Royal Jordanian President and CEO Hussein Dabbas confirmed that delivery of the first of the carrier's 11 787s is now scheduled for September 2013. "Almost three years late," he pointed out to ATW last week on the sidelines of the IATA AGM in Berlin. He said the Dreamliners will open up new opportunities for the carrier. "For example, nonstop Amman-Hong Kong services" will be possible, he noted.
The UK's Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service confirmed that it was unable to broker a deal between British Airways and the Unite union to end the long-running dispute between the airline and its flight attendants over pay and working conditions.
Excessive government fees and regulation, aging infrastructure and the emergence of major airlines in the Middle East and Asia are threatening European airlines' long-held position at the forefront of the global air transport industry, according to Swiss International Air Lines CEO Harry Hohmeister.
FedEx reported net income for its fiscal year ended May 31 of $1.18 billion, significantly improved over a $98 million profit in the prior year, despite a 2% dip in revenue to $34.73 billion. Total FY2009-10 expenses lowered 6% to $32.74 billion, helped in part by an 18% decrease in fuel costs to $3.1 billion. Operating income was $2 billion, well more than double $747 million in the prior year.
Spirit Airlines last night reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract with its pilots, who agreed to return to work Friday following a six-day strike.
Hong Kong Airlines this week took delivery of its first Airbus aircraft, an A330-200 with which it intends to launch services to Europe by the end of the month, initially flying to Moscow. The A330 is the first of 53 Airbus aircraft it has on order comprising 23 A330s and 30 A320s. "The arrival of the A330 is a milestone for Hong Kong Airlines as we expand into the long-haul market," President Yang Jian Hong said. Aircraft are equipped with Panasonic Avionics' eX2 IFE and communication systems.
US airlines were bullish on the industry's recovery in comments to investors yesterday, predicting robust second-quarter unit revenue increases. Speaking at the Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference in New York, available via webcast, United Airlines CFO Kathryn Mikells said the recovery is "greater than we were able to predict six months ago." She said UA's consolidated unit revenue will rise 26% or more year-over-year in the current quarter.
AirBaltic transported 295,809 passengers in May, a 29% increase year-over-year. Load factor grew 3 points to 69%. Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 7.82 billion RPKs in May, a 10.3% rise year-over-year. Capacity grew 2.8% to 9.62 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 5.5 points to 81.3%.
Continental Airlines yesterday said it plans to start daily 787 flights between Houston Intercontinental and Lagos on Nov. 10, 2011, launching what would be its first-ever service to Africa. The flights, which also would be the first daily scheduled service between Texas and Africa by any carrier, are subject to government approval. CO currently serves 63 international destinations from IAH and recently announced plans to begin service between IAH and Auckland on Nov. 16, 2011.
Spirit Airlines said it has cancelled all flights through Wednesday as its Air Line Pilots Assn.-represented cockpit crew remained on strike. A few days prior to the walkout, which began in the early morning of June 12, the airline said it had "developed plans to continue operating" in the event of a strike, but it appears that these plans fell through or that management badly miscalculated the solidarity of the pilot workforce ( ATW Daily News, June 14).
China Southern Airlines said it remains on track to join the SkyTeam Cargo alliance formally in November, and sources indicate that it is contemplating a possible merger of its cargo business with that of China Eastern Airlines.
Spirit Airlines suspended operations through Tuesday as its pilots walked off the job at the expiration of the federally mandated 30-day cooling-off period at midnight June 11-12. The airline previously had said it "developed plans to continue operations" should its Air Line Pilots Assn.-represented pilots go on strike ( ATWOnline, June 9).
Delta Air Lines will add first class service to all domestic flights longer than 750 mi. beginning this fall. When the upgrade is complete, 50 routes that currently feature only one class of service will be upgraded to two-cabin aircraft. The upgrade is part of the airline's ongoing three-year, $1 billion investment program, which includes the retrofit of CRJ700s ( ATWOnline, Jan. 26).
Following four years of negotiations and one month of federal mediation, Horizon Air and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Friday reached an "agreement in principle" on a new contract for the carrier's 686 pilots.
Lufthansa operated its first scheduled A380 flight Friday from Frankfurt to Tokyo Narita with 520 passengers and 22 crew onboard. Thrice-weekly service on the route will become daily on Aug. 4 following delivery of LH's second A380 by the end of July ( ATWOnline, April 30). Its third will operate between FRA and Beijing thrice-weekly beginning Aug. 25 and its fourth will fly between FRA and Johannesburg thrice-weekly from Oct. 25.
Air China, buoyed by a gradual rebound in international traffic owing to the economic recovery in Asia, is eyeing expansion. MD-International Affairs and Cooperation Lou Yongfeng told ATW Daily News last week on the sidelines of IATA's AGM in Berlin that the carrier is encouraged by the success of recently started routes. "This year we have opened two international routes. One is Shanghai-Chengdu-Bangalore and the other one is Beijing-Manila. So far both routes are operating quite well with an average load factor of more than 75%," he said.
Sichuan Airlines plans to launch Hebei Airlines on June 29 using the assets of subsidiary Dongbei Air. Sichuan this month took over troubled Dongbei by investing CNY400 million ($58.7 million) to increase its ownership stake to 97% from 33.5% ( ATWOnline, June 7). The launch of Hebei will be done in conjunction with the Hebei provincial government represented by Hebei Jizhong Energy Group.
