ANA now expects to report a ¥65 billion ($720 million) consolidated net loss in its fiscal year ending March 31, compared to the ¥28 billion loss forecast last October, owing to a "slower than expected recovery," although it plans to return to profit in 2010-11.
Austrian Airlines will begin replacing regional jets and small turboprops with larger aircraft on its European routes from Sunday in order to bolster its competitiveness with higher volume and more attractive fares.
Air Berlin posted a €9.5 million ($13 million) loss in 2009, narrowed from a restated €83.5 million deficit in 2008, it reported in a preliminary earnings statement. Germany's No. 2 airline said full-year revenue dropped 4.4% to €3.24 billion and operating expenses were cut 6.2% to €2.78 billion. It said EBIT rose to €28.5 million from €2 million, while financial losses were reduced to €51 million from €72 million in 2008. Detailed full-year results are due for release Thursday.
Continental Airlines plans to take delivery of four 787-8s in the third quarter of 2011 and two more in the fourth quarter, it said in a US Securities and Exchange filing last week. It has 11 -8s and 14 787-9s on order. The fleet plan included in the filing anticipates the 2010 delivery of two 777-200ERs, three 757-300s, two 737-900ERs, 10 737-800s (one of which will not enter service until 2011) and three 737-500s, plus the disposal of six 737 Classics. By year end, CO will have 350 aircraft in the mainline fleet.
Denmark's Cimber Sterling cited "extraordinarily tough competition, falling demand and thus significant pressure on yield," as it reported a loss of DKK95.2 million ($17.4 million) for the fiscal third quarter ended Jan. 31 compared to income of DKK12 million in the year-ago period. Three weeks ago the carrier reduced its forecast for its fiscal year ending April 30 to an operating loss of DKK200-DKK220 million
Copa Airlines parent Copa Holdings announced the pricing of 1.6 million nonvoting shares held by seller Corp. de Inversiones Aereas at $56 per share. The secondary offering is expected to close Wednesday.
British Airways flight attendants represented by Unite will conclude their three-day walkout today amid contradictory claims regarding the impact of the airline's first strike in 13 years.
Virgin America yesterday announced it will add nine A320s (six arriving this year and three scheduled in the 2011 first quarter), bringing its fleet to 37 and enabling it to launch new daily flights to Orlando International from Los Angeles and San Francisco on Aug. 19.
FedEx Corp. reported a $239 million net profit in its fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28, more than double the $97 million posted in the year-ago period, driven by significant improvement at its FedEx Express segment. "Outstanding execution of our business strategy and an improving global economy drove solid financial performance," Chairman, President and CEO Frederick Smith said. Group revenue was up 7% to $8.7 billion and operating income soared to $416 million from $182 million in the quarter ended Feb. 28, 2009.
Delta Air Lines announced the launch of an 11-times-daily New York LaGuardia-Chicago O'Hare E-175 shuttle service beginning June 10, replacing its existing flights between LGA and Chicago Midway. It will establish dedicated check-in desks and kiosks at ORD ahead of the launch. DL also announced an expansion at Los Angeles, featuring new flights to San Francisco (daily), Columbus (daily), Hartford (six-times-weekly) and Raleigh-Durham (six-times-weekly) on June 10. Flights will be operated by a mix of 737-800s, A320s and CRJ900s.
China Southern Airlines announced the introduction of a premium economy product on all domestic routes operated by 777, 737NG, A320 family and A330 aircraft. Seats will be available for purchase from March 28, and CZ said it expects to have 7,000 premium economy seats available on nearly 300 aircraft by July. The service currently is available on its Guangzhou-Los Angeles flights and features seats with a 35-37-in. pitch rather than the 31 in.
Garuda Indonesia reported a 2009 net profit of IDR1.01 trillion ($109.9 million), up 50% from the prior year, and an operating surplus of IDR807.6 billion, CEO Emirsyah Satar said at a Jakarta news conference, adding that the airline is working on restructuring $527 million in debt ahead of its third-quarter IPO ( ATWOnline, Feb. 4). Largest creditor is the European Credit Agency ($241 million), according to reports. Passenger numbers last year rose 3% to 10.3 million but revenue dropped 7% to IDR16.7 trillion.
Japan Airlines CEO Kazuo Inamori, the iconic Japanese business figure who took the helm of the bankrupt carrier in January, told reporters yesterday that he has been surprised by the lack of business acumen among company executives but vowed to return the carrier to operating profitability as soon as this fall. He candidly expressed his assessment of JAL's corporate office in a Tokyo news conference, according to multiple reports, saying that an "extremely low" number of the airline's executives have business sense.
United Airlines expects first-quarter consolidated passenger RASM to rise 16%-17% year-over-year to 11.44-11.54 cents, while mainline unit revenue should surge 16.5%-17.5% to 10.5-10.59 cents, parent company UAL Corp. said yesterday in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It said lower capacity and revenue resulting from the February storms in the eastern US boosted consolidated RASM growth by 0.4 point. First-quarter mainline unit cost excluding fuel, profit sharing and "certain accounting charges" will increase 4.5%-5.5% to 8.36-8.44 cents, it said.
Spring Airlines expects to earn a net profit of more than CNY200 million ($29.3 million) this year owing to the economic recovery and Expo 2010 in Shanghai, according to Chairman Wang Zhenghua. The LCC reported earnings of CNY158 million in 2009 and posted a profit in excess of CNY50 million through the first two months of this year (double the year-ago period) as demand rebounded. It plans to introduce seven A320s to the fleet before July, expanding to 21 aircraft. It took one this month and will add another on March 25.
Air Berlin yesterday announced the cancellation of 10 firm 787 orders worth a combined $1.7 billion at list prices, along with five options, "to account for a change in market conditions and in order to meet. . .specific operative requirements."
WestJet President and CEO Sean Durfy announced his resignation effective April 1, insisting he was leaving on his own accord to "spend more time with my young family," and Executive VP-Operations Gregg Saretsky was appointed as the Calgary-based LCC's new president and CEO.
TAP Portugal pilots represented by the SPAC union have called a six-day strike starting March 26. SPAC warned that all flights will be affected except those to Madeira, which they will continue to serve to support efforts to rebound from last month's flooding. Pilots staged a two-day strike last September and have been negotiating with the carrier since. TAP President and CEO Fernando Pinto told
British Airways found some common ground with its unions, announcing an agreement on a reduction of its £3.7 billion ($5.58 billion) pension funding deficit that was a roadblock in its merger with Iberia. BA yesterday said it "has concluded consultations with its joint trade unions on the future benefits of its defined benefit pension schemes" and that the "proposals are intended to avoid the closure of the pension schemes and maintain British Airways' contributions at the current level of £330 million per annum." Unite, GMB and the British Air Line Pilots Assn.
Air New Zealand will increase capacity on its domestic jet network by 10.5% beginning next January owing to growing demand and the expected jump in tourism prompted by the Rugby World Cup in September-October 2011, during which ANZ will raise capacity 26%. It will begin taking delivery next year of its A320s, which boast 171 seats compared to the 133 on its 737s, and also will extend the lease on one 737 by eight months.
British Airways intends to serve 60% of its scheduled passengers March 20-22, or about 45,000 per day, when flight attendants represented by Unite are scheduled to stage the first of two strikes this month. In addition, the airline said it will offer seats to "many thousands more customers" on alternative flights or on services operated by 40 other carriers to which passengers can be rebooked free of charge during the strike. Unite also plans to strike March 27-30 ( ATWOnline, March 15).
Lufthansa's full-year result, which included an €8 million ($11 million) operating loss by the Passenger Airline Group, was buoyed slightly by the €93 million operating profit posted by its Swiss International Air Lines subsidiary, the most successful carrier in the LH stable.
Continental Airlines is following the footsteps of other US legacy carriers by eliminating free economy class inflight meal service on North American flights under 6 hr. and some shorter Latin American flights beginning in the fall.
American Airlines said it has canceled the planned furloughs of about 75 pilots scheduled for April 1, citing "attrition rates and a number of other variables" that allowed it to reevaluate its original decision. It said in January that it had made the "painful but necessary decision" to furlough up to 175 pilots in the first half of this year ( ATWOnline, Jan. 25). The first round occurred at the end of February when around 100 pilots were furloughed.
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines Executive VP-Marketing and Sales Thierry Antinori said at ITB Berlin last week that the company will continue to invest in its product and that it "see[s] some positive signs of recovery" in premium traffic, although it is "far from being able to relax." LH invests some €500 million ($688.2 million) annually in cabin and service products and through 2013 it intends to spend an additional €50 million to upgrade its lounges and check-in options.
