Southwest Airlines has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with flight attendants of AirTran Airways, a wholly owned subsidiary of Southwest Airlines.
Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways have received US Department of Transportation (DOT) backing for their planned transatlantic joint venture (JV).
Vienna Labor and Social Affairs Court is questioning the legal validity of Austrian Airlines’ transfer of flight operations—which included a fleet of some 80 aircraft and 2,100 employees— to subsidiary Tyrolean Airways.
Irish regional Aer Lingus, which was looking to combine with another carrier in 2012, has more recently explored a variety of merger and acquisition scenarios, according to information released by the UK Competition Commission (UKCC).
Aegean Airlines has rebounded in its second-quarter performance, posting €17.7 million ($23 million) in net profit, a considerable turnaround from a loss of €13.5 million during the year-ago period.
China Eastern Airlines reported a first-half net profit of CNY763.3 million, down 23% compared to a net income of CNY995.1 million in the year-ago period, according to the carrier’s statement released by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Lufthansa Group is reportedly planning to cut costs by renegotiating its pension payment contracts for around 60,000 employees, who will be informed this week.
United Airlines has applied to the US Department of Transportation for authority to operate flights between San Francisco and Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan province, starting next year.
Chapman Freeborn and Air Libya have formed a partnership to fly cargo in Libya using an Antonov An-26 freighter, which will be based at Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport on a long-term lease agreement.
International passenger traffic on Asia-Pacific carriers rose 6.6% in July to 19.6 million year-over-year; in June, international passenger traffic grew 7.1% to 18.4 million compared to June 2012.
The US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported that US scheduled passenger airlines collectively employed 381, 441 full-time workers in June, dropping 2.4% from June 2012.
On Feb. 14, US Airways and American Airlines announced their Valentine’s pact to merge. On Aug. 13, the US Dept. of Justice made its move with all the drama of a preacher asking, “anyone here know of any legal impediment to this marriage?”
On the Cover 26 Annual ATW/Arthur D. Little World airport report Asia-Pacific overtakes North America to become top dog in airport passenger traffic. By Anne Paylor Features 47 China’s Field of Dreams Beijing is committed to rapidly expanding its domestic airports despite most of them struggling financially. By Katie Cantle
Next year, central and eastern European low-cost carrier Wizz Air will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Since its creation, Wizz has gone from a fledgling start-up to a major low-cost player with 44 Airbus A320s serving over 300 routes from 16 bases. ATW caught up with József Váradi in Budapest to hear about the carrier’s future plans.
" "A city should be built around its airport because the airport is the spearhead of city development. These days, the two or three kilometer-long runway can connect the world with the city, which is especially important to underdeveloped regions,” Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) minister Li Jiaxiang said, summarizing Beijing’s enthusiasm for China’s rapid airport expansion programs in recent years.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) and lawyers for American Airlines and US Airways are starting preparations for a November trial to determine whether the carriers’ planned merger should be rejected on antitrust grounds, a much earlier court date than DOJ wanted.
Air New Zealand has posted a net profit of NZ$182 million ($140.8 million) for its 2013 financial year, an increase of NZ$111 million over the previous year.
