Investment house Merrill Lynch calculates Airbus saw two cancellations in January -- one China Airlines A340 and a Mexicana A320. Airbus had 25 gross orders for the month and delivered 16 aircraft. A320s lead the backlog at 464, or 31%.
Bombardier had its second management shakeup since the arrival of Paul Tellier as CEO with the departure of CFO Louis Morin. The company named Pierre Alary as interim CFO. Alary has been with Bombardier since 1998, and was named VP-finance in November 2002. "This is done in the context of a new CEO coming on board and putting his stamp on the company," said Bombardier spokeswoman Dominique Dionne.
Boeing's Air Traffic Management division last week demonstrated several aircraft transmission methods it is testing under an FAA contract to develop long-term National Airspace System improvements. During a flight on Boeing's Connexion One 737 test aircraft, engineers transmitted planned and current aircraft position data to several ground sites, uplinked radar weather images to the flight deck, and transmitted inflight operational data to the ground.
Airline labor unions say they will keep lobbying hard against Senate Commerce Chair Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) Airline Labor Reform Act, but assert that meetings with him thus far have been productive. McCain told The DAILY this week that he felt unions in meetings have been unresponsive to drastic changes airlines need to survive, including labor reform (DAILY, Feb. 12).
EasyJet Chairman Colin Chandler reported "encouraging" spring and summer bookings Friday but warned yields in the same period will be softer than last summer. Separately, he said a decision on whether it will acquire Deutsche BA won't be made until later in the year.
Hotwire's gross bookings soared 130% last year, reports Gregg Brockway, executive VP-corporate development. He told The DAILY last week in Washington the online travel agency launched in October 2000 will likely become profitable this year. The company's big push is to expand its hotel offerings and the number of markets served.
FAA awarded B/E Aerospace STC approval for the company's overhead pilot crew rest compartment for the Boeing 777-200. The compartment features two seats, two bunks, audiovisual service for in-flight information, PC powerjacks and a full lavatory. Alitalia has chosen B/E's crew rest compartments for its flight attendants and is the launch customer for the pilot crew rest area. British Airways was the launch carrier for B/E's flight attendant rest areas in 1999.
Continental recently signed a deal with ITA Software to provide a pricing system for the carrier's web site to provide broader range of schedule and fare choices that more closely match customers' price-search requests. ITA's search engine displays claim to have more choices of schedules and fares available between markets, compared with "typical" pricing systems. ITA Software, which uses Linux-based technology, provides the search engine for Orbitz, Galileo, SITA, Accovia and Amadeus. -SL
FAA decided to postpone 11 of the 18 new deployments of the Standard Automation Replacement System (STARS) scheduled this year, although the planned upgrade of 11 early-configuration versions will continue as planned. FAA said the postponement was necessary because of budget constraints. National Air Traffic Controllers Association President John Carr criticized the move, even though agency officials told him only eight deployments may be postponed.
Middle River Aircraft Services (MRAS), based in Baltimore, Md., won a $750 million contract from General Electric to develop the engine nacelle for the GE34-10A small turbofan. AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Co. Ltd. (ACAD) of China chose the engine to power its 78- and 99-seat ARJ21 regional aircraft, in development. GE and ACAC predict a demand for about 500 planes over the next 20 years. MRAS is also developing the thrust reverser for the CF34-10E on the Embraer 190. -LR
Delta this week unveiled its expanded Columbus schedule, which it hopes will perform better than America West's money-losing flights at the airport. Thanks to AWA's decision early this week to abolish its Columbus hub operation -- largely operated by independent regional Chautauqua Airlines -- Delta seized the opportunity to fill the gap (DAILY, Feb. 11). Immediately after AWA's announcement on Monday, Delta signed a deal with Chautauqua under which the regional carrier will operate the 12 Embraer ERJ-145s as part of the Delta Connection network.
Aloha Airlines today expects to launch its previously announced four weekly services from Burbank to Maui. The flights will depart from Burbank on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. One month later on March 14, the flights will operate daily with Boeing 737-700s. The airline started flights from Burbank to Honolulu last June. -SL
WestJet yesterday reported a C$9.3 million (US$6.1 million) fourth-quarter profit, elevating it to the ranks of an elite group of North American airlines that made money during a period of lower yields and higher fuel costs. The profit was unchanged from the same quarter last year, but full-year results jumped 41.1% to C$51.8 million (US$34 million). The quarterly profit was its 24th consecutive period in the black, partly due to a 32.7% increase in revenues to C$176.3 million (US$116 million). CEO Clive Beddoe said the profit topped expectations.
Alaska Air Group Chairman and CEO John Kelly yesterday said he would retire from the airline in May. Kelly held the top position for the past eight years and will be replaced by Bill Ayer, president of the airline since 1997 and CEO of Alaska Airlines for the past year (DAILY, Feb. 4, 2002). At its regular quarterly meeting, the board elected Ayer to the post of Alaska Airlines chairman and Alaska Air Group president, effective immediately, and he would become chairman and CEO of the Group when Kelly retires May 20. -SL
Controllers union chief John Carr yesterday hit back at DOT Inspector General Ken Mead's criticism of hefty controller payroll increases, asserting Mead should focus instead on the staffing shortage causing overtime to mushroom. During a Senate FAA oversight hearing Tuesday, Mead pointed to dramatic increases in controller pay as one of the major drivers in the agency's rising operations budget (DAILY, Feb. 12). Mead also blamed unchecked growth in one-time agreements between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA).
European low-fare leader easyJet's takeover plans for British Airways subsidiary Deutsche BA (DBA) are in serious danger after DBA and German pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) failed to agree on a jobs-protection package. DBA and VC blamed each other for the impasse after talks failed Wednesday, but said they remain open to further negotiations.
U.S. flight schools, banned from training foreign applicants for nearly 16 months for lack of proper background checks, will be cleared to resume the training under a rule the Justice Department published yesterday.
Mesa yesterday reported a $560,000 fiscal first quarter loss, including one-time items, due to a sharp hike in operating costs and unexpected, maintenance expenses. Without the $1 million loss from its CCAIR operation that shut down in November, the airline eked out a $500,000 profit, significantly less than analysts predicted. Revenues were up 19.7% to $133.1 million, lower than some analysts expected, due to yield pressures in Mesa's prorate flying, which accounts for 20% of its total revenue. Overall yields sank 14% to 22.7 cents.
House Transportation aviation subcommittee Chair John Mica (R-Fla.) is looking for ways to increase detection of plastic explosives at airports, noting, "Terrorists already know that plastic explosives can be smuggled aboard a plane."
Midwest Express reported its unit revenues in January fell 19.1% due to decreases in load factor and yield. Load factor for the month was 55.3%, compared with 57.7% in January last year, and yields sank nearly 16%. Traffic rose 5.3% last month but was outpaced by a 9.8% capacity increase. The company predicts capacity will grow 5%-7% in the first quarter. Fuel prices were 50.4% higher in January than a year ago. -SL
Southwest CEO Jim Parker yesterday warned he is still unsure whether his airline will post a first-quarter profit due to external factors that could lead to even weaker revenues in the weeks ahead. Parker last month first reported that he "cannot guarantee a profitable" first quarter because of the "uncertain revenue environment." But, halfway through the quarter, Parker yesterday said in Washington that the revenue and profitability picture has not become any clearer.
