Republic Airways Holdings said yesterday that all of its executive management functions, including those of subsidiaries Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines, will be consolidated at its Indianapolis headquarters and former Frontier CEO Sean Menke will leave the company at the end of the current quarter.
Thai Airways President Piyasvasti Amranand told reporters yesterday that the airline expects to post a net profit in both 2009 and 2010, when it expects to be THB4 billion ($121.3 million) in the black, Reuters reported. A profit in the 2009 fourth quarter will reverse a THB1.57 billion loss through the first nine months of last year, he said ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17, 2009).
Qantas yesterday said it remains confident in its 27% investment in Vietnam's Jetstar Pacific despite the emergence of a report highlighting maintenance deficiencies and the legal troubles facing several executives.
US FAA is ordering airlines to inspect 737 Classics' fuselages every 500 cycles to prevent further occurrences of an incident that took place last summer involving a Southwest Airlines 737-300 that developed a hole in its fuselage while flying from Nashville to Baltimore ( ATWOnline, July 17, 2009), according to The Dallas Morning News. FAA's notice requires carriers operating 737 Classics to conduct an inspection within the next five weeks. Inspections then must occur at least once every 500 cycles.
European Commissioner-designate for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding of Luxembourg told the European Parliament at a confirmation hearing this week that the use of full-body scanners at EU airports should not be compulsory owing to privacy and health considerations. "Human beings have dignity and every measure has to be clarified first. Does it respect human dignity, does it respect privacy and does it respect health," she argued. "Our needs for security can't justify every violation of privacy. Citizens aren't objects.
Virgin Atlantic Airways cancelled its outstanding order for six A340-600s, according to Airbus's orders and deliveries list. The airline firmed its commitment for six purchased and four leased A330-300s last month ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12). It currently operates 19 A340s. There now are seven A340s in Airbus's order book, five -500s and two -600s. The VS cancellation first was reported by Air Transport Intelligence.
Kazuo Inamori, one of Japan's most prominent business figures, yesterday accepted Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's offer to become CEO of Japan Airlines and guide the troubled carrier through its pending bankruptcy reorganization.
Flybe and Nordic Aviation Capital concluded a sale/leaseback transaction for four new Q400s, the carrier announced. Transaction is worth approximately $100 million at list prices. Senior debt was provided by Export Development Canada. "In 2009 alone we financed the deliveries of 11 new aircraft despite the recent challenging economic and financial climate," Flybe Director-Fleet Planning David Attenburrow said. The airline currently operates 68 aircraft: 54 Q400s and 14 E-195s.
Blue Wings suspended operations yesterday, the Dusseldorf-based carrier announced on its website. "The developments of recent weeks and the tense overall economic situation in the aviation industry have forced us to take this step," the airline said. A spokesperson told German press that a re-launch was possible once "economic difficulties have been cleared." Blue Wings said last week that funds promised from investors had not arrived. It operated six A320 family aircraft ( ATWOnline, Jan. 8).
Vietnam Airlines earned a pre-tax profit of $8.1 million in 2009, down 42.1% from the $14 million reported in 2008, according to a statement cited by Agence France Presse in Hanoi. The airline cited the global recession and H1N1 flu as the primary culprits for the drop. Revenue declined 16.7% to $1.3 billion as passengers increased 5.7% to 9.3 million. It expects to carry 11 million passengers in 2010.
Airbus Executive VP-Programs Tom Williams told ATWOnline in Seville this week that the A320 final assembly line in Tianjin is performing "within our expectations." It delivered 11 A320 family aircraft last year. "We expect to deliver two A320s per month by the end of this year," he said, adding that all aircraft assembled there have been ordered by Chinese carriers.
Indian airlines carried 44.5 million passengers in 2009, up 7.9% from the prior year, the Ministry of Civil Aviation reported yesterday. Fourth-quarter traffic soared 30.5% year-over-year to 12.5 million passengers and December traffic rose 34.8% to 4.5 million.
Qatar Airways, Qatar Science & Technology Park and Qatar Petroleum announced establishment of the Qatar Advanced Biofuel Platform, which, with the support of Airbus, will carry out engineering and economic analysis into the development of a sustainable biofuel and "will also look into ways for production and supply," QR said. QABP will focus on creating a detailed engineering/implementation plan for sustainable production, a biofuel investments strategy, an advanced technology development program and market and strategic analyses.
Air France KLM said December unit revenues "continued their recovery thanks to a more marked improvement in long-haul premium traffic" but still were down from year-ago levels. The group flew 16.07 billion RPKs last month, a 4.6% decrease year-over-year, against a 5.5% cut in capacity to 20.16 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.8 point to 79.7%. British Airways flew 8.81 billion RPKs in December, a 4% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 4.2% to 11.48 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.1 point to 76.8%.
American Airlines yesterday confirmed that its offer to invest in Japan Airlines in conjunction with TPG Capital has been raised by $300 million to $1.4 billion and said it and oneworld partner British Airways will enhance cooperation with the troubled Tokyo-based carrier to enable it to generate an additional $500 million in revenue over the next three years.
United Airlines announced the pricing of two debt offerings worth a combined $700 million, comprising $500 million in aggregate principal amount of 9.875% senior secured notes due 2013 and $200 million of 12% senior second lien notes due 2013. Offerings are expected to close Friday and proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.
Delta Air Lines and Continental Airlines raised their fees for first and second checked bags on North American flights to $25 and $35 respectively, matching US Airways' fee levels imposed in the second half of last year. United Airlines and American Airlines currently charge $20 and $30 respectively. DL said it now is charging $23 for a first checked bag and $32 for a second checked bag if the passenger checks in online, believed to be the highest fees among US carriers for online check-in. Premium passengers and military personnel are exempt from the new DL and CO charges.
Bmi will reduce its London Heathrow-Dublin service from seven-times-daily to four at the start of the summer schedule, ending the necessity to base an A319 at DUB and putting 33 cabin staff "at risk of redundancy," it said in a statement cited by Irish media. The aircraft will be transferred to bmi's LHR operation and the DUB crew base will be closed.
Spring Airlines reported a profit of CNY158 million ($23.1 million) in 2009, a sevenfold increase over the CNY20 million earned in 2008, on a 27% lift in operating revenue to CNY1.99 billion. China's most successful LCC credited "effective cost control" for the improved result. "We saved about CNY103 million in operating expenses last year," a Spring spokesperson noted. The airline's costs are about 35% below the industry average.
US National Transportation Safety Board and FAA are investigating Sunday's emergency landing by a United Airlines A319 at Newark after its right landing gear failed to deploy. The aircraft, en route from Chicago O'Hare, reportedly abandoned its initial landing attempt at EWR owing to the landing gear problem. The pilots said that it would not deploy and decided to land the aircraft on a second attempt with just the nose and left main gear deployed. There were no injuries among the 53 passengers and crew.
Aeronautical Engineers Inc. of Miami was selected by Cargo Air, a Bulgarian charter carrier, to perform a 737-300SF passenger-to-freighter conversion. Aircraft was built in 1987 and is scheduled for redelivery in April. It is the second -300SF AEI has converted for Cargo Air.
Tiger Airways is striving to raise S$273 million ($195.7 million) in an initial public offering that values its shares at S$1.35-S$1.65. The LCC plans to sell 165 million shares, approximately 30% of its final register, and the funds would be used to expand operations and pay off loans. Analysts have suggested the valuation is optimistic given that it is nearly 14 times the carrier's 2010-11 forecast earnings. It posted a net loss of S$51 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, and an S$8.3 million deficit in the fiscal semester ended Sept.
CIT Aerospace said it signed agreements for the current and future lease of 130 commercial aircraft last year and added 13 new customers. It delivered 54 aircraft.
Unite union will re-ballot British Airways cabin crew members for industrial action starting Jan. 22, according to a union letter cited in UK press reports. A strike could begin as early as March 1. The new ballot comes despite last week's statement from Unite that it had reached agreement with BA to "hold talks aimed at finding a negotiated settlement to their dispute over cabin crew terms and conditions under the auspices of the [Trades Union Congress]" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 7).
Japan Airlines is expected to announce within days that it will file for bankruptcy later this month as part of a turnaround plan that will include eliminating 15,600 jobs, according to news reports from Tokyo.
