WestJet plans to launch service this summer to three new cities in Eastern Canada as part of its aggressive expansion plans. Beginning April 24, the airline said yesterday, WestJet will start daily long-haul service from Calgary to Montreal, Quebec. The addition of Montreal to its network was expected after CEO Clive Beddoe told analysts in New York recently he wanted to start service to the city before the summer travel season (DAILY, Feb. 3). He also said WestJet is in a "growth mode," expanding 50% per year.
Air France posted an operating profit of EUR4 million (US$4.288 million) in the quarter ended December 2002, compared with a EUR112 million (US$120 million) loss in the same period of 2001, which was hurt by the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Virgin Atlantic plans to add a third weekly flight from Las Vegas to London Gatwick, starting Sept. 2. The new flight will operate every Tuesday with a Boeing 747-400. The airline already operates a twice-weekly service between Las Vegas and London departing Las Vegas on Thursdays and Sundays. Flights leave London every Thursday and Sunday. Since introducing the first ever non-stop scheduled service between London and Las Vegas in June 2000, the airline has carried nearly 250,000 passengers on the route.
American and US Airways yesterday started offering interline electronic ticketing, which lets passengers use a single electronic ticket when their itineraries include travel on both carriers. American offers interline e-ticketing with most major U.S. airlines, including United, Continental, and Northwest. US Airways has an e-ticket interline link with Continental and its code-share partner United. -SL
British Airways next week will begin offering passengers in its First, World Traveller Plus and Club World classes flying from London Heathrow to New York onboard Internet and email access.
Hawaiian Airlines plans to expand the use of its airport check-in kiosks and roll out an option letting passengers check in from their home or office through the airline's web site. The company installed eight of the TouchPort kiosks, manufactured by Orlando, Fla.-based Kinetics, at its Honolulu Airport ticket lobby. Six terminals are also operating at Kahului Airport on Maui. By next month, two terminals each will be installed at Lihue Airport on Kauai and the Hilo and Kona airports on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Hapag-Lloyd Express and German pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit are understood to be close to a deal on work rules and pay. A VC spokesman said the agreement has not yet been signed, but "we are on a very good way." Hapag-Lloyd Express owner TUI AG declined comment. Further details are still unclear at this stage, but the likely agreement is of significance for the German airline industry as a whole because it would be the first deal of one of the new, low-fare carriers.
Frontier, as expected, yesterday completed a deal with a European bank for a sale/leaseback of an Airbus A319 slated for delivery next month, and the return of the company's pre-delivery deposit payments of $7.1 million. Under terms of the agreement, the bank will acquire the A319 in March and lease it the company under a five-year operating lease. Chief Financial Officer Paul Tate said in the carrier's analyst call last week the sale/leaseback was key to improving the airline's liquidity position. The carrier completed a similar deal in December. -SL
Aloha Airlines yesterday signed a deal with Tucson-based Airline Automation to purchase the "Super Dupe Snooper" program that detects and removes duplicate reservations to cut the no-show rate.
Fractional jet provider Flight Options named John Nahill as its CEO, replacing Kenn Ricci, who will continue as an adviser to Flight Options management. Nahill most recently was VP-corporate strategy and development for Raytheon and served on the board of Cleveland-based Flight Options since its merger with Raytheon Travel Air. Nahill's appointment is subject to the approval of the investors in the Flight Options LLC, which is expected this week. Flight Options offers fractional shares in its fleet of more than 200 aircraft. -SL
IATA is demanding the Narita Airport Authority reduce charges at its facility, after more than a year of negotiations that have failed to produce lower charges. IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said he complained loudly to the Japanese government over the past few months, declaring, "Our message is getting through to some governments, but for those not listening, the time for diplomacy is over. It is time to bang the fist on the table."
American Trans Air named Vicki Higgins as its new director-market development. Higgins joined ATA as manager of promotions in 2001 and previously worked for the Indiana Pacers professional basketball team for 10 years.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft signed a five-year, $30 million spare parts contract with CitiExpress, a subsidiary of British Airways. The pact covers 16 Avro RJ regional jets. The airline is also expanding its spare parts contract for its BAE 146s by five aircraft.
Oil prices yesterday closed over $35 per barrel, the highest level since late 2000, but airlines have little hope to make up the cost through raising fares or adding a fee. American CEO Don Carty told employees that "we cannot even sustain a fuel surcharge -- so it's unrealistic to assume that price increases will provide any kind of short-term financial relief." AA continues to test "different kinds of fare structures in an attempt to improve our revenue outlook," he says.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has concluded pilots are "rearranging [deck chairs] on the Titanic," after meeting this week with pilot unions to win support for his Airline Labor Reform Act. McCain told The DAILY yesterday that he can't get union support for his proposed measure, even though he believes airline bankruptcies have effectively voided existing contracts. He hasn't yet introduced the measure, and said he's not sure when he will.
Lufthansa's passenger traffic was up 9.4% in January, but the airline added 11.4% to its capacity, causing load factor to decline 1.2 percentage points to 68.4%. Asia Pacific and the Middle East/Africa traffic grew comparatively slowly, while transatlantic traffic was up 10.8% on 15.1% more capacity, and European traffic rose 11.2% on 10.4% more available seat miles.
American and AirTran -- both working aggressively to keep a tight lid on costs and retain customers -- were dealt a blow after FAA denied the airlines' requests to extend and waive the April 9 deadline to install reinforced cockpit doors across their whole fleets.
The US Airways pilots union is calling for volunteers to form a strike preparedness committee, but stresses it's only a precautionary measure and no labor action is planned over termination of the pilots' pension plan. Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) spokesman Roy Freundlich said a strike is not even legal right now, but court proceedings could change this. "We are just preparing for all eventualities," Freundlich said.
GE Ion Track won TSA certification for its Itemiser explosives detection product, a desktop system designed to find trace quantities of explosives using the company's Ion Trap Mobility Spectrometer. Itemiser passed TSA certification in December 2002. The detection technology used by GE Ion Track is a rapid non-intrusive scan for concealed explosives and illegal drugs at airports, prisons, custom checkpoints and government buildings. The company is a subsidiary of GE Interlogix, which is part of GE Industrial Systems. -LR
Orders booked by Airbus parent company EADS (European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Co.) fell 49% in 2002, the manufacturer said this week. In a preliminary results statement, EADS also said it managed to surpass its profit target, while sales decreased slightly last year.
Air Canada last week launched new code-share flights with Italian carrier Air One, a partner of Lufthansa. Air Canada now offers daily flights on a code-share basis with Air One via Rome to Lamezia Terme, Catania, Palermo and Venice. Air Canada currently offers daily nonstop flights to Rome. Air Canada in November expanded service to Italy with daily code-share flights to Venice and Bologna via Frankfurt in cooperation Lufthansa, as well as flights between Munich and Venice five times per week with Lufthansa partner, Air Dolomiti.
China Southern Airlines has ordered 23 Performance Improvement Program kits from GE Aircraft Engines for the GE90s that power its Boeing 777s, under a contract worth about $35 million. GE said the kits provide a 1.6% fuel burn improvement through advanced 3-D aerodynamic components in the high-pressure compressor, and new sealing clearance and turbine technology. The PIP also increases the GE90's thrust from 85,000-90,000 pounds to 94,000 pounds. Installation of the kits on China Southern's 777s begins this year and continues through 2005. -LR
