Aer Lingus said Chairman Colm Barrington will assume temporarily the duties of CEO Dermot Mannion, who resigned. Aeroflot named Vitaly Savelyev CEO. Air Canada appointed Calin Rovinescu president & CEO, replacing Montie Brewer, who resigned, and promoted Duncan Dee to executive VP & COO. Airline Services Group chose Dan Hepworth as group dir.-sales & marketing. Air Mauritius tapped Andre Viljoen as CFO & CIO. AirTran Airways named Christopher White dir.-PR. A J Walter Aviation selected John Avery as dir,-supply chain services.
US airport privatization appears to be another casualty of the worldwide recession as investors back away from facilities with falling traffic and revenue. Collapse of the deal to sell a 99-year lease on Chicago Midway for an up-front payment of $2.52 billion leaves US FAA's pilot privatization program without a major airport.
ANA Group blamed an "unprecedented fall in demand for domestic and international air travel--in particular high-yield business travel," for its first full-year net loss in six years, a ¥4.2 billion ($43.4 million) deficit in the fiscal year ended March 31 that compared to a ¥64.1 billion net profit in 2007-08. Executive VP-Finance Tomohiro Hidema said 2008-09 "was a disastrous year for business in general, with airlines around the world hit by the lack of consumer confidence and commercial activity, and ANA was no exception."
Hainan Airlines posted a net loss of CNY1.42 billion ($208.3 million) in 2008, a big reversal from the CNY626.9 million profit reported in 2007, on a 19% lift in operating revenue to CNY13.55 billion. Operating expenses climbed 18.2% to CNY12.52 billion. The Haikou-based carrier blamed "the global financial crisis, domestic natural disasters, declining market demand and soaring fuel prices" for the result.
LIAT said Brian Challenger will serve as interim CEO, succeeding the departing Mark Darby, while a permanent replacement is sought. Challenger joined the board in 2006.
Qantas suffered one of its worst-ever collapses in yield on international flights in March, according to a Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation analysis. QF's international yield plunged 11% year-over-year in March following a 2.4% fall in February. CAPA said yesterday that March domestic yield dropped 10.1% after falling 9.7% the prior month. March international passenger numbers were down 15.8% and domestic numbers declined 2.6% to 1.4 million. Low-cost subsidiary Jetstar Airways saw international passengers rise 36.3% to 186,000 and domestic increase 1.8% to 686,000.
The recession and resulting demand decline "left their mark" on Lufthansa Group's first-quarter performance, Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber and other senior officials said in a note to shareholders yesterday, pointing to steep drops in business passengers and cargo in explaining a net loss of €256 million ($333.8 million) on a more than 10% decline in revenue.
Lufthansa was not immune to the global economic downturn, reporting a first-quarter net loss of €256 million ($333.8 million) that represented a reversal from the €44 million profit reported in the first three months of 2008. It cited "weak demand" as the principal reason for the result, which also included a €44 million operating loss that compared to a €172 million operating profit in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 10.7% to €5 billion.
China Eastern Airlines posted a CNY40.1 million ($5.9 million) net profit in the first quarter, down 81% from the CNY210.8 million earned in the year-ago period, on a 15.6% decrease in operating revenue to CNY8.95 billion. Operating expenses dropped 12.8% to CNY 8.42 billion. The Shanghai-based carrier credited CNY422 million in earnings on its fuel hedges and the return of CNY500 million in aviation construction funds for the result.
Frontier Airlines and Lynx Aviation parent Frontier Airlines Holdings, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, reported a $161 million net loss in the quarter ended March 31 and an $18.9 million profit excluding reorganization expenses. Year-ago figures were not provided. Consolidating operating profit was $20.7 million. At the Frontier mainline, unit revenue fell 3.4% to 9.5 cents and unit cost was down 19.8% to 8.32 cents, or down 7.3% to 6.08 cents excluding fuel. Capacity was cut 20.3% year-over-year.
A $57.9 million loss on its fuel hedges was the key driver in a 34.7% year-over-year drop in LAN Airlines' first-quarter profit, a $65 million surplus that compared to the $99.6 million reported in the first three months of 2008. First-quarter operating revenue dropped 14.5% year-over-year to $882.2 million against a 13.4% decline in costs to $764.1 million. Operating profit fell 21% to $118.1 million from $149.5 million in the year-ago quarter.
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings earned a $23.5 million profit in the first quarter, reversed from a $19.9 million loss in the year-ago period when it still faced competition from defunct Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines. "The benefits of a significant decline in the price of fuel more than offset the consequences of weaker demand for Hawaii vacations, while several years of diligent cost control in areas of expense that we influence added to the overall results," President and CEO Mark Dunkerley said.
AirAsia carried 3.1 million passengers in the first quarter, up 21% year-over-year, according to figures published by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Traffic measured in RPKs rose 17% against a 19% increase in capacity, lowering load factor 2.4 points to 69.7%. SAS Group airlines flew 2.08 billion RPKs in March, down 16.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 3.9% to 3.22 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 10.2 points to 64.5%. At SAS Scandinavian Airlines, yield climbed 2.6% year-over-year as RPKs dropped 17.9% to 1.92 billion.
Garuda Indonesia reported a IDR669 billion ($61.3 million) profit in 2008, a massive increase from the IDR60 billion earned in 2007, the Antara national news agency reported.
CAE signed a technical training and courseware agreement with Jazz Air under which the regional will license maintenance training programs to CAE, expanding the company's commercial type training program portfolio.
Thales announced that its microwave landing system received UK approval for ground installations for Cat IIIb operations at London Heathrow. Thales received European certification for its onboard aircraft installations to Cat IIIb in November 2007. British Airways is the first airline to implement the system, using it on its LHR-based Airbus single-aisle fleet throughout 2008. The system became fully operational on March 25.
JDA Aviation Technology Solutions of Bethesda, Md., entered into a partnership with UK-based EQ2 to launch an environmental management system, EQ2-EMS, designed to allow operators to analyze emissions and their impact on operating costs.
Japan Airlines now expects to report a ¥63 billion ($651.3 million) loss in its fiscal year ended March 31, nearly double the ¥34 billion it forecast in February, owing to a "relentless" decline in global demand.
Aeroflot transported 604,600 passengers in March, a 16.5% fall from the year-ago month. Load factor was down 8.1 points to 60.7%. LAN Airlines flew 2.47 billion RPKs in March, up 7.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity increased 12.5% to 3.25 billion ASKs, reducing load factor 3.4 points to 76.1%.
SAS Group narrowed its first-quarter loss by nearly 36% to SEK748 million ($91.4 million) from the SEK1.16 billion reported in the year-ago period, although it said that "uncertainty with regard to when recovery will begin is considerable" and that it is pressing ahead with its Core SAS efficiency program.
Air Berlin said the German Federal Cartel Office approved Pegasus Airlines parent ESAS Holding's acquisition of approximately 15% of the voting shares in AB ( ATWOnline, March 31). It also announced the establishment next month of a Corporate Users Advisory Council that will "monitor the development of the business travel sector" and "offer a more effective and flexible response to immediate market conditions." Former German Travel Management Assn. Chairman Michael Kirnberger will head the council.
Aer Lingus yesterday said that its full-year loss "will be materially below the bottom of the range of current market expectations" and that it is reorganizing its senior management structure in order "to safeguard the long-term viability of the group," according to Chairman Colm Barrington. The Irish carrier said six weeks ago that it expected its operating loss this year to be "larger" than the €159.5 million ($209.7 million) posted in 2008 ( ATWOnline, March 12).
Finnair reported a first-quarter loss of €18.6 million ($24.5 million), reversed from a €3.1 million profit in the year-ago period, as "the potential for profitability has run into the sand due to feeble demand and a collapse in price levels," President and CEO Jukka Hienonen said.
