British Airways said it has learned its lesson and will never cry victory again, yet it hopes it has reversed the trend of falling revenues. It expects its turnover to increase 3%-3.5% in the current financial year to March 31 and 3%-4% in FY06 following four successive years of declines. Revenues fell 20% from just over £9 billion ($17.3 million) in FY01 to about £7.5 billion in FY04.
Jouve Aviation Solutions was chosen by EVA Air to provide an integrated electronic maintenance manual and job cards system to support the airline's fleet.
Kitty Hawk reported net income of $5.4 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, which included a net one-time gain of $3.6 million. This compares to net income of $2.2 million in the prior-year period. Scheduled freight revenue rose 19.5% to $43 million. For full-year 2004, the company posted net income of $6.5 million, which in addition to the fourth-quarter special items included a further $1.8 million in net special charges. This compares to net income of $2.6 million in 2003, which included $3 million in special income.
Virgin Blue Deputy CEO and COO Rob Sherrard resigned for what he called "long considered and purely personal reasons." He was co-founder of the airline and oversaw its operations from its inaugural flight on Aug. 31, 2000. CEO Brett Godfrey paid tribute to Sherrard as a "strong leader" and "a mentor to many," adding he "made an outstanding contribution." Andrew David, previously GM-Pacific Airline for Air New Zealand, will replace Sherrard as COO.
Embraer inked an agreement with Chautauqua Airlines to manage and streamline the carrier's spare parts inventory using the Embraer Collaborative Inventory Planning program. According to the plane-maker, ECIP "shortens delivery times for contracted parts and establishes a baseline for carriers to better manage costs."
Canadian low-fare airline Jetsgo suspended operations without warning Friday and said it would seek bankruptcy protection. The action, which occurred at the start of the March vacation break for many colleges and universities in Canada, stranded an estimated 17,000 passengers, according to wire service reports. In a statement released Friday, JetsGo Founder and President Michel Leblanc said, "We deeply regret that this had to happen. The decision to cease operations was only taken after difficult deliberation."
Cebu Pacific inked a 12-year maintenance cost per hour agreement with GE Engine Services for maintenance, overhaul and repair of the 31 CFM56-5Bs that will power its new fleet of A319s/320s. According to GE, the agreement is worth $50 million. Cebu Pacific is scheduled to take delivery of 12 new A319s it ordered last December between 2005 and 2007. It will take two A320s in April and May.
Delta Air Lines, which posted an industry-high $5.2 billion loss in 2004, said it expects to report a "substantial" loss in 2005 as well and warned in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that if it is unable to reduce its operating expenses further and continues to experience significant losses, it will be forced to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 4.78 billion RPKs in February, up 18.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 11.4% to 6.18 billion ASKs and load factor rose 4.7 points to 77.4%. For the two months ended Feb. 28, RPKs jumped 15.6% to 10.19 billion, ASKs increased 12% to 12.97 billion and load factor gained 2.4 points to 78.5%.
Bmi said it intends to begin thrice-weekly service from London Heathrow to Riyadh "shortly" after it launches its first scheduled long-haul flights from LHR to Mumbai on May 14. The exact start date for the Riyadh flights is not yet known--"We don't even have a month yet," a bmi spokesperson told ATWOnline. She added that the carrier hopes to be able to start the Riyadh service somewhere in the next summer schedule depending on regulatory approvals that still have to be obtained.
Swiss International Air Lines flew 1.4 billion RPKs in February, down 12.4% compared to the year-ago period. Intercontinental traffic dropped 14.9% to 1.03 billion RPKs while European RPKs dipped 3.9% to 351 million. Total capacity (ASKs) declined 14.3% to 1.95 billion, driven by an 18% fall in intercontinental ASKs to 1.3 billion, while European ASKs were down 5.6% to 632 million. As a result, system load factor rose 1.6 points to 71.2%. On European routes, load factor was up 1 point to 55.6%. Intercontinental load factor climbed 2.8 points to 78.7%.
Judicial investigation into the role played by Continental Airlines in the July 2000 Air France Concorde crash began in Paris yesterday. According to the Associated Press, Investigating Judge Christophe Regnard placed the US carrier under investigation for manslaughter and involuntary injury, a preliminary step before formally charging it. Accident investigators determined that the crash occurred after one of the tires on the Concorde's main landing gear ruptured, sending pieces of rubber and metal into the jet's fuel tanks and spilling fuel, which ignited.
JAL Group yesterday raised its profit forecast for the current financial year ending March 31 to ¥27 billion ($260 million) from ¥23 billion and revealed further details of its previously announced restructuring plan for the three fiscal years from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2008 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7).
US Transportation Security Administration has not improved aviation security greatly since 9/11 and there are still some "gaping holes" that need to be addressed, a pilot union trade group said yesterday. According to the "Aviation Security Report Card" presented by the Coalition of Airline Pilots Assns., airline security still gets failing grades in more than a dozen subject areas, including screening airport and airline employees, screening cargo, biometric credentialing for crewmembers, self-defense training and countering shoulder-mounted missiles.
SideStep inked new marketing partnerships with six airlines--Lufthansa, Air France, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Aer Lingus and Air New Zealand. Under the deals, SideStep will use a "broad suite of marketing programs to drive consumers directly to the carriers' websites to book their travel."
Paul Boghosian, head of Hawaiian Investment Partners Group, which has proposed a bankruptcy reorganization plan for Hawaiian Airlines, was arrested after he allegedly agreed to pay a $500,000 bribe to an FBI agent posing as a hedge fund manager in exchange for a $2.5 million loan, the Associated Press reported. In addition, Boghosian made a number of misrepresentations to the bankruptcy court, among others regarding HIP's ability to provide approximately $300 million in new equity funding and financing in order to carry out the reorganization plan, it was charged.
Goodrich Corp. was selected by LAN Airlines to provide overhaul services for its fleet of CF6-80C2-powered 767s. Under terms of the contract, Goodrich will restore as many as 55 thrust reversers on a schedule predicated on the operational needs of LAN.
Estonian Air will make several changes to its schedule for the summer season, which begins March 27. It will launch two weekly flights between Tallinn and Milan March 30 and three weekly Tallinn-Manchester flights May 10. The carrier will increase service on the Tallinn-Oslo route to daily, and from April will add a third weekly flight on the Tallinn-Dublin route. In addition, beginning April 19, Estonian will boost service on the Tallinn-Moscow route.
Lufthansa Systems said Hapag-Lloyd Flug opted for the Lido Route Manual, a new electronically generated navigation chart system. The contract covers more than 40 Hapag-Lloyd and Hapag Lloyd Express aircraft and has an initial term of five years.
Qatar Airways will boost its service between Doha and Bangkok to twice-daily from March 27. The flights will be operated with A330-200s. Also, the airline on May 2 will begin three weekly nonstop A319 flights between Doha and Tunis, which will continue on to Algiers.
Air Asia's 49%-owned Indonesian affiliate airline PT AWAir was denied authority to fly to Singapore by that nation's CAA. "We are very disappointed by the treatment of CAAS in preventing AWAir from exercising our rights as an Indonesian-based carrier," the airline said in a statement, and it accused CAAS of engaging in delay tactics and using its application to serve Singapore as a "bargaining chip" in recent bilateral negotiations with the Indonesian government.
GE announced that its CF34-10E engine has been awarded FAA type certification, paving the way for aircraft certification and introduction into revenue service with JetBlue Airways on the Embraer 190 in the third quarter.
Continental Airlines will begin twice-daily nonstop service between Bangor and Newark June 9. Continental Express will operate the service using ERJ-145s.
