United's stock is in the doldrums heading into June. Shares in UAL Corp., the airline's parent company, closed at $28.92 on June 2, down 26% since it announced disappointing quarterly financial results and margins on May 8. UAL stock, which resumed trading on the Nasdaq exchange in February after the airline emerged from three years of bankruptcy protection, has been on a slide since March 21, when it peaked at $43.
Negotiations between Comair management and flight attendants restart tomorrow, shortly after the departure of CEO Fred Buttrell. Comair says it needs $8.9 million in cost savings from flight attendants to help parent Delta exit Chapter 11. Comair Senior VP Dave Soaper is taking the lead in negotiations with the flight attendants union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In April, the bankruptcy court ruled against a motion by Comair to void the attendants' contract.
US Airways late Thursday reached a final transition agreement with the Airline Customer Service Employee Association, an alliance between the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the two unions that represent the airline's 7,700 passenger service staff and reservations agents. "We continue to move forward as we complete another important step in the integration process," said US Airways CEO Doug Parker. "The CWA and IBT should be commended for their resolve to reach an equitable agreement." -SL
Lufthansa agreed to pay a ZAR$8.5 million (US$1.2 million) fine after South Africa's Competition Commission concluded it colluded with flag carrier South African Airways (SAA) on ticket prices between Johannesburg and Frankfurt from 1999 to 2002.
Commercial Transportation International and Qantas have dropped plans to launch a Bangkok-based cargo airline, Thai Air Cargo. An official at CTI in Bangkok cited rising fuel prices and the two partners' inability to source suitable aircraft as reasons for calling off the plan. The joint venture was supposed to have taken off in June last year, with CTI holding 51% and Qantas 49%; it was slated to operate to China, India, Japan and Europe.
Austrian Airlines' new CEO Alfred Oetsch pointed out that he wants the airline to remain independent despite its ongoing financial difficulties. "It is essential for us as a highly specialized medium-sized airline that we can continue to determine our strategy ourselves, based on a stable Austrian majority ownership," Oetsch said in a statement. He succeeded Vagn Soerensen last month. The airline's board had picked him mainly because he pledged to keep the airline independent.
Cathay Pacific exercised options for GE 90 engines to power two Boeing 777-300ERs the airline ordered earlier this week. The planes are scheduled for delivery in January and September of 2008. Separately, Philippine Airlines placed a $110 million order for CFM International CFM56-B engines to power nine Airbus A320s, with deliv- eries scheduled in the second half of this year. CFM International is a joint venture between GE and Snecma.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is appointing a public-private task force to improve access to New York's three major airports. The three airports bring in $37 billion in economic development and generate 140,000 jobs, but further growth is being hurt because roads to the airports are congested. "JFK to Manhattan can take anywhere from 30 minutes to over two hours. That unpredictability is frustrating for passengers and unacceptable for business," said Daniel Doctoroff, New York City deputy mayor for economic development.
WestJet debuted a new subsidiary -- WestJet Vacations -- to supply travel packages for 33 North American destinations. Packages are available for all of the airline's destinations, except Quebec. The airline said it expects to add the province as an origin of sale once licensing issues are finalized. Currently, only hotel and air reservations are included in the package bundle, but WestJet plans to add car rentals, attractions and insurance to the site.
Cathay yesterday announced an agreement with Boeing to exercise purchase rights for two additional 777-300ERs, to be delivered in 2008. During the last six months, Cathay has committed to add 18 777-300ERs to its fleet. Last December, the carrier ordered 12 of these aircraft from Boeing and another four through leasing company ILFC. The new aircraft will be powered by General Electric 90-115B engines.
Boeing has confirmed the exterior lines for its new 747-8 aircraft but is still weighing alternatives on a handful of more specific issues before the final configuration of the aircraft is decided in the third quarter, program head Jeff Peace said yesterday.
A new Beijing cargo service starting this month will give Dallas/Fort Worth 38 cargo flights from Asia each week, the airport says. Air China Cargo plans to launch service between DFW and Beijing on June 17, with three weekly flights using Boeing 747 freighters. Carriers flew nearly 176,000 tons of cargo to DFW last year, and Asian freight accounted for 63% of international cargo at the airport.
As the auction to sell Varig's domestic and international assets approaches after being moved up to June 5 (DAILY, May 31), on Wednesday the company set up a data room for potential investors to inspect its business records.
KLM this week reached a deal with China Southern and Sichuan Airlines to significantly expand their code-share partnership between Amsterdam and three Chinese cities. Starting immediately, KLM added its code to Sichuan's flights from its new Chengdu destination to Beijing, Chongqing, Kunming and Xian.
ANA and its Star Alliance partners finally will be reunited today in the same terminal at Tokyo Narita Airport, marking the start of one of the largest terminal reorganizations since Narita opened 28 years ago.
Air One, Italy's second-largest airline, is setting up a dedicated, regional-jet operation, in an effort to become more competitive against low-fare operations.
JetBlue plans to fly directly between Syracuse and Orlando July 20 after garnering a $635,000 incentive package to launch the service. The City of Syracuse gave JetBlue about $575,000 from airport revenues set aside to attract new service. About $60,000 in additional funding will be siphoned from a Small Community Air Service development grant for JetBlue to market the new flight, as well as a fourth daily nonstop flight between Syracuse and New York Kennedy.
Great Wall Airlines, a joint-venture freighter carrier, started operations yesterday with the launch of six weekly services from Shanghai to Amsterdam. Based at Shanghai Pudong Airport, the carrier operates two 747-400Fs and in the next two months will introduce flights to South Korea, India and Singapore. The airline was set up to tap the growing China cargo market. The airline is owned 51% by Great Wall Industry Corp., 25% by SIA Cargo and 24% by Dhalia Investments Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government investment arm.
