Lufthansa marked the 50th anniversary of its 1955 rebirth with a festive ceremony March 31 in a hangar at its Hamburg base and a commemorative flight the next day in an A310 painted in nostalgic old-time LH livery that was prepared by Lufthansa Technik for the occasion. The flight was from Hamburg to Munich via Duesseldorf and Frankfurt along a route taken by an LH Convair 340 on April 1, 1955, in a 4-hr. flight that marked the beginning of a new era in German aviation. Lufthansa's history actually dates to the founding in 1926 of what was called Deutsche Luft Hansa.
ATA Holdings Corp., which has been operating under Chapter 11 since October 2004, reported a massive $816.9 million net loss available to shareholders for 2004 in its annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The figure included $638.5 million in reorganization expenses and a noncash charge of $27.3 million related to the company's bond exchange in the first quarter. This compares to a net income of $15.8 million in 2003, which was bolstered by $37.2 million in security rebates from the US government.
Hit hard by $129.5 million in reorganization expenses as well as rising fuel prices and increased competition, bankrupt Hawaiian Airlines posted a $75.4 million net loss for 2004 compared to a net loss of $49.5 million in 2003. The airline said the reorganization expenses primarily consisted of $110.6 million in one-time noncash claims to settle leases with Boeing Capital Corp. for three 767-300s and 11 717-200s, and with Ansett for a 767-300 rejected by Hawaiian in 2003. Results also included an income tax provision of $16.8 million.
UT Air signed a contract to purchase two ATR 42-300s to develop its regional market. The first is expected to be delivered by Continental Airlines in June. UT Air also is negotiating with ATR for a training and global maintenance agreement for comprehensive airframe maintenance, equipment repair and standard exchange services
Avianca reported a net income of $116 million for 2004, a complete turnaround compared to the $108 million net loss the carrier posted in 2003. The airline said the improvement was primarily the result of benefits generated by its financial and operating restructuring carried out under bankruptcy and also reflected a $119 million equity enhancement. Operating revenues increased 20% to $652 million while direct operating costs rose 12.1% to $387.4 million on an 18.4% jump in fuel costs.
AirNav Systems released AirNav Live Flight Tracker Gold, a new multiwindow airline flight tracking application that enables the user to track several areas with several different filters simultaneously.
US Dept. of Transportation gave final clearance to several passenger and cargo airlines that tentatively were granted rights in February to launch services to China ( ATWOnline , Feb. 23). As a result, American Airlines officially can start marketing its new Chicago-Shanghai flights that will begin next year. In addition, Federal Express, Northwest Airlines, Polar Air Cargo and UPS will be able to boost their cargo service to China in 2006 by adding three weekly flights each.
Bypassing the global distribution systems whenever possible has been a goal of the Major airlines for several years. Segment fees rose by an average of more than 6% a year from 1990 to 2000, but the airlines say the increases were not accompanied by a proportionate improvement in value to them. The rate of increase slowed following 9/11, but carriers now pay more than $4 per segment or an average of $12.50 per ticket-a hefty chunk of today's low fares.
Air New Zealand could pursue a little-known loophole in New Zealand aviation legislation to bypass the competition regulator and establish a codeshare partnership with Qantas on the Tasman. According to the general lawyer for ANZ, John Blair, the New Zealand government has the power to allow the carriers to sell seats on each other's international services under the Civil Aviation Act. However, he said the legislative provision cannot be exercised to extend such an alliance to domestic services.
It is almost one year since the implementation of the AF-KLM merger and you have stated several times that the first results are "extremely positive." How positive is this?
AAR hired Fred Kocher as GM-AAR Aircraft Services. Airbus North America tapped Guy McLeod as president-sales. Airport Consultants Council named Dawn E. Lucini of ARINC chair of its DHS Legislative & Regulatory Affairs Committee. AirRep appointed Caroline Daniell and Nadya Gooders operations & commercial assistants in the freighter department and Craig Gould to handle reservations at AirRep Cargo Europe. ASIG selected D. Bradley Keith as national fuel quality & compliance mgr. Emirates introduced Hiran Perera as VP cargo-freighters.
"There's an old saying around here that you never go bankrupt with too few seats or too few airplanes," Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly tells ATW at the airline's Dallas headquarters.
Although traffic and capacity continue to grow, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani yesterday warned that if fuel prices continue to rise, the industry could see more red ink this year. "If the average price of oil settles at $43 per barrel for the year, the total cost of fuel to the industry will exceed $73 billion," Bisignani said. "Clearly 2005 will be another year of industry losses, despite aggressive airline cost cutting."
Swiss International Air Lines' large shareholders sold almost 84% of the carrier's capital to AirTrust, the holding company through which Lufthansa is taking over Swiss. According to the carrier, the newly formed company now holds 83.96% of Swiss share capital, almost all of the 86.13% previously held by majority shareholders. As part of the deal, AirTrust is offering major shareholders $342.3 million. It is offering another $58.1 million to individual investors whose shares are in free float.
At US Airways, the problems largely were manmade, as is clear in the detailed report commissioned by US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta following both events. Keenly aware of personnel shortages among the flight attendant and ramp agent work groups, US Airways officials knew they were rolling the dice well before piles of unchecked luggage started reaching the ceiling in Philadelphia.
Pacific Blue , the international arm of Virgin Blue, will begin to offer passengers APS digEplayers on flights between Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. The carrier said it will begin phasing in the portable on-demand entertainment players from late May and they will be available on all flights by June 13. Each aircraft will be equipped with 60 players and the airline will charge A$12 ($9) to rent one.
US Dept. of Homeland Security this week initiated the US-VISIT Biometric Exit Pilot Program at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Under the program, foreign visitors departing from the airport will be asked to provide their two finger scans and stop for a photo as part of the project to test and evaluate an automated biometric exit process. The program has been operating for a number of months at Baltimore/Washington International, Chicago O'Hare, Denver International, Dallas/Ft. Worth International and Miami International airports.
Original equipment manufacturers intend to grow their share of the commercial aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul business aggressively in response to both the needs of their customer base and their own internal corporate goals. Although this trend dates back more than a decade, it has accelerated owing to the tremendous upheavals of the past four years.
Albert Einstein said, "We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."
Continental Airlines flight attendants late Wednesday rejected a new agreement, becoming the only work group at the carrier that did not ratify a new deal. Earlier Wednesday, Continental's pilots, mechanics, dispatchers and simulator engineers all approved new contracts that include pay and benefit reductions ( ATWOnline , March 31).
Virgin Blue head Brett Godfrey denied speculation that he will resign following the change in management control of the airline. In a memo to staff, Godfrey said he is happy to continue in his position at least until late next year as long as he retains the support of Virgin Blue employees, shareholders and the board. He also refuted suggestions that the group's international arm Pacific Blue would be scaled back, saying that the subsidiary is profitable, has exceeded expectations and remains an integral part of Virgin Blue operations.
By summer, the fruits of nearly four years of seemingly disparate government biometric technology tests could weave together quickly into a cohesive strategy for US airports as key mandates come due and various trials conclude. Because of the sheer size of the US market, with more than 200 airports receiving scheduled service, decisions here will play a large role in influencing technology development and choices around the globe.
US Airways yesterday said the US Bankruptcy Court extended until May 31 the period for it to retain exclusive rights to file a plan of reorganization. Previously the carrier was expected to file its plan with the court by March 31. According to a statement, the request for an extension was supported by the company's unsecured creditors committee and was "unopposed by other interested parties."
The view from this small town in the high desert of southwestern Utah is a panorama of valleys, patches of black lava and steep red cliffs topped by a canopy of endless sky that never seems to want for color. The sky--literally--is the limit in St. George, the headquarters of SkyWest Airlines. You could say the same about the future of this carrier, which was founded by Ralph Atkin in 1972 and has grown from operating a single Piper Seneca into one of the largest and most profitable Regionals in the world.
The variety of successful strategies in use today was in full display at the ATW Winning Strategies conference in Washington, where some of the airline industry's keenest minds shared their wisdom. Dr. Adam Pilarski, senior VP at consultancy Avitas, opened the conference with a controversial statement, "the myth of overcapacity is an urban legend," pointing out that historically high load factors should push fares up. "If airlines don't make money when they have the highest load factors ever, there is something wrong with their business model."
