Northwest Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Professional Flight Attendants Assn., last week filed suit against the carrier for what the union claims is a violation of the "status quo" between the cabin staff and the airline. The group is seeking injunctive relief against management's decision to pursue the training of replacement flight attendants onboard its flights. According to the union, on June 5 Northwest placed job postings in newspapers and on websites seeking replacement flight attendants in the event of a labor dispute or strike.
In a deal that may lead to a mega low-cost airline group in Asia, Qantas agreed to pay S$60 million ($36 million) for Singapore-based Valuair, which is to be merged into Qantas's 49%-controlled Jetstar Asia. The deal was confirmed yesterday by Jetstar CEO Ken Ryan, who will take control of Valuair. The new entity will see Qantas's stake reduced to 45.5%. The Australian airline also is holding talks with Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia, which had been prepared to inject S$20 million into Valuair.
The world's airlines continued to operate at a very high level of safety during the second quarter and first half of 2005, Airclaims reported. Five total losses were recorded in the March-June period, including one fatal accident that killed three passengers. Nine total losses to Western-built jets occurred during the first half of the year, including two fatal accidents resulting in 99 passenger and eight crew deaths.
Air New Zealand reached agreement with its long-haul cabin crew, represented by FARSA, on a new three-year contract, staving off a third walkout that was set to begin yesterday. Terms of the deal were not released but the airline previously had offered a 3.3% wage increase in each of the next three years while the union was demanding 3.8%. Other issues included crewing levels for the carrier's new 777-300ERs. The earlier 48-hr. strikes led ANZ to cancel 85 flights, causing widespread disruption to passengers.
Frontier Airlines flight attendants voted against union representation by the Assn. of Flight Attendants/Communications Workers of America. According to the airline, of the 744 eligible voters, 320 votes were cast for AFA representation and eight for other representation. A total of 373 votes were needed to organize. The carrier said that this is the fourth time its flight attendants have voted against union representation.
ExpressJet, which operates in the Continental Express feeder network, reported a 17.9% drop in net income to $24.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30 compared to net income of $29.7 million in the prior-year period. Operating revenue in the quarter rose 4.8% to $388.7 million while operating expenses jumped 8.7% to $348.7 million on a 13.3% increase in fuel expense. However, operating CASM actually decreased 6.5% to 11.52 cents. Operating income was down 20.3% to $40 million from $50.2 million in the prior-year period.
Passengers with respiratory problems will be able to use two kinds of portable oxygen concentrator units onboard commercial aircraft under a new regulation published by US FAA. The two devices, manufactured by AirSep Corp. and Inogen Inc., do not use compressed oxygen, which the agency classifies as a hazardous material. Instead they work by filtering nitrogen from the air and delivering oxygen in concentrated form to the user. The new rule marks the first time passengers will be able to use their own medical oxygen devices onboard an airliner.
Adria Airways carried 93,700 passengers in June, a 7% increase over the same month last year. There were 5% fewer travelers on scheduled flights this June but 81% more on charter routes. In the first six months, Adria carried 411,800 passengers, up 3% compared to the first half of last year. It has approximately 180 weekly regular flights to 18 cities in Europe and will start a twice-weekly service from Ljubljana to Warsaw by September.
Thomas Cook Airlines (UK) extended the lease on its two A330s for a further five years. The airline also announced that it will launch flights from Manchester and London Gatwick to Ft. Lauderdale and weekly flights from Doncaster Robin Hood Airport to Monastir.
NAV Canada said it reached a tentative collective agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers/Canadian Air Traffic Control Assn. representing air traffic controllers. Terms were not disclosed. The agreement is subject to ratification by union membership.
Preston Aviation Solutions will supply its Total Airspace and Airport Modeler software package to Dutch consultancy firm To70 for use in capacity studies of Amsterdam Schiphol. Menzies Chengdu Airport Services was awarded two handling contracts from China Postal Airlines and United Eagle Airlines. China Postal, the first scheduled freight airline at Chengdu, operates six 737 cargo flights a week to the airport while United Eagle will launch its first service at the end of this month.
Varig signed a six-month consultancy contract with Lufthansa Consulting for its reorganization and restructuring. Following the filing of an application for the protection of creditors at the bankruptcy court, the airline must develop an appropriate restructuring plan within 60 days as well as a related business plan and submit those to the court. If the court accepts the plans, the implementation phase must be completed within a maximum of 120 days thereafter.
Sabre said the acquisition of lastminute.com by Travelocity Europe has been completed. The UK-based online travel and leisure group will be the lead brand for Travelocity in most of Europe and will continue to expand as lastminute.com. Brent Hoberman, who co-founded the company, remains as CEO. Separately, Sabre Airline Solutions announced that Trans States Holdings subsidiary GoJet Airlines has selected Sabre's flight operations tools for its crew management, flight planning and dispatch, and operations control and flight following when it begins operations in August.
America West and US Airways on Friday said they received approval for their planned merger from the US Air Transportation Stabilization Board, which has guaranteed loans for both airlines. Pending final bankruptcy court and US Airways board approval and upon close of the merger, "the two airlines' outstanding ATSB loan guarantees will be consolidated with payments beginning September 2005 through September 2010," the carriers said in a statement. Final terms are still being negotiated.
Targeting what it sees as the changing needs of the short-haul operator market, International Aero Engines launched V2500 Select, a new maintenance program linked to a package of technology enhancements that promises to cut MRO costs 20%-30%, reduce fuel burn up to 1% and increase time-on-wing by 20% compared to current-standard engines.
Germanwings increased its first-half sales by 60% to €163 million ($198 million), the carrier said in an statement. The number of passengers rose 60% to more than 2.3 million. The airline expects to carry 5.5-6 million passengers this year, generating sales of about €400 million, up from €247 million in 2004.
SkyQuest International, as acquisition agent for International Aviation Support, arranged the purchase of an Embraer Brasilia from Bank of America through its agent Northstar Aviation Services.
Air China signed a contract with Airbus to purchase 20 A330-200s, which are scheduled for delivery beginning next May. China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group was involved in the deal by signing a GTA with Airbus. Air China President Li Jiaxiang said the new aircraft will help the carrier expand its fleet and open more international destinations. According to ATW's "World Airline Report," Air China currently operates a fleet of 83 aircraft consisting of both Airbus and Boeing models.
United Airlines cleared a major hurdle yesterday when its 20,000 ramp agents and customer contact employees, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists, ratified a tentative agreement reached in June ( ATWOnline, June 20). According to the union, roughly 67% of IAM members voted to approve the agreement. Terms of the deal were not released but it is believed to provide the carrier with savings of $175 million a year.
Buoyed by fuel hedge gains, Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported that it earned $17.4 million in the second quarter compared to a loss of $1.7 million last year. Excluding special items, the current-period result rose to $24.7 million versus income of $8.2 million in 2004. Fuel hedges contributed $27.6 million in the quarter, up from $25.9 million last year.
In what was its 18th consecutive quarter of profitability, JetBlue Airways reported net income of $12.2 million for the second quarter ended June 30, down 43.2% from net income of $21.5 million in the year-ago period.
America West Holdings Corp., parent of the airline, reported net income of $13.9 million for the second quarter ended June 30, including a $2.7 million unrealized loss associated with fuel hedging transactions and a $4.3 million loss on the sale and leaseback of aircraft during the period. This was a 30.5% increase over net income of $10.7 million in the prior-year period, which included an unrealized gain on fuel hedging transactions of $7.2 million. Excluding these special items, second-quarter 2005 net income was $20.9 million compared to $3.5 million in the 2004 quarter.
Southwest Airlines yesterday offered to spend $130 million to construct facilities at Seattle's King County International Airport--also known as Boeing Field--that would allow it to transfer its operations from Seattle-Tacoma International, where it claims that "ever-increasing costs have become an obstacle to growth." In addition to being the delivery site for Boeing narrowbodies, KCIA is served by a few small Regional airlines along with corporate and cargo operators. It has runways of 3,710 ft. and 10,001 ft. in length and is located 5 mi. from downtown Seattle.
Delta Air Lines, which continues to be the subject of bankruptcy speculation, lost $382 million in the second quarter ended June 30, which included a net one-time charge of $78 million primarily associated with pensions. This compares to a net loss of $1.96 billion in the year-ago period, which included a one-time charge of $1.7 billion. "Delta's second-quarter results reflect both the solid progress we are making in implementation of our Transformation Plan and the substantial challenges we are facing," CEO Gerald Grinstein said.
