Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline beside the IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur that the group expects around a 10% decline in passenger numbers this year and a drop in revenue of some 20%.
Brazilian search teams located and recovered the vertical stabilizer from the downed Air France A330-200 around 600 mi. northeast of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago and had found at least 24 bodies as of late yesterday ( ATWOnline, June 8). Meanwhile, AF pilots represented by the Alter union, totaling about 12% of the carrier's flight crew, were told they should refuse to fly A330s or A340s until at least two of three pitot tubes on each aircraft are replaced.
ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy reportedly has threatened to cancel or reduce the lessor's order for 10 A380s. Speaking to German weekly Wirtschaftswoche, he said, "We are asking ourselves if we are really going to take delivery of the 10 planes. . . We can cancel our order without penalty between January and June 2010, but we might also postpone deliveries or replace the A380 with another plane."
British Airways flew 9.16 billion RPKs in May, a 6.5% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 5.3% to 12.19 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 1 point to 75.1%. BA said premium traffic fell 17.2% and nonpremium was down 4.2%. WestJet said second-quarter unit revenue will fall 16%-18% year-over-year. It flew 1.06 billion RPMs in May, down 5.8%, while capacity rose 1.2% to 1.44 billion ASMs. Load factor dropped 5.4 points to 74.1%.
The government-prompted merger of China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines is expected to happen shortly as Beijing seeks to implement its long-term plan to position Shanghai as an international aviation hub.
American Airlines will demonstrate several "eco-friendly" procedures on a flight between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Miami on June 11. Flight AA63, a 767-300, will use "single-engine taxi on departure and arrival, continuous climbout and descent, optimized routing over water and a tailored arrival," the carrier said. Demonstration is part of the Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions ( ATW, September 2008).
Alaska Airlines promoted VP-Human Resources, Strategy and Culture Kelley Dobbs to VP-human resources and labor relations succeeding the retiring Dennis Hamel.
Jet Airways expects to break even in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, Chairman Naresh Goyal told Bloomberg News in Kuala Lumpur. It lost INR4.02 billion ($83.9 million) in the recently completed fiscal year. Goyal said cost cuts would drive the improved result. He also said Jet will cut capacity by an additional 10% beyond the 30% reduction already imposed.
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe told Bloomberg News at the IATA AGM in Kuala Lumpur that forward bookings are down 10% and the carrier is "not expecting any pickup in demand through the coming 12 months." It recently announced plans to cut capacity by an additional 3% in the fiscal year starting July 1 ( ATWOnline, June 3), leaving it in line with the expected decline in demand, he told the news service. Separately, ANZ said its first 747-400 made its final flight last Friday and will be dismantled for parts in t
The Star Alliance board today is expected to approve changes to its organizational structure that will see elimination of the regional member category, CEO Jaan Albrecht confirmed Monday at the IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Currently there are three regional members: Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines. It is expected that all will become full members in the alliance ( ATWOnline, June 1).
United Airlines' request for proposals for up to 150 long-haul aircraft does not include the A380, Airbus COO-Customers John Leahy told the Chicago Tribune. "We have been talking with them for quite some time. But the [RFP] is very recent. Unfortunately [for both companies] the A380 is not [currently] included," he told the paper. Sources told the Tribune that UA is not considering the 747-8 either ( ATWOnline, June 5).
Kenya Airways posted a KES4 billion ($49.2 million) loss for its fiscal year ended March 31, reversed from a KES3.87 billion profit in the prior year and the first annual deficit it has endured since its privatization in 1996.
Frontier Airlines reported a 15.7% year-over-year traffic decrease in May to 747.6 million RPMs on a 14.9% cut in capacity to 919.2 million ASMs, producing a load factor of 81.3%, down 0.9 point. Estonian Air carried 45,972 passengers in April, down 31.7% year-over-year. Hawaiian Airlines said its May traffic fell 2% year-over-year to 682.6 million RPMs on a 0.9% lift in capacity to 819.5 million ASMs, producing a load factor of 83.3%, down 2.4 points.
KLM concluded an agreement for the sale of 15 F100s operated by subsidiary KLM cityhopper, Luchtvaartnieuws.nl reported. The carrier declined to name the buyer. KLM has been looking for a buyer for its larger Fokker aircraft since 2007, when it decided to renew cityhopper's fleet with E-190s. It took delivery of its first E-190 last November and currently has four. Another six of the order for 10 plus nine options will be delivered over the next nine months.
French officials investigating the loss of Air France Flight 447 are still processing reams of data yet to be publicly released that was transmitted by the A330-200's aircraft communications addressing and reporting system.
Aer Lingus is "facing the most difficult period in its 73-year history," Chairman Colm Barrington told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in Dublin Friday, conceding that yields in all its markets continued to decline in April and May.
EADS CEO Louis Gallois reiterated Friday that Airbus will deliver around 480 aircraft this year, roughly the same as the 483 delivered in 2008, but cautioned that "visibility is more limited" for 2010 and 2011. Speaking to reporters in Hanoi, he said, "I think 2010 will be a crucial year for the [financial] crisis. We will see the depth of the crisis. I hope this crisis is not too deep but we are prepared to face all scenarios."
The world's airlines will lose $9 billion this year after shedding $10.4 billion in 2008, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said Monday. Addressing delegates at the 65th IATA Annual General Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Bisignani said, "There is no modern precedent for today's economic meltdown" and expressed doubt that growth will resume by year end, making the case instead for an "L-shaped" recovery. "I am a realist. I don't see facts to support optimism," he said.
TAP Portugal launched a carbon offset program with IATA enabling passengers to pay compensation for the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from their flights. The proceeds will be given to the Aquarius Hydroelectric Project, a renewable energy project in Brazil. It is the first such program to be launched in conjunction with IATA. The industry-wide scheme designed by the association calculates CO2 based on a methodology developed by ICAO. IATA is the administering entity for the TAP program and will arrange the purchase of carbon credits and manage and provide offset tracking.
Malev Hungarian Airlines said it expects its 2009 operating result to rise by HUF1.5 billion ($7.5 million) over last year's, which it did not reveal, while flying approximately 3.1 million passengers. "We are going to make changes to the Malev fleet, schedule, commercial activities and headcount in the second half of the year," CEO Martin Gauss said in a statement. "Together, these will enable us to improve our results this year against 2008.
American Airlines flew 10.38 billion system RPMs in May, down 11.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 8.8% to 13.11 billion ASMs and load factor fell 2.6 points to 79.2%. American Eagle flew 622.9 million RPKs, down 14.3%, against a 14.5% fall in ASMs to 849.6 million, lifting load factor 0.2 point to 73.3%. United Airlines flew 9.54 billion consolidated RPMs in May, down 12.3% year-over-year. Capacity decreased 10.2% to 11.92 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.9 points to 80%.
Afrijet Airlines of Nigeria and ATR announced the signing of a Heads of Agreement deal for the purchase of four 68-seat ATR 72-500s worth a combined $80 million. Aircraft wil be powered by PW127Ms and will feature the Elegance cabin and IFE. Afrijet launched as a cargo carrier in 1999. Its passenger fleet currently comprises MD-82s and -83s.
LOT Polish Airlines launched LOT Charters, which will operate six LOT 737-400s and one 767 on long-haul flights to holiday destinations. The airline said the dedicated fleet is expected to carry 400,000 passengers by year end, which "would allow the company to reach a 25% market share and establish a leading position among charter carriers operating on the Polish market."
United Airlines sent a request for proposals to both Boeing and Airbus "that could result in a potentially significant number of aircraft that could ultimately replace our widebody fleet," according to a letter to employees from Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton obtained by ATWOnline, with The Wall Street Journal pegging the potential order at 150 aircraft.
