Qantas confirmed that further extensive restructuring planned for the airline could result in redundancies among the 38,500-strong workforce and the relocation of operations within Australia and offshore. Responding to media speculation about likely losses of up to 3,000 jobs, CEO Geoff Dixon said it is inevitable that existing efficiency programs and a review currently being undertaken will change the direction of the carrier. However, he said there is no definitive figure for the redundancies that may result from the process.
G2 SwitchWorks said it received funding from Norwest Venture Partners and Texas Pacific Group's TPG Ventures. G2 is a GDS new-entrant company that has stated its fees to airlines will be priced 80% below what GDSs currently charge ( ATWOnline , Feb. 28). As part of the investment, Jim Lusser of Norwest and Bill McGlashan of TPG Ventures will join G2's board. David Bonderman, managing general partner of Texas Pacific and chairman of Ryanair, will serve as a special adviser to the board, as will Promod Haque, managing partner at Norwest.
Online travel sites such as Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity are "outperforming" most airline websites in terms of "customer experience," according to a study by California-based Keynote Systems. The study noted that "greater selection is a major inherent advantage for online travel agencies," but stated that the sites are "also creating a better overall online experience for customers." Among airlines, Southwest and JetBlue were rated among the best sites in terms of customer experience.
LAN Airlines (formerly LanChile) posted record net income of $47.6 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 35.4% over income of $35.2 million in the year-ago period.
China has overtaken Japan as the largest air travel market in Asia and is second only to the US in terms of total scheduled departing seats, according to a new report from the ITTC consultancy division of Airclaims, which is headed by Peter Morris, former IATA chief economist.
British Airways flew 7.8 billion RPKs in February, up 1.4% on the year-ago period. Capacity fell 1.4% to 11.04 billion ASKs and load factor consequently moved up 2 points to 70.8%. The increase in traffic comprised a 6.8% rise in premium traffic and a 0.4% increase in nonpremium traffic. Passengers carried decreased 3.1% to 2.5 million. Cargo tonne-kilometers declined 5.9%. The traffic and capacity figures versus last year are impacted by some 3 points because 2004 was a leap year, BA noted.
Ryanair's recent order for 225 Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglet Systems to outfit its entire fleet of 737-800s in service and on order represents the largest single order for the program. The deal was announced in conjunction with the Irish LCC's order for up to 140 new CFM56-7B-powered 737-800s ( ATWOnline , Feb. 25). Ryanair will begin retrofitting its existing fleet immediately, while from January 2005 all new 737-800s will arrive with winglets installed. Southwest Airlines also is a strong believer in the winglets.
Swissport launched operations at Singapore Changi yesterday, well ahead of a planned start date in July, becoming the airport's third ground handling provider.
Continental Airlines flew 5.33 billion RPMs in February, up 6.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 0.1% to 7.21 billion ASMs and load factor gained 4.5 points to 73.9%. For the two months ended Feb. 28, RPMs increased 9.4% to 11.2 billion, ASMs rose 2.4% to 14.99 billion and load factor improved 4.8 points to 74.7%. Continental said consolidated passenger RASM is estimated to have increased 1%-2% in February compared to February 2004, while mainline RASM is estimated to have climbed 2%-3%. For January, both consolidated and mainline RASM were up 4.2% over January 2004.
B/E Aerospace was selected by several Asian, European and other international airlines to provide a wide range of products. The company said the deals are valued at up to $145 million, including more than $100 million in firm orders. China Eastern Airlines selected B/E to manufacture and deliver a version of its MiniPod business class seat as well as a range of galley equipment for A330s. Turkish Airlines and AirAsia selected versions of B/E's Spectrum coach seats to outfit their new fleets of Boeing and Airbus narrowbodies. Turkish also chose B/E galley equipment.
The Christmas week travel meltdowns at Comair and US Airways were the result of different factors, but US Airways officials had the advantage of knowing ahead of time that they faced potentially serious staffing shortfalls, while in the case of Comair heroic efforts by ground staff to overcome a crippling snow and ice storm were undone by a software glitch.
Hainan Airlines selected CFM56s to power eight A319s in an engine order valued at $90 million. Deliveries begin this year and continue through 2007. Hainan holds options on 12 additional A319s.
EasyJet plans to boost service significantly from its base at Berlin Schoenefeld this fall with three new routes, which will bring to 27 the number of its routes from the airport. Under the expansion, the carrier will begin double-daily flights to both London Gatwick and Rome Ciampino and one daily flight to Milan Linate. All new flights will start Sept. 21. According to easyJet, Berlin is now its largest base outside of the UK, and with delivery of its 100th aircraft at the end of March, Schoenefeld will account for 10% of its total operations.
CSA Czech Airlines is looking to increase its passengers by 1 million to 5.4 million in 2005 and to move up to seventh place among AEA members, it said in a statement issued yesterday. This year it will add two A320s and one 737-500 to its fleet and dedicate two A321s for charter flights. In addition, new flights to Sarajevo, Minsk and Skopje are on its agenda, as well as service from Riga to Rome. CSA also plans to add 30 frequencies on existing routes.
United's low-fare airline-within-an-airline Ted is planning to expand its fleet by 20% and increase its service from its Denver, Washington Dulles and Chicago hubs to markets in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean this year, employees were told yesterday. The carrier's fleet of A320s will grow from 47 to 56, but United stressed that this will be achieved by converting nine mainline passenger aircraft to the Ted configuration and not by adding more aircraft. Specific flight increases will be announced at a later date.
South East Asian Airlines , a small regional carrier based in the Philippines that operates a fleet of 15 aircraft including nine Let 410s and two former Minerve Do-328 turboprops, plans to expand its network this year. SEAIR Chairman Irene Dornier told this website that the airline easily could add up to six more Do-328s to cover the demand for international tourism. It transported 200,000 passengers last year on 23 sectors and looks to double the figure this year. It is evaluating expanding into neighboring countries in the region, such as Cambodia.
US Dept. of Transportation said yesterday that the 19 carriers reporting ontime performance recorded an overall ontime arrival rate of 71.4% in January, down from January 2004's 74.9% rate and December 2004's 71.6% rate. Of all flight delays in January, 6.1% were caused by weather, down from January 2004 when 6.2% of flights were delayed by weather and up from December 2004's rate of 5.4%. Hawaiian Airlines again posted the highest ontime arrival rate at 92.6%, with Continental Airlines at 78% and Southwest Airlines at 75.6% rounding out the top three.
Sabre Airline Solutions' revenue management application was selected by Air Malta. Products include the Sabre AirMax Revenue Manager, Sabre AirMax Group Manager and Sabre AirMax Low Fares Manager designed for the low-cost carrier market.
Pakistan International Airlines 777 caught fire at Manchester Airport yesterday at 9:15 a.m. local time shortly after touching down, prompting the evacuation of passengers via emergency chutes. Flight PK789 with 323 passengers and 12 crew had landed for refueling after flying from Karachi. It was en route to Toronto. Airport authorities said it suffered a small undercarriage fire while taxiing. Three people were taken to a hospital.
Teledyne Controls will supply its Integrated Data Management Unit for retrofit installation on 16 Japan Airlines 767-200s/300s. Teledynes iDMU will replace the legacy DMU currently in service, providing enhanced aircraft condition monitoring and recording capabilities.
Emirates-CAE Flight Training received Type Rating Training Organization certification by the JAA, which means that European aircraft operators can have their crews trained at ECFT without needing to revalidate the type ratings with their national licensing authorities.
APV , the state privatization agency of Hungary, announced that five investors are competing to buy a 99.95% stake in flag carrier Malev. According to Reuters, three of the applications submitted can be regarded as bids while the other two are letters of intent. APV said it will not release the names of the investors before it announces the winner, which should occur within 30 days.
Airports of Thailand finally confirmed the widespread industry assumption that the opening of the new Bangkok airport, Suvarnabhumi, has been postponed by six months and now is scheduled for March 2006. Over the weekend, AOT Chairman Srisook Chandrangsu told Thai media that the postponement was not caused by construction problems but instead would give the company more time to test the facility. Thai media are viewing the delay as a blow to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who continually has assured the airline industry that the new airport would be operational by Sept. 29.
ASI Entertainment said it completed implementing the first stage of its G3CARS system, which provides electronic flight log and high-speed crew communications, with Italian carrier Air One. ASI signed a five-year agreement with Air One to install the system on its fleet of 28 737s.
