Nordam Group's interiors and structures division delivered bar structures for Air New Zealand's 777-200s and V Australia's 777-300s. Nordam was awarded the ANZ bar project by Altitude, ANZ's aircraft interiors business, in December covering eight aircraft. Two delivered in February, four are scheduled to deliver this month, with the last in April. Additionally, Nordam said it was awarded a contract from Altitude for 20 shipsets that represents the first program award directly to the OEM.
41st Parameter said US Airways selected its FraudNet solution to detect and prevent "card not present" fraud across multiple reservation channels and to protect its loyalty program accounts from compromise and fraudulent access. Solution uses PC fingerprinting technology.
Air Berlin yesterday reported a €75 million ($99.6 million) loss for 2008, reversed from a €21 million surplus the prior year, but buttressed its long-term future with the sale of a 15.3% stake to Turkey's ESAS Holding and a share swap with TUI Travel's TUIfly.
Aeroflot officially dismissed CEO Valery Okulov last week and replaced him with Vitaly Savelyev, a VP at Russian conglomerate Sistema who reportedly has no previous aviation experience. The Moscow Times reported that SU minority investor Alexander Lebedev (through his National Reserve Corp.) withdrew his support of Okulov, paving the way for his ouster ( ATWOnline, March 24).
Qantas domestic flights were halted for 4 hr. yesterday during a wildcat strike by the airline's baggage handlers. The action affected some 400 flights and about 50,000 travelers. The Transport Workers Union was protesting Jetstar Airways' decision to take its ground handling contract away from Qantas Airport Services and award it to independent, and cheaper, Aero-care. TWU officials initially claimed Aero-care's workers lacked security clearance but later changed the focus of the dispute to job security.
American Eagle will furlough 75 pilots and eliminate 45 management positions in line with planned schedule reductions, the company confirmed to ATWOnline yesterday. The pilot reductions will take place in two stages, with the first 35 on May 1 and the remaining 40 on June 1. The management positions will be eliminated over the next few months and are in addition to the 30 layoffs previously announced for 2009.
Norwegian said February yield rose an estimated 8% year-over-year to NOK0.64 (9.64 cents) in February. It flew 528 million RPKs, up 14%, against a 15% increase in capacity to 679 million ASKs. Load factor was level at 78%. Vueling Airlines flew 306 million RPKs in February, down 24.3% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 27% to 457 million ASKs and load factor rose 2.4 points to 67%.
Air France will launch twice-daily London City-Nantes flights April 27 aboard F50s. Finnair will operate four-times-weekly Helsinki-Ljubljana seasonal service March 29-Oct. 23. Separately, it took delivery of its first of eight A330-300s. El Al will start six-times-weekly Tel Aviv-London Luton 767 flights on May 3. Lufthansa Cargo today will launch new weekly MD-11F Frankfurt-Hanoi service. It also will add a weekly Frankfurt-Hyderabad freighter flight on April 6.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. Friday endorsed the tentative five-year deal reached with SWA management earlier this year ( ATWOnline, Feb. 2) and sent the agreement to its more than 5,900 members for a ratification vote. "We believe this contract addresses the needs of our pilot group," SWAPA President Carl Kuwitzky said.
SAS took delivery of its first of 12 88-seat CRJ900s last week. All aircraft should be delivered by January 2010. The carrier also holds options for another 17. It told reporters in Copenhagen that talks to turn the options into firm orders will be held in September for possible deliveries starting in 2010. The 12 CRJ900s a part of a settlement with Bombardier and Goodrich over the Q400 landing gear incidents that led the airline to retire its 27 Q400s in October 2007 and have forced it to wet-lease aircraft to fill the gap.
Emirates said it will introduce an A380 on its Dubai routes to Bangkok (daily) and Toronto (thrice-weekly) on June 1. The aircraft will provide a capacity increase of about 30% on each route.
Air France KLM said last week that it likely will report a €200 million ($271.4 million) operating loss for its fiscal year ending March 31 and stated that its focus for the year beginning April 1 is "to limit our operating loss."
Australian government will conduct an inquiry into security at the nation's airports amid allegations that it is well below recommended standards. Federal Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus said the inquiry will be independent of the Australian Federal Police, who are responsible for airport security, and initially will focus on the events surrounding the brutal killing of a man at Sydney Airport on March 22 in what appears to have been part of a feud between two biker gangs.
Virgin Blue grounded five 180-seat 737s and cancelled 28 daily flights from its schedule of 300. The moves affect 400 workers, who will be offered leave without pay, job sharing and shorter hour options. The Australian airline emphasized that it has not withdrawn from any destinations but only consolidated flights. CEO Brett Godfrey said in a statement that the reductions are a prudent interim capacity management plan necessitated by the continued and forecast deterioration in domestic demand.
The primary initiatives of "Core SAS," the restructuring plan unveiled last month to transform the airline following a heavy 2008 loss, should be completed by the end of April, SAS officials told ATWOnline this week in Copenhagen.
Lufthansa Systems said it will provide a package of aeronautical IT solutions to Meridiana under a five-year contract that also covers Eurofly. Solutions include Lido RouteManual navigation charts, the Lido FMS navigational database and the Lido OC flight planning solution.
ILFC said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it needs to find secured financing to continue meeting its obligations through the spring. The lessor is hampered by its parent company, American International Group, which was bailed out by the US government last year and had its credit rating downgraded. ILFC's access to credit has been curtailed and it now needs more money from AIG via the US government or funds from an outside lender.
Air France KLM yesterday announced that it completed the acquisition of a 25% stake in Alitalia through a reserved share subscription worth approximately €323 million ($439.1 million). Its partnership with the restructured Italian carrier was announced in January but required approval from competition authorities ( ATWOnline, Jan. 13). At that time, AZ said AF KLM would be entitled to nominate three of the 19 members of the board and two members of the executive committee.
Turkish Airlines informed the Istanbul stock exchange yesterday that it will purchase five 777-300s. In a statement on its website, the carrier said the aircraft will "be delivered each month starting October 2010 until February 2011." It currently operates three leased 777-300s and has been hinting that it is on the verge of making a big long-haul order ( ATWOnline, Jan. 14).
Mesa Air Group, which ended its codeshare agreement with Mokulele Airlines earlier this week, forged a new agreement with another Hawaiian carrier, Island Air. Mesa subsidiary go! yesterday began marketing services by Island Air, which operates a fleet of 37-seat Dash 8s between Honolulu and Molokai, Lanai, Maui (Kapalua and Kahului), Kauai (Lihue) and the "Big Island" of Hawaii (Kona and Hilo).
El Al posted a 2008 net loss of $38.8 million, reversed from a $44.8 million profit in 2007, citing fuel expenses. The Israeli airline said high fuel prices in the first half of the year, followed by hedging charges in the second half when the price of oil dropped, led to a 45% year-over-year increase in fuel costs to $771.2 million. But President Haim Romano said the carrier "recorded a drop in most expense items aside from fuel" and has focused on "becoming more efficient."
In the biggest management shakeup in its history, Qantas eliminated 90 senior management positions to cut costs and streamline the airline as analysts warned that further layoffs and aircraft deferrals are inevitable. CEO Alan Joyce would not rule out the option. "It is certainly a lever we may have to use," he conceded to ATWOnline yesterday.
CAAC put an A320 full flight simulator into service at its Hua-Ou Aviation Training Center, the facility's third FFS. The Thales simulator will increase Hua-Ou's training capacity by more than 25%, it said.
