Swiss International Air Lines was forced to cancel another nine flights from Basel Wednesday, affecting around 100 passengers. On Tuesday, Swiss cancelled six flights following the suspensions of 52 of its 72 Saab 2000 pilots ( ATWOnline, July 13). The incident began when the former Crossair pilots wrote a letter to management and the board of directors stating that uncertainty over their future with the company could cause cockpit safety to be compromised. Swiss responded by instituting training checks for the group, a process that takes half a day per pilot.
Gol and Amadeus signed an agreement for the distribution of Gol's flight and fare information to tourism professionals through the Amadeus system. The deal goes into effect in August.
Lufthansa and Swiss will harmonize their frequent-flier programs starting July 20. Swiss Travel Club members can earn miles on Lufthansa flights and vice versa. Members also have access to each other's lounges. Swiss Travel Club has 2.1 million members, Lufthansa Miles & More has more than 10 million.
Boeing and China Cargo Airlines, a subsidiary of China Eastern Airlines, finalized an agreement for the acquisition of two 747-400ER freighters valued at $430 million at list prices. The carrier will take delivery of the aircraft in July 2006 and August 2007 and they will be used to expand the operating capacity of its routes. At present, its fleet consists of six MD-11Fs.
Lord King of Wartnaby, who served as chairman of British Airways between 1981 and 1993 and led its successful restructuring, died Tuesday at his home in Leicestershire. He was 87. Born John King, he was knighted in 1979, two years before Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher appointed him chairman of BA to prepare the often troubled and unprofitable national airline for privatization, a process that was completed in 1987. He was made a life peer in 1983. One of King's key steps was the 1983 appointment of Colin Marshall as CEO.
Australia's domestic airline passenger figures are soaring. Figures for April show RPKS were up 10.5% to 3.81 billion while ASKs increased 9.9% to 4.87 billion, resulting in a 0.5-point gain in load factor to 78.3%. Interestingly, the "golden triangle" of Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane accounted for 30.1% of total domestic traffic.
Continental Airlines reacted swiftly to JetBlue's plans to launch operations from Newark Liberty International Airport to five destinations in Florida and San Juan this fall ( ATWOnline, July 14).
Ryanair plans to launch eight new European routes from the UK during its next winter schedule, bringing its total network to 246 routes. The LCC also announced that it will begin a major tourism drive to encourage visitors to come to the UK by releasing 3 million seats at a price of just £1 ($1.76) or €1 ($1.21) plus taxes. The seats have gone on sale through its website for travel during August, September and October and the sale will be backed by a £5 million pan-European advertising campaign over the next three months that will feature the major cities of the UK.
Wizz Air yesterday said it signed a letter of intent with Airbus to purchase up to 24 V2500-A5-powered A320 family aircraft valued at $1.4 billion at catalog prices. IAE valued the engine portion at $400 million. Wizz Air also signed up for a long-term Fleet Hour Agreement covering the engines. The carrier said the aircraft will be configured with 180 seats in a single class. A delivery schedule was not announced.
World Air Holdings, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, said it is delaying the filing of its 8-K report with the Securities and Exchange Commission owing to its recent acquisition of North American, which will require additional work to complete the re-audit of its financial statements.
Emirates, in what may be its fastest buildup of a new route, said yesterday it will add a second daily service between Dubai and New York JFK on Nov. 7. The carrier inaugurated the route in June 2004 using an A340-500 configured for 258 seats with 12 in first, 42 in business and 204 in economy. Senior VP-Commercial Operations-the Americas Nigel Page characterized load factors on the 14-hr. flight as "extremely high since December." The route has been profitable for "a long time now," he told ATWOnline. The new flight also will be operated with an A340-500.
Analysts in Singapore and Australia are still upbeat that Jetstar Asia, Qantas's Singapore-based LCC, and rival Valuair will tie the knot despite the reported collapse of talks earlier this week ( ATWOnline, July 13). The discussions started two weeks ago, and Jetstar Asia CEO Ken Ryan said his airline, owned 49% by Qantas and 19% by Singapore government investment arm Temasek, withdrew its offer to Valuair. Jetstar Asia has applied to Cambodian authorities to fly to Phnom Penh and Siam Reap and to Indian authorities to commence services to Kolkata.
US FAA begins negotiations with the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. on a new contract next week. Yesterday, in a conference call with reporters, Administrator Marion Blakey said the agency "cannot afford an agreement like 1998 that saddled the FAA with excessive costs, archaic work rules and restrictions on our ability to modernize the system." She claimed that as a result of the current contract, negotiated during the Clinton Administration in 1998, controller compensation ballooned from $1.4 billion to nearly $2.4 billion ( ATWOnline, May 13).
Royal Jordanian Airways and Thai International have signed a codeshare agreement for Thai services to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Beijing and for Royal Jordanian services to Amman.
Air New Zealand implemented a contingency plan to minimize the impact of expected industrial action on its long-haul services next week after mediated negotiations with its long-haul cabin crew, represented by FARSA, ended without an agreement. According to ANZ GM-International Airline Ed Sims, an average of 15 to 20 international flights a day will be cancelled owing to the strike.
Polar Air Cargo crewmembers, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike if contract talks do not result in an agreement and the National Mediation Board releases the parties. The two sides have been negotiating since February 2003.
Vueling said it carried more than 1.2 million passengers during its first full year of operations. Punctuality of its flights was above 85% with a ratio of 3.2 per 1,000 passengers for baggage loss, the airline noted, adding that it has "eliminated the overbooking concept." It said 94% of its sales were made through its website, 3% by its call center and the remaining 3% by agencies.
FedEx Express yesterday said it will build a $150 million Asia/Pacific hub at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport to replace its existing hub in Subic Bay, Philippines.
The International Air Carrier Assn. reiterated its calls to EU finance ministers to abort the idea of levying a development tax on airline tickets, an item once again on the agenda of the forthcoming ministerial meeting. The member airlines of IACA believe discussions on a development tax cannot be isolated from other burdens facing the aviation sector and argue that the cumulative effect of soaring kerosene costs, environmental pressures and a development tax would be unbearable for many carriers.
SAS introduced the United Airlines Corporate Solutions system in North America. It provides a single integrated system for collecting and analyzing data, generating contract terms, tracking usage and monitoring performance goals. InteliSys Aviation Systems signed a multiyear contract with Calgary-based Regional 1 Airlines Ltd. to provide its amelia reservation system. The carrier will use the system to manage its reservation sales and distribution.
LAN Airlines flew 1.27 billion RPKs in June, up 18.7% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 14.5% to 1.82 billion ASKs and load factor was up 2.5 points to 69.5%. For the six months ended June 30, RPKs rose 18.4% to 8.42 billion, ASKs increased 15.1% to 11.6 billion and load factor gained 2.1 points to 72.5%.
Air Berlin announced a passenger increase of 16% to 6.1 million for the first six months of 2005. The highest gains were seen in Vienna (33.6%), Dusseldorf (28%), Zurich (25%) and Palma de Mallorca (24.6%). "Because of our success in the first six months of this year, we are confident of reaching our target of flying 13.7 million passengers by the end of 2005," CEO Joachim Hunold said in a statement. The carrier also said turnover for the period climbed 23% to €564 million ($688 million).
Air New Zealand rolled out its first refitted 747-400 that features lie-flat beds, digital inflight entertainment at every seat and a new class of travel for the NZ market called Pacific Premium Economy. The refit is part of a NZ$160 million ($109.5 million) fleet upgrade for its eight 747s. The first routes to feature the product will be Los Angeles-Auckland and San Francisco-Auckland. ANZ's lie-flat beds, which are 6 ft. 7.5 in. long, are the longest available in business class today, ANZ said.
