TAP Portugal and Azores Express, part of the SATA Group, announced an expanded codeshare partnership covering all flights from the Azores to mainland Portugal and Madeira. Cities served from Lisbon include Funchal, Terceira, Ponta Delgada, Pico, Horta and Santa Maria. Also covered are flights from Porto to Funchal and Ponta Delgada and between Ponta Delgada and Funchal.
In what is seasonally its weakest quarter, LAN Airlines reported a $26.6 million profit for the three months ended June 30, down 15.6% compared to net income of $31.5 million in the 2004 period. Operating income plunged 53.4% to $15.8 million versus $33.9 million last year. "LAN was impacted by record fuel prices--which led to $46.9 million in additional expanses," the carrier said. "However, the company overcame this incremental cost and posted its second-best result ever for the second quarter and 12th consecutive quarterly profit."
Delta Air Lines will launch daily nonstop service between Atlanta and Punta Cana in November and in December will begin new thrice-weekly service between Atlanta and Barbados. In addition, Delta will expand to daily its three-times-weekly service between Atlanta and St. Maarten from Nov. 19 and on Dec. 1 will begin daily flights between Atlanta and St. Lucia, up from the five weekly flights it currently operates on the route. The new and expanded Caribbean service from Atlanta will use 737-800s except for flights to St. Maarten, which will be flown with 757s.
Canada's Transportation Safety Board began an investigation into Tuesday's runway overrun accident at Toronto Pearson International Airport ( ATWOnline, Aug. 2). All 309 passengers and crew aboard AF Flight 358 escaped serious injury in the accident, which occurred during a thunderstorm at around 4:10 p.m. local time. Twenty-two passengers were hospitalized with what were described as minor injuries. The A340-300, registration F-GLZQ, was destroyed. It was delivered new to AF in September 1999 and had accumulated 28,418 flight hr. and 3,711 cycles at the time of the accident.
Boeing reached a deal to sell its operations in Arnprior, Canada, to Arnprior Aerospace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Consolidated Industries. Boeing said the Arnprior facility, part of Boeing Canada Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, supplies precision-machined metal detail parts and sheet metal subassemblies including complete electrical and electronic tray and shelf rack assemblies for all Boeing jets.
Qantas announced that its low-fare airline Jetstar will operate new Tasman services from Dec. 1, complementing Qantas services to Christchurch and opening up a new route between New Zealand and the Gold Coast. "The new schedule will enable the Qantas Group to offer the best possible mix of services for business and leisure markets," Executive GM John Borghetti said.
North American Airlines will discontinue scheduled service from California to Hawaii Sept. 1. The service, which started in November, had evolved from a charter operation. North American, a wholly owned subsidiary of World Airways, provides both scheduled and charter services as well as troop transport for the US Air Mobility Command. It said it will continue to operate scheduled service to Accra, Ghana, and Georgetown, Guyana, from New York JFK.
Mediated negotiations between Northwest Airlines and its Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn.-represented employees broke down Wednesday after the carrier "refused to move beyond unacceptable demands," the union said. "Northwest's continued refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations destroyed yesterday's session and left little hope for a consensual agreement needed to avert a strike," AMFA National Director O.V. Delle-Femine said. "There is no use scheduling another negotiating session unless both parties come prepared to negotiate."
Frontier Airlines named former ATA Senior VP John Happ as its new senior VP-marketing and planning and Bill Schuyler as its new director-schedules. It promoted Anne McCollum to senior director-reservations and customer support.
Southwest Airlines flew 5.96 billion RPMs in July, up 14.7% over same month last year. Capacity climbed 12.7% to 7.28 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.4 points to 80.8%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 10.7% to 34.68 billion, ASMs rose 12% to 48.95 billion and load factor dipped 0.9 point to 70.8%.
American Airlines flew 13.62 billion RPMs in July, up 8.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 3% to 16 billion ASMs and load factor was up 4.1 points to 85.1%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 7.2% to 81.64 billion, ASMs rose 1.7% to 103.75 billion and load factor gained 4 points to 78.6%. Delta Air Lines flew 11.83 billion RPMs in July, up 6.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 5% to 14.07 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 84.1%.
AirTran Airways will launch daily nonstop flights from Flint to Ft. Myers Nov. 8 using 717s. Separately, AirTran flew 1.1 billion RPMs in July, up 39.4% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 32.6% to 1.36 billion ASMs and load factor was up 3.9 points to 80.8%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs rose 32.3% to 6.45 billion, ASMs increased 29.4% to 8.67 billion and load factor gained 1.6 points to 74.4%.
Rockwell Collins was selected by Hapagfly (formerly Hapag-Lloyd Flug) to provide its Programmable Audio Video Entertainment System on 10 new 737-800s with an option for 10 additional aircraft. Deliveries are expected to begin in January.
LAN Airlines is the customer for six 767-300s, Boeing confirmed yesterday. The aircraft, a mix of 767-300Fs and 767-300ERs, previously were listed on the Boeing website as having been sold to an unidentified customer. The orders are in addition to six 767s ordered by LAN in 2004.
An Air France A340-300 skidded off the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport during a thunderstorm yesterday and broke into pieces, but there were only minor to moderate injuries among the 297 passengers and 12 crewmembers onboard, all of whom were evacuated safely before the aircraft wreckage caught fire.
Pinnacle Airlines reported net income of $13.8 million for the second quarter ended June 30, a 42.3% increase over net income of $9.7 million in the year-ago period. Total operating revenue rose 39.9% to $212.9 million while total operating expenses climbed 40.6% to $190.1 million, producing an operating income of $22.8 million, up 34.7% over operating income of $16.9 million in the year-ago period. "This quarter marks our tenth consecutive quarter of strong financial performance under our Airline Services Agreement with Northwest [Airlines]," President and CEO Phil Trenary said.
Austrian Airlines Group, in a strategy that complements its expanding network to Central and Eastern Europe, plans to boost its extensive presence in the Near East/Middle East and North Africa regions, adding up to five new destinations and increasing frequencies on established routes. "A good time to start new services to the Middle East will be in March/April next year.
Barely a month after laying out a timetable leading to an exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this year ( ATWOnline, July 4), United Airlines again is seeking more time to reorganize. This time, however, the delay comes not from airline management but at the request of the carrier's creditors.
Gol reported a 73.4 million reais ($31.2 million) net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, barely up on income of R$73.2 million in the year-ago period. Operating income, however, dropped 8.4% to R$85 million from R$92.8 million. "Gol remains committed to its virtuous cycle of maintaining low costs, allowing us to offer the lowest fares and achieve the highest load factors in the Brazilian market, thereby driving industry-leading profitability," CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr. said.
Ryanair shrugged off a doubling of its fuel bill to report a 31.2% profit rise to €69.9 million ($69.6 million) for the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 compared to net income of €53.1 million in the year-ago period. Current-period results include a gain of €5.2 million (net of tax) from the settlement of an insurance claim covering six 737-200s damaged during an overhaul. Operating profit also increased, jumping 23.4% to €79.9 million from €64.7 million in the 2004 period, although operating margin dipped from 21.6% to 19.7%.
Continental Airlines flew 7.88 billion RPMs in July, up 7.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity rose 9.6% to 9.4 billion ASMs and load factor was down 1.5 points to 83.9%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 9.4% to 46.29 billion, ASMs climbed 5.5% to 58.47 billion and load factor gained 2.8 points to 79.2%. For July, Continental said both consolidated and mainline passenger RASM are estimated to have increased 4.5%-5.5% compared to July 2004.
Finnair Technical Services will perform landing gear overhauls on seven ATR 72s operated by Mount Cook Airlines under an agreement with Air New Zealand Group valued at more than €1.2 million ($1.5 million).
