Qantas will keep its Airbus A380 fleet grounded until at least Wednesday as it focuses on whether newly discovered oil leaks may hold the clue to the catastrophic failure of the No. 2 Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine last Thursday ( ATW Daily News Nov. 5).
(Corrected Version) Qantas will change out at least three Rolls-Royce Trent 900s on two Airbus A380s owing to inspections resulting from the uncontained failure on a QF A380 last Thursday (ATW Daily News, Nov. 5). ATW incorrectly reported that Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines would also change engines.
Delta Air Lines flew 16.61 billion system RPMs in October, up 8.6% from the year-ago month, on a 9.5% increase in capacity to 19.91 billion ASMs. Load factor slipped 0.7 points to 83.4% Southwest Airlines flew 6.85 billion RPMs in October, up 8.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 5% to 8.39 billion ASMs as load factor jumped 2.5 points to 81.7%.
Continental Airlines announced Friday its technicians and related employees, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement ( ATW Daily News, Sept. 13). We are committed to reaching fair and mutually beneficial agreements with all of our unions, and are pleased our Continental technicians have voted to ratify this contract,” said Senior VP-Technical Operations Jim Keenan.
Gulfstream International Group, parent of the airline, filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code Nov. 4. The small Ft. Lauderdale-based turboprop operator said it intends to continue operating as it works to restructure its debt and secure long-term financing. It has arranged $5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Victory Park Capital Advisors.
An Aerocaribbean ATR 72-200 operating a domestic Cuban flight between Santiago and Havana crashed en route Thursday, killing all 68 passengers and crew onboard. The crash at 5:45 p.m. in a mountainous region near Sancti Spiritus occurred as Hurricane Tomas neared the eastern part of the island nation, where Santiago is located. By early Friday, Cuban authorities had suspended flights at the country's airports owing to the hurricane.
Jet Airways earned net income of INR124 million ($2.8 million) in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, a major reversal from a INR4.07 billion net deficit in the year-ago quarter, as revenue surged 31.2% year-over-year to INR35.23 billion.
Virgin Atlantic Airways on Friday confirmed a report in the UK's Daily Telegraph that its 51% owner, Virgin Group, contracted Deutsche Bank to assess the airline's position and growth opportunities in the quickly consolidating European airline industry.
Kenya Airways reported a net profit of KES1.44 billion ($172 million) for its fiscal first half ended Sept. 30, a 67% increase from the KES860 million it earned in the year-ago period. Revenue soared 23.1% to KES41.2 billion.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce told media in Sydney on Friday that the airline’s remaining five Airbus A380s could resume flying as early as Sunday if a number of engine checks are satisfactory following the uncontained failure of a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 aboard a Qantas A380 that had just taken off from Singapore on Thursday (ATW Daily News, Nov. 5).
An Aerocaribbean ATR 72-200 operating a domestic Cuban flight between Santiago and Havana crashed en route Thursday, killing all 68 passengers and crew onboard. The crash at 5:45 p.m. in a mountainous region near Sancti Spiritus occurred as Hurricane Tomas neared the eastern part of the island nation, where Santiago is located. By early Friday, Cuban authorities had suspended flights at the country's airports owing to the hurricane.
American Airlines has told Orbitz that it will sever its ties to the online travel agency effective Dec. 1, terminating Orbitz’ authority to ticket AA flights on Orbitz.com and Orbitz for Business websites.
Air Canada reported that operating profit for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 totaled C$327 million ($324.2 million), nearly five times greater than operating income of C$68 million in the year-ago period.
Includes: World Airline Traffic World Airport Traffic IATA Fuel Prices Aircraft Data Aircraft Values Aircraft Deliveries US Major and National Airline Traffic US Ontime Performance U.S. Fuel Cost and Consumption US Mishandled Baggage US Consumer Complaints
Qantas has grounded its six-strong A380 fleet after one of the aircraft suffered an uncontained engine failure just after takeoff from Singapore yesterday.
Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines said it expects to turn a profit on its long-haul flights for business travel in 2011 for the first time since they were established in 1988 owing to the relaunch of five-times-weekly Vienna–Mumbai flights Oct. 31 ( ATW Daily News, May 25).
