IATA member airlines reported profits of US$6.5 billion last year, down from $7.2 billion in 1998.IATA's 267 members accounted for 92% of worldwide airline revenue, which ICAO estimates at $306 billion last year. Using ICAO's numbers, airlines worldwide had a 2.4% net margin. It is the second straight year of profit declines for the airline industry.
Thai Airways recorded a pretax profit of 8. 58 billion baht (US$214 million) for the first nine months of its financial year ended June 30. This was 31% lower than the same period last year. Operating revenue was 88.86 billion baht.
DOT granted Morningstar Air Express one-year all-cargo charter authority for U.S.-Canada and other all-cargo services from the U.S. The Canadian carrier previously held such authority, through Nov. 19, 1999, under Docket OST-98-4687. (Docket OST-00-7609)
Boeing announced yesterday it will acquire Jeppesen Sanderson from the Tribune Co. for $1.5 billion in cash. Jeppesen, a leading provider of flight information services, counts among its customers the majority of the world's airlines and also serves large general aviation and business aviation markets.
United, Lauda Air and Tyrolean Airways applied for code-share rights between the U.S. and Austria. United and Lauda want to display each other's code on flights between the two countries nonstop or via intermediate points, between points in their home countries in conjunction with each other's U.S.-Austria services, and between the U.S. or Austria and other countries. Tyrolean wants to display United's code between the U.S. and Austria and between Austria and other countries.
Embraer's record-breaking net income of $800 million in the first half of the year -- up 113% from the same period last year -- has lifted the company's status to Brazil's top exporter and second-largest importer, after oil giant Petrobras. President Mauricio Botelho says the jet aircraft manufacturer will continue to expand. As a direct result of the growth, a number of parts suppliers are interested in opening branches in Brazil to cater to Embraer. Four are from the U.S. -- C&D Interiors, Parker Hannifin, Pilkington and NMF.
FAA plans to launch a pilot program under which it will help fund up to 10 cost-sharing air traffic modernization projects undertaken either by airports or jointly by an airport and one or more airlines. The agency just issued guidance for participants in the program. Each project is limited to federal funding of $15 million and a 33% federal cost share. "A project sponsor may be a public-use airport or a group of public-use airports, and one or more U.S. air carriers," FAA said. Its notice in the Aug.
Venezuelan carrier Avensa yesterday cut daily Caracas-Miami service from five to two flights "for maintenance and licensing reasons" and increased ticket prices 15-20%. Daily demand from Caracas now is met with 10 flights: American (5), Aeropostal (2), Avensa/Servivensa (2) and United (1).
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR JUNE 8, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Airbus America West Singapore Airbus A320-200 Aircraft Leasing V2527-A5 Airbus America West America West Airbus A320-200 V2527-A5
The U.K. government should work toward a new phased bilateral with the U.S. that builds on the U.K. strength in the transatlantic market while benefiting the British economy and industry as a whole, a British Parliament committee said in a report yesterday. British carriers have been "extremely successful under Bermuda II, not only out-performing their U.S. rivals on most routes to the United States, but also attracting more passengers" from behind London than U.S. carriers do from behind their U.S.
Switzerland's powerful SAirGroup, the holding company to which Swissair belongs, will expand to Argentina with plans to set up a $60 million maintenance center for Airbus aircraft. Working on the project through its local representatives, SR Technics, the Swiss company will choose between Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires or some other site in the interior of the country for the new facility.
Emery Worldwide and its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, reached a tentative contract deal over the weekend, the National Mediation Board said yesterday. NMB Board Member Magdalena Jacobsen oversaw the mediation. Details of the agreement were withheld pending final approval by the rank-and-file.
China Southern Airlines plans to build a 25,000-square-meter cargo center at Shenzhen International Airport in 2001. The carrier will shift from short-term wet leases -- now operated by Atlas Air -- and will train its own pilots and acquire aircraft under long-term contracts to "substantially reduce" operating costs. It has 100 aircraft, including nine Boeing 777s, and a "burgeoning cargo operation" to the U.S. Load factor on its outbound Shenzhen-Chicago all-cargo flights has been "near 100%" since the carrier began the service April 12.
DOT granted Northwest and United waivers of the 90-day dormancy condition on their allocations of U.S.-Russia overflight frequencies. The carriers had been unable to use the frequencies for service from the U.S. to India via Europe prior to the lifting of the prohibition on flights over Afghanistan. Northwest holds eight weekly one-way frequencies and United 14. United wants to use its frequencies beginning April 1, and DOT granted its request for a waiver until that date.
EC Xpress, the latest Caribbean startup, based in St. Lucia, reports progress in the first four months of trying to become the region's most reliable airline. According to General Manager Eugene Pieterse, the carrier is on target with its financial goals by having transported 30,000 passengers on 1,900 flights with an average load factor of 60%, mainly between St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
DOT granted South African Airways an exemption through Oct. 31 to serve Lagos, Nigeria, as an intermediate point on its scheduled U.S.-South Africa service for a maximum of five promotional flights. The carrier requested quick approval of the limited authority in order to begin the flights this week, planning to operate service next week in conjunction with President Clinton's trip to Nigeria (DAILY, Aug. 9). DOT deferred action on the carrier's request for exemption authority to serve the market on a regular basis "pending further consideration by the department."
Clarification: Indigo is certified for charter service and will conduct flights on a public charter basis (DAILY, Aug. 15). The DAILY gave an incomplete description of Indigo's service.
Aces, Colombia's No. 2 airline, in efforts to stimulate a sluggish market, has renewed its traditional "Winning Seat" promotion aboard domestic and international flights. A total of 1,000 domestic and 200 international tickets, weekends at lavish hotels, deluxe sea cruises, electrical appliances and other prizes are raffled off and awarded inflight to winning seat numbers.
Bombardier Aerospace has told German regional carrier Augsburg Airways that the first delivery of the Q400 turboprop will be postponed again. The first aircraft is now expected to be phased into Augsburg's fleet in November. The original schedule called for first delivery in June, but it was already postponed until the fall. Augsburg said it will have to find an interim aircraft if deliveries of the second and third Q400s are delayed again next year. The carrier operates regional flights for the Team Lufthansa franchise program and on its own schedule.
United Parcel Service and Qantas joined a growing list of airlines that are members the so-called AirNewco business-to-business purchasing portal that has delayed its launch by several months. The web site is planning to launch in the fourth quarter, and the nine member airlines of AirNewco now claim to represent more than $45 billion in annual purchasing. UPS and Qantas join Air France, American, British Airways, Continental, Delta, Iberia and United in the initiative. AirNewco is only a working name for the site that was first unveiled in April (DAILY, April 28).
In what may signal the end of the Concorde program, French and British civil aviation authorities told British Airways that they will withdraw Concorde's airworthiness certificate today. BA reacted immediately and canceled all Concorde flights yesterday; Air France has not resumed flights since the July 25 crash in Paris that killed 113. The move is based on new information from the investigation.
Air Jamaica, climbing out of many years of deep financial losses, plans to earn its first operating profit in 2001 and post a positive cash flow next year thanks to its network expansion and cost reductions. By all accounts, the airline has struggled since its 1994 privatization, but CEO Christopher Zacca is aggressively following through on his plan to "grow to profitability" by boosting the carrier's Montego Bay hub, launching new service and welcoming new alliances with rivals in the Caribbean, such as BWIA.
Talks between United and its pilots resumed yesterday with United saying it was ready to "work 'round the clock" to reach a tentative contract deal after talks were called to a halt on Friday. United said Friday it would stand by the commitments it made last week to Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and DOT Secretary Rodney Slater to bring a quick resolution to the contract dispute.
