Air Canada and Air China have reached a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on a new revenue-sharing joint venture across the Pacific, the carriers announced over the weekend. The news was shared during a visit to China by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, prior to a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. Air Canada reported it expects the joint venture to begin in late 2015, though the two carriers still must file with their governments and receive the required approvals. An Air Canada spokesman declined to comment further on the agreement.
The Association of Professional Flight Attendants’ (APFA) membership rejected by a margin of 16 votes the tentative contract agreement struck between union leadership and American Airlines management.
For a complete list of Aviation Week’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.aviationweek.com/events Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Wigwam Resort, Liltchfield Park, Ariz. 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.
For a complete list of Aviation Week’s upcoming events, and to register, visit www.aviationweek.com/events Nov. 19-20—A&D Programs, Wigwam Resort, Liltchfield Park, Ariz. 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.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] . (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 10-12—ACC Annual Conference & Exposition, Fort Myers, Florida, www.aci-na.org/conferences Nov. 11-13—67th Annual International Air Safety Summit (IASS), Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, www.flightsafety.org
Airbus logged just one new commercial passenger aircraft order in October—two A320ceos (current engine option) for Singapore-based BOC Aviation, placed on Oct. 31—which effectively placed BOC among Airbus’s top ten customers. With no additional cancellations or conversions announced for October, Airbus’s net orders for 2014 have now reached 794 aircraft.
A new AirAsia X long-haul, low-cost franchise based in Indonesia is to start operations in late December, flying to Melbourne, Australia, from Denpasar in Bali. The airline, Indonesia AirAsia X (IAAX), is 51% owned by local company PT Kirana Anugerah Perkasa (PTKAP). It will fly five-times-weekly service on the popular tourist route using Airbus A330-300s and starting Dec. 26.
An expanding fleet of Airbus A320s is enabling Jetstar Japan to dramatically boost its winter-flight schedule compared to the same season last year. The low-cost carrier (LCC) will operate 54 daily return flights during the winter period, which began on Oct. 26, a Jetstar Japan spokesman told Aviation Week. During the last winter-scheduling season, the airline offered just 36 daily return flights. So far, the airline only flies domestically.
The sharp decline and expected short-term stability in jet fuel prices have prompted carriers to re-examine the use of less fuel-efficient aircraft to satisfy near-term demand, but the trend is not triggering shifts in long-term fleet planning. While carriers like Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines have long leveraged the used-aircraft market to add capacity while minimizing capital costs, the trend is showing signs of expanding. A 25% drop in jet fuel prices since mid-summer—to about $100 per barrel, a four-year low—may explain why.
Boeing predicts that over the next 20 years, airlines in the Oceania region will order a larger share of smaller-widebody aircraft than the global average.
EasyJet will expand its already extensive network in France next year and lift its network to 191 routes at 19 airports, further cementing its position as the second-largest airline in the country.
Rapidly expanding Ethiopian Airlines is boosting its network to include three new destinations: Doha, Dublin and Los Angeles. The Addis Ababa-based carrier has detailed plans to add a new three-times-weekly Boeing 737 service to Doha from Dec. 2, marking its 10th destination to the Middle East. “The new flights to Doha will offer better connectivity and more convenient mobility between the State of Qatar and the continent of Africa,” Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said.
The Nov. 4 midterm elections in the U.S. did not change the balance of power in the House of Representatives, but with the Senate switching to Republican control, the aviation industry is questioning what that means for the FAA. Senate Republicans may be more receptive to changing rules on fare and ancillary revenue advertising, industry groups say. The current FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act expires at the end of Fiscal 2015.
International Airlines Group (IAG) expects to grow capacity 3-4% annually in the 2016-2020 time frame, but says it has great flexibility in its fleet plan should it wish to accelerate or slow down the rate. The parent of British Airways (BA), Iberia, Iberia Express, and Vueling told investors on Friday that it is preparing to pay dividends for the first time since the group was created from 2015. The dividend will amount to a payout of 25% of after-tax profit, according to CFO Enrique Dupuy, who added, “2015 will be the trigger.”
International Airlines Group (IAG) CEO Willie Walsh said that “on balance,” it is “probably a good thing” that Etihad Airways is investing in Alitalia. “Alitalia was not going to go disappear,” Walsh told investors at the IAG Capital Markets Day on Friday, “there would have been an Italian solution to an Italian problem.”
