Successful airlines around the world consistently teach five lessons, said Conor McCarthy speaking at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam. McCarthy, MD of the Plane Consult consultancy, a veteran of Aer Lingus and Ryanair and a co-founder of AirAsia, said the primary rule is that the human factors in both internal company makeup and customer relations that make airlines successful are "absolutely identical regardless of where you go around the world. Don't listen to the argument, 'Oh, it's different here.'"
Lufthansa jumped its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights to €52 ($63.80) per leg from €37 and its surcharge for domestic and intra-European flights to €12 from €9. The increases are in response to the surge in oil prices caused by Hurricane Katrina. LH noted that owing to its "forward-looking fuel-hedging policy and its modern, fuel-efficient fleet, it is in a relatively good position compared to its competitors."
The US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which stands to inherit the underfunded pension plans of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines if the two default in bankruptcy, said yesterday that the carriers "have a legal obligation" to continue funding their plans.
Jade Cargo International finally confirmed its order for six 747-400ERFs valued at $1.3 billion for delivery from January 2006 through January 2008. It previously had been listed by Boeing as an unidentified customer. The deal takes Boeing's 2005 747 order book to 19 net of cancellations. Jade Cargo, based in Shenzhen, plans to begin operations in 2006. It was founded in October 2004 and is the first joint venture airline of its kind in China, with ownership split among Shenzhen Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo and DEG, a subsidiary of KfW-Bank Group.
Navitaire, which owns the Open Skies reservation system popular with many LCCs, said it acquired "key assets" of Forte Solutions including all of its airline customer contracts. Financial terms were not disclosed. Forte's hosted operations management software, known as the Geneva system, is a platform for airline operations and crew management planning, tracking and compliance requirements. Twenty-five Forte employees have joined Navitaire as part of the deal.
AirCell began a flight demonstration program of its inflight broadband system. Targeted for commercial deployment in 2007, the system "will enable airline passengers to use their own laptops, PDAs and mobile phones in a fully integrated wireless cabin over a broadband air-to-ground link." US FAA has yet to approve the use of personal communication devices on commercial aircraft.
Austrian Airlines Group is mulling a number of ways to trim capacity further in the face of what it anticipates will be massive overcapacity in Europe this winter as well as intense competition from LCCs and sky-high fuel prices.
Drager Aerospace will supply passenger service units on the 787 under a long-term contract with Boeing, the German company announced. It will deliver the first units in October 2007 and will construct a production facility in Seattle to assemble the PSUs, which contain reading lights, loudspeakers, message indicator lights, oxygen masks and other equipment.
Varig would eliminate 1,500 jobs, or around 13% of its workforce, and the Rubem Berta Foundation would give up majority control of the airline under the company's bankruptcy reorganization plan presented in court earlier this week in Brazil. The Foundation, which represents current and retired employees, owns 56% of Varig. In the past it blocked restructuring efforts that would have resulted in a reduction in its stake.
FAA's Airport Movement Area Safety System is not adequate to prevent serious runway collisions, according to National Transportation Safety Board Acting Chairman Mark Rosenker. Speaking to the American Assn. of Airport Executives this week, Rosenker listed several recent incursion events in which AMASS did not live up to expectations. At Boston Logan on June 9, an Aer Lingus A330 and a US Airways 737 "nearly collided at the intersection of Runway 9 and Runway 15R owing to a controller error." The aircraft passed through the intersection at flying speed with about 170 ft.
SkyEurope said it will launch service from its base at Bratislava to Sofia and Bucharest on Dec. 9 and Dec. 12 respectively with fares starting at €25 one-way excluding taxes. Frequencies were not disclosed.
American Airlines ordered 20 Aviation Partners Boeing 757 blended winglet shipsets and took options on an additional 123 sets, which would cover its entire 757 fleet. AA will retrofit the winglets at its Tulsa maintenance base beginning in November. As part of the agreement, it also will retrofit a 737-800 with winglets in October.
European regulators aim to stem the rising tide of low-cost competition with a slew of new laws and regulations designed to prop up tottering legacy carriers, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary charged yesterday. Delivering the keynote address at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam, O'Leary pointed to the new passenger rights legislation, the proposed world development tax, restrictions on route development aid from regional airports, emissions trading for airlines and illegal state aid to carriers such as Alitalia as examples of how the EU is trying to hurt competition.
Southwest Airlines has "strongly requested" that Boeing develop a more fuel-efficient successor to the 737-700 that would use technology developed for the 787, the Seattle Times reported earlier this week. CEO Gary Kelly made the remark during an interview in Seattle. "We are now facing energy prices that no airline can make money at, at least with today's [ticket prices], so we're anxious to partner with Boeing to find a successor aircraft," the newspaper quoted Kelly as saying.
Danish competition authorities approved the purchase of the commercial activities of Maersk Air A/S by Fons Eignarhaldsfelag hf of Iceland and the merger between Maersk Air and Sterling ( ATWOnline, July 4). The successor company is Sterling Airlines. "I am very pleased that the agreement is in place. This means that many jobs are now secure and a competitive airline company has been created for the benefit of our customers. Finally we can realize the many possibilities and advances ahead of us," Sterling CEO Almar Orn Hilmarsson said in a statement.
Middle East startup Jazeera Airways plans to operate its first flights on Nov. 16, Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai confirmed. The Kuwait-based LCC initially will operate about 30 flights per week to Dubai, Damascus, Amman, Beirut and Bahrain. This will rise to more than 75 weekly flights with the addition of destinations in Egypt, India and Southeast Asia.
Lufthansa Technik Airmotive Ireland will maintain CFM56 engines powering Air Baltic's 737-500s under a five-year exclusive agreement. LTAI also signed a three-year CFM56 maintenance and support agreement with Lithuanian charter airline Aurela Air.
Radixx International said Avolar Aerolineas selected its Radixx Air Enterprise reservation system. The low-fare Mexican startup plans to begin service Sept. 16 with a 737-500. Avolar is also a customer for Radixx's departure control system.
Ryanair will establish its 15th European base at Nottingham East Midlands with a pair of 737-800s. Ten routes will be opened from March 7, adding to five already being operated at the airport. New destinations are Berlin, Derry, Nimes, Carcassonne, Nantes, Dinard, Limoges, Lodz, Wroclaw and Bergerac. Ryanair already serves Dublin, Shannon, Murcia, Barcelona and Rome.
Teledyne Controls said Japan Airlines selected its Enhanced Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit and Aircraft Condition Monitoring System software development services for its new 737-800 fleet.
Southwest Airlines, the largest carrier at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport prior to Hurricane Katrina with around 50 daily flights, intends to resume limited service early next week with a pair of daily roundtrips to Houston. Exact date and times will be released later this week. Northwest Airlines was the first to resume service at New Orleans, which reopened for commercial flights Tuesday.
Vietnam Airlines joined ARC as a participating carrier effective Monday, giving 22,000 ARC accredited travel agency and corporate travel department locations the ability to settle Vietnam Airlines transactions through ARC's settlement system.
The European Commission ruled that Olympic Airlines and its predecessor Olympic Airways have received some €700 million ($859 million) in illegal state aid since 1994. "By granting this aid, Greece has given Olympic Airways and Olympic Airlines an advantage not available to their competitors," the EC said in a statement, adding it "therefore asked Greece to recover the illegal aid payments." The government has two months to show the EC how it intends to comply with the ruling.
US Airways Group's creditors yesterday approved the carrier's plan of reorganization encompassing merger with America West Airlines Holdings, leaving bankruptcy court approval as the last key step in the process. A hearing is set for today. On Tuesday, America West shareholders approved the merger. "We have worked enthusiastically to put together a robust plan that will benefit our customers, our stakeholders and our employees.
Influx of Embraer 190s at JetBlue will require the addition of some 3,000 new employees over the next year, according to COO Dave Barger. Currently the company hires about six employees per day but that number will move up to eight to accommodate the new aircraft deliveries, Barger said this week in Brazil at the handover of the first 190 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 14). "By the end of the year, we will have eight," said CEO David Neeleman.
