US Airways Chairman and CEO Doug Parker told Reuters yesterday that the carrier has "no plans to reduce capacity any further" in 2009, adding, "If anything, we will have a modest expansion internationally." US this month launched daily Philadelphia-Tel Aviv flights using A330s.
Okay Airways Chairman Wang Junjin said the Tianjin-based carrier will add one or two new investors within two months that will provide a capital injection of CNY200 million ($29.2 million) to bolster the troubled airline.
UPS said it has adopted a plan to cut the carbon dioxide emissions of UPS Airlines by an additional 20% by 2020 to bring its cumulative reduction to 42% compared to 1990 levels. The company said its jet aircraft "are the source of 53%" of UPS's total CO2 output. The delivery giant also operates fleets of trucks and vans and manages warehouses.
American Airlines and Gol said they intend to enter a codeshare agreement "in the near future" and will initiate a frequent-flyer accord from Aug. 1 that will allow members of AA's AAdvantage and Gol's Smiles programs to cross-access benefits. Passengers from the two programs will be able to earn miles on each airline's flights and in the fall will begin to be allowed to redeem miles on each. Gol CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr.
Transaero Airlines reported a RUB109.4 million ($3.5 million) profit in 2008, a 7% increase over the prior year, on an 82.4% surge in revenue to RUB37.4 billion. Passenger numbers rose 50% to 4.9 million, boosting its market share by 3.6 points to 14.3%. Traffic was up 49% to 17.5 billion RPKs. It said it is "following through with its ambitious domestic route network expansion plans."
EU and Azerbaijan signed an aviation agreement yesterday granting all EU carriers the right to fly between any member state and Azerbaijan. More than 210,000 passengers flew between the markets in 2007, the EU said.
United Airlines flew 10.57 billion consolidated RPMs in June, down 7.5% from the year-ago month, while capacity fell 8% to 12.31 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 0.5 point to 85.9%. Southwest Airlines said June passenger RASM decreased an estimated 9%-10% year-over-year. It flew 6.73 billion RPMs in June, down 2.1%, against a 3.8% fall in capacity to 8.46 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.3 points to 79.5%.
Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India Ltd. is expected to report a loss of approximately INR50 billion ($1.02 billion) for its fiscal year ended March 31, some 25% more than the figure targeted last month, Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel informed the national parliament's upper house yesterday. He wrote that NACIL's deficit is "largely due to high operating expenses, which have been compounded due to the present economic recession resulting in a drop in passengers," in addition to high fuel prices and debt servicing, the Press Trust of India reported.
Austrian Airlines Group yesterday confirmed that its Tyrolean Airways subsidiary, which operates under the Austrian Arrows brand, will reduce its fleet from the current 55 aircraft to 41 over the next year ( ATWOnline, July 7). A spokesperson told ATWOnline that AAG will phase out 50-seat CRJs, which no longer are economical due to the decline in business demand, especially to Eastern Europe. All 10 CRJs and four of 14 Dash 8-300s will be removed. "This will affect a total of 400 fulltime employees.
British Airways plans to cut summer and winter capacity by an additional 1%, ground six additional aircraft next year and defer its A380 deliveries, while some 2,000 employees represented by Unite have "overwhelmingly rejected" the airline's proposed job cuts ahead of Wednesday's talks mediated by the UK Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary found himself in the headlines again yesterday after telling Sky News "We might take out the last five or six rows [of seats] and say to passengers, 'Do you want to stand up? If you do, you can travel for free'." O'Leary said he has asked Boeing to look at converting or producing aircraft with "vertical seating" and asked, "Why is this any different to what happens on trains where you see thousands of people who cannot get a seat standing in the aisles?"
American Airlines flew 10.89 billion system RPMs in June, an 8.1% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 7.8% to 12.79 billion ASMs and load factor slipped 0.3 point to 85.1%. Continental Airlines said June consolidated and mainline RASM fell an estimated 19.5%-20.5%. It flew 8.07 billion consolidated RPMs last month, down 6.5% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 7.8% to 9.51 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.1 points to 84.8%.
Mesa Air Group announced that the US Court of Appeals upheld an injunction against Delta Air Lines preventing it from canceling Mesa subsidiary Freedom Airlines' contract to fly 22 ERJ-145s for Delta Connection ( ATWOnline, Oct. 22, 2008). Delta cited operational problems, but the court ruled, "The evidence showed that Delta induced Mesa to agree to Delta's coordinated cancellations by promising not to count such cancellations against it," Reuters reported.
Air Jamaica's rumored sale to Spirit Airlines owners Indigo Partners and Oaktree Capital has not been finalized, airline and government officials told The Jamaica Observer. "We are still talking to interested parties and the matter has not yet gone to Cabinet," a JM board member told the paper, while a government official said, "There has been no sale as yet. The recommendation still has to go to the Cabinet and the board of Air Jamaica before a decision is taken."
Cargo B Airlines halted operations last week as it ran out of cash. The Belgian carrier launched in October 2007 and flew to Africa and South America with two new 747-400Fs. "Volumes held up well, but we could not secure sufficient financing to support the introduction of the second 747 which was delivered half May," President and CEO Robert Kuijpers said. Lessor Nippon Cargo Airlines repossessed the aircraft. The company will be liquidated.
Aon Corp. released a report warning that the commercial aviation industry "is likely to see insurance premiums rise significantly for the rest of the year and potentially into the next" as insurers suffer heavy losses related to the recent accidents near Brazil, Comoros and Buffalo. "If the rest of 2009 follows the 13-year average pattern for losses, and discounting 2001, the year will be the most expensive ever seen in the airline insurance market," it said, with claims potentially surpassing $2.2 billion.
Lufthansa plans to announce details of an expanded cost savings program by the end of the month that could extend the current €300 million ($419.2 million) target "to up to €1 billion," a source close to LH management told ATWOnline.
SkyEurope Holding last week announced the departure of SkyEurope Airlines Chairman and CEO Jason Bitter by "mutual agreement." He was replaced by former Vice Chairman and CFO Nick Manoudakis. The LCC is operating under creditor protection ( ATWOnline, June 24).
Gulf Air named former Royal Jordanian President and CEO Samer Majali as its new chief executive, replacing Bjorn Naf. Majali announced his unexpected resignation from RJ last week, telling ATWOnline that, "after 30 years at the airline and eight years as chief executive, I decided it was time for me to move on" ( ATWOnline, June 30).
SpiceJet reported a INR78 million ($1.6 million) loss in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, narrowed from a INR1.24 billion deficit in the year-ago period. The New Delhi-based LCC did not provide its full-year result. It lost INR180 million in its fiscal third quarter ( ATWOnline, Feb. 26). Fourth-quarter operating revenue rose 4.4% year-over-year to INR3.99 billion on a 10.3% increase in passenger numbers to 1.4 million. It said "overall aviation demand" in India fell 13%.
Vueling Airlines and Clickair said they will complete their "merger of equals" on July 9. The new carrier will use the Vueling name and Iberia will hold 45.9%, Hemisferio/Planeta 14.3% and Air Nostrum parent Nefinsa 4.2% ( ATWOnline, June 30). VY will operate 35 A320s (18 former Clickair) on 92 routs to/from 42 destinations in 18 countries. "The new Vueling must deliver a three-year plan to the board in October and a zero-growth plan is unlikely to be acceptable," CEO Alex Cruz said.
Austrian Airlines Group said yesterday that it will need to cut an additional €200 million ($281.6 million) in costs and will slash 1,000 jobs to help it achieve the savings target.
