Regional Airline Assn. has appointed Republic Airways VP-safety and regulatory compliance Brad Elstad as chairman, and Atlantic Southeast Airlines director-safety Brad Sheehan as vice chairman, for a two-year term, effective Jan. 1, 2012. Gulf Air named Rick Saggar country manager-UK and Ireland. Saggar joins Gulf Air from Hahn Air, where he served as director-airline business group.
South African Airways has announced an expansion of its African routes into the Congo as well as a new international route to China. The airline will launch services to Pointe Noire in the Congo from Jan. 26 and Beijing from Jan. 31. Pointe Noire is the fourth new African destination this financial year. It joins Ndola, in Zambia; Kigali, in Rwanda; and Bujumbura, in Burundi.
Air France (AF) will commence 3X-weekly scheduled service between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Wuhan Tianhe April 11, 2012. AF will use a Boeing 777-200ER configured with 309 seats, comprising 35 in business, 24 in premium economy and 250 in economy.
Atlantic Airways (RC), the national carrier of the Faroe Islands, posted a profit before tax of DKK27.4 million ($5 million) in the first nine months of 2011, up 166% from a DKK 10.3 million pre-tax profit earned in the year-ago period.
US Dept. of Transportation’s (DOT) Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said the nation’s largest carriers reported three tarmac delays longer than 3 hr. in September, compared to four flights in September 2010.
Lufthansa Cargo (LHC) is predicting flat to 5% traffic growth in 2012, LHC executive board member-product and sales Andreas Otto told the German News agency dpa.
Barcelona-based LCC Vueling Airlines (VY) reported a third-quarter net profit of €41 million ($55.3 million), slightly down from a €43.3 million net profit earned in the year-ago period. It expects to obtain a positive result for the full year despite high fuel prices and a difficult macroeconomic and operating environment.
EasyJet (U2) nearly doubled its net profit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 to £225 million ($353.4 million) from £121 million in net income earned in the prior year and decided to return £195 million to shareholders, the company’s first dividend since its IPO in November 2000.
TAP Portugal CEO Fernando Pinto is optimistic the privatization process of the Portuguese carrier will be a success, although the carrier’s pilots—frustrated by their lack of participation in the company’s privatization process—are threatening industrial action. The eight-day strike is expected to take place from Dec. 9-12 and Jan. 3-6, Dow Jones reported last week.
Delta Air Lines (DL) president Ed Bastian said that "the important impact of consolidation" can be seen in US airlines' financial results, which remain positive despite a difficult operating environment characterized by high fuel prices and shaky consumer confidence.
Iberia (IB) pilots represented by the SEPLA union will meet on Wednesday Nov. 30 to decide on possible strike action in December to protest the company's plans to launch Iberia Express.
The US Dept. of Transportation (DOT) has fined Spirit Airlines $50,000 for advertising fares that did not include or disclose details on taxes and fees.
Air France (AF) will start operating Airbus A380 aircraft on a daily Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Dubai (DXB) route Dec. 5, and on a 2X-daily CDG to Los Angeles (LAX) route May 28, 2012.
Alaska Airlines’ (AS) 626 aircraft technicians, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. (AMFA), ratified a new five-year contract. The agreement includes annual pay raises, additional job protection provisions, a long-term contract bonus, and a shared commitment to work on minimizing health-care cost increases. "This contract recognizes the professionalism and skill of our technicians and provides long-term security for our employees, the union and the airline," AS VP-maintenance and engineering Fred Mohr said.
Air New Zealand (ANZ) has launched a new Airpoints frequent flyer membership initiative designed to transform its loyalty card into what it terms the “ultimate travel companion.”
This year's fuel price spike prevented US major airlines from improving profitability year-over-year in the third quarter, but the country's seven largest airline companies still earned $1.09 billion in combined net income for the three months ended Sept. 30, ATW calculated.
Turkish Airlines (THY) reported a consolidated net profit of TRY76.7 million ($43.3 million) in the third quarter, up from TRY21.4 million in the year-ago quarter.
Lufthansa (LH) will add Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport (VKO) to its route network beginning March 25, in a move that could set the stage for Russia’s third largest carrier, UTair, to become a future Star Alliance member.
Wizz Air (W6) will base a sixth Airbus A320 at Bucharest Baneasa fromJune 2012. This aircraft will enable the airline to support a new route to Verona (VRN) and increase frequencies on existing routes to Milan Bergamo, Venice Treviso, Madrid, Dortmund, Bari, Cuneo Turin, Catania, Forli Bologna and Pisa. The new route to VRN will initially operate 3X weekly from June 23 and increase the number of destinations the LCC serves from its BBU base to 20.
Air Lease Corp. (ALC) has signed lease agreements for 13 additional aircraft. ALC said it placed two Embraer 175s, leased to Belavia (Belarus); four ATR 72-600s, leased to Passaredo (Brazil); and two Airbus A320-200s, leased to S7 Airlines, from its order book. ALC leased one Boeing 737-800, leased to Caribbean Airlines; one 737-800, leased to Transaero; and one 737-800, leased to Sun Country, from its fleet. ALC acquired on lease one 737-800, leased to Spicejet, and one A320-200, leased to Interjet.
