German regional carrier Augsburg Airways said last week it would cut 144 of 560 jobs and reduce the fleet from the current 16 to a maximum of 12 aircraft in a desperate effort to survive. Also, the company's owners, the Haindl family, has decided to replace longtime Managing Director Olaf Dlugi with Manfred Scholz, a former chief financial officer for the Haindl family business and newcomer to the airline industry. Augsburg said it is in negotiations with Lufthansa on a new contract.
Northwest's top two executives, Richard Anderson and Doug Steenland, last April did not receive base salary increases after they were named CEO and president, respectively. The executives were promoted April 1, 2001, after then-CEO John Dasburg resigned. According to the carrier's proxy filing, Anderson's base salary remained at $500,000 in 2001, the level established in April 2000, when he was an executive-VP.
Northwest Airlink will have CRJ200 and CRJ440 C checks and other major maintenance done by Bombardier for the next five years, the manufacturer said. Work will be done at Bombardier's Bridgeport, W.Va., Air Center. Airlink is slated to have 129 CRJs by the end of the contract period.
National Mediation Board yesterday ruled that American's Allied Pilots Association is the legal representative for collective bargaining for TWA pilots, who are currently represented by the Air Line Pilots Association. TWA pilots last month asked the NMB for a six-month delay on the certification ruling.
United's fleet operations reliability index (FORI) hit a monthly record high of 96.3% in February, the airline told employees this week. The February index is the highest FORI ever recorded in the eight years since the company began tracking it in January 1994. The year-to-date number also remains ahead of goal, the airline said. The index measures how many delays and cancellations are attributed to maintenance and engineering.
Japanese sources report that Kawasaki Heavy Industries Inc. will construct a plant in Brazil to assemble the wings of 108-seat Embraer 195's for medium-range routes. Embraer has firmed up 102 orders for this model, which has developed important markets in Europe and North America and will be in full production by July 2004.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic February 2002 Revenue Ton Miles (000) February February % 2002 2001 Change Domestic Freight 786,284 742,113 6.0 Mail 74,806 151,108 (50.5) Total 861,090 893,221 (3.6) International
FlightSafety Boeing Training International recently cut the ribbon on its expanded Long Beach, Calif., training center. The facility now has eight full-flight simulators covering the Boeing 717-200 (two simulators), 737-200/-300, MD-82, MD-87/-88, MD-90 (two) and the MD-11.
British Airways, in a response to the continued growth of low-fare airlines in the U.K., has decided to scrap Saturday night and advance booking rules on all domestic flights out of London. The airline said travelers would save up to 70% as a result of the rule change. Passengers also could combine cheaper fixed outbound flights with flexible returns.
The number of airliners for sale or lease dropped from a record 1,036 in February to 950 in March, the first month-to-month decline since before Sept. 11, according to BACK Aviation Solutions.Biggest decliners: DC-9/MD-80s (129 to 105); CRJs (16 to 4); 757s (44 to 35) and A320s (38 to 28).
United Parcel Service has opened its intra-Asia hub in the Philippines. The move is aimed at speeding delivery times for goods in and out of Asia. The new hub has a central sorting point within four hours of all major Asian cities and opens nearly one year after UPS began direct service between the U.S. and China. The 23,000-square-foot facility is located at the former Clark U.S. air base. UPS said the intra-Asia trade market is expected to be one of the fastest growing for years.
Italy's AzzurraAir signed a five-year extension for BAE Systems Regional Aircraft's JetSpares, which includes spares inventory, logistics and maintenance. AzzurraAir flies four Avro RJ70s and three RJ85s in a code-share deal with Alitalia. They have been under JetSpares since 1997, and the extension, valued at $11 million, was awarded following a competitive-bid process.
Comair this week began service from Cincinnati to Flint, Mich. Comair will fly four nonstop roundtrips each day using Canadair Regional Jets. Delta is also offering double SkyMiles to customers who fly from Atlanta to Huntington, W.Va., or Monroe, La., April 7-June 30.
Swiss, the newly formed airline incorporating Crossair and parts of Swissair, and Italian carrier Meridiana have joined the Assn. of European Airlines (AEA). Swiss steps in as successor of defunct Swissair. Meridiana serves 11 destinations in Italy as well as Amsterdam, Barcelona, London and Paris. Its predecessor Alisarda was formed by the Aga Khan in 1963 to support Sardinia's tourism industry.
Midwest Express yesterday said it will retain its current travel agent commission structure. Travel agents will earn a 5% base commission, with a maximum of US$20 (C$28) per roundtrip or $10 (C$14) on a one-way ticket. The company said that while some consumers are purchasing tickets online or through the airline's reservations center, a significant number of passengers continue to buy tickets through travel agencies.
EADS Aeroframe Services will do all heavy maintenance on JetBlue's Airbus A320s for the next five years, the company reports. Air Canada had been handling the work for the U.S. carrier. EADS also recently won a multi-year deal to heavy checks on some of Air Jamaica's Airbus fleet, including A320s, A321s and A310s.
Delta, trying to catch up with many of its competitors, plans to invest $5 million on 300 additional airport kiosks that will be installed throughout its domestic operation by yearend. Currently, the carrier has 114 kiosks in 31 domestic cities, but they are for use by frequent flyers only. Delta has been far outpaced in kiosk implementation by United, Continental and Northwest. The new Delta kiosks will enable any e-ticketed Delta customer traveling on the airline's U.S. domestic system to check in, print boarding cards, change seats and check baggage.
Bombardier returned to the bargaining table yesterday with union representatives of about 8,000 workers who a day earlier staged a 24-hour strike at three Canadian plants. Talks between Bombardier and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Lodge 712 have dragged on since August. The workers last week voted to increase pressure on Bombardier management during contract negotiations, which are bogged down over pensions, outsourcing and paid leave for holidays and sick days.
Australian Airlines (AAL), Australia's new international carrier wholly owned by Qantas, will launch operations Oct. 27. Initial flights will involve phasing in services between Cairns and Osaka, Fukuoka, Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong and Nagoya between the launch date and December. Bookings for the flights will open next month. According to Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon, the second phase of operations will involve service from a second base in southern Australia early next year to a number of destinations, including Phuket, Thailand, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
DOT issued consent orders against Travelocity.com and Site59.com, imposing compromise civil penalties against the Internet travel sites for failing to state the full price charged for airline tickets. Travelocity.com did not, as is required, include fuel surcharges and other specific fees in its advertised prices in a certain search feature. DOT also pointed out non-compliance in the flexible-date search feature, which did not display all charges until the booking page appeared, rather than on an initial pricing screen.
Continental regional subsidiary ExpressJet increased the amount of shares it plans to issue by 30% when it launches its public offering. In an amended proxy with the Security and Exchange Commission, the company said it plans to sell 26 million shares, up from 20 million in the original filing. ExpressJet will sell 10 million shares of common stock and Continental, as the selling stockholder, is selling 16 million. The IPO prices will remain $14-16 per share.
Alaska Air's board plans to eliminate the company's shareholder rights plan or "poison pill" provision. A "substantial percentage" of the company's shareholders, including Providence Capital, "have recently told us they prefer that we eliminate the rights plan," Chairman John Kelly said. "In response, the board decided to eliminate the plan for now." In general, corporations institute shareholder rights plans as one means of "maximizing value in the event of a hostile takeover," the carrier said. Some shareholders argue they discourage acquisitions altogether.
