Bombardier reached an agreement with GoJet Airlines, a subsidiary of Trans States Holdings, for an order for 10 CRJ700s valued at $317 million. The deal includes options for an additional 40 CRJ700s, which if exercised would be valued at up to $1.6 billion. GoJet's CRJ700s will be configured with 66 seats in three classes and will be operated as United Express on behalf of United Airlines. Trans States, based in St. Louis, operates a fleet of 48 ERJs and 25 Jetstream 41s as American Connection, US Airways Express and United Express.
Hawaiian Airlines , which has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for two years, Friday received bankruptcy court approval for its plan of reorganization, which was developed jointly by its creditors committee and investor group Ranch Capital. The airline said after its two remaining open labor contracts with its pilots and flight attendant unions are ratified and a formal order is entered by the court, it should emerge from Chapter 11 in early April.
Jouve Aviation Solutions was chosen by EVA Air to provide an integrated electronic maintenance manual and job cards system to support the airline's fleet.
British Airways said it has learned its lesson and will never cry victory again, yet it hopes it has reversed the trend of falling revenues. It expects its turnover to increase 3%-3.5% in the current financial year to March 31 and 3%-4% in FY06 following four successive years of declines. Revenues fell 20% from just over £9 billion ($17.3 million) in FY01 to about £7.5 billion in FY04.
Martinair signed a three-year cooperation agreement with Thomas Cook Belgium to provide lift for long-haul flights from Brussels to Cuba, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Kenya and Zanzibar. Thomas Cook Belgium, a subsidiary of German travel group Thomas Cook AG, in February dropped its collaboration with BelgiumExcel as the troubled Excel Aviation Group neared collapse ( ATWOnline , Feb. 8). The contract starts May 1 and will see a 15% increase in Martinair's long-haul capacity.
Swiss International Air Lines on Friday announced that it will need to slash an additional 800-1,000 jobs by mid-2006 as it reported a net loss of CHF140 million ($121.5 million) for 2004, narrowed from CHF687 million in 2003. The layoffs are necessary in order to shed another CHF300 million in annual costs by 2007. Swiss warned that if they are not in place "swiftly," it will be unable to post a positive result for 2005.
Cebu Pacific inked a 12-year maintenance cost per hour agreement with GE Engine Services for maintenance, overhaul and repair of the 31 CFM56-5Bs that will power its new fleet of A319s/320s. According to GE, the agreement is worth $50 million. Cebu Pacific is scheduled to take delivery of 12 new A319s it ordered last December between 2005 and 2007. It will take two A320s in April and May.
Embraer inked an agreement with Chautauqua Airlines to manage and streamline the carrier's spare parts inventory using the Embraer Collaborative Inventory Planning program. According to the plane-maker, ECIP "shortens delivery times for contracted parts and establishes a baseline for carriers to better manage costs."
Canadian low-fare airline Jetsgo suspended operations without warning Friday and said it would seek bankruptcy protection. The action, which occurred at the start of the March vacation break for many colleges and universities in Canada, stranded an estimated 17,000 passengers, according to wire service reports. In a statement released Friday, JetsGo Founder and President Michel Leblanc said, "We deeply regret that this had to happen. The decision to cease operations was only taken after difficult deliberation."
Kitty Hawk reported net income of $5.4 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, which included a net one-time gain of $3.6 million. This compares to net income of $2.2 million in the prior-year period. Scheduled freight revenue rose 19.5% to $43 million. For full-year 2004, the company posted net income of $6.5 million, which in addition to the fourth-quarter special items included a further $1.8 million in net special charges. This compares to net income of $2.6 million in 2003, which included $3 million in special income.
Germanwings plans to set up its third base at Berlin Schoenefeld and initially will base two aircraft at the airport. It will launch direct service from Berlin to Ankara, Istanbul, Moscow, Split, Stockholm and Zagreb June 5.
The US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. announced Friday that it has moved to assume responsibility for the pensions of United Airlines' 36,000 active and retired ground employees. According to PBGC, the pensions are only 30% funded and the company has missed $363 million in legally required contributions. In addition, management previously has declared its intention to terminate the plan.
Rockwell Collins reported that a Lufthansa CityLine CRJ200 last week performed its first low-visibility takeoff using the Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics Head-up Guidance System at Milan Malpensa.
United Airlines will recall 500 more flight attendants from voluntary furlough this year in response to increased flying for the remainder of the year and to offset attrition. According to a taped message to staff, 300 will be recalled June 1 and the remaining 200 will return July 1. The recalls are in addition to the 244 flight attendants that will return to the carrier March 31 and the 175 that will come back Oct. 31. As of July 1, the company said it will have approximately 2,150 flight attendants on voluntary furlough and none on involuntary furlough.
Virgin Blue Deputy CEO and COO Rob Sherrard resigned for what he called "long considered and purely personal reasons." He was co-founder of the airline and oversaw its operations from its inaugural flight on Aug. 31, 2000. CEO Brett Godfrey paid tribute to Sherrard as a "strong leader" and "a mentor to many," adding he "made an outstanding contribution." Andrew David, previously GM-Pacific Airline for Air New Zealand, will replace Sherrard as COO.
Qatar Airways will boost its service between Doha and Bangkok to twice-daily from March 27. The flights will be operated with A330-200s. Also, the airline on May 2 will begin three weekly nonstop A319 flights between Doha and Tunis, which will continue on to Algiers.
Air Asia's 49%-owned Indonesian affiliate airline PT AWAir was denied authority to fly to Singapore by that nation's CAA. "We are very disappointed by the treatment of CAAS in preventing AWAir from exercising our rights as an Indonesian-based carrier," the airline said in a statement, and it accused CAAS of engaging in delay tactics and using its application to serve Singapore as a "bargaining chip" in recent bilateral negotiations with the Indonesian government.
Swiss International Air Lines flew 1.4 billion RPKs in February, down 12.4% compared to the year-ago period. Intercontinental traffic dropped 14.9% to 1.03 billion RPKs while European RPKs dipped 3.9% to 351 million. Total capacity (ASKs) declined 14.3% to 1.95 billion, driven by an 18% fall in intercontinental ASKs to 1.3 billion, while European ASKs were down 5.6% to 632 million. As a result, system load factor rose 1.6 points to 71.2%. On European routes, load factor was up 1 point to 55.6%. Intercontinental load factor climbed 2.8 points to 78.7%.
Bmi said it intends to begin thrice-weekly service from London Heathrow to Riyadh "shortly" after it launches its first scheduled long-haul flights from LHR to Mumbai on May 14. The exact start date for the Riyadh flights is not yet known--"We don't even have a month yet," a bmi spokesperson told ATWOnline . She added that the carrier hopes to be able to start the Riyadh service somewhere in the next summer schedule depending on regulatory approvals that still have to be obtained.
Delta Air Lines, which posted an industry-high $5.2 billion loss in 2004, said it expects to report a "substantial" loss in 2005 as well and warned in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that if it is unable to reduce its operating expenses further and continues to experience significant losses, it will be forced to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
GE announced that its CF34-10E engine has been awarded FAA type certification, paving the way for aircraft certification and introduction into revenue service with JetBlue Airways on the Embraer 190 in the third quarter.
Paul Boghosian , head of Hawaiian Investment Partners Group, which has proposed a bankruptcy reorganization plan for Hawaiian Airlines, was arrested after he allegedly agreed to pay a $500,000 bribe to an FBI agent posing as a hedge fund manager in exchange for a $2.5 million loan, the Associated Press reported. In addition, Boghosian made a number of misrepresentations to the bankruptcy court, among others regarding HIP's ability to provide approximately $300 million in new equity funding and financing in order to carry out the reorganization plan, it was charged.
