Air New Zealand ordered two additional 787-8s for delivery in 2010 and 2011, doubling its original order. The aircraft are part of a 777/787 order placed in July 2004 for 10 firm buys and 42 price rights. Analysts expect ANZ also will order more 777s beyond its commitment for eight 777-200ERs. It takes delivery of the first 777-200ER this week.
A Russian architect whose family died in the July 1, 2002, midair collision between a DHL Airways 757F and a Bashkirian Airlines Tu-154 was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday for killing the Swiss air traffic controller on duty at the time of the accident, the Associated Press reported. The crash killed 71 people including 51 children. According to AP, Vitaly Kaloyev, 49, acknowledged stabbing Peter Nielsen in February 2004 although he told the court he could not remember doing it.
Bombardier Aerospace will spend $200 million to develop a manufacturing facility in Queretaro, Mexico, that eventually will be used to build major structural components. Initially, the plant will assemble wire harnesses for Bombardier aircraft. By the end of 2006, the company expects to have 300 employees at the facility and will double that number in 2007.
Boeing's third-quarter net income surged 122% to $1.01 billion from $456 million a year earlier as special gains and tax benefits more than offset the impact of the month-long strike at its Boeing Commercial Airplanes unit. On a per-share basis, gains from tax settlements represented nearly half of the company's $1.26 EPS fully diluted for the quarter, with the sale of its Rocketdyne unit adding a further 45 cents per share while the strike knocked 25-30 cents off EPS. ATWOnline calculated that on a gross basis, the strike cost Boeing $200-$240 million in profits.
Republic Airways Holdings reported that net income for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 rose 63% to $14 million from $8.6 million earned in the year-ago period. Operating revenues grew 39.2% to $230.2 million while operating expenses climbed 33.2% to $192.8 million, resulting in an operating profit of $37.4 million, up 81.1% from $20.7 million. During the quarter, Republic took delivery of 11 Embraer 170s, six of which will be used for Delta Air Lines, three for US Airways and two for United Airlines.
FL Group, parent of Icelandair and Sterling, yesterday raised its stake in UK LCC easyJet from 13.99% to 16.18%. Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines will use the same terminals and check-in facilities at Zurich, Frankfurt and Munich and, as previously announced, will codeshare on their more than 80 daily flights between Germany and Switzerland with introduction of the 2005-06 winter schedules from Oct. 30 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26).
United Airlines announced several new services to begin Feb. 8: Daily service between Knoxville and Denver operated by Skywest Airlines aboard Embraer 170s and CRJ700s, twice-daily service between Washington Dulles and Daytona Beach operated by Mesa Airlines with 50-seat CRJs, daily service between Chicago and Palm Springs aboard United A319s and daily service between Chicago and Tucson using 737-300s. The Tucson route will close May 3. Australian Airlines, a Qantas subsidiary, is eliminating its Perth-Bali service until Jan.
Spanair Chairman Gonzalo Arias announced that the airline's CFO and chief commercial officer, Lars Nygaard, will succeed Enrique Soriano as CEO of the SAS Group carrier. Soriano becomes DG of ground handler Newco Airport Services of which Arias also is chairman. Nygaard, 39, was seconded to Spanair from SAS in 2001. He was been with the group since 1991. Palma-based Spanair offers more than 1,000 daily flights with a fleet of 65 aircraft.
"The single overriding issue [in the US market] is excess capacity" that keeps US carriers in red ink, Southwest Airlines CEO and Vice Chairman Gary Kelly said Wednesday.
Northwest Airlines is seeking to outsource a majority of the slots on international routes now reserved for senior Northwest flight attendants to foreign-based cabin staff. According to the Wall Street Journal, the airline is proposing to have 75% of its transatlantic and transpacific flights staffed by "regional flight attendants" who are not members of the Professional Flight Attendants Assn., which represents NWA attendants. The carrier also wants to staff its proposed Regional subsidiary ( ATWOnline, Oct. 14) with attendants not on the mainline seniority list.
CHAMP Cargosystems is introducing Global Customs Gateway, a universal standardized electronic customs reporting tool. A Canadian launch will be followed by implementation for customs agencies in the US, Brazil and other countries identified by CHAMP Cargosystems' 200-plus air cargo customers, the company said.
Airbus has returned to Qantas with a longer-range version of the A340-500 in an effort to meet the carrier's requirement for an aircraft to fly from Sydney to London. However, Airbus COO Customers John Leahy conceded that the variant's performance is marginal with just 120 business and first class seats.
AirTran Airways announced that Director-Marketing Tad Hutcheson and GM-Operations Jim Tabor were named VP-marketing and sales and VP-operations respectively. Crane Aerospace & Electronics named Dewey Turner III senior VP-global sourcing and manufacturing. Messier-Dowty appointed Christian Breyton group VP-supply chain management and Jean-Marie Jacquet group VP-production. Additionally, the company selected Pierre Lescure to lead a new Stepchange in Quality taskforce.
US airlines will return to profit at the operating level next year if oil stays at or below $60 a barrel, according to JP Morgan analysts Jamie Baker and Pakhi Elder, who forecast the industry will earn $4.6 billion at the operating level compared with an estimated loss of $2 billion in 2005. Operating profit excluding fuel should hit $28.8 billion in 2006, up from $21.9 billion this year. Driving the improvement are declining capacity and "surging RASM," the analysts wrote in a report released yesterday. System RASM rose 12.5% in September and will rise 13.1% this month.
Airbus's plans to build an engineering center in Mobile received approval from Alabama officials yesterday, paving the way for construction to commence in January. Scheduled to open a year later, the facility initially will handle design work on the A350, including ceiling panels, sidewall panels, overhead stowage bins, interior furnishings, seats, crew rest compartments, lavatories and galleys.
AirAsia said the Malaysia Ministry of Finance approved its application for an investment allowance incentive constituting an income tax exemption equating to 60% of qualifying capital expenditure incurred within the five years from July 1, 2004, until June 30, 2009. In conjunction with "the normal 100% allowance" for capital expenditures, "our future budgeted tax payments are minimal," noted AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes.
Air France-KLM Group is extending its French spoke network to KLM's Amsterdam hub with a new twice-daily service between Strasbourg and Schiphol. The route, on which AF and KLM will codeshare, will commence Oct. 31 and will be operated by Regional, an AF partner, with ERJ-135s. Air France and KLM already link Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Marseille, Nice and Toulouse to Amsterdam. They will launch a Paris-Eindhoven route Oct. 30 with two daily flights, increasing to three Dec. 12.
Continental Airlines completed the sale of 18 million shares of Class B Common Stock at a price of $11.35 per share, raising gross proceeds of $204.3 million. Sole underwriter UBS Investment Bank has a 30-day option to purchase an additional 2.7 million shares to cover overallotments, if any.
SkyTeam and Philips agreed to a global business-travel contract providing the electronics company access to 25 countries through eight alliance carriers. The deal offers customized travel solutions, a single point of entry, harmonized discounts and a single source of performance reporting.
Cendant Corp.'s board of directors approved the break-up of the company into four standalone, publicly traded "pure-play" companies with the Cendant name disappearing. Orbitz, the online travel site, and the Galileo GDS will be part of the as-yet-unnamed Travel Network company, which will maintain its headquarters at Cendant's New York City office. The unit will be headed by current Cendant Chairman and CEO Harry Silverman. Companies within the Travel Network group represent 18%-20% of 2005 estimated revenue and 21%-23% of estimated pre-tax earnings.
Worldspan said Midwest Airlines signed a multiyear agreement to implement Rapid Reprice on its website for repricing airline tickets when itineraries change.
