State-owned airframer Indonesian Aerospace (IAe) is hoping to obtain funding to build the composite Dornier Seastar seaplane. “The problem is there has only ever been a prototype built of the Seastar and no production. But to start production we need to have a new factory. We are trying to find the investment money for the composite parts factory,” says a company source with knowledge of the program. According to the source, IAe is hoping the Indonesian or German government will provide some of the funding.
American Airlines’ pilots union wants to include a 13.5% equity stake in any new labor contract, despite rejecting such an offer in management’s “last, best” proposal. The condition could translate into a six-figure payout to pilots that choose a buyout. American had valued the equity stake at about $1 billion in August.
Maintaining its current fleet and dealing with operational issues while sticking to growth plans are prompting Spirit Airlines to lease three used Airbus A319 aircraft and five new Airbus A320NEOs. Spirit and International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) have signed a letter of intent for the leases, the South Florida-based low-cost carrier disclosed Oct. 31. Spirit already has an order with Airbus for 101 A320 family aircraft—56 of the existing model A320s and 45 A320NEOs—for delivery in 2012 through 2021.
To ensure a smooth production transition from the current A320 to the New Engine Option (NEO), Airbus plans to make parts for the re-engined version at the rate of 44 per month from the start, rather than instituting a gradual build-up. “We have no room for delays and recovery during the cut over from the old aircraft to the new, which is very fast,” says Klaus Rowe, Airbus A320NEO family senior VP.
Lufthansa is evaluating an even deeper restructuring and more capacity cuts, and next year will stop training new pilots as the airline struggles to adapt to a slump in passenger demand. Europe’s largest airline group is not revealing details on how deep the cuts will be and what additional cost-saving targets it plans to reach. But CEO Christoph Franz, during the company's Oct. 31 third-quarter results conference call, said, “We have to think about additional measures. It’s not enough to say we have a great program that works.”
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Co. (SCAC) plans to deliver first Superjet to Indonesian carrier Sky Aviation by year-end, while Laotian carrier Lao Central Airlines will receive its “first aircraft by the end of this year or early 2013 at the latest,” says a SCAC spokeswoman. The deliveries will mark the first commercial operation of the aircraft in the region.
WestJet plans to headquarter its regional feeder operation WestJet Encore at the mainline carrier's Calgary base when it launches the subsidiary in the second half of 2013. The Canadian low-fare operator says it will work with the Calgary Airport Authority to study where to establish a 40,000-sq.-ft maintenance facility and office space for the new Bombardier Q400 operation. A route network is expected to be announced early next year.
The big names in commercial aircraft manufacturing no longer have Southern California addresses, but the area abounds with suppliers. Twice as many aerospace engineers, mechanics, technicians and assemblers work in California as in any other state, and the bulk of them is clustered between Los Angeles and San Diego. Airbus has made headlines with its plans to begin delivering A320s in 2016 from a factory it will build in Mobile, Ala.
St. Croix-based Seaborne Airlines is adding Saab 340Bs to its fleet and intends to put the type into revenue service by the end of the first quarter 2013. The first of the four 340Bs destined for Seabourne is being painted in Seaborne’s new livery and should start flying by January, a spokeswoman says. Current fleet plans call for the aircraft to operate between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Eventually, the Saabs will fly between San Juan and St. Croix and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, the spokeswoman adds.
Grupo Aeromexico has sold an additional 20% of its share of frequent flyer program Premier Loyalty & Marketing (PLM) to Aimia, a Canadian customer loyalty management company. Once the deal receives regulatory approval, expected by year-end, Aimia will own 49% of PLM and Aeromexico 51% of the loyalty company, the companies said Oct. 30.
Estonian Air has fired CEO Tero Taskila with immediate effect and instructed his successor to fundamentally overhaul the airline's strategy. The new CEO, Jan Palmer, was once the top executive at now-bankrupt Cimber Sterling, Skyways and Malmo Aviation. Palmer takes control of an airline that has posted massive losses for the first nine months of the year, a development that also forced Estonian's board of directors to step down.
Virgin Australia expects that buying a majority stake in Tiger Airways Australia and acquiring regional carrier Skywest will give it the critical mass to compete with rival Qantas in new domestic market sectors.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker says the state-owned carrier will be receiving a demonstration of the Gulfstream G650 and that the carrier is interested in the new aircraft for its executive jet division. Earlier this year, Qatar signed an agreement with Bombardier’s fractional jet provider, Flexjet, to provide access to more than 5,000 destinations that can be reached by private jet.
WestJet will begin taking delivery of the first Bombardier Q400s for its proposed regional feeder in June 2013 as the Canadian low-fare operator prepares for the new subsidiary’s launch. The carrier will take one or two of the turboprops in the first month for its WestJet Encore operation “and one or two every month after that, essentially,” a spokesman tells Aviation Week.
Business jet sales are expected to reach $250 billion over the next 10 years as a growing number of customers gravitate toward long-range, large-cabin models. But 2013 is shaping up as another flat year as lingering market sluggishness continues to hold down deliveries of small and mid-sized business jets, says Honeywell Aerospace.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is challenging a new report that recommends diverting funds from general aviation airports to commercial airports. The Brookings Institution’s analysis of international commercial aviation in U.S. metropolitan areas is pushing for an overhaul of federal Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grants that takes changes in travel flow and type into consideration.
Brazil’s domestic airline market saw demand rise in September, mainly on the strength of its smaller airlines. Demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), rose almost 8% year-over-year in September for the industry, according to data from the country’s civil aviation regulator. Avianca Brasil added 56% more capacity to the system and reported a 56% growth in RPKs, the ANAC data show. Azul Linhas Aereas, meanwhile, added 22% more capacity compared with 2011, and reported a 16% growth in demand.
Etihad Airways has ordered another two Airbus A330-200s and converted part of an earlier A320 order into A321s. The airline currently operates 17 A330-200s, six A330-300s and two A330-200Fs from previous orders that also include two more A330s scheduled for delivery. All A330-200s, including the two new orders, are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. Etihad operates 15 A320s and has an outstanding order for 12 more. Seven of these aircraft are now turned into the larger A321s, which are added to a backlog of seven more A321s.
SAS Group is launching another cost-cutting program and plans to sell SEK3 billion ($447 million) in assets as it tries to return to profitability. The airline on Oct. 30 said the board of directors is close to signing off on a SEK3 billion cost-savings program in addition to an asset sale worth a futher SEK3 billion, although details of this sale were not revealed.
Cessna Aircraft next year hopes to bring to market a new Citation Sovereign that incorporates many of the same upgrades found on the Citation Ten, now called the X, along with improved range and performance.
