BAE Systems has agreed to sell its Flight Systems business to Calspan Corp. in a deal worth $62.5 million, plus possible future payments based on revenues over the next five years.
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The planned merger agreement between low-fare airlines TUIfly and Germanwings is taking longer than initially expected, and the deal may not yet be waved through at the next meetings of TUI’s and Lufthansa’s supervisory boards scheduled later this month, sources close to the matter say. The sources say Lufthansa’s negotiating team has been negatively surprised by a look at TUIfly’s financial situation, which was described as worse than expected.
German air travel was severely disrupted yesterday as public services union Verdi called for strikes at practically all major airports (DAILY, March 5). Lufthansa was forced to cancel more than 300 flights, as baggage handlers and security staff walked off the job. The airline recommended travelers to use trains on domestic routes. Disruptions were expected to continue throughout the day. Verdi is demanding an 8% wage increase for its members.
The two newest players in the U.S.-Colombia market will be low-cost carriers Spirit and JetBlue, which would be able to launch their services to the South American country in April, per a tentative order from the U.S. Transportation Dept. that also saw Delta and Continental winning additional frequencies to boost their current offering in the market.
China’s ARJ21 regional jet will pick up foreign orders this year, says chief designer Wu Guanghui, predicting the market breakthrough that the project needs to establish itself as a serious competitor to Embraer and Bombardier. Manufacturer Avic 1 says it has 171 orders so far, but that figure may include options on 50 of the aircraft. All orders have been taken from Chinese buyers, except for two ARJ21s for Lao Airlines. Avic 1 has described the initial model of the aircraft, the ARJ21-700, as tailored for the domestic market.
Air travel could be severely disrupted in Germany today, as public services union Verdi has called for strikes at airports. Verdi members are expected to stage work stoppages at the country’s two biggest airports in Frankfurt and Munich, among others. Early indications are that significant delays and cancellations have to be expected, particularly in the morning.
Singapore Airlines is converting five Airbus A340-500 long-range aircraft into an all-business class configuration for daily flights between Singapore and New York and Singapore and Los Angeles, becoming the first to operate an all-business class service on the transpacific route. The launch will be phased gradually from mid-May on the Singapore-New York route, with daily services in the new all-business-class to New York by the end of June and Los Angeles by late September.
Representatives from two regional airlines offered airports at the American Association of Airport Executives’ National Air Service conference a peek inside their process for choosing new cities. American Eagle looks at a route’s profitability, the airport’s facility and location, along with internal considerations, said Ralph Severson, senior analyst of planning. For ExpressJet, timing might be the answer on whether an airport gets service, said Trish Winebrenner, the airline’s VP-marketing.
German air traffic control provider DFS no longer believes it can be privatized before 2010. DFS CEO Dieter Kaden said at a news conference yesterday that the step may no longer be possible ahead of Germany’s general elections in 2009. Privatization of DFS should have been completed this year at the latest, but was deferred because of constitutional concerns — Federal President Horst Köhler refused to sign the privatization bill, demanding the constitution would have to be changed to allow private firms to take over state tasks.
Sharjah-based budget Air Arabia on March 31 will add its 11th destination in India and 39th globally to its network when it launches four weekly flights to New Delhi. The service will grow into a daily offering in May. Air Arabia runs the largest destination network in India of any Middle East-based carrier.
Turkish Airlines will be the first GE Aviation customer to recycle scrap high-pressure turbine blades to reclaim the rhenium they contain. Rhenium is a costly element of the nickel superalloy in the HPTs. The work will be done at the airline’s Turkish Technic subsidiary, an ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard Certificate holder.
Italian right-wing leader Silvio Berlusconi believes Alitalia should stay in Italian hands and hinted that the next government should bail out the unprofitable Italian flag carrier.
The Chinese authorities are insisting that the market will determine control of China Eastern Airlines, offering the massively indebted Shanghai carrier little hope of official help as it struggles to avoid the clutches of larger rival Air China.
American plans to launch a new international route between Fort Lauderdale and Kingston, Jamaica, starting June 1 with Boeing 737-800s in a two-class configuration. The new flight, still subject to government approval, would complement AA Jamaica service from Miami, New York Kennedy and Dallas/Fort Worth.
House Republican leadership yesterday called on New Jersey Democratic Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez to lift their hold on FAA Acting Administrator Robert Sturgell’s nomination.
Former airline executive Dave Pelter launched a new online fare searching site yesterday that helps airlines with an increasingly difficult task — differentiating themselves from the competition.
Demand for medium-sized freighters may mean Boeing’s 767 production line in Everett, Wash., isn’t likely to fade away soon despite the company’s loss of the KC-45 U.S. Air Force tanker contract to Northrop/EADS. “We haven’t made a decision yet to rescind the offerability of our current models,” says a Boeing official. “All the planes we’re making now are still offerable.” The company still offers the 767-300ER/400ER/300F, although with just 38 total orders, the 767-400ER was not a big seller.
SkyWest yesterday tapped three of its long-time employees to move to director-level positions. Casey Madsen, who has been with the company since 2004, was appointed director-employee relations, while Christopher Brown director-flight operations and Robin Wall was named director-training. Wall has been with SkyWest for 26 years, most recently as manager-CRJ flight standards. Brown joined the airline in 2004 as a pilot and most recently was manager-operations.
ICAO reiterated its stance that emissions trading may be a viable way to reduce aviation’s carbon footprint, but only if any system is arrived at by consensus, the president of the U.N body said in Montreal at the first meeting of the Group on International Aviation and Climate Change (GIACC).
The freight business of Asiana Airlines will develop further as a result of an equity link with the country’s largest logistics company, Korea Express. Asiana’s parent, Kumho Asiana Group, is leading a group of companies that has contracted to buy 60% of Korea Express. When the consortium was chosen as preferred bidder last month, Kumho Asiana said that Korea Express and Asiana would jointly offer air express services and that the combined logistics business would enter foreign markets.
