Aer Lingus Group will scale down its base at London Gatwick to three A320s from five at the start of the summer schedule as it anticipates demand will remain "soft" in the first half of 2010, although it expects to report a "small" operating profit before exceptional items in the second half of 2009.
Boeing said it is assessing the "market viability" of the 787-3 after ANA converted its order for 28 of the shorter-range Dreamliner variants to the standard 787-8, leaving no -3s in the manufacturer's backlog.
Oman Air transported 2.3 million passengers in 2009, up 17% from the prior year, boosting revenue 67%. It increased its fleet by eight aircraft to 21 and its network by five destinations to 32. It plans to add two more A330s in 2010.
United Airlines will lay off 140 employees this month, including 50 at Chicago O'Hare, the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers told the Chicago Tribune. An additional 100 customer service and ramp workers will be demoted to part-time status. A UA spokesperson told the paper the moves are a "result of our overall reduction in capacity." Mainline ASMs fell 9.7% in 2009.
American Airlines next week will announce that its offer in conjunction with TPG Capital to invest $1.1 billion in troubled Japan Airlines has been raised to $1.4 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. AA reportedly met with JAL officials yesterday and informed them of the improved offer. Neither airline confirmed the report. AA and Delta Air Lines are jockeying to participate in JAL's restructuring, which could take the form of a court-monitored bankruptcy proceeding ( ATWOnline, Jan. 7).
Ryanair yesterday said it plans to return about €1 billion ($1.44 billion) in surplus cash to shareholders following last month's collapse of a deal to purchase up to 200 aircraft from Boeing, while also denying speculation that it plans to take another run at Aer Lingus and announcing an agreement with Italian authorities regarding passenger identification.
AirBaltic yesterday said it expects to report a full-year pre-tax profit of LVL14 million ($28.3 million), making it "the only profitable airline in Europe that is majority-owned by the state." In 2008 the Latvian carrier posted a pre-tax loss of LVL30.4 million. "Due to the strong development of transfer traffic, it was possible to maintain the level of passenger revenue. The profit has been greatly enhanced by the sale of different services--hotels, insurance, car rentals, etc.," President and CEO Bertolt Flick said.
China Southern Airlines reportedly plans to purchase the 65% stake in neighboring Shenzhen Airlines formerly held by Li Zeyuan, who was arrested in November, in effort to strengthen its position in southern China. According to local press reports, CZ already has spoken with authorities in Beijing regarding the potential stake purchase. CZ GM Tan Wangeng refused to comment, however, calling the situation "too sensitive."
Wizz Air said it transported 7.8 million passengers in 2009, up 33% from 2008, as it opened its 11th base (Prague), increased its A320 fleet to 27 aircraft from 20 and launched 40 new routes. It said it will be "opening new operating bases, launching new routes, adding more capacity and carrying over 10 million passengers" in 2010.
Air France added the deputy CEO title to CFO Philippe Calavia, Chief Marketing Officer Bruno Matheu and COO Alain Bassil. Calavia will take over responsibility for all IT activity, Matheu will add the Commercial France and I&N Division to his department and Bassil will succeed Gilbert Rovetto as head of Air France. Rovetto is leaving the executive committee to serve as an adviser to CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon.
Blue Wings is facing financial difficulty again less than a year after having its operating license suspended by German authorities ( ATWOnline, May 6, 2009). A spokesperson for the Dusseldorf-based airline told n-tv that employees still have not received their December checks and that Russian investors have not followed through on certain commitments.
Aer Lingus and United Airlines said the first flight operated under the transatlantic marketing and codeshare arrangement announced one year ago will be an EI A330 service between Madrid and Washington Dulles on March 28. "It is anticipated that additional routes may be made available for sale during 2010 to commence operation in summer 2011," EI said yesterday ( ATWOnline, Jan. 23, 2009).
Mesa Air Group, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday ( ATWOnline, Jan. 6), was informed by NASDAQ that the company will be delisted on Jan. 14. Mesa said it will not appeal the stock exchange's decision.
US Airways said December consolidated unit revenue fell approximately 2% year-over-year while total RASM was down 1%. President Scott Kirby said the airline was "pleased our revenue performance continued to show improvement with positive trends in both booked yields and corporate revenue." The company flew 4.65 billion consolidated RPMs in December, a 3.6% fall from the year-ago month, against a 2.5% cut in capacity to 5.9 billion ASMs. Load factor dropped 0.9 point to 78.7%.
Thai Airways Executive Chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut resigned Tuesday after several weeks of accusations and negative coverage regarding his avoidance of some $5,600 in excess baggage charges on a November flight from Tokyo Narita to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.
Qantas low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways and Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia yesterday unveiled an alliance that will bring together the Asia/Pacific region's leading LCCs, allowing two carriers with combined annual turnover exceeding $3 billion to reduce costs, pool expertise and maintain lower fares.
Aer Lingus and Aer Arann are negotiating franchise arrangements on routes between Ireland and the UK, EI confirmed yesterday. It said a "further announcement will be made as appropriate."
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe told ATWOnline that the continuing uncertainty of the 787 delivery schedule is a more pressing problem for the airline than the global recession and industry downturn. Fyfe said yesterday that ANZ has had to hold up key expansion plans "because only the 787 is suited to the new routes." It originally was scheduled to take delivery of the first of 16 787s this year but the current schedule now calls for late 2013 with no firm date established. The Dreamliner flew for the first time last month.
Slovak Border and Immigration Police confirmed that one of its officers "forgot about" 90 grams of research development explosive placed into the luggage of a passenger without his knowledge as part of a security exercise. The explosives were planted prior to Sunday's Danube Wings flight from Poprad-Tatry to Dublin. One sample reportedly was detected by sniffer dogs at TAT but the second was undiscovered. The police told Bloomberg News that the officer "forgot about the second sample" that eventually made its way into Ireland. The RDX was not a threat to detonate.
Unite union and British Airways agreed to restart negotiations regarding the dispute over the airline's imposed conditions on flight attendants that resulted in an invalid strike vote before Christmas ( ATWOnline, De. 18, 2009).
Signs continue to point toward Japan Airlines entering into a court-monitored bankruptcy proceeding, with reports from Tokyo indicating that both the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan, which will oversee the restructuring, and the Development Bank of Japan, JAL's largest creditor, favor bankruptcy over a government bailout.
United Airlines flew 9.21 billion consolidated RPMs in December, flat compared to the year-ago month. Capacity fell 3.1% to 11.24 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.5 points to 81.9%. Allegiant Air flew 406.2 million RPMs in December, up 18.6% year-over-year. Capacity rose 16.1% to 448.4 million ASMs and load factor increased 1.9 points to 90.6%.
SR Technics signed a 10-year contract with Air Berlin covering comprehensive maintenance of its CF56-7B, CF56-5B and PW4168 engines. Work will be performed at SRT's Zurich engine maintenance center. Deal includes a financing agreement for up to 12 spare engines worth some $100 million between AB and SRT parent Mubadala Development Co.
Qantas decided not to renew its membership in the Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines, a move that analysts predict may spell the end of an organization with a history spanning more than four decades. The carrier's decision is expected to be emulated by a number of other member airlines canvassed by ATWOnline, some of whom suggested that the industry is better off uniting behind one voice, IATA.
Germanwings yesterday said it will increase ASKs by "double-digits" this year and will add four new A319s to its fleet. Lufthansa Group's low-cost subsidiary did not say where it will get the aircraft. By year end it will operate 30 A319s/A320s. It said it will focus on growing business traffic this year with initiatives that might appeal to travelers looking for cheaper tickets and travel solutions. The carrier expects to transport more than 8 million passengers in 2010; it carried 6.3 million in the first 11 months of 2009.
