AirTran's plan to adjust capacity in 2007 and 2008 wasn't a snap decision, the carrier's CFO said, but a long-term choice based on demand projections. Senior VP and CFO Stan Gadek told The DAILY AirTran opted to change its capacity projections to optimize margins. He noted that "the fact of the matter is" capacity is coming back into the East Coast, pointing to increases by Delta and US Airways.
Airbus recorded 22 aircraft orders in August but still trails Boeing in year-to-date orders. While Airbus has 222 orders through Aug. 31, Boeing has logged 548 net orders through Sept. 5. Airbus leads in deliveries, however, with 283 versus Boeing's 258. The A320 dominates Airbus orders this year with 99, followed by the A319 with 51 and the A321 with 32. Boeing has 421 net orders for the 737 and 86 for the 787.
Colombian domestic startup AerOasis plans to launch operations from its Bogota base in November. The airline, a partnership of five Colombian engineering and technological firms, will operate with a fleet of five leased Boeing 737-300s on trunk routes linking Bogota, Medellin, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Barranquilla, Cali, Pereira and Bucaramanga.
Hong Kong-based Dragonair will cease operating its twice-daily flights to Bangkok as of Sept. 27. Dragonair CEO Kenny Tang said the route, which is highly competitive and congested, has not been performing up to expectations for a while. The route is operated by 10 airlines that offer a total of 23 flights a day. Dragonair launched flights to Bangkok in November 2003.
Mexicana this week signed a new agreement with the union representing its ground workers, moving the carrier one step closer to an order for as many as 40 Airbus aircraft. The new agreement will help reduce labor costs by about 25% and give the airline more flexibility as to where it can assign employees to work. "Now they can perform various different disciplines within the airline," a spokesman said. The agreement allows Mexicana ground crews to provide services to third-party airlines.
Northwest by the end of the month plans to recall all 1,131 flight attendants on voluntary and involuntary furlough due to a significant number of retirements and resignations.
Virgin Atlantic in October will begin carrying Singapore Airlines' code on flights the U.K. carrier operates between London and Los Angeles and San Francisco, pending regulatory approval from the U.S. Transportation Dept. The carriers already code share on Virgin's flights to Miami, Boston and Washington but need to amend the code-share authority to include Los Angeles and San Francisco.
BMI appears on track to avoid a strike by pilots, who last month authorized the move over unhappiness with action taken by the management of the U.K.'s second-largest carrier. The dispute arose over an imposed pay-increase and concern on the side of pilots about how they were being treated. Under the threat of a strike, the airline's management late last month agreed to return to the negotiating table to address some of those issues. Those talks appear to be bearing fruit.
SR Technics gave up plans for an initial public offering and instead is being bought by a consortium based in the United Arab Emirates. MRO Chairman Frank Turner noted that when SR Technics declared plans in May to pursue an IPO before the yearend, the company also explored opportunities in the strategic investment community. Conversations with various potential investors ensued, and about two weeks ago, SR Technics opted not to issue an IPO but to broker a deal with Mubadala Development, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) and Istithmar.
U.S. and Canada missed their Sept. 1 target implementation date of the open-skies agreement first initialed nearly 10 months ago, and the waiting game will likely continue with all sides anticipating a U.S. Transportation Dept. decision.
Government security agencies worldwide need to work more closely with airports and airlines to reassure passengers that air transportation continues to be the safest way to travel, said the heads of two airline trade associations. IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani noted that the foiled London terror plot in August was a reminder of the tremendous progress made on security since 2001. "We have a more secure air transport system. The system worked, and the terrorists were stopped before they got the airport," he said.
U.K.-based Menzies Aviation this week announced two new acquisitions that will boost its presence as a growing ground-handling company in North America.
American Eagle plans to boost its Caribbean network this winter, adding flights on five routes between its San Juan hub and other regional airports. Beginning Dec. 14, the carrier will add three more daily roundtrips between San Juan and St. Thomas, and a single extra daily roundtrip to St. Croix and Antigua. An extra flight to Anguilla will operate four days a week. The San Juan-Dominica route will see an extra three flights a week from Nov. 16-Dec. 1, and again from Dec. 14-Jan. 31. All flights will use ATR72 turboprops. - AS
Boeing yesterday secured what it describes as its most significant European customer for its Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag, with Air France ordering more than 50 of the systems. Air France plans to install EFBs on its entire 777 fleet -- 42 currently in service and 13 yet to be delivered. Air France is the eighth customer Boeing has gained this year for the EFB, joining Aeromexico, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, UPS, SonAir, Etihad and Jet Airways. Boeing's EFB has recorded about 850 total orders since its introduction in 2002.
The Philippines Civil Aeronautics Board revoked low-fare airline Cebu Pacific's rights to fly to Japan even before the Sept. 15 expiration of the deadline given the carrier to launch the flights. A CAB official in Manila said the carrier's rights were withdrawn because the airline had expressed interest in flying to Nagoya instead of Tokyo but had failed to provide a schedule. "Cebu Pacific also does not have slots at Nagoya Airport. This makes it impossible for the carrier to launch the flights by Sept. 15," the official noted.
Jetstar Asia plans to move to Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport Sept. 15 ahead of other carriers to ensure a smooth transition to the new airport, scheduled to open Sept. 28. The carrier noted its check-in times and schedules are unchanged from what it offers at Bangkok International Airport. Beginning Oct. 1, landing and parking fees at the airport will be 15% higher than what's currently charged at Bangkok International (DAILY, Sept. 5). Airports of Thailand officials noted they've already deferred the increase once. -LR
Air traffic delays in Europe are continuing to get worse, even without factoring in delays brought about in August in the wake of the British anti-terrorism operation that severely disrupted travel. Intra-European flights suffered their seventh straight quarter of worsening on-time performance, the Assn. of European Airlines says. More than 20.2% of departures were delayed by more than 15 minutes, compared with about 18.1% in the same period in 2005 and 16.6% in each of the two years before that. Madrid suffered the most delays, followed by Paris.
Startup Oasis Hong Kong Airlines yesterday unveiled Oct. 26 as the start date of its service launch to London Gatwick and announced plans to offer two classes of service.
The Transportation Security Administration, Homeland Security Dept. and the airline industry still aren't doing enough to make air travel more secure, a commercial pilots' group said yesterday.
