Lufthansa and the ver.di union representing 50,000 cabin crew and ground workers agreed on a 22-month pay freeze. In exchange, the workers will get a one-time bonus that could equal up to 2% of their annual pay, depending on LH's full-year 2011 earnings. "The challenge for the current business year is to grow and keep costs in balance. This is not so easy," Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATW on the sidelines of the recent Aegean Airlines Star Alliance induction ceremony in Athens.
China's airlines are bracing for a CNY140 ($20.70) per ton increase in domestic fuel costs after the Chinese government announced it is raising its domestic fuel price from CNY5,470 to CNY5,610 per ton.
Ryanair said it will cut capacity at its Dublin base this winter to 12 aircraft operating 850 weekly flights, down from 14 aircraft operating 1,000 last winter.
Delta Air Lines flew 18.53 billion system RPMs in June, a 4.2% rise year-over-year. Capacity lifted 1.5% to 21.13 billion ASMs and load factor increased 2.2 points to 87.7%. American Airlines operated 11.25 billion system RPMs in June, up 3.2% year-over-year, while capacity rose 1.3% to 12.96 billion ASMs. Load factor increased 1.6 points to 86.8%. American Eagle flew 736.5 million RPMs, up 5.3%, against a 6.5% increase in capacity to 956.3 million ASMs. Load factor fell 0.9 point to 77%.
Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht strongly rebuffed negative remarks about alliances by "certain airlines" and called on national governments and regulators to ensure competition remains fair.
Air Canada asked a Canadian federal court Tuesday to scrap the recent award of takeoff and landing slots to Porter Airlines at Toronto's downtown airport, arguing that the allocation process was "fatally flawed," according to Reuters. Since launching in 2006, Porter Airlines has operated from Toronto City Centre, where for a time it was the sole scheduled airline. AC has been opposed to Porter's position at the business-passenger-friendly facility since the Toronto Port Authority pushed regional Jazz Air (and by extension AC) out of YTZ in 2006.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Panasonic Avionics yesterday signed an MOU to equip all CX and Dragonair passenger aircraft with full broadband connectivity.
Alitalia yesterday joined the Air France KLM-Delta Air Lines transatlantic profit/loss-sharing joint venture, adding Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa to a network that utilizes Amsterdam, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York JFK, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Lyon, Cincinnati, Memphis and Salt Lake City.
Swiss International Air Lines believes its continued profitability will hinge on its ability to control costs and leverage its brand. "Swiss transported 13.8 million passengers last year and made a profit of CHF146 million ($137.2 million); that means we earned just CHF10 per ticket," CCO Holger Haetty told ATW recently in Vienna. "Cost management in a business with low margins will be an ongoing process…We need discipline."
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATW last week that LH subsidiary Austrian Airlines is on track to become profitable on an operating level this year.
Two Qantas executives at the center of an investigation into multimillion-dollar fuel-hedging losses in Vietnam have been allowed to return to Australia.
Includes: Top 20 Airlines World Airline Traffic Jet Fuel Prices World Airport Traffic IATA Fuel Prices Exchange Rates 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
Canadian regional Jazz Air reached a tentative labor contract agreement with approximately 760 flight attendants represented by the Canadian Flight Attendants Union. Pending ratification, further details were not disclosed. Jazz and its pilots reached a tentative agreement on a new labor pact on June 25 that is still subject to ratification, and negotiations with its 33 crew schedulers are ongoing, the carrier said.
