Air Canada's (AC) labor troubles took another negative turn late Tuesday when the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), representing the airline's 8,600 mechanics, baggage handlers and cargo agents, served notice of a strike to start March 12.
Chilean airlines saw a 16% increase in international passenger traffic and a 15.8% growth in domestic traffic in January, logging a record figure of 1.4 million boarding passengers, its all-time best single month on record.
Qantas (QF) on Wednesday launched inflight connectivity trials onboard six Airbus A380 aircraft flying to Los Angeles from Sydney and Melbourne. The OnAir connectivity service, using Inmarsat’s SwiftBroadband, will initially be available to customers in the first- and business-class cabins.
Cyprus Airways posted a post-tax loss of €18.9 million ($25 million) for the 2011 full year, compared to a €232,000 profit in 2010. The carrier said the economic downturn, Greek debt crisis, competition and dip in passenger traffic all contributed to the loss. Total revenue for the year was €212.4 million compared to the previous year’s €236.3 million.
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Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), the Wilmington, Ohio-based air cargo operator, reported 2011 net income of $23.2 million, down 41.7% from a $39.8 million net profit in 2010. The company said earnings were partly affected by training and transitioning costs for pilots as it upgrades its fleet. Aircraft added during 2011 included nine Boeing 767 converted freighters and one 757F. Additions in 2012 are slated to include seven more 767Fs and two 757 combi aircraft. ATSG is in the process of retiring its remaining 727 and DC-8 freighters.
United Airlines’ weekend migration to the Hewlett Packard SHARES system used by Continental, its merger partner, got mixed reviews: As Henry Harteveldt, an analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, said, it was “a success on the technology level but less of a success on the customer-experience front.” In the final major step in the integration of the two carriers, United successfully moved its reservations, inventory control and departure control systems off the Apollo platform, where they had resided for more than 40 years, and onto SHARES.
Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Assn. (ALTA) has named Dulce Carrillo-Kuti as director-communications and media relations. Carrillo-Kuti joins ALTA from Avon Products and The Clorox Co. corporate communications. OLT Express named Joachim Klein as its new MD. Klein is former chairman of Eurowings.
News from Travel Technology Update: United Airlines’ weekend migration to the Hewlett Packard SHARES system used by Continental, its merger partner, got mixed reviews: As Henry Harteveldt, an analyst at Atmosphere Research Group, said, it was “a success on the technology level but less of a success on the customer-experience front.”
UTair (UT) has signed a codeshare agreement with Turkish Airlines (TK). The agreement gives UT access to TK’s 129 destinations including domestic flights starting at Istanbul Ataturk (IST).
FlyDubai opened a new state-of-the-art training center in Dubai Wednesday. The facility, approved by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), is the only certified Boeing 737 facility in the United Arab Emirates.
Qantas (QF) said it has begun to implement, and in some areas accelerate, its previously announced five-year plan to remain competitive during the “ongoing reshaping of global finances, the painful economic restructuring in Europe … the rebalancing of global economic weight to Asia … and a profound transition in the Australian economy.”
Austrian Airlines (OS) chief commercial officer Andreas Bierwirth resigned Friday and will be replaced by Karsten Benz, Lufthansa (LH) Passage VP-European sales and services, effective April 1.
Special item charges impacted Republic Airways Holdings’ (RAH) 2011 fourth-quarter results and resulted in a $123.5 million net loss compared with a $1.3 million loss a year ago.
Turkish Technic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkish Airlines (TK), is looking beyond its borders for MRO joint ventures as its new state-of-the-art MRO facility in Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen nears opening this summer
