Martinair signed a three-year cooperation agreement with Thomas Cook Belgium to provide lift for long-haul flights from Brussels to Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Kenya and Zanzibar. Thomas Cook Belgium, a subsidiary of German travel group Thomas Cook AG, in February dropped its collaboration with BelgiumExcel as the troubled Excel Aviation Group neared collapse ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8). The contract starts May 1 and will see a 15% increase in Martinair's long-haul capacity.
Swiss International Air Lines on Friday announced that it will need to slash an additional 800-1,000 jobs by mid-2006 as it reported a net loss of CHF140 million ($121.5 million) for 2004, narrowed from CHF687 million in 2003. The layoffs are necessary in order to shed another CHF300 million in annual costs by 2007. Swiss warned that if they are not in place "swiftly," it will be unable to post a positive result for 2005.
Germanwings plans to set up its third base at Berlin Schoenefeld and initially will base two aircraft at the airport. It will launch direct service from Berlin to Ankara, Istanbul, Moscow, Split, Stockholm and Zagreb June 5.
Hawaiian Airlines, which has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for two years, Friday received bankruptcy court approval for its plan of reorganization, which was developed jointly by its creditors committee and investor group Ranch Capital. The airline said after its two remaining open labor contracts with its pilots and flight attendant unions are ratified and a formal order is entered by the court, it should emerge from Chapter 11 in early April.
Rockwell Collins reported that a Lufthansa CityLine CRJ200 last week performed its first low-visibility takeoff using the Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics Head-up Guidance System at Milan Malpensa.
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.
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.
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.
