The Indian Commercial Pilots Assn., the union representing 800 Air India pilots who were Indian Airlines pilots prior to the 2007 merger, said its members will go on strike starting Wednesday.
Swiss International Air Lines improved its fuel consumption by 3.9% year-over-year in 2010, and by a total of 17% since its founding in 2002. It ended 2010 with fuel consumption of 3.73 liters per 100 passenger km., versus 3.88 liters in 2009. “Maintaining a responsible attitude toward the environment has been a cornerstone of our corporate culture for several years now,” LX CEO Harry Hohmeister remarked.
Pinnacle Airlines said it reached a tentative accord with flight attendants to amend its collective bargaining agreement. If ratified, the contract would provide a five-year extension to the agreement that became amendable on Jan. 31, it said. Pinnacle’s 797 flight attendants are represented by the United Steelworkers AFL-CIO.
Etihad Airways reduced its order for 35 787s by four aircraft and instead exercised options on three 777s to safeguard its expansion, the airline said last week following a report in The Seattle Times.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said the airline is expecting to receive its first Boeing 787 in January or February 2012. "Over two years' delay," he noted. "But the 787 will be a good aircraft for us."
Etihad Airways appointed Kevin Knight as the airline’s chief strategy and planning officer. Knight will be responsible for a range of key business areas, including pricing, capacity and revenue management, route and network planning and aircraft acquisitions. He also will lead Etihad Crystal Cargo. Mongolian Airlines appointed Aviarepsto serve as the carrier's general sales agent in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain.
US Airways said its employees will receive profit sharing checks for the first time since 2007 totaling more than $47 million. Employees have already received more than $25 million in operational incentive bonuses and employee recognition awards over the past year. US Airways' Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said, "Our team ran a safe, reliable airline in 2010, completing more scheduled flights and delivering baggage more reliably than our network peers. Our customers have noticed the turnaround and our financial results reflect these positive results."
AWAS announced that Terra Firma, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and other co-investors committed to invest an additional $529 million in the Dublin-based operating lessor by April and a another $200 million "to finance further value enhancing opportunities." The initial investment of $529 million is being made by Terra Firma ($246 million), CPPIB ($266 million) and other co-investors ($17 million), following which Terra Firma’s interest in AWAS will be 60%, CPPIB’s 25% and other co-investors’ 15%.
Air Astana and Amadeus have apparently settled their disagreement that led to the Kazakhstan airline filing suit against the GDS in a Madrid court ( ATW Daily New, Feb. 15). On Thursday Amadeus announced that the two had reached a long-term content agreement that "guarantees agents access to the full range of Air Astana's content through Amadeus with no commission reduction." The new contract will be in place through 2014.
Air Canada said it has been notified by Boeing that its first five 787 deliveries, originally slated for 2012 and then pushed back to the second half of 2013, "are now targeted for delivery" during the 2013 fourth quarter and the 2014 first half. "This represents an average delay of between five and seven months from the previous schedule," AC stated, adding that Boeing is still evaluating the schedule for the carrier's remaining 32 787 deliveries.
Jet Airways may be planning to join SkyTeam through a transatlantic joint venture with Air France KLM, Alitalia and Delta Air Lines, according to media reports.
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark said the carrier has temporarily stopped service from Dubai to Libya, reduced DXB-Cairo service to a single daily flight, drawn down DXB-Tunis flights to thrice-weekly, and also made adjustments on service to Yemen.
Lufthansa is in the midst of a €2.8 billion ($3.9 billion) investment program to upgrade its fleet and improve service quality, with arriving Airbus A380s playing a large role.
LAN Airlines and affiliates Lan Peru, Lan Argentina and Lan Ecuador signed a bilateral interline agreement with JetBlue Airways, under which LAN passengers gain access to up to 55 cities in the US, Latin America and the Caribbean through JetBlue's hub at New York JFK. JetBlue customers gain access to LAN destinations in South America. Under the terms of the deal, customers will be able to purchase a single ticket for travel on both airlines and take advantage of one-stop check-in for boarding passes and baggage.
Lufthansa Systems said it will launch its new wireless inflight entertainment system, BoardConnect, on Condor’s Boeing 767s. BoardConnect is a next-generation IFE system, operating on a Wi-Fi network allowing passengers to connect to video and audio on demand—including games, e-mail and social networks—via their IFE screens or a personal Wi-Fi-equipped device.
Emirates Airline President Tim Clark told ATW at ITB Berlin that all 15 of the airline's Airbus A380s operated for the first time with 100% technical dispatch reliability last week. "We have some hiccups sometimes [with the A380 operation] but the reliability is going up," he said. When EK's first A380 arrived about 220 post-factory modifications had to be made. "Today the number is about 60," he said.
Air Baltic's aging fleet, which includes 14 Boeing 737-300/500 aircraft, creates challenges in managing rising fuel prices, President and CEO Bertolt Flick told ATW this week in Los Angeles. "It is clear that we need a more modern fleet," he said.
Lufthansa Group said that based on preliminary figures it ended 2010 with a net profit of €1.1 billion ($1.53 billion), significantly improved from a restated net loss of €34 million in 2009.
EADS reported 2010 net income of €553 million ($770.8 million), a major turnaround from a €763 million net loss in 2009, on 7% growth in revenue to €45.8 billion driven by a strong performance by Airbus.
Aeroflot placed an order for six GE90-powered Boeing 777-300ERs and two 777-200ERs, the manufacturer said Wednesday, noting the order was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on its website.
Cathay Pacific Group reported that annual profits nearly tripled in 2010 to HK$14.04 billion ($1.8 billion) from a HK$4.69 billion surplus in 2009 on a 33.7% rise in revenue to HK$89.52 billion.
Cathay Pacific Group on Wednesday reported that annual profits nearly tripled in 2010 to HK$14.04 billion ($1.8 billion) from a HK$4.69 billion surplus in 2009 on a 33.7% rise in revenue to HK$89.52 billion.
Turkish Airlines ordered 10 Airbus A321s and three A330-200 freighters to meet its growth plans in the passenger and cargo markets, Airbus said on Tuesday.
Boeing's slow selling 747-8 Intercontinental got a boost this week as Air China ordered five of the aircraft valued at a combined $1.5 billion based on list prices, although the Beijing-based carrier noted it would get a "significant price concession."
