Delta Air Lines announced yesterday that Executive VP and CFO Michael Palumbo has resigned "to pursue other opportunities" and is being replaced by Edward H. Bastian, a six-year Delta veteran who most recently was CFO at Acuity Brands Inc. Palumbo spent around 14 months at Delta, having joined the company following the resignation of Michelle Burns in April 2004. Bastian previously served at the airline as senior VP-finance and controller. Also yesterday Delta named Jim Whitehurst COO, a position that had been vacant.
Air France is negotiating with Brazilian low-cost carrier Gol as well as with TAM to conclude a cooperation agreement, Le Figaro reported. AF is keen on increasing its market share in the Europe-South America market, specifically to Brazil, and currently operates daily services between Paris CDG and Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. An accord with Gol would secure connections to destinations beyond Rio while TAM could provide travel beyond Sao Paulo.
On-again off-again talks between Valuair and Qantas-operated Jetstar Asia about an alliance or merger are back on, with analysts in Singapore claiming that Qantas will put an additional S$50 million into the merged airline. ATWOnline understands that staff from an Australian financial institution flew to Singapore late last week to tie up the deal. Qantas owns 49% of Jetstar Asia and initially funded the LCC with S$50 million. Jetstar Asia is expected to start services to Kolkata on Aug. 18.
Response to Air New Zealand's new long-haul product has exceeded expectations. Group GM-Marketing, Network and Sales Norm Thompson told ATWOnline that the airline received "overwhelmingly" positive feedback from customers on the initial flights. He said ANZ has sold almost 8,000 Pacific Premium Economy sectors even before the new long-haul product officially enters service on the Melbourne-Auckland-San Francisco route Aug. 7.
Aviapartner shareholders reached agreement on the acquisition of the ground handling company by private equity fund 3i and certain Aviapartner managers. Price was not disclosed. The special-purpose company for the takeover is called Aviapartner LH3 SARL. Over the coming months, CEO Alex Verougstraete will assume the position of nonexecutive director and Theo Dilissen will become the new CEO. Completion of the transaction, which is subject to customary conditions, is expected by the end of August.
Southwest Florida International Airport has postponed the opening of its new terminal, which was scheduled for July 20. The airport said the new opening date will be announced once a certificate of occupancy has been issued. According to the airport, the terminal still needs US Transportation Security Administration certification of the baggage-handling system, installation of airline data systems and e-ticket kiosks, the life-safety and building systems, training and general cleanup.
Continental Airlines returned to profit in the second quarter ended June 30, reporting income of $100 million compared to a restated loss of $28 million in the year-ago period as revenue growth and savings from its labor restructuring agreements overcame record fuel prices. Net income for the current period included a $47 million gain related to the contribution of ExpressJet shares to its defined benefit pension plan during the quarter. Excluding this gain, net income totaled $53 million. The 2004 results were restated to reflect changes to lease accounting methods.
Air Europa finalized an agreement for the purchase of 18 737-800s announced at last month's Paris Air Show. The order is valued at approximately $1.2 billion at list prices, Boeing said. Deliveries begin in 2007 with three new airplanes to be delivered annually. SkyEurope finalized its previously announced order for four 737-700s worth $220 million at list prices. The order includes purchase rights for up to 16 additional airplanes. The carrier also will lease 12 737s from GE Commercial Aviation Services. All 16 will be equipped with winglets.
National Mediation Board yesterday declared an impasse in the contract dispute between Northwest Airlines and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. The two sides now have entered a 30-day cooling-off period that expires Aug. 20. At that point, NWA may impose a new wage and benefit contract and AMFA is free to strike ( ATWOnline, July 20).
Embraer was awarded type certification for the 170 and 175 from Transport Canada Civil Aviation, which will enable deliveries to begin of 15 175s ordered by Air Canada. The aircraft will be configured for 73 passengers in two classes. As of June 30, Embraer had delivered 66 170s and logged 412 firm orders for the 170/190 family, which range from 70 to 118 seats. Certification of the 190 is expected in the third quarter and of the 195 in the 2006 second quarter.
British Airways launched a review of its long-haul options primarily for the replacement of its 767 fleet and supplemental aircraft for its 777 fleet. It also is considering the 747ADV but wants to see the A380 in airline service before deciding. CEO Rod Eddington, who will retire on Sept. 30, earlier told ATWOnline that he studied the 777-300ER as an ideal 747-400 replacement. Responding to questions from the Financial Times at BA's annual shareholders meeting, Chairman Martin Broughton added that the airline also is looking at the 777-200LR.
Germanwings started a new thrice-weekly service from Cologne to Moscow Vnukovo on July 16. Centralwings plans to begin a new weekly Warsaw-Grenoble service by November.
Northwest Airlines President and CEO Douglas Steenland yesterday urged the US Dept. of Transportation to approve the carrier's application for antitrust immunity to link the networks of NWA and KLM and the existing SkyTeam antitrust-immunized carriers Air France, Delta Air Lines, Alitalia and CSA Czech Airlines.
Spirit Airlines received $100 million of new financing under agreements with Oaktree Capital Management and Goldman Sachs that it will use to finance its transition to an all-Airbus fleet and to support its new fuel hedging program. The company said $70 million will come from existing investors, including Oaktree and Spirit management, and the remaining $30 million from Goldman Sachs. "This new financing further solidifies our position within the industry," Spirit President Ben Baldanza said.
Royal Jordanian will launch direct twice-weekly flights from Amman to Milan on Oct. 30. Etihad Airways will start thrice-weekly Abu Dhabi-Brussels-Toronto service Oct. 31 using A330-200s. The flights will be operated in codeshare with SN Brussels Airlines.
British Airways will begin a trial of new landing procedures at London Heathrow and Gatwick aimed at reducing the number of people affected by early morning aircraft noise.
Southwest Airlines will launch two additional daily nonstop flights between Las Vegas and San Diego (for a total of 14) and one additional daily flight between Las Vegas and Oakland (for a total of 13) from July 17. This will bring the number of daily flights the airline operates from Las Vegas to 201.
Airbus unveiled its new management structure under President and CEO Gustav Humbert yesterday as the organization disclosed that Executive VP-Operations Gerard Blanc decided to leave the company. Reportedly, Blanc had hoped to succeed Noel Forgeard at the top of the entity. Succeeding Blanc is Karl-Heinz Hartmann, formerly executive VP and head of Airbus's center of excellence. Charles Champion was appointed COO but will retain his role as head of the A380 program. He becomes No. 2 under Humbert and deputy to the CEO. CCO John Leahy was appointed COO-customers.
Carinthian Spirit, a new Austrian Regional, will start daily Klagenfurt-Salzburg-Zurich service by Sept. 5 using a CRJ200. The carrier is owned by Styrian Spirit, which also operates regional brands Slovenian Spirit from Maribor and Salzburg Spirit out of Salzburg. The new brand is named after the southern Austrian province of Carinthia. Carinthian opened its base in Klagenfurt and plans to add a second CRJ, expected to be a new CRJ700, by next year to start Klagenfurt-Graz-Amsterdam service in cooperation with KLM.
Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) yesterday introduced a bill designed to lift flight restrictions imposed by the Wright Amendment, a 1979 federal law that limits airlines operating at Dallas Love Field to serving destinations within Texas and seven nearby states. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) is a co-sponsor of the bill. Earlier this year, Texas Republican Congressmen Sam Johnson and Jeb Hensarling introduced their own legislation called the Right to Fly Act, which immediately would repeal the Wright Amendment ( ATWOnline, May 27).
Bmi will deploy Lufthansa Systems' new passenger system FACE. The UK airline, in which Lufthansa holds a stake, has been using Lufthansa Systems' previous passenger solution MultiHost for its reservations, ticketing and check-in operations since 2001. Check-in will be migrated to FACE at all bmi stations as early as 2005. In 2007, bmi will migrate all core modules of its passenger system to the FACE platform, including reservations, inventory management, ticketing and boarding and other passenger-related service processes.
Republic Airways Holdings announced a follow-on public offering of 7.75 million shares of common stock--all of which are being offered by the company--at a price of $12.60 per share. Merrill Lynch served as the sole bookrunner and Raymond James & Associates acted as co-manager. The company also granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 1,162,500 shares to cover overallotments.
Aero Vodochody is drafting proposals to set up a second airport in Prague that could help relieve some of the traffic from the fast-growing Ruzyne hub, Reuters reported. The military jet maker yesterday said it had developed a plan to convert its company airstrip north of the city into an international airport for use from 2006. A final decision on the project would be up to a new owner of the company. The government has said it aims to sell Aero by next year's election.
Boeing officially launched the 737-900ER--formerly the 737-900X--on the strength of an order for up to 60 worth $3.9 billion from Lion Air of Indonesia. The order includes 30 firm plus purchase rights for 30 more. Deliveries begin in the first half of 2007. Lion Air had been expected to announce an order for 737-700s/-800s last spring ( ATWOnline, May 27).
Virgin Nigeria will commence a twice-daily Lagos-Accra service tomorrow using A320s. The airline started operations June 28 with flights between Lagos and London Heathrow and subsequently added domestic flights from Lagos to Abuja and Port Harcourt. CEO Simon Harford indicated the carrier will be operating on about nine routes by spring.
