Following record orders last year, Airbus is again raising list prices for its product range. The highest increase, 6.1%, comes for the A320NEO family, which already has secured more than 1,250 firm orders. List prices for other aircraft are up an average of 3.9%. The A380-800 is the most expensive at $389.9 million. It is the second year running that Airbus is hiking list prices, reflecting its strong order backlog and scarcity of near-term production slots. EADS earlier noted that aircraft pricing is improving and should bolster revenue in 2012.
The two main shareholders in Spirit Airlines are planning to sell about 11 million shares in the Florida-based carrier less than one year after finalizing an initial public offering (IPO) of 15.6 million shares. No sales price is mentioned in this second offering, although Spirit’s shares have recently traded at about $15 and at times as high as $16.51, a notable premium on the $12 IPO. Trading, however, has occasionally dipped closer to $10.
Mark Hiller has been named CEO of aircraft seat manufacturer Recaro, succeeding Axel Kahsnitz, who will leave the company in April. Recaro says Kahsnitz is stepping down to pursue other professional opportunities. The company’s executive board will be made up of Hiller, who was chief operating officer, and Andreas Lindemann, who was named chief sales officer. Lindemann was CFO, a function that he will retain.
Row 44 , Westlake Village, Calif., promoted John LaValle to CEO from chief operating officer and CFO, succeeding John Guidon, who will become chief technical officer and remain on the board.
You can now register online for Aviation Week events. Go to www.aviationweek.com/conferences or contact: Lydia Janow, 212-904-3225 or 800-240-7645 ext. 5 (U.S. and Canada only) Feb. 1-2—MRO Middle East 2012, Dubai, United Arab Emirates March 7—54th Annual Laureate Awards, Washington March 13-14—Innovation Supply Chain Showcase, Orlando, Fla. April 3-5—MRO Americas 2012, Dallas April 3-5—MRO Military Conference & Exhibition, Dallas Nov. 29-Dec. 1—Certification Together-AeroConseil, Toulouse
The final report on the Nov. 4, 2010, uncontained engine failure suffered by a Qantas Airbus A380 is to be published in the third quarter of 2012, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said in an update to the investigation.
PrivatAir has placed a firm order for five Bombardier CSeries aircraft, but whether the Geneva-based operator will use the aircraft for charter flights or branded operations for other airlines remains unclear. Bombardier says the five firm orders with options for five more are worth $309-$636 million at list prices, depending on whether all the options are exercised. In an announcement that touted the “diversity of customers” for the CSeries, the Canadian airframer said the aircraft would be delivered to PrivatAir in “an all business-class configuration.”
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. is contemplating Chapter 11 to revive its flagging operation and could cut all but two contracts with Delta Air Lines to survive. Sean Menke, the former head of Frontier Airlines employed last year to rescue Pinnacle, in a letter to staff warns that the company’s operations, which consist of Pinnacle Airlines, Colgan Airlines and Mesaba Airlines, are dangerously underperforming and that current labor contracts, especially for the three pilot groups that allow for cross fleet training, are “a financial burden on our organization.”
An air traffic controller’s decision to clear a Cessna 172 and Embraer ERJ-145 for takeoff 16 seconds apart led to the two aircraft coming within 300 ft. of each other laterally and 0 ft. vertically, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) says. The safety board cites an operational error by the tower controller as the probable cause of the June 19, 2011, near-midair collision at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport (GPT) in Mississippi.
Click here to view the pdf Data Watch: Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way, London Heathrow-New York Kennedy Data Watch: Nonstop Passengers Per Day Each Way, London Heathrow-New York Kennedy British Airways
Hawaiian Airlines expects to take delivery of the last of three leased Boeing 717s late next month as it readies for an intra-island expansion that includes the creation of a secondary hub on Maui. Last July, the carrier finalized a multi-million-dollar deal with Boeing Capital Corp. to buy the 15 717s it was leasing from the manufacturer, as well as a second arrangement to lease three more of the single-aisle aircraft.
Cathay Pacific Airways is increasing its commitment to the Airbus A350-900 to 36 aircraft with a decision to take six more of the Rolls-Royce-powered widebodies. The deal for the additional aircraft is worth $1.6 billion at list prices, but the airline says it has received “significant price concessions.” The six aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2016 and 2017. Delivery of the original 30 aircraft ordered in 2010 is scheduled for 2016 through 2019.
All Nippon Airways and Hawaiian Airlines have launched their first passenger code-share arrangement, covering routes within Japan and Hawaii, as well as some transpacific flights between Tokyo and Honolulu. Hawaiian can now place its code on ANA’s daily Boeing 767-300 flight from Tokyo Haneda to Honolulu, and also on Japanese domestic flights that connect to Hawaiian’s own Haneda-Honolulu service. The Japanese flights covered will operate from Haneda to Chitose, Osaka Itami, Osaka Kansai, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Oita, Kagoshima and Okinawa.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ingrid Lee at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Jan. 23-26—World Business Research’s Defense Geospatial Intelligence, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center, London, +44 (207) 368-9465, www.wbresearch.com/dgieurope/ Jan. 24-25—SMI Conferences’ Joint Forces Simulation & Training, Grange City Hotel, London, +44 (207) 827-6000, www.jointforcestraining.com
House and Senate leaders have made an agreement on a labor provision that has been the key stumbling block to passing an FAA reauthorization bill, confirms a spokesman for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The current operating authority for the FAA expires Jan. 31, giving Congress just days either to extend the bill again, for the 23rd time, or come to an agreement on the FAA reauthorization bill.
As ATR finalizes its plans for a new large turboprop, CEO Filippo Bagnato insists the product also would serve to refresh the 50-seat and 70-seat segments that are now the backbone of the company. Bagnato does not expect an immediate decision, but with the technical configuration reasonably set, he believes discussions with ATR shareholders EADS and Finmeccanica will begin this year on whether to move forward with the development. A program launch decision could come at year-end.
Ethiopian Airlines is taking issue with a Lebanese aircraft accident investigation of the 2010 crash of a Boeing 737 flying from Beirut to Addis Ababa. Flight ET409 (ET-ANB) crashed four minutes after takeoff from Rafic Hariri Airport on Jan. 25, 2010, killing all 82 passengers and eight crew members on board. The report suggests the pilot became disoriented, leading to the crash.
