The Aer Lingus executives who announced their resignations last year after the government rejected their proposed buyout of the airline (DAILY, Nov. 11, 2004) plan to launch a no-frills carrier of their own in Ireland, Irish media reported last Friday. Olivia Mitchell, a member of Ireland's Dail and spokeswoman on transport issues for Fine Gael, the opposition party, warned that the creation of a rival would be bad news for Aer Lingus, and she urged the government to come forward with plans for the future of the Irish flag carrier.
U.S. major airlines are expected to report a $2.3 billion net loss for 2004 when results are unveiled this month, predicts Merrill Lynch. "Although passenger volumes are back to 2000 levels, revenues are not," says analyst Michael Linenberg. Yield is expected to drop 2.1% to 12.55 cents, which is close to low points of the fourth quarters of 2001 and 2002. "Domestic yields are pretty dismal."
United was hit with a setback in bankruptcy court Friday, when Judge Eugene Wedoff rejected a pilot concession deal reached last month and ratified on Thursday, but there is a possibility that the two sides could move quickly to tweak the deal, rather than start from scratch.
Airbus on Friday declined comment on a report about a significant production increase in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The wire report quoted an unidentified official saying the manufacturer planned to increase production by 15% to 370 aircraft in 2005. Next year, deliveries are expected to rise to 440 units and to further increase to 465 in 2007. The production boost would be stronger than the one planned at Boeing, which hopes for 320 deliveries in 2005, up 12%.
Alaska Air hopes to recover $4 million-$6 million in overpayments made to the Mexican government in 2004 for airspace use. Following two years of legal proceedings starting in 2002 that took the case all the way to the Mexican Supreme Court, Alaska was awarded $9 million plus $3 million interest for fees paid in 2002 and 2003. The payments were reported as a reduction in operating expenses in the third quarter.
Lithuania will launch a new tender for the privatization of its flag carrier Lithuanian Airlines (LAL) next month, says the country's Privatization Commission.
A series of closed-door meetings aimed at reaching an accord on increased user fees at Chile's Arturo Merino Benitez Airport (AMB) in Santiago began just before the New Year, and even though the increase was set to take effect Jan. 1, a solution remains outstanding.
WestJet's traffic grew 34.5% in March, outpacing the 32.4% increase in capacity. Load factor grew 1.1 points to 74.7%. For the year, the carrier's traffic increased 29%, nearly in line with the 30% capacity increase. Load factor for the year was 70%, down 0.6 points from 2003.
Member carriers of the Regional Airline Association posted a 28% jump in revenue passenger miles in July-September 2004, logging 15 billion RPMs, compared with nearly 12 billion in the same 2003 period. Average passenger trip length increased to 417 miles from 388, and load factor reached 70%, 2.6 percentage points higher than 2003's 67.5%. American Eagle, SkyWest, ExpressJet and Comair captured the top four spots in passenger enplanements. -LR
The Transportation Security Administration named Tim Burke federal security director at Savannah/Hilton Head Airport. A 21-year veteran of the aviation industry, Burke has worked at TSA since October 2003 and previously was the area director for Southeast area aviation operations, as well as the acting FSD at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport.
Stronger-than-expected growth in British Airways' premium traffic last December has led one airline analyst to lift his profit and turnover estimates for the carrier.
Southwest's entry into the Pittsburgh market will be a profitable step for the airline and should add nearly $170 million in annual revenue within three years, a leading airline analyst predicts.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Ron Brown at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing in PDF format.) JAN. 13-14 -- Airports Council International-North America, Insurance/Risk Management Seminar, The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, New Orleans, 202-293-8500, e-mail [email protected], www.aci-na.aero JAN. 18 -- International Aviation Club Luncheon, Journalist Roundtable - Industry Outlook 2005, Marriott Metro Center, Washington, e-mail [email protected], www.iacwashington.org
SN Brussels Airlines flew 3.2 million passengers in 2004, up 9% from the previous year. The load factor improved from 57.4% in 2003 to 61.2% in 2004, and "the passenger increase was not the result of a fleet expansion," the carrier said. SN also claims that it "attracted a heavier stake of business travelers."
Local executives of Continental, Delta, United, US Airways, Varig, Lufthansa and Air Canada said they would not bid for Aeromexico and Mexicana if and when government holding company Cintra puts them on the block, according to a poll taken by analysts from Mexico City's El Financiero News Services.
Delta's fare simplification will cost the airline hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, estimates Benchmark Company analyst Helane Becker, and it will cost the industry $1 billion-$2 billion. "It looks as though Delta took its pilot cost savings and applied it to this program, so nothing has changed with respect to the outlook for Delta," Becker said. "We expect Delta to have its back against the wall again later this year."
TSA is refusing to extend today's comment deadline on its Nov. 10 NPRM for new air cargo security rules, citing time constraints posed by a legal requirement to issue a final rule by Aug. 14. The Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association was among several industry groups to ask for more time to review possible implications of the wide-ranging NPRM.
The first full month of Airbus A319 service at Independence Air produced a small boost in load factor, but traffic numbers still fell far below those of other low-fare airlines. Independence started A319 flights from Washington Dulles to Tampa and Orlando Nov. 23 with two planes and added a third flight last month.
Airclaims data show 2004 was the safest year ever in commercial air transport -- with only 11 fatal accidents worldwide; excluding deliberate acts of violence, 2004 was the fourth consecutive year accidents fell.
