AWAS delivered a CF-6-powered 767-300 to PB Air. The aircraft will operate nonstop service to Shanghai and Beijing from the carrier's Bangkok base. AWAS delivered an RB211-535E4-powered 757-200 to UK charter carrier Astraeus.
Lufthansa Systems announced that Etihad Airways opted to implement its NetLine/Plan and NetLine/Sched, allowing for an "integrated approach to optimizing the elements of resource planning and control."
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings named Michael Barna senior VP and CFO effective April 11. Barna also will serve as senior VP and CFO of AAWW subsidiaries Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo.
Latin American Airline Assn. member carriers flew 10.9 billion RPKs in January, up 17.7% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 12% to 15 billion ASKs and load factor gained 3.5 points to 72.2%.
Air Nelson signed an agreement with FlightSafety International to purchase a flight simulator to provide the pilot training required for its new Q300. The simulator will be based within Air New Zealand's new simulator facility in Auckland and will be fully operational by October.
TAP Portugal posted a consolidated net profit of €8.6 million ($11.1 million) in 2004, down 56% from a net profit of €19.7 million in 2003, when the company was able to find the black after years of losses owing to a restructuring program that included stringent cost-cutting as well as significant increases in productivity over the last four years.
Delta Air Lines yesterday announced that it will make several changes to its Technical Operations division in moves it said will result in savings of roughly $240 million over five years. However, the changes also will result in 1,600-2,000 TechOp job cuts, which are part of the 6,000-7,000 positions the company said it would eliminate in its previously announced Transformation Plan.
Lufthansa and Aegean Airlines will begin a strategic cooperation on Oct. 30. As a first step, both carriers will codeshare on all flights between Germany and Greece as well on some Greek domestic routes and selected Lufthansa international flights. Further cooperation such as reciprocal airport lounge access will follow. Aegean posted growth rates of about 20% over the last five years and currently operates a fleet of 19 RJ100s and 737s. Most of the 18 destinations it serves are in Greece.
Dauair.com , a new German carrier, will take off April 18. The airline was founded by Hans-Jorg Dau, who will act as CEO. It will be headquartered in Luebeck and its first operational base will be at Dortmund. According to the airline, its main focus will be business travelers. Initially it will operate three daily flights between Dortmund and Berlin Tempelhof using a single Saab 340B. It will expand service with daily flights between Dortmund and Poznan a week later. It will not operate scheduled service on Saturdays but will be available for charter flights.
In light of record high fuel costs, revenue-negative domestic fare restructuring initiatives undertaken by other airlines and labor cost reductions at its primary competitors, including United Airlines, Northwest Airlines yesterday announced that it is increasing its annual labor cost savings target from $950 million to $1.1 billion. In addition, the airline said it will ask its unions to agree to a freeze of the current defined benefit pension programs and has proposed a new defined contribution pension program to replace them.
FKI Logsitex won a $14.5 million contract from American Airlines to integrate an inline 100% hold baggage screening system at the carrier's hub at Chicago O'Hare. The project includes the integration of 10 CTX 9000 DSi explosives detection machines as well as relocation and installation of three existing eXaminer 3DX 3000 EDS machines from L-3 Communications.
CSA Czech Airlines and Airbus , after almost five months of negotiations, have agreed on the final text of an agreement for 12 A320s ( ATWOnline , Oct. 19). In addition to specific purchase and delivery conditions for the 2006-08 period, the agreement outlines a range of special forms of cooperation such as delivery of a simulator, technical background support, free pilot and technical personnel training, technical assistance and consultancy for aircraft maintenance and servicing.
GB Airways placed an order for five Airbus single-aisle family aircraft, comprising one A320 and four A321s. Deliveries are scheduled from 2007 onward, "while three extra A321s are expected to join the GB fleet by spring 2007," Airbus said in a statement, noting that this is the first time the airline is acquiring aircraft directly from the manufacturer. They will be powered by IAE V2500s.
Aerospace Technologies Group was selected to partner with Airbus for "future definition, customization, development, manufacture and support" of electromechanical shades for the A380. The new partnership builds on the contract ATG finalized with Airbus in February to develop electromechanical window shade systems for A330s and A340s. "This announcement affirms Airbus's confidence in both ATG and the Powertech NG Shade," ATG Chairman Raymond Caldiero said.
El Al Israel Airlines reported a net profit of $33.1 million for 2004, its best annual financial result in five years and a significant increase over a net profit of $6.4 million in 2003.
Hawaiian Airlines' plan to emerge from Chapter 11 next month was dealt a blow late last week when its pilots failed to ratify a new agreement by a vote of 55% to 45%. As a result, the airline said it may be forced to turn to the bankruptcy court to achieve a new contract. "It's disappointing, but unfortunately not quite enough pilots voted for the contract their union negotiated, a contract that was better than any proposal made by any airline to its pilots in the last two years," Hawaiian Trustee Joshua Gotbaum said.
TUI confirmed a report in the Sunday Times that it plans to reduce its workforce in the UK from 13,500 to 11,500 within the next 18 months in response to tough competition in the air travel and package holiday sectors. "We will have 2,000 fewer people, and we are hoping to do it without making redundancies," Peter Rothwell, head of Northern Europe for TUI, told the newspaper. "We are doing this because of increasingly tough competition from the likes of Ryanair and easyJet and the fact that so much more holiday business in the UK is going online.
Northwest Airlines must repurchase roughly $226 million of its preferred shares from employees, a judge ruled late last week. The shares were issued about 10 years ago in exchange for concessions, and Northwest had agreed to buy them back in 2003. However, that year it said it would not do so and subsequently the unions representing ground workers and flight attendants filed a lawsuit over the matter.
US scheduled passenger airlines employed 456,841 workers in January, 0.8% fewer than in January 2004, according to US Dept. of Transportation statistics. The seven network carriers employed 310,791 workers in January 2005, 4.1% fewer than in the year-ago period. American Airlines with 76,047 employees was tops among the network airlines, with United Airlines and Delta Air Lines rounding out the top three. Low-cost carriers reported 75,110 total employees, 0.7% more than a year earlier, with Southwest Airlines with 31,011 ranking first.
AirTran Airways will add one new daily nonstop flight from Atlanta to both Los Angeles and Las Vegas May 4 and one new daily nonstop from Dallas/Ft. Worth to both Los Angeles and Las Vegas June 7.
Skyways Aviation arranged the long-term lease of an MD-83 on behalf of Sky Wings Airlines of Greece. The aircraft will enter service in April with the startup, which will specialize in European charter and ACMI contracts.
Wizz Air , the Hungarian low-cost airline, will end its Warsaw-Dortmund service by March 31. The carrier, which had planned to add two more A320s to its fleet early this year, has not taken up the aircraft.
