Delta announced plans to restructure its investment in Priceline.com, allowing the airline to boost its stake in Priceline.com in the future. Also thanks to the changes, Priceline.com will "significantly" reduce its dividend expense and lower its outstanding preferred stock by $280 million. Delta previously held 6 million shares of convertible preferred stock of Priceline.com with a total liquidation preference of $359.6 million and convertible into 6 million shares of Priceline.com common stock.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), at last week's Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing on airline consolidation, tried but failed to get a commitment from DC Air CEO Robert Johnson that he will not turn around and sell his 51% stake to 49% DC Air holder American. Johnson said, "I will not make an agreement that the other airlines will not make." He added, "If I choose to sell, it would be based on my business decision."
LanChile is moving to the new International Terminal 4 at New York Kennedy on May 8. Meanwhile, starting Feb. 17, LanChile's flights will leave from the existing International Terminal 4 East, which was renovated at the end of 1999. LanChile's temporary facilities at Terminal 4 East will be shared with oneworld partner Aer Lingus. LanChile's facilities at the new Terminal 4 will include new counters and equipment, as well as a new VIP lounge.
The government of Burkina Faso has sold 56% of the total equity of Air Burkina to the AKFED-IPS consortium, which is a subsidiary of the Aga Khan group of companies. According to Dow Jones, AKFED-IPS was bidding against Air France and Royal Air Maroc for control of the West African airline.
India will extend till Feb. 25 -- from Feb. 9 -- the deadline for finalizing bids by companies wanting to pick up an equity stake in state-owned carrier Air-India, aviation ministry officials said. "We extended the deadline after receiving several requests from contenders seeking more time," a senior official said. The government is offering for sale up to 40% of Air-India's total equity, of which 26% would be held by a foreign partner and 14% by its Indian partner. Delta, Air France, Singapore Airlines and Emirates are among the contenders.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR NOV 2 - NOV 9, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Aer Lingus Ryan Int'l Aer Lingus Boeing 737-400/ CFM56-3B2 China Xiamen ILFC Boeing
National Airlines, which has not established a date for coming out of bankruptcy, said it has made "substantial progress" toward a financing agreement with a group of investors. Spokesman Dik Shimizu told The DAILY that there is no time frame for ending its bankruptcy. "We're hopeful it will be done later this year," he said. So far, the company has not lost any of its aircraft but will not go ahead with an agreement with GE Capital Aviation Services for four Boeing 757s that were to be delivered in January. National retains 15 of the aircraft, Shimizu said.
New details emerged yesterday about the Arizona group that claims it is preparing to offer close to $1 billion for all the assets and debt of TWA. According to its application for articles of incorporation obtained by The DAILY, Jet Acquisition Group consists of four directors. Three directors -- Stanford Lerch, Anthony DePrima and Kenneth MacRae -- list the same Scottsdale, Ariz., mailing address. The fourth director, Albert Vitale, resides in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Protracted disagreement between deeply troubled Aerolineas Argentinas and its labor unions are propelling the carrier toward bankruptcy, according to their respective positions, aired at a meeting last week (DAILY, Feb. 7). If the unions refuse to renew collective labor contracts, Spanish majority stockholder SEPI will not underwrite operating deficits. The unions are in no mood to comply, however, and allege that management is not implementing the SEPI rescue plan approved at the end of 2000, and instead insists on firing 1,120 employees.
U.S. general aviation had a record year in 2000, hitting a new industry high for billings, at $8.6 billion, with new aircraft shipments rising for a sixth straight year. Airplanes delivered totaled 2,816, up 12.5% from the 2,504 shipped in 1999, with exports representing 20.2% of the total. The fifth straight year of record billings, up nearly a $1 billion from $7.8 billion in 1999, came despite a drop of more than 50% in deliveries of Boeing business jet deliveries, from 29 to 14, representing more than $500 million.
JetBlue, profitable and doubling its Airbus A320 fleet this year, is getting "more ASMs per aircraft than anyone flying the A320," says CEO David Neeleman. His 10-aircraft fleet generated 230 million ASMs in December, "more ASMs than WestJet's 23" 737s. JetBlue's 11th A320 arrives at JFK today.
Mesa Air Group reported a 78.6% drop in net earnings to $5.7 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Revenues climbed 18.6% to $131.6 million and expenses were up 19.7% to $121.9 million. CEO Jonathan Ornstein said expenses increased largely because of the overall hike in capacity and fuel prices. He said the results "validate" Mesa's focus on regional jets. "The continued expansion of regional jet contract flying offset the impact of poor weather conditions on our turboprop operations," he said.
After four years of reprisals and charges before the World Trade Organization stemming from their respective export subsidies for Embraer and Bombardier jet aircraft, Brazil and Canada are nearing an all-out trade war (DAILY, Feb. 7). In Brazil, the ministries of trade and foreign affairs have assigned high-echelon officials to continue the fray at the WTO. The latest commodity drawn into the dispute was Brazilian beef when Canada prohibited its imports to "prevent possible contamination with 'mad cow disease,'" a measure that other countries also are considering.
The two shareholders of Sabena have postponed a decision on the future of the Belgian carrier until Feb. 23. Sabena said it reached a partial agreement with its trade unions on savings of 27.5 million Euros. However, the company's "Blue Sky" rescue plan foresees social measures of EUR52 million. The shareholders, the Belgian state and SAirGroup, said they would recapitalize the airline only with EUR250 million if Blue Sky went through. Sabena said it wanted to reach an agreement covering the EUR52 million in savings by Feb.
Aviation officials from the U.S and Hong Kong yesterday concluded two days of talks, determining that there is sufficient agreement to move forward on bilateral liberalization, according to a U.S. official. Formal negotiations, to be scheduled soon, are possible by the end of March. Expanded services would "not necessarily go in lock step," he said. A U.S. negotiator said the U.S. wants third-country code sharing in a "comparable balance of benefits."
Crossair, in a joint venture with GE Capital Aviation Training, has established a training center for regional airline crews and technical personnel. The center, at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, initially will train pilots, cabin crew and technical personnel mainly for Saab 2000 jetprops and Embraer regional jets. Crossair says that it is currently the only facility offer training for the Embraer ERJ-170 and ERJ-190, which go into service next year. The facility, called CROSSCAT, is located in the facility formerly operated by Crossair.
National Transportation Safety Board is concerned that a recently signed deal between regulators and air traffic control union members could reduce safety margins and undermine FAA's ability to deal with potentially serious ATC errors (DAILY, Jan. 24). The memorandum of understanding (MOU) between FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), signed Jan. 17, calls for the two parties to develop a controller monitoring system using, among other things, operational error and deviation (OE/D) data.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR NOV 28 - NOV 29, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Canadian World First Douglas Airlines Airways Security DC-10-30(F)/ Bank NA CF6-50C2 US Airways Canjet US Airways Boeing Airlines 737-200Adv/
United Hub Profile Denver Origin and Destinations Segment Summary and Top Nonstop Markets Origination and Destination Data 12 Months 12 Months Ended June Ended June 2000 2000 Denver Total (All Carriers) O&D Passengers 17,554,670 14,753,540 19.0%
Delta yesterday said it was willing to reduce the maximum capacity from 70 to 50 seats on regional jets flown by Delta Connection carriers, except for current orders and options, as part of a new pilot contract proposal. Delta also said its latest offer would make its mainline pilots the highest paid in the industry on the aircraft type they fly, and Delta Express pilots would be paid more than their counterparts at Southwest. Mainline pilots would earn more than pilots at United for the same aircraft type.
House Transportation Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) and ranking Democrat James Oberstar (Minn.) in a letter asked President Bush to reverse a $568 million cut in FAA's budget made by the Office of Management and Budget. For fiscal 2002, which starts Oct. 1, the OMB cuts would trim $368 million from aviation capital accounts and $200 million from operations.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR JANUARY 2001 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Millions 01/01 Millions 01/01 Factor Air Tran 357.0 +46.3% 537.8 +27.1% 66.4% Atlantic Coast 98.5 +40.6% 228.2 +48.6% 43.2% Mesa Air 127.7 +17.8% 281.4 +15.1% 45.4%
