Ryanair has filed its third complaint with the European Commission after a Cologne court ruled that the no-frills airline could no longer use the name "Frankfurt-Hahn" in advertisements promoting its new hub. Lufthansa had brought the case in front of the court after having achieved rulings that forbid Ryanair to compare fares and to accuse Lufthansa of running a dirty tricks campaign. Ryanair said it would take Lufthansa "all the way to the European courts" to have its actions approved.
Frontier's yields appear to be stronger than analysts' expectations, according to James Parker of Raymond James. Parker raised his yield estimate from a decline of 1% year over year to an increase of 2% for the quarter. Lower fuel prices could push Frontier's unit costs lower than forecasts.
Air France is leasing two Boeing 747-400ER cargo aircraft, ILFC said. The aircraft will be delivered new from Boeing in March and April 2003 on six-year leases. The aircraft are powered by GE's CF6-80CE engines.
Fairchild Dornier is close to receiving an $800-900 million capital injection by its main shareholders and a consortium of banks, enabling the manufacturer to accelerate development of longer-range versions of its 728 and 928 regional jets. Clayton Dubilier&Rice and Allianz Capital Partners, the company's primary shareholders, and the banks have reached an agreement in principle that is still subject to European Commission approval.
Southwest plans to introduce new boarding procedures over the next three to six months, partially due to new security rules. The airline will "peruse other technological advancements very quickly," said Chief Financial Officer Gary Kelly, and he confirmed that Southwest will drop its signature plastic boarding cards.
Southwest paid out $214.6 million in profit sharing to its 33,000 employees last year -- or more than $6,500 per employee. The total was nearly as much as the $235 million it received under the government's bailout package.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals December 2000 to November 2001 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 2000 December Domestic 1,235,832,790 1,124,839,704 91.019 International 444,769,186 424,385,392 95.417
JetBlue will add a third daily New York Kennedy-Oakland flight on March 10. JetBlue said it is the only airline offering nonstop fights between JFK or LaGuardia and Oakland Airport. CEO David Neeleman said that DOT notes the average one-way fare between New York and Oakland has dropped 39% since JetBlue entered the market.
Aer Lingus pilot union IMPACT will meet Jan. 23 to consider industrial action over redundancy payments after talks with management broke down on Tuesday. The company has been seeking 80 pilot layoffs as part of its overall survival plan to shed 2,000 jobs of a total of 6,300. In spite of the disagreement over conditions, Aer Lingus has issued compulsory redundancy notices to 10 of its pilots.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines will operate seasonal daily nonstop Atlanta-Daytona Beach service March 2-April 30, giving passengers on the route eight daily nonstops to Atlanta. Four will be operated with CRJs and four with Delta mainline MD-88 aircraft. Comair also offers two Saturday nonstop roundtrip Cincinnati-Daytona Beach flights on a seasonal basis.
Philippine Airlines' Cebu-Seoul route is in danger of being suspended March 1, following the Civil Aeronautics Board's decision to reduce PAL's existing frequency of four flights a week to one. CAB will then transfer the rights to another local carrier. It could not be determined which carrier will get the rights to operate the three flights a week on the route. PAL currently has the rights to operate six flights a week with no restriction on aircraft type.
Southwest last quarter eked out a $32.4 million profit, excluding the government aid and special items, again proving that its strict cost controls and low-fare strategy add up to a competitive advantage. Including the $67 million federal grant and other special items, Southwest posted a $63.5 million profit, down 59.9% from last year.
Delta Air Transport Executive Chairman Rob Kuijpers this week announced plans to set up a new Belgian airline "focused on business traffic" as a successor to bankrupt flag carrier Sabena. Even though the basis of the airline will be DAT, Sabena's former regional unit, "We are not planning to create a small or new Sabena, nor an extension of DAT", said Kuijpers.
Two Boeing 737s crashed on Tuesday, Jan. 15, in Indonesia, killing one and injuring several. A Garuda 737-300, tail number PK-GWA, crashed in shallow water in the Bengala river, according Wichita-based AvData. One flight attendant was killed. There were six crew and 54 passengers on board. The river was shallow enough that little of the aircraft was submerged. The other crash was during a domestic flight by Lion Airlines. A 737-200, PK-LID, overran the runway on a flight from Pekanbaru to Batam Island.
American Eagle will resume service between Washington National and New York/JFK March 2. Service was suspended when operations at DCA were halted after Sept. 11. Eagle will offer five daily roundtrips using 37-seat Embraer ERJ-135 regional jets. The carrier will also launch service from Raleigh-Durham to DCA Jan. 31. The service was originally scheduled to begin Sept. 17, 2001.
KLM and Continental have added new code-share flights to their respective networks as part of an expanded marketing agreement. Frequent flyer program reciprocity between the two airlines is already in place. Continental has placed its "CO" code on flights to more than 35 European destinations operated by KLM and KLM Cityhopper beyond their Amsterdam hub. The flights connect with Continental's flights between Newark and Amsterdam. KLM has placed its code on selected flights to U.S. destinations operated by Continental beyond Newark and Houston.
US Airways' reported a whopping $1.01 billion loss in the fourth quarter alone -- partly due to large write-offs -- but CEO Stephen Wolf vowed that the airline has no plans to file for bankruptcy protection or apply for federal loan guarantees. The record deficit included two one-time items -- a restructuring charge and a $369 million non-cash tax charge to establish a valuation allowance. Without the unusual items, the loss was $552 million net, deeper than analyst expectations. The airline posted a full-year $1.17 billion net loss.
Northwest yesterday reported a fourth quarter net loss of $256 million, excluding special charges, but officials claimed the company is in better financial shape than most of its competitors. Including the $212 million government grants and $149 million in aircraft write-down charges, Northwest posted a $216 million loss, up from a $69 million deficit last year. "The fourth quarter was a challenging and difficult quarter financially," said Chief Financial Officer Mickey Foret.
Delta yesterday unveiled its revised mainline fleet strategy that will lead to 75% fewer deliveries over the next two years that the carrier expects will lower costs and boost operational efficiencies. Including firm orders and options, Delta previously planned to take delivery of 52 Boeing aircraft in 2002 and 2003, but it recently finalized a deal with Boeing under which the airline will accept only 13 over the same period. This year, Delta will receive a mix of eight planes, including 737-800s, 767-400s and 777s. Next year, it will take five 737-800s.
ACI Top 30 Worldwide Airports January to June 2001 Ranked By Passengers and Movements Ranked By Passengers % Change Airport Passengers From Last Year 1 Atlanta ATL 40,227,407 -0.9 2 Chicago, O'Hare ORD 34,251,433 -2.6 3 Los Angeles LAX 32,460,656 -0.1
DOT will meet today's Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) deadlines, according to DOT Secretary Norman Mineta, including the screening of all checked baggage, but senior officials declined to discuss specifics. Air Transport Association President Carol Hallett yesterday said that John Magaw, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) head, was very clear in his expectation that carriers would not discuss specific changes required by the legislation to the Air Carrier Standard Security Procedures (ACSSP).
Continental and Amtrak yesterday signed a deal to launch a domestic air/rail code-share partnership, hoping to emulate similar agreements in Europe. Under the arrangement, travelers will be able to transfer between Amtrak's northeastern rail service in four major cities to air service via Continental at Newark. Continental will place its "CO" code on Amtrak's Acela Regional and Keystone trains for connecting itineraries between Newark and four cities in the Northeast served by Amtrak -- Philadelphia, Wilmington, Del., Stamford, Conn., and New Haven, Conn.
Bit Sky said it will discontinue service to Hobbs, N.M., on Monday because Lea County discontinued its financial assistance. Big Sky began serving Hobbs in October 2000 under a program funded by the state of New Mexico and several cities and counties. Lea County has independently funded the service since April 2001. Big Sky CEO Kim Champney said passenger traffic figures failed to reach expected goals. "Without the financial assistance arrangement, we cannot generate enough revenue to sustain service," he said.
