Indonesian court jailed Garuda Indonesia Capt. Marwoto Komar, 45, the pilot who was in command of a 737-400 that crashed in Yogyakarta two years ago, killing 21.
Star Alliance said it plans to move current London Heathrow Terminal 2 tenants Austrian Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines and TAP Portugal to T1 this summer. At that point, the 21 Star members serving LHR will remain split between T1 and T3.
Dermot Mannion's eventful tenure as Aer Lingus CEO, which featured privatization, two successful defenses against a Ryanair takeover and a reversal in fiscal fortunes leading to a €107.8 million ($145.3 million) loss last year, ended yesterday with his resignation after 3.5 years on the job. "It has been a privilege. . .to have led the company through a period of profound change," Mannion said in a statement. "My decision to step down will allow a new CEO to bring fresh thinking and new ideas to the business."
US airlines' customer service improved for the first time in five years in 2008, researchers from St. Louis University and Wichita State University said yesterday in releasing their annual Airline Quality Rating report. Improvement was across the board, with carriers scoring better on baggage handling, ontime performance, denied boarding and customer complaints, researchers said. The airline with the best overall AQR among the 17 graded was Hawaiian Airlines, followed by AirTran Airways, JetBlue Airways, Northwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
US Airways named former Eos Airlines Senior VP-Guest Experience Hector Adler VP- inflight services. Ryanair promoted Head of Scheduled Revenue Ken O'Toole to director-new route development. AirTran Airways named Transportation Security Administration Office of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs Deputy Assistant Administrator Christopher White director of public relations.
American Airlines flew 10.32 billion system RPMs in March, down 10.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 5.6% to 13.04 billion ASMs and load factor slipped 4.8 points to 79.2%. American Eagle flew 643.1 million RPMs, down 6.1%, against a 4.2% decline in ASMs to 894.2 million, lowering load factor 1.5 points to 71.9%. US Airways Group said March consolidated passenger RASM fell an estimated 17%-19% year-over-year, although total RASM dropped 13%-15% including ancillary revenue.
Aeroflot said last week that new CEO Vitaly Savelyev, named to replace the ousted Valery Okulov, will assume the position Friday ( ATWOnline, March 31). It also said an efficiency program implemented last summer will be worth $161 million in reduced costs this year and more than $400 million by the end of 2010. In addition, it announced establishment of a separate, Moscow-based charter division that will operate mostly Il-96s.
JetBlue Airways and Aer Lingus said bookings during the first year of their partnership exceeded targets by 50% and that JetBlue was able to connect more than 80 passengers a day from Ireland. The deal allows customers in both the US and Ireland to book a single connecting fare on EI's website and provides for baggage transfer. It originally involved connections between Dublin and Shannon, New York JFK and 25 JetBlue onward destinations but now includes flights via Boston as well. EI CEO Dermot Mannion said the companies will "continue to grow and develop new opportunities."
Qantas agreed to contribute an additional A$66 million ($46.7 million) over the next three years into the defined benefit divisions of the Qantas Superannuation Plan, in addition to current contributions, in response to the turmoil in the financial markets that has hit pension funds hard around the globe. It said the plan has assets of around A$5 billion and remains "in a strong financial position despite the challenging economic environment."
EU and Mongolia signed a horizontal aviation agreement designed to "restore legal certainty regarding bilateral air services agreements" between Mongolia and 12 EU member nations. It will remove nationality restrictions in the existing air services agreements, allowing any EU airline to operate between Mongolia and any of the 12 nations in which it is established.
Air France KLM and Gol signed an agreement Friday linking their respective loyalty programs and establishing a codeshare arrangement under which AF will add its code to Gol flights between Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and 13 Brazilian cities by mid-year. A similar deal is being prepared between Gol and KLM. The European carriers operate 21 weekly flights to Sao Paulo Guarulhos and 14 to Rio de Janeiro Galeao.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian told employees in a memo last week that "it is prudent for us to restructure and reduce the size of our executive team" and announced that five management officials will leave the company June 1, the Associated Press reported. The departing executives are Senior VP-International Laura Liu, Northwest Airlines Senior VP-Customer Service Crystal Knotek, NWA VP-Chief Accounting Officer Anna Schafer, Minneapolis/St. Paul VP-Corporate Affairs Tammy Lee Stanoch and MSP Senior VP-Customer Service Todd Anderson.
Austrian Airlines Group announced a one-year agreement with flight crew at both Austrian Airlines and Tyrolean Airways that includes reduced work time and deferred compensation and constitutes an important step in its effort to cut costs by €225 million ($300 million). OS's executive board, the Inflight Works Council, the vida union and the aviation section of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce signed the deal. AAG already had reached an agreement with ground employees ( ATWOnline, March 12).
Rolls-Royce signed a long-term TotalCare engine service agreement worth more than $350 million with Mexicana Group, covering 25 BR715-powered 717-200s operated by its low-cost subsidiary MexicanaClick.
Following the dramatic slowdown in demand during the second half of 2008, the Chinese airline industry experienced double-digit domestic growth in January and February that is being credited to Beijing's economic stimulation policies. Chinese carriers transported 34.5 million domestic passengers in the first two months of 2009, up 15.3% over the year-ago period. Boardings on domestic routes climbed 21.3% to 16.3 million in January and 17% to 16 million in February, according to CAAC.
British Airways last week maintained its guidance for an operating loss of approximately £150 million ($218.7 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31 and said the deficit will be deepened by £75 million in severance costs.
AirAsia plans to borrow MYR3 billion ($832 million) in 2010 to buy 24 aircraft, Investor Relations Head Mohshin Aziz told Bloomberg News last week. He added that the financing is in addition to the MYR2 billion it lined up to finance 14 A320 deliveries in 2009 and 2010. Separately, CEO Tony Fernandes said Chengdu and Xi'an will be added to AirAsia's network later this year, bringing the number of routes it operates to China to 10.
Lufthansa increased the number of deactivated aircraft from 20 to 24 last month in response to falling demand, a source close to management told ATWOnline. LH Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber previously had said that parked aircraft will vary in size between the CRJ200 and the A300-600, with those two types being the most common. LH Cargo has removed four MD-11Fs from service ( ATWOnline, March 12). The 24 parked aircraft represent approximately 10% of Lufthansa's capacity.
US House of Representatives Transportation Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) yesterday urged the Dept. of Transportation to review whether Virgin America still meets the requirements of US airline ownership and control laws, echoing earlier allegations by Alaska Airlines that VX now is wholly owned by the UK's Virgin Group.
Qantas unveiled a streamlined ownership structure for Singapore-based Jetstar Asia and Valuair designed to provide a growth platform in line with its pan-Asian strategy. Under the structure, Qantas Group and Singapore-based Westbrook Investments acquired all shares in Orangestar Investment Holdings, the previous ownership holding structure, via a new holding company, Newstar Investment Holdings. Financial terms were not disclosed. Westbrook, wholly owned by Choo Teck Wong, will hold 51% of Newstar, Choo is a longtime partner of QF and will be Newstar's chairman.
Air China yesterday revealed in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it has purchased Beijing Capital Airport Holding Co.'s 24% stake in Air China Cargo for CNY718 million ($105 million), completing a process started last year that has seen its share of its cargo unit rise from 51% to 100% ( ATWOnline, Feb. 11).
SkyTeam expects to announce at least one and perhaps several new members this year and is talking with Malaysia Airlines and Vietnam Airlines, with China Eastern Airlines and China Airlines also in the picture, Chairman Leo van Wijk told Luchtvaartnieuws. The alliance currently has 11 full members and three associate members, one of which, Copa Airlines, "informally" has indicated its intention to leave. Former partner Continental Airlines is trading SkyTeam for Star Alliance in October and Copa likely will follow suit.
Air Jamaica expects to complete its privatization by the end of June. The Jamaican government appointed a privatization committee and has asked International Finance Corp., a private-sector arm of World Bank Group, to serve as adviser ( ATWOnline, May 7,2008). A mid-April meeting is scheduled with an "international airline group" that has indicated it plans to bid on the state-owned airline, which has been losing an estimated $150 million annually.
British Airways announced it will sell 11 of its 15 757s for cargo conversion, with the aircraft leaving the mainline fleet between 2010 and 2012. The four 757s operated by BA's transatlantic OpenSkies subsidiary will remain. The departing aircraft will be replaced by A320 family aircraft. "Replacing the Boeing 757s will give us both environmental and cost benefits," BA Director-Strategy and Business Units Robert Boyle said.
