Frontier has reached an agreement to sell two A319s and two A318s to VTB leasing, which will place them with Rossiya Airlines. Frontier had already announced in January that it would be selling four of its aircraft to adjust to a new capacity growth plan. Frontier still plans to take delivery of larger Airbus A320s, meaning its capacity will grow 3%-5% in its 2009 fiscal year. The sale to VTB shows Frontier is “on track to achieve those revised growth numbers,” the airline said. After the sale, Frontier will have 47 A319s and nine A318s.
The flight caps set to take effect at New York Kennedy Airport this week will go a long way toward reducing the delays and congestion that plagued the airport last summer, but they can only be a temporary solution, JetBlue believes.
Boeing has confirmed comments by International Lease Finance Corp. Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy that the 787’s composite center wing box needs redesign, but it is not addressing his larger concern about whether the changes will further delay the program or greatly complicate the chance of producing a larger version to counteract the Airbus A350XWB.
Merrill Lynch, in a new report, has changed its 2008 industry forecast for the eight largest airlines from a net profit of $1.7 billion to a loss of $1.5 billion because of the $100-plus price tag for a barrel of oil. Analyst Michael Linenberg revised his Fiscal Year 2008 jet fuel price forecast to $2.97 a gallon versus the prior $2.56 a gallon. “We are also raising our 2009 and 2010 WTI oil price assumptions from $80 a barrel to $90 a barrel,” he wrote.
Pratt & Whitney is detailing for the first time a multi-phase technology maturation plan that is aimed at keeping the geared turbofan (GTF) competitive with prospective “open rotor” concepts being studied by GE, Snecma and Rolls-Royce.
Even perennially profitable companies like FedEx are not immune to the weakening economy, with the express carrier reporting a diminished profit for the quarter ending Feb. 29. FedEx CEO Fred Smith said the company is “managing costs” while positioning its operations to increase profits again “once conditions improve.” FedEx is concerned about the same economic conditions as the passenger carriers — oil prices, sluggish U.S. growth and the fallout from the credit crisis.
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EasyJet said this week that its full-year earnings could be hurt by rising fuel costs. “It is pretty obvious that if the recent significant rise in the fuel price is maintained, then our second-half profits will be lower than we had previously expected,” CEO Andrew Harrison said without specifying how deep the cuts could be. EasyJet’s most recent full-year guidance called for a 20% increase in pre-tax profits.
February traffic at Macquarie Airports’ four facilities — Sydney, Copenhagen, Brussels and Bristol — was up 16.3% year over year, fueled by a rise in international and domestic traffic. Sydney Airport’s total passenger traffic rose 10.8% in February. Domestic traffic was up 11.4% year over year, while international traffic rose 9.5%. Australian travelers increased 15%, while traffic was also up for Canada by 20%, France 19% and India 15%. Traffic from Japan and Korea fell 9% and 2%, respectively.
A new low-fare airline to be set up by the Government of Dubai, and based in Dubai, will not be part of the Emirates Group, the airline clarified in a statement.
United Thursday confirmed it was retesting the altitude indicating systems on seven Boeing 747-400s that had undergone heavy checks at Korean Air’s overhaul facility in Busan, Korea, after it was discovered that the equipment used to test the systems was out of calibration. In a brief statement, United said it had voluntarily disclosed to FAA that it was retesting the aircraft and that it had found no issues. United spokespeople could not be reached for further comment.
JetBlue founder David Neeleman, born in Sao Paulo to American parents, is submitting plans to Brazil’s civil aviation regulator Anac for a new low-cost, low-fare airline. Anac has already cleared the legal prerequisites, and Neeleman will submit his business plan, together with an operating certificate to be awarded by airline operations regulator Cheta. Because this paperwork will take several months, the startup could not take off until yearend.
European air traffic growth is showing signs of slowing, with Eurocontrol downgrading its 2008 growth forecast to 4.1%, compared with earlier predictions of a 4.4%-4.5% increase. The open-skies agreement may kick up North Atlantic flows by 7% this year and boost overall European air traffic, but Eurocontrol hasn’t yet incorporated this trend into the 2008 forecast. Factors that could curb growth this year include the softening European economy and high oil prices.
The township of Tinicum, Pa., may not impose a privilege fee on airlines flying out of Philadelphia Airport, according to a ruling by the U.S. Transportation Dept. on the matter.
Virgin America says the release of its Form 41 schedules would put it at a competitive disadvantage against its rivals and is asking the U.S. Transportation Dept. to keep such data under wraps until the company becomes a Group III air carrier. A Group III carrier, under DOT regulations, is classified as an airline taking in more than $1 billion in annual operating revenues.
Hundreds of airports and small communities are at risk of losing a significant amount of air service under the U.S. Transportation Dept.’s proposal to change how congested airports levy and use landing fees, the Regional Airline Association said. Using OAG data, RAA identified 100 airports that are at the greatest risk under the proposal and 450 more that are at significant risk of losing air service. (RAA has posted the breakdown at http://www.raa.org/news/2008-Mar_19-At_Risk_Community_Analysis.xls.)
Correction: Air France-KLM Chairman CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta, responding to Alitalia union reluctance to accept the Air France-KLM takeover offer, implied that the unions could “take it or leave it” but did not use the specific words. A story in The DAILY dated March 20 incorrectly added quotation marks to the phrase.
The European Court of First Instance has rejected a bid by Aer Lingus to force competitor Ryanair to sell its 29.4% stake in the Irish flag carrier in the latest round of the battle between the two carriers.
JetBlue on March 19 said it will make Orlando into its seventh “focus city,” and the carrier plans to create a crew base at the airport and consolidate its gates into one terminal. The airline said the higher status of Orlando within its network reflects the new Caribbean flights it has added there recently, with more to come when Bogota service begins later this year. By May 1, JetBlue will serve 18 destinations from Orlando.
All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines have each avoided a 24-hour strikes scheduled for March 19. Both carriers had expected delays and cancellations to their domestic flights if the strikes had gone ahead (DAILY, March 18).
US Airways may be looking beyond the Airbus A340 for an aircraft to fly its Philadelphia-Beijing route, scheduled for launch in 2009. The airline had been watching the tighter-than-expected A340 market for aircraft it could use on the route until it starts taking delivery of its A350s. However, US Airways is “a lot less interested” in the A340s with fuel prices continuing to climb, says President Scott Kirby. He said US Airways has “no comment yet” on what other aircraft it will use until the A350s arrive.
