Hedge Your Exposure To Fluctuating Airfares Introducing the Aero 100 Airfare Benchmark Index Designed for anyone with risk on the future level of airfares – for example Airlines, Banks/Credit Card Companies, Corporate Travel Managers, etc. The Aero 100 Airfare Benchmark Index tracks daily airfares within the domestic airline market.
Privately owned Thai carrier Bangkok Airways is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the first half of 2013 to raise capital for new aircraft and a maintenance hangar. “The main objective of the IPO is to finance medium-term expansion programs to capture future growth opportunities,” a Bangkok Airways spokesperson tells Aviation Week, adding that some IPO proceeds will be assigned to new aircraft, construction of a new hangar at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, network expansion and improvements to the airline’s information technology system.
Pratt & Whitney (P&W), a unit of United Technologies Corp. (UTC), recorded higher engine sales in the second quarter but overall profits fell as airlines cut purchases of spare parts. P&W’s operating profits fell 1% from the same quarter in 2011 to $427 million despite strong sales of the company’s geared turbofan engine (GTF), UTC CEO Louis Chenevert told analysts July 26 during a second-quarter earnings call.
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs and Statistics, 12 Months Ended December 2011, Jet Aircraft Pages 3 and 4 of 10 737-300 Manufacturer: Boeing
The Senate Commerce Committee on July 31 is expected to mark up a bill prohibiting U.S. airlines from participating in the EU’s emissions trading system. The bill, introduced late last year by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and co-sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), would authorize the U.S. Transportation Department to prevent U.S. carriers from paying the EU for carbon dioxide emissions. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar bill last year.
By the end of this decade, the average retirement age for widebody aircraft will fall to its lowest average age since 1993, according to Aviation Week’s Commercial Aviation MRO Forecast. The global forecast is based on historical trends of retirement age and projected maintenance requirements, on the expectation that an airline will not want to incur large costs for maintenance when it plans to retire an aircraft within a couple of years.
Click here to view the pdf Top Carriers: Melbourne - Sydney, July 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Top Carriers: Melbourne - Sydney, July 15-21, 2012, Ranked By Scheduled Seats Daily Each Way Depts. Share ASKs (000) Share Seats /Dept.
Boeing 787-9 launch customer Air New Zealand plans to configure its initial deliveries with about 300 seats, representing a relatively large proportion of economy passengers, says an airline executive.
Alaska Airlines is adamant that it will remain a standalone airline, despite rumors that AMR Corp. CEO Thomas Horton has hinted at a possible merger. “As a publicly traded company, we don’t comment on specific merger or acquisition proposals involving Alaska Air Group,” says Brandon Pedersen, Alaska Air Group CFO. “However, we have said for many years that our preference is to remain a strong, vibrant, independent company.”
The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) is reaching into the airline industry for a successor to longtime President James Coyne, announcing that Thomas Hendricks will take the helm, beginning Sept. 1. Hendricks most recently was senior VP-safety security and operations for Airlines for America (A4A), responsible for technical and operational functions, as well as advocacy and policy positions on flight operations, safety, engineering, air traffic management and security.
Boeing expects that a bulging backlog of about 4,000 airplanes may prompt an order slowdown next year as airlines wait for the company’s factories to catch up, but Chairman Jim McNerney does not think the company has reached a peak in the current ordering cycle.
Daher-Socata will not have a new twin-engine aircraft in its portfolio in the near future, company executives say. They note that the company has decided against moving forward with the Grob G180 SPn aircraft, and that announcements on a new platform may still be 18 months away.
Rosemarie Andolino, Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner and head of city’s O’Hare International and Midway International airports, has joined the growing chorus of industry leaders seeking a national aviation policy to revive the U.S.’s aging infrastructure. Speaking to the Aeroclub of Washington July 25, Andolino called for an industry-wide campaign to develop new financing and regulatory standards that would “find some common ground” for all stakeholders, and not just airlines and airports.
Chinese low-cost carrier Spring is firming plans to launch a joint-venture airline in Japan under a strategy that incrementally targets international expansion. A formal announcement is expected in September, a Spring executive tells Aviation Week on the sidelines of the Aviation Outlook Australia Pacific conference in Sydney. All local partners in the joint venture are confirmed, although none are Japanese airlines, the executive says.
United Airlines plans to launch a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) pre-screening program at 24 airports by year-end, a senior executive tells Aviation Week. This expansion more than doubles the airline’s current use of the TSA PreCheck initiative, which just this week was implemented at designated United security checkpoints at Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. The airline now uses the pre-screening program at 10 airports, including three of its hubs—Chicago O’Hare, Houston and Los Angeles.
By Joseph Rubin, President, Interactive Travel Services Association The International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) Douglas Lavin has treated readers of Aviation Daily to an audacious exercise in sophistry. “Imagine if the federal government published a regulation to require Apple to sell its entire product line through third-party retailers,” he writes (“It’s Not Really About the Passenger,” Departures, July 18).
Click here to view the pdf Aircraft Operating Costs and Statistics, 12 Months Ended December 2011, Jet Aircraft Pages 1 and 2 of 10 737-500 Manufacturer: Boeing
Hawaiian Airlines is proving that its relatively rapid capacity growth is continuing to be sustained by strong demand, even in its newest long-haul markets. CEO Mark Dunkerley admits that financial analysts have been divided over whether the carrier’s new Honolulu-New York route was a good idea. But the early signs are encouraging, he says, with forward bookings for the route ahead of those for its other U.S. domestic services. These flights are also ahead of internal goals set by the carrier, says Dunkerley.
Delta Air Lines has a “clear path” to reducing its 50-seat regional jet operations to 125 aircraft or fewer within the next few years, CEO Richard Anderson said July 25 in a conference call on second-quarter earnings, but he declined to specify how the carrier plans to get there. “I think you just have to stay tuned, but it’s going to happen,” Anderson declared.
