U.K. business-class only airline Silverjet said yesterday it will benefit from the demise of its rival Eos. “When customers decided to switch away from American, Continental, BA or Virgin, they were looking at Eos and us. Now it’s only us and that can only benefit the company,” Silverjet CEO Lawrence Hunt said in an interview.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. expects its first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) will miss analyst estimates by 10 cents, as the company anticipates the negative effects of operating losses at Colgan and performance slips at Pinnacle. The company said in an 8K filing that it anticipates reporting a fully diluted EPS of about $0.12-$0.15 for the first quarter. Analysts forecast EPS of $0.22-$0.25.
In its first out-the-door success, Boeing has wheeled its composite 787 static test article about 1,000 feet away from the final assembly line in Everett, Wash., to the test rig; tests on the full-scale airplane will begin this summer. The move makes way for the third flight test airplane to join the final assembly line. Major assemblies are to be loaded into the first assembly position early this week. The other three positions on the line are occupied by the fatique test article — the next expected to be moved out — and the first two flight test airplanes.
In an effort to fill gaps around the world where it needs coverage, SkyTeam members are looking to India, South America and Southeast Asia for new partners, which will be discussed at its annual meeting next month, Bang Sun-Oh, VP-international affairs and alliance team, tells The DAILY. The alliance, now eight years old, also wants to pursue more co-location at airports worldwide.
Lufthansa said yesterday it will base six Embraer 195s at Milan Malpensa Airport. The aircraft will be operated by its fully owned Italian subsidiary Air Dolomiti and will be deployed on European routes. The decision comes as Alitalia is reducing its presence at Malpensa. Lufthansa is rumored to be considering basing long-haul aircraft at Malpensa, but recently stated that it currently did not have any such plans.
Air Jamaica is requesting changes to its foreign carrier permit that will reflect authority available under the 2002 U.S.-Jamaica open-skies agreement; its existing authority, last amended in 1991, doesn’t cover the additional rights. The amended authority, among others, will enable Air Jamaica to serve the U.S. from points behind Jamaica and offer service to intermediate U.S. points and beyond.
Ryanair said Monday it is increasing its checked baggage and airport check-in charges May 5 and will keep increasing its baggage fee until half of its passengers check in online. The airline said its passengers currently use Web check-in 40% of the time.
Lebanon’s national airline, Middle East Airlines (MEA), expects to launch its fleet growth and renewal plan in June when the first of 10 new Airbus aircraft — a mix of A320s and A330s — will start entering service. The deliveries, which will stretch out over two years will grow the fleet from nine aircraft now in service to 16, with three leased aircraft being returned. MEA is introducing one aircraft this year, with six to follow next year and three in 2010.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (GAP) CEO Jorge Sales believes Mexico’s domestic airlines are getting closer to consolidation, as the one-two punch of high oil prices and increased competition is wearing down some operators. Sales pointed to Aviacsa and Aerocalifornia, both of which suspended service on several routes in the first quarter of 2008. Sales attributed that news to peaking oil prices and increased competition on popular routes with LCCs and legacy carriers, and said he sees the consolidation push happening this year.
U.K.-based Thomas Cook is asking the U.S. Transportation Dept. for an amended foreign carrier permit that would reflect the authority available under the EU-U.S. open-skies deal. The carrier, which offers charter service between the U.S. and the U.K., says it wants the expanded authority “to cover scheduled air services in addition to charter operations” [DOT-OST-2008-0148].
Mexican airport operator Grupo Aeroportuario del Sur (ASUR) is monitoring the effects of fuel on the country’s carriers, and CFO Adolfo Castro is particularly concerned about Aviacsa.
Aeromexico on May 29 will inaugurate its Mexico City-Shanghai route. The Boeing 777 service will be offered twice weekly and will stop over in Tijuana. Aeromexico recently started Mexico City-Tokyo flights that also stop over in Tijuana and are operated with the same equipment.
Continental executives now say they won’t consider a merger with another airline, less than two weeks after hinting strongly they were investigating such a link-up.
The Transportation Security Administration and Continental Airlines are expanding a pilot program that allows travelers to receive their boarding passes electronically on their cell phones or personal digital assistants. The electronic passes will be scanned by TSA security officers at the airport checkpoint, eliminating the need for a paper boarding pass, Reagan Washington National, Newark-Liberty and Boston Logan airports will join the program in coming weeks, the TSA says. The paperless boarding pass program started in Houston late last year (DAILY, Dec. 5).
Any supplemental spending bill or stimulus package passed by Congress should include increased funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), according to the industry’s two representative organizations.
Goldman Sachs analyst Christopher Cuomo is maintaining a cautious view of the airline industry despite the announcement of a proposed merger between Delta and Northwest, while debt watcher Fitch shifts Delta’s rating outlook from stable to negative.
Jose Maria Cordova International Airport (JMCA) serving Medellin, Colombia’s second-largest city, is getting ready to handle two of Latin America’s leading airlines, Chile-based LAN and Grupo TACA, headquartered in El Salvador.
Lufthansa will take majority ownership of its British affiliate BMI, according to a statement made by CFO Stephan Gemkow. “We are committed to exercising this option,” Gemkow said on Friday during a conference call with reporters. There are no ongoing discussions with BMI’s current majority owner, Michael Bishop, but Gemkow does not consider them to be necessary.
UPS noted the U.S. economy is slowing more quickly than it expected, although the company still managed to record first-quarter net profit growth. Total consolidated volume of 968 million packages was essentially unchanged from the same period a year ago. Net profit rose to $906 million, compared with $843 million a year earlier. Operating profit was $1.5 billion, up from $1.4 billion.
Northwest calculates that its DC-9s are 17% less fuel-efficient than its Airbus A319s, which have almost the same number of seats. Northwest plans to park 10 more DC-9s by the end of this year, leaving it with a fleet of 61 by yearend. The DC-9s burn about 6.93 gallons per seat per hour, versus 5.73 for the A319. According to Oliver Wyman analysis, United’s 737-500s burn 6.6 gallons per seat hour, compared to 5.39 gallons for its A320s. Delta’s MD-80s burn use 6.25 gallons versus 5.25 for its 737-800s.
FAA is exceeding its performance target for the most serious categories of controller errors for the fiscal year-to-date. Agency data show there have been 206 category A and B operational errors from Oct. 1 to April 24, compared with the performance limit of 179. The agency is still below its runway incursion performance limit, however.
