JetBlue Airways yesterday launched thrice-weekly flights between New York JFK and Bob Hope Airport in Burbank. The airline plans to add a fourth daily flight on the route July 15.
EasyJet's after-tax loss worsened to £22.3 million ($40.7 million) in the six months ended March 31 from a £19.7 million net loss in the year-ago period. The carrier, which traditionally reports a loss in the first half owing to seasonal factors, said its net loss was reduced by a tax credit of £8.9 million but its fuel bill was £18 million higher than last year. In contrast to Europe's full-service carriers, the London Luton-based LCC has not implemented a fuel surcharge.
Island Air, which operates a fleet of eight Dash 8s, is replacing three of them with a 70-seat Q400. Delivery will take place in November. The carrier formerly known as Aloha IslandAir has been undergoing a restructuring over the past year, said President and CEO Robert Mauracher. Island Air operates as a codeshare partner with Hawaiian Airlines and recently added Continental Airlines (see above).
Air China Ltd. and Cathay Pacific Airways signed an MOU to "promote sales and marketing initiatives" between the two airlines, including a new codesharing arrangement. Under the MOU, Air China will codeshare on two Cathay Pacific services from Beijing to Hong Kong, one of which operates daily and the other three times a week. Cathay Pacific in turn will add its code to three of the daily Air China services to and from Beijing. Codeshare flights should begin in the fourth quarter, the airlines said. The partnership will include reciprocal frequent- flier benefits.
Cebu Pacific initiated its fleet renewal program by taking delivery of its first A320, which is on lease from CIT Aerospace. A second leased aircraft will arrive in June. The airline also will begin taking delivery of the 12 A319s it purchased in September. The new fleet will replace its existing 12 DC-9s and three 757s.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings released its preliminary unaudited estimates for the three months ended March 31 and also provided guidance for the current second quarter. The company cautioned that owing to the fact that it emerged from Chapter 11 in July 2004 and at that point applied the provisions of fresh-start accounting, year-over-year comparisons are difficult.
Alitalia Express contracted Saab Aviocomp to provide component service for its ERJ-145s. The agreement includes the entire component repair and overhaul services covered by the capability of Saab Aviocomp and related engineering support. Alitalia Express operates a fleet of 14 ERJ-145s, 15 ATR 42s/72s and six Embraer 170s on a domestic and international network.
Arconics Aviation, a Dublin-based software developer, yesterday in Seattle announced the launch of its Manual Manager 1.0 graphical aviation document management package. The system automatically compares revisions in numerous manuals and operating procedure documents and either transmits the differences for automatic updating or presents them for a human editing process. The system is especially adept at simplifying the SGML updates issued by Airbus and Boeing, Arconics CEO Niall O'Sullivan told ATWOnline, and also will facilitate updating electronic flight bags.
AirTran Airways flight attendants, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants, overwhelmingly ratified a new collective bargaining agreement reached in April. Terms of the 42-month accord were not released, but the carrier said it includes improved compensation and benefits.
Boeing and Air France reached an agreement to turn three 747-400 Combis into full freighters as part of the 747-400 Special Freighter program. According to Boeing, AF is the first carrier to announce plans to convert its former Combi aircraft, which are currently in all-passenger configuration. For the conversions ordered by AF, Boeing said the aircraft will receive a strengthened main-cabin floor, a full main-deck lining and provisions for a new cargo handling system with an upgraded flightdeck. AF expects to receive its first modified aircraft in June 2007.
US Bankruptcy Court Judge Eugene Wedoff late last week refused to rule on United Airlines' motion to abrogate contracts covering the carrier's International Assn. of Machinists-represented workers, deferring his decision until May 31. Wedoff urged the two sides to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a new deal.
Continental Airlines' new codesharing agreement with Island Air will begin this fall. Under the deal, Continental will place its code on Island Air flights from Honolulu to Kahului, Kapalua West-Maui, Kona, Hilo, Lihue, Lanai and Molokai.
The lack of a successor for CEO Noel Forgeard, who is earmarked to move up to the position of co-CEO of parent company EADS, is starting to create a sense of unease at Airbus. "We need a compass," Executive VP-Operations Gerard Blanc said at the end of a two-day Technical Press Briefing held last week in Toulouse. "We need a new heading. We have a strong management team, we know that. We also know we're changing our heading; however, we don't know how."
Bmi is introducing at London Heathrow what it calls "Europe's first modular airline service," which will see the carrier switch to a single-class service with paid-for catering onboard and e-enabled ground services. Simultaneously, bmi will launch three fare types--tiny, standard and premium--giving three levels of flexibility and service.
Gulf Air and Middle East Airlines finalized a codeshare agreement reached last month. The accord, which will go into effect June 1, will allow Gulf Air to place its code on Middle East Airlines flights between Abu Dhabi and Beirut.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines President and CEO Joergen Lindegaard said he has no doubt that the spinoff of the multinational airline into four units--SAS Danmark, SAS Sverige, SAS Braathens and SAS International--last October was the right decision and in some parts there is already success to report. "On the operational side, it is important that we have now more speed to change and adapt new strategies. With the four airlines, everyone is more flexible," Lindegaard told ATWOnline in Stockholm.
The Irish government last week ended years of dithering and decided in principle to sell a majority shareholding in state-owned Aer Lingus and proceed with a second terminal at Dublin Airport.
Hawaiian Airlines last week received US Bankruptcy Court approval of its reorganization plan and as a result plans to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1.
Swiss International Air Lines, which is due to be integrated into Lufthansa ( ATWOnline, March 23), reported a CHF44 million ($36 million) net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, an improvement over a CHF78 million net loss in the prior-year period.
Air Bosna, a state-owned carrier from the Balkan region, plans to resume flights next month after clinching a financing deal with Hypo Alpe Adria Bank in Austria. According to several media outlets in Austria, Air Bosna, which went bankrupt with a debt of around $13 million nearly two years ago, will be renamed BH Airlines and restart services to Switzerland, Turkey and Germany using two leased 66-seat ATR 72s. More destinations will follow.
"It's a bit strange when Regionals start investing in bankrupt [legacy] airlines," said James Parker, MD of Raymond James & Associates. Air Wisconsin and Republic Airways agreed to invest more than $100 million apiece in US Airways, while Mesa Air Group agreed to invest $30 million in Delta Air Lines and assume its leases on some 30 328JETs previously operated by Atlantic Coast Airlines. Speaking at the RAA conference last week in Cincinnati, Parker said even more changes are in store for the industry.
Virgin Blue warned of another challenging year ahead after announcing a 13.2% slide in earnings amid escalating competition from archrival Qantas, high fuel prices and slowing travel demand. CEO Brett Godfrey said the LCC has entered 2005-06 "behind the eight ball" after returning a net profit of A$138.1 million ($104.8 million) for the 12 months to March 31 compared to A$159 million for the previous year. While the result was consistent with market expectations, it represented the first profit fall in Virgin Blue's five-year history in the Australian market.
While Boeing's 787 does away with pneumatic bleed air as a power source for many aircraft functions, the technology of electromechanical actuation has not advanced sufficiently to take the place of hydraulic power on transport aircraft. This was the conclusion of several system experts speaking on ATW's "More Electric Aircraft" webcast earlier this week.
