While Lion Air’s leasing unit may eventually be an active player in the third-party leasing market, for now it will concentrate on financing aircraft for and channeling them to the parent carrier. Indonesia’s Lion is one of many low-cost carriers (LCCs) that have set up separate leasing entities. Its unit, Transportation Partners, was set up in 2011 and is based in the financial hub of Singapore.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) posted a hefty net loss in what could be its last-detailed quarterly-earnings report for some years, highlighting challenges facing the government as it prepares to delist the carrier’s shares. MAS lost RM576.1 million ($167.7 million) for the three months ended September 30, up from a deficit of RM375.4 million in the same period last year. According to MAS, although “declining fuel prices have helped stem losses in our quarterly result, Malaysia Airlines continues to struggle despite efforts to reduce the financial bleeding.”
Irish budget carrier Ryanair has finalized its order for 100 737 MAX 200s and 100 options, confirming its status as launch customer for the high-capacity variant.
Low-cost carrier (LCC) Jetstar Japan is preparing to launch international services early next year thanks to a new capital injection by joint owners Japan Airlines (JAL) and Qantas. The Tokyo-based LCC has concentrated on domestic routes since it launched in 2012, but its owners see international expansion as key to reaching profitability. JAL’s rival carrier, All Nippon Airways (ANA), has launched two LCCs to serve international destinations: Peach and Vanilla.
A month after the sudden departure of CEO Camiel Eurlings, KLM has put an immediate freeze on cabin crew jobs and plans to lower operating costs by €700 million ($870 million) over the next five years to increase competitiveness, abate falling yields and earn decent returns to support the necessary investments. Eurlings was asked to step down as a result of the airline’s disappointing financial performance, and was replaced by Chief Operating Officer Pieter Elbers (Aviation DAILY, Oct. 17).
Lufthansa’s board of directors is expected to emerge from a Wednesday board meeting having signed off on crucial management decisions that are likely to change the airline’s long-term structure.
FAA Nextgen chief Ed Bolton says the agency has a goal of April 2015 for developing a “working-level understanding” of what it wants the National Airspace System (NAS) to look like in the 2030 timeframe “so it can be foundational to the work we’re doing to the build a 2017 budget.”
Allegiant Air will hire 182 pilots this year—six more than it added in the previous five years combined—and is confident that it will have enough pilots to fly the schedule it wants by March.
The U.S. Transportation Department’s (DOT) Office of Inspector General says the FAA has not achieved “large-scale efficiencies, productivity enhancement and cost savings” made possible by reform measures approved by Congress over the past two decades.
BRUSSELS—Aiming to fend off European regulatory attempts that would require airlines to create repatriation funds, International Air Transport Association (IATA) members have agreed on a voluntary arrangement to help passengers affected by airline bankruptcy. Under the new agreement, IATA members flying to, from and within the European Union (EU) will offer so-called rescue fares for the repatriation of passengers unable to return home due to an airline ceasing operations as a result of financial failure.
A working group (WG) of aviation safety and flight operations experts has delivered a comprehensive educational tool and training aid designed to help pilots more effectively monitor the most critical phases of flight.
Due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the U.S., the next issue of Aviation Daily will be dated Dec. 2. For continuing coverage, please visit awin.aviationweek.com.
Qantas says it will cut some Bombardier Q300s and reorganize the rest of its turboprop fleet as part of a significant overhaul of its regional operation. The carrier says it will phase out four Q300s, thereby leaving nine of this type in the QantasLink fleet. Its other turboprops consist of 31 Bombardier Q400s and three Q200s. QantasLink has 18 Boeing 717s in its jet fleet, along with 12 Fokker 100s operated by the Network Aviation subsidiary.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . Dec. 4-5 —ACI-NA 2014 International Aviation Issues Seminar, Washington, DC, http://www.aci-na.org/event/3222 Dec. 8-10—MEBA, Middle East Business Aviation, Dubai World Central, Dubai, UAE, www.meba.aero
For a complete list of Aviation Week’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.aviationweek.com/events Jan 13-14, 2015—MRO Latin America, Buenos Aires, Argentina Feb. 2-3, 2015—MRO Middle East, Dubai World Trade Center, Dubai, UAE Mar. 5, 2015—Laureate Awards, Washington, D.C.
FAA is now allowing three parallel “optimized profile descents” into the three major airports that serve the Washington, D.C. area, initiating an airspace modification the agency said should save airlines 2.5 million gal. of fuel per year.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) may not restrict Stage 3 aircraft from departing to the east, or over the city, during overnight hours, FAA ruled. The vast majority of LAX departures depart over the ocean, but occasionally pilots of heavy aircraft—mostly bound for Asia—ask instead to depart to the east. Nearby residents have complained, and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) sought FAA’s permission in 2013 to ban over-city departures between midnight and 6:30 a.m.
Air Greenland is rolling out multiple safety upgrades for its crews following a runway excursion at Ilulissat, Greenland, which destroyed a Dash 8-200 this past January.
While troubled Japanese niche carrier Skymark Airlines and the much larger Japan Airlines have started cooperation discussions, a deal appears far from certain. Skymark revealed that it has been talking with JAL about code sharing on certain domestic routes. However, JAL has downplayed the negotiations. “JAL has received a request from Skymark regarding a possible business cooperation,” a spokesman says. “At present, there have been no decisions made, and talks have been limited.”
FAA, pledging to reduce air traffic control outage-contingency response times from “days to hours,” created a three-phase plan that includes making better use of current options and leveraging NextGen capabilities for more rapid reactions.
The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) filed for mediation with the National Mediation Board (NMB), after more than two years of contract negotiations with the carrier. At issue are the “airline’s flat fleet growth, stagnant career advancement and compensation,” the union says. Filing for mediation is “certainly not a typical step in the pilot and management relationship at Southwest Airlines,” SWAPA President Mark Richardson said. “But times have certainly changed.”
ABU DHABI—TAP Portugal’s privatization is no longer a strategic goal for Avianca, says its chairman, who doubts whether the Portuguese government truly wants to sell off its flag carrier.
The new bilateral air services agreement between the U.S and Mexico, initialed last week with little fanfare, opens up passenger and cargo markets between the two countries but stops short of a full open skies agreement.
