Air France will have to cut 5,120 jobs by the end of 2013 if the carrier cannot negotiate new labor contracts, CEO Alexandre de Juniac has told the airline’s central works council. The measures are part of the carrier’s Transform 2015 restructuring plan, which intends to reduce net debt by €2 billion ($2.5 billion) and return the company to profitability. Air France also wants to improve its “economic efficiency” by 20% by the end of 2014.
The Star Alliance has added some 50 new destinations to its network after completing the integration of Latin America’s AviancaTaca and Copa Airlines. Avianca and TACA Airlines, which remain separate operating units under their parent holding company, serve more than 100 destinations, while Copa's two branded units add a further 64 destinations. Copa again partners with its close U.S. partner United Airlines, which merged with the Panamanian carrier’s former owner Continental Airlines.
A new aircraft leasing and finance company in Latin America plans to launch operations within 30 days targeting small and mid-size carriers. It says it is willing to take on the higher-risk airlines by acquiring relatively inexpensive older planes and offering non-traditional financing. Mexico City-based SkyLease Holdings, which incorporated in March and already is marketing some aircraft for other owners, expects most customers for SkyLease-acquired aircraft to use finance leases that lead to ownership of the aircraft at the end of the term.
Despite a sluggish start to the year that will hold down deliveries at least through to 2013, Bombardier Aerospace expects the business jet market to accelerate over the next 10 years with the value of unit shipments nearly doubling through 2021 and then tripling in the subsequent decade. Bombardier is forecasting a market for 24,000 business jets valued at $648 billion through 2031. By 2031, business jet manufacturers are expected to be shipping 1,500 units annually, Bombardier says.
The FAA’s NextGen air traffic modernization program cleared another hurdle late June 19, as the House Appropriations Committee approved nearly $1 billion for the program in a spending bill for fiscal 2013. The bill also scraps controversial user fees that would have instituted a $100-per-flight charge for both commercial and business jets and nearly tripled a passenger security fee.
A third attempt by Ryanair to take control of Aer Lingus has been rejected by the target carrier’s board of directors. The rejection of Ryanair’s bid of €1.30 ($1.65) a share not only undervalues Aer Lingus, but coincides with a U.K. regulatory examination of the low-fare airline’s two previous takeover attempts and the effect of its current 29.82% holding in Aer Lingus, the board tells shareholders in a recommendation to reject Ryanair’s bid. Aer Lingus management also points to an improving financial performance and strengthened balance sheet.
The Allied Pilots Union (APA) board is weighing AMR Corp.’s American Airlines “final best offer” and, depending on the outcome of a vote expected June 21, could seek a stay of the Section 1113 process to abrogate the pilots contract. American presented new conditions last week that were met with the cautious approval of the union’s negotiators. The union’s board now is expected to vote on the matter. However, the APA remains “absolutely” committed to the proposed US Airways merger deal, a spokesman for the union tells Aviation Week.
The average and median age of commercial jets being retired each year is dropping to the lowest level in two decades, an Aviation Week worldwide fleet analysis shows. For each year from 1997 through 2008, the average and median age for aircraft being retired ranged from about 28 to 30 years, aside from one dip in median age to 27 years in 2005. The retirement age broke out of that steady range in 2009, dropping to an average of 26.5 and median of 24.8 years, and has stayed at the lower level since then.
Click here to view the pdf Carrier Airport Operations - Dallas/Fort Worth April 2012, Ranked By Flights Carrier Airport Operations - Dallas/Fort Worth April 2012, Ranked By Flights % Arrive
With law enforcement agencies eager to snap up new UAVs, Congress and the FAA are still at the early stages of trying to handle the resulting fears about the new form of surveillance. Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), both in their first term, are sponsoring companion legislation that attempts to lend industry a hand by setting rules for the domestic use of UAVs before they proliferate. The bills would essentially require police to obtain a warrant for surveillance with UAVs as they currently do to wiretap phones.
Nav Canada and Iridium are partnering on a project that will bring satellite-based air traffic surveillance to areas of the globe with no coverage, starting with the crucial North Atlantic routes.
All Nippon Airways is substituting four firm orders for the 787-8 variant for the stretched 787-9 that is due to enter service in 2014. The airline says the -9, which carries about 40 more passengers and adds about 300 nm in range to the -8, will give it “greater flexibility as it expands its international route network.” The order change will now provide the Japanese airline with a fleet of 36 787-8s and 19 787-9s.
Air New Zealand has selected internal candidate Christopher Luxon to take the reins of the airline from current CEO Rob Fyfe by the end of this year. Luxon, currently the head of international operations, was regarded as one of the favorites to be named CEO. The airline’s chairman, John Palmer, says that while the board conducted a global search, its preference was always to select an internal candidate.
Bombardier Aerospace expects turboprops to account for a larger part of the regional aircraft market in the next 20 years. The manufacturer’s latest 20-year forecast, which was released yesterday, assumes the share of turboprop deliveries during the period will rise to 48% from the current 45%, says Mairead Lavery, VP-strategy, business development and structured finance. The forecast does not expect new entrants in the turboprop market, which is currently split between Bombardier and ATR.
Global Aviation Holdings, the parent company of World Airways and North American Airlines currently restructuring under Chapter 11 protection, says it is trying to negotiate a “global arrangement” with International Lease Financing Corp. The deal emerged from talks between the lessor and operator to enter into a new lease on an MD-11 passenger aircraft that Global previously planned to return to the lessor.
