JetBlue is “considering a range of strategic alternatives” for its LiveTV subsidiary and has hired a financial adviser to help it decide what to do, JetBlue CEO Dave Barger says, appearing to leave the door open for a possible sale. But Barger says it could be “a few quarters” before JetBlue makes any decisions. Also on the LiveTV front, CFO Ed Barnes does not rule out the possibility that the airline could one day charge for basic LiveTV access.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Aeroflot to resume talks for the acquisition of the Italian state’s stake in Alitalia, after his visit last week to the holiday home of Italy’s incoming prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, in Sardinia. Aeroflot sources confirmed April 22 that the Russian company is “in the process of re-establishing contacts with the Italian party.” Aeroflot had dropped out of the bidding in June 2007 on the grounds that it did not gain access to sufficient information on the Italian company (DAILY, June 28).
U.K. competition authorities see links between capacity shortages, poor customer service and other problems in the BAA’s ownership of seven airports in the country, but a preliminary finding on what to do will have to wait until August, when regulators could force BAA to sell off some assets.
Europe’s airport passenger screening industry needs to adjust to meet the evolving requirements and effectively respond to customer demands in this concentrated marketplace, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan. The report, titled “Airport Passenger Screening Market in Europe,” examines market sectors, including airport passengers’ screening for hand baggage and body screening, security millimeter-wave and traditional systems, explosives detectors, drug detectors and metal detectors.
JetBlue is responding to the new fuel price environment by reducing its year-over-year capacity by 2.8% in the fourth quarter for the first negative growth period in the airline’s history, JetBlue’s leaders said yesterday as the carrier reported an $8 million loss for the first quarter. CEO Dave Barger also said the airline might sell more aircraft in 2009 and 2010 if the right opportunities become available; JetBlue already entered agreements to sell nine used Airbus A320s this year.
Oneworld members American and Qantas, looking to capitalize on the recently signed U.S.-Australia open-skies agreement (DAILY, Feb. 19), are seeking to upgrade their current code-share relationship.
Gulf Air, Bahrain’s national airline, will introduce a daily flight from Manama to Hyderabad, India, on July 1. The carrier will use an Airbus A330-200 in a two-class configuration on the route. Gulf Air says the new service is part of its growth and turn-around strategy. Separately, Qatar Airways said it will start daily Airbus A320 flights from Doha to Kozhikode (Calicut) on June 15. Kozhikode is the airline’s third destination in the Indian state of Kerala in addition to Ochin and Trivandrum.
AirTran is suspending its growth plans entirely beginning in September and lasting at least through 2009, the airline’s executives said yesterday, citing their desire to move more aggressively than most other carriers in response to dramatically higher fuel costs.
The U.S. Homeland Security Dept. yesterday proposed a rule that would require all non-U.S. citizens leaving the country to submit digital fingerprints when leaving the country by air or sea, and the airline industry is up in arms about the proposal.
Continued rising fuel prices and flight cancellations caused by baggage problems at the new London Heathrow Terminal 5 have caused debt watcher Standard & Poor’s to affirm its BBB- long-term corporate credit rating on British Airways and drop its outlook from stable to negative.
A declaration on climate change leading to carbon neutral growth and a sustainable industry was signed by representatives from the commercial aviation industry at the Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva.
Eos said it has reached an agreed to terms with a current investor to provide the premium-class-only airline with an additional $50 million in capital under a transaction scheduled to close May 1, and is looking to become profitable next year.
Chile’s LAN Airlines is trying to avoid raising airfares in the face of high fuel prices and U.S. economic troubles, but Air Comet Chile is going ahead with an increase, a sign the situation may have reached a tipping point where airfares can no longer go untouched. LAN CEO Enrique Cueto told El Mercurio that even at over $100 a barrel, some airliners don’t believe airfares will continue to rise. In LAN’s case, savings strategies being implemented should avoid further fare increases.
Weakness in the airline sector may present Singapore’s Tiger Airways with a chance to buy another airline, says CEO Tony Davis. It is also talking to Airbus about getting earlier delivery of its Airbus A320s, which has become a possibility with the failure of other airlines. The ambitious budget carrier says that under current plans it will have 72 A320s in service by 2016, up from 12 now.
The U.S. Homeland Security Dept. is today expected to unveil its proposed rule for the US-EXIT program. The draft rule will likely contain a provision making airlines fingerprint overseas passengers as they leave the country — a requirement airlines are expected to strongly oppose.
Overall capacity cuts will determine the future of airline hubs as the industry continues to grapple with skyrocketing fuel costs, according to industry analysts. Delta and Northwest said that no hubs would be closed under their proposed merger, and William Swelbar, a research engineer at MIT and author of Swelblog, said he expects the partners to keep their hub system intact. “But until they put their networks together, they will not know what they have,” he said. “Capacity is an industry issue, not just a Delta-Northwest issue.”
Lufthansa is introducing an all-business-class service from Frankfurt to Pune, India, moving its first service of the kind on Asian routes. The airline will deploy an Airbus A319 in a 48-seat lay-out to the Indian city, which is situated 200 kilometers southeast of Mumbai. Pune is a centre for the IT, chemical and automotive industries, also, several universities are located in the area. The flight will be operated by Swiss business aviation specialist PrivateAir and will be flown six times weekly.
Grupo TACA’s pioneering nonstop Guatemala City-Lima service, slated to start on July 1, will cut a big chunk of flying time and bring northern Central America and central South America much closer for business and leisure travelers. Initially the route will be operated three times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, using Airbus A321 aircraft.
Aloha Airlines and its pilots union are fighting each other over the cargo service the bankrupt airline is continuing to operate — and trying to sell, with a court hearing on that proposed sale scheduled for Thursday.
Lufthansa Technik (LHT) and Qantas announced an agreement April 21 under which LHT will overhaul the CF6 and CFM56 engines that power the Australian carrier’s Boeing 737, 767 and 747, and Airbus A330 fleets, and will acquire a 50% stake in Qantas subsidiary Jet Turbine Services (JTS), which becomes a joint venture.
TAP Portugal decided to move to the Star Alliance common IT platform. The airline will transfer its inventory, reservation, sales and check-in to CITP in 2010, Star Alliance said yesterday. The platform was launched in 2005 by Lufthansa and United and has meanwhile been joined by Austrian, Adria and Croatia.
