Swiss European Air Lines with its own management team and operating certificate and aircraft and crew wet-leased from the parent ( ATWOnline, Oct. 11). Whether the purported new agreement nullifies those plans could not be determined.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said through a spokesperson on Dec. 27 that he "strongly urges" other countries to follow France's lead in raising taxes on airline tickets to fund global poverty and healthcare initiatives ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12). "I think we need to explore all creative ways of raising funding for development," Annan said.
While some analysts are forecasting a spike in airfares out of Washington Dulles as a result of the shutdown of Independence Air tomorrow, others believe the departure of the carrier formerly known as Atlantic Coast Airlines will cause barely a ripple.
Virgin Express will launch twice-weekly Brussels-Palermo service from April 1. Air Berlin will launch Sunday-Friday London Stansted-Helsinki service via Dusseldorf from Feb. 3. Gol starts service from Sao Paulo Guarulhos to Asuncion via Curitiba today. It began a nightly Sao Paulo-Montevideo flight via Porto Alegre on Tuesday.
Aviation Safety Network recorded 35 fatal accidents last year that resulted in 1,059 airline fatalities and 44 on the ground, according to the Dutch website. The number of accidents was "significantly lower" than the 10-year average of 40 per year while the number of fatalities was "almost equal" to the annual average of 1,095 over the past decade owing to the high number of serious accidents.
Continental Airlines said Dec. 28 it will withdraw 69 of 274 Embraer RJs from its capacity purchase agreement with ExpressJet Airlines because the latter's rates "are above the current market." ExpressJet may continue to sublease any of the 69 aircraft at higher rates but cannot operate them into any of CO's hubs. The ERJ-135s and dash 145s operate in the Continental Express network. ExpressJet at one time was a wholly owned subsidiary of CO but now is publicly traded.
Airbus and Boeing finished the year strong as several airlines announced aircraft orders or confirmations during the final week of 2005 and the first few days of the new year. Air Deccan led the way with its Dec. 24 announcement that it signed to purchase 30 additional A320s for delivery starting in 2008. The deal is worth $1.5 billion at list prices. The Indian LCC ordered 32 A320s in January 2005. It will take delivery of eight this year, increasing its fleet to 32 aircraft. No engine choice was announced for the new batch of 180-seaters.
Republic Airways Holdings knows it is difficult to serve two masters, even more so three or four. What satisfies one may not work for another. Recognizing this, it has created three subsidiaries to meet the requirements of its four codesharing partnersAmerican Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airwayswhile staying in compliance with the respective scope clauses contained in the pilot labor agreements at each.
Viewed with altered expectations, 2006 will be at or near the top of the current economic cycle and should produce the best financial results the industry has seen since 2000. Passenger traffic, on a steady rise since the 2001-02 period, will ride a still-buoyant global economy to continue its ascent at rates a bit higher than the long-term trend, but this time with some improved yields, especially in the North American domestic market where 2006 capacity should decline.
The worldwide travel management scene is undergoing seismic changes as several companies split up, re-form and acquire others. TUI AG agreed to sell its business travel operations to BCD Holdings N.V., the Dutch parent company of World Travel BTI. The terms of the deal, which is subject to approval by TUI's advisory board and regulatory authorites, were not disclosed. If approved, the sale is expected to close in March. TUI's business travel activities operated within its wholly owned subsidiary, TQ3 Travel Solutions Management Holding GmbH.
Despite signs that the worst may be over for the airline industry, providers of maintenance, repair and overhaul services remain under intense pressure to reduce the cost of engine servicing and improve turnaround times.
At a time when the state-owned airlines of the oil-rich Arab Gulf have embraced aggressive expansion into long-haul international markets, Royal Jordanian is setting a more modest flight path, trimming global ambitions while focusing on liberalizing trends within the region.
AirTran, which dropped out of Worldspan in November because the two companies could not come to terms on the cost of participation, is back in the GDS with a new multiyear, full content agreement, effect Jan. 24. The carrier is distributing inventory, availability and fares through Worldspan at a level of participation called Limited Connect, which is below Worldspan's Full Service level. Worldspan said Limited Connect is designed to meet the distribution needs of carriers that require limited functionality.
As an approach tool, Required Navigation Performance has the potential to offer significant benefits: Improved safety, more direct approaches, fewer diversions for weather, reduced fuel burn and, as a result, cost savings for airlines. There are environmental benefits too: Less wasted fuel means reduced harmful emissions and improved track-keeping on departure and approach means less noise nuisance.
AeroMexico appointed Manuel Jaquez US West Coast regional mgr. AirBridge Cargo introduced Robert Song as regional dir. & area mgr.-Asia/Pacific. Aircelle tapped Laurent Schneider-Maunoury as president of its SCLA aerostructures subsidiary. Air Wisconsin promoted Scott Orozco to MD-flight operations & chief pilot. Alaska Airlines elevated Steve Jarvis to VP-sales & customer experience and Greg Latimer to MD-brand & product marketing.
Last year's surge in new and conversion freighter programs confirms the confidence felt within the air transport community regarding the intermediate- and long-term outlook for air cargo. In May Boeing launched the 777 Freighter. At the end of October it moved forward with the 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighter and followed this in mid-November with the program launch of the 747-8, which is being offered in both freighter and passenger versions. Significantly, the first orders were for the freighter.
Nothing succeeds like success. Perhaps this is the explanation for Emirates' phenomenal performance over the past two decades, a period in which it has experienced only one annual loss. From a two-airplane, four-city network launched on Oct. 25, 1985, it has grown into the world's ninth-largest international passenger carrier in terms of RPKs, serving 77 cities in 54 countries.
FAA and several contractors in March will begin testing a prototype communications scheme that theoretically could save millions of dollars per year for airlines and possibly give them some extra revenue to boot. The concept, called Aerosat Airborne Internet, calls for using the thousands of en route aircraft in the skies at any moment to create a communications "mesh" that proponents say could increase bandwidth dramatically and reduce the cost of existing communications pipes.
Vietnam Airlines said Thursday that its revenues for the first 11 months of 2005 totaled VND22 trillion ($1.38 billion), according to Vietnamese media reports. It flew 6.8 million passengers during the period.
