Southwest Airlines flew 5.31 billion RPMs in September, down 5.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 0.8% to 8.38 billion ASMs, lowering load factor 4.5 points to 63.4%.
AiRUnion, the failed Russian airline alliance that comprised five carriers, ceased to exist Tuesday as the management company shut down. The Russian government intended to replace AiRUnion with a state-owned grouping of nine airlines ( ATWOnline, Sept. 11), but AiRUnion COO Gustav Baldauf told ATWOnline that "we are still working on a concept for a follow-up company" and that decisions on how the replacement alliance would function "will take some time."
Ryanair will expand its Madrid Barajas base with two new 737-800s on Nov. 18 and launch twice-daily service to Alicante, Palma, Santiago and Valencia. It also will increase frequencies to Dublin, Santander and Bergamo. Expansion will see the LCC's MAD network grow to six domestic and 17 international routes on six based aircraft. Ryanair also said that delayed delivery of new aircraft resulting from the machinists strike at Boeing ( ATWOnline, Sept. 22) has forced it to cancel 25 flights to/from Birmingham between Oct. 24 and Oct.
IAE announced that the first V2500 SelectOne engine entered service with launch customer IndiGo yesterday on a new A320. Aircraft, which was delivered to the Indian startup Sept. 23, is leased from Australia's Allco Finance Group.
United Airlines continued to take measures to boost its cash position, announcing yesterday that it has completed financing transactions that will add approximately $275 million in cash by year end. It said $125 million will come from an aircraft financing agreement, an additional $140 million from asset sales and another $10 million from substituting "certain cash collateral with a letter of credit." It did not provide more specific details.
LAN Airlines said the required adoption of IFRS on Jan. 1 will result in a 4.3% decline in shareholders' equity as of Dec. 31, representing a $42 million reduction to $946 million. LAN said the transition will not have a "significant material effect" on future financial results.
British Airways World Cargo's former commercial GM, Keith Packer, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix rates on international airfreight shipments and agreed to serve eight months in prison, the US Dept. of Justice announced. Under terms of the deal, which is subject to court approval, Packer also will pay a $20,000 criminal fine and has pledged to cooperate with DOJ's ongoing investigation into cargo carrier collusion. He is the first foreign national and third individual charged as part of DOJ's investigation.
Southwest Airlines said yesterday that it will add Minneapolis/St. Paul to its network in March, its first new city since adding San Francisco in August 2007. Chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said the expansion will be "very cautious and very conservative," evidenced by SWA's only operating flights to Chicago Midway from MSP. He did not disclose the number of daily flights on the route.
ExpressJet Holdings shareholders yesterday approved a 1:10 reverse stock split, which the company said will allow it to return immediately to trading on all NYSE Group platforms and return to compliance with NYSE's continued listing standards at the close of the six-month cure period on Jan. 18 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 8).
Air Pacific's two 747-400s will be refurbished with new cabins (including seat covers, carpet and curtains), upgraded digital IFE, renewed galleys and lavatories, interior lighting and paint. The aircraft will be serviced in Singapore in October-November and February-March and a United Airlines 747-400 will be wet-leased to maintain the flight schedule. Separately, FJ will launch twice-weekly Nadi-Gold Coast on Dec. 1 aboard a 737-800.
SAS Group yesterday signed an MOU with Gate Gourmet Switzerland for a five-year catering contract scheduled to be finalized in two weeks. Agreement, which includes a two-year extension option, applies to catering supplies for SAS departures from Copenhagen, Stockholm Arlanda, Gothenburg, Malmo, Oslo and Bergen.
Mechtronix World Corp. announced that Richardson Capital, the private equity arm of Richardson Financial Group, has invested C$39 million ($37.8 million) in the Montreal-based simulator maker for a minority stake. The company said the funds will be used for "widening of turnkey services for new-generation training centers, expanded market development efforts" and expansion of manufacturing and R&D. "We're multiplying our manufacturing capacity by three," Mechtronix President Xavier Herve told ATWOnline.
Jat Airways, which the Serbian government put up for sale over the summer ( ATWOnline, Sept. 22), has not found an investor willing to purchase the state's 51% stake and now must depend on the government for a rescue, CEO Sasa Vlaisavljevic told the daily Blic. He said the state will have to assume Jat's €250 million debt.
IATA reported that global international RPK growth in August slowed to 1.3% year-over-year from 1.9% in July and 5.4% in the first half of 2008. August load factor fell 1.8 points to 81%. "The slowdown has been so sudden that airlines can't adjust capacity quickly enough. While the drop in the oil price is welcome relief on the cost side, fuel remains 30% higher than a year ago," DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said, reiterating IATA's forecast of a $5.2 billion industry loss for the full year ( ATWOnline, Sept.
Turkish Airlines is expected to announce its long-awaited fleet order this month, President and CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline in Istanbul. Kotil declined to elaborate on the order's size or composition and confirmed only that it will be "big" and include both narrowbody and widebody aircraft ( ATWOnline, Sept. 5). "We intend to double our narrowbody fleet in the next ten years," he said. "We will have about 200 of them at Istanbul [Ataturk]. We will then be a good player."
Sun Country Airlines moved to become financially independent from parent company Petters Group Wordwide, which has become ensnared in a US federal criminal investigation that led to this week's abrupt resignation of Chairman and CEO Tom Petters. Petters Group offices and Petters' personal home were raided by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service, which allege that the company head and certain associates were involved in a massive multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
Alitalia's rescue by Italian investment group CAI appears fully on track after the last of AZ's nine labor unions yesterday backed the €1 billion ($1.46 billion) plan to re-launch the troubled airline that is estimated to be losing €3 million daily.
Welcome Air of Innsbruck, one of Europe's few small independent regional carriers, recently took delivery of its fourth Do-328, a 328JET version. Aircraft originally was for Hainan Airlines. Welcome will launch a weekly Innsbruck-Weeze service for the upcoming winter schedule but will stop operating to Rotterdam and Antwerp because of "massive pressure" from Dutch LCC Transavia.com, Welcome owner Jakob Ringler told ATWOnline.
Frontier Airlines reported a $5.6 million net loss in August but posted its second consecutive monthly operating profit ($3.3 million). Net result included a $4.7 million loss on a sale-leaseback transaction, $1.8 million in professional fees, a $500,000 mark-to-market noncash loss on fuel hedging contracts and a $300,000 loss on early extinguishment of debt. It reported a $500,000 gain on a reversal of severance accrual. Net income excluding those items was $1.2 million.
Discussions about a potential three-way merger among German charter/low-cost carriers Condor, TUIfly and Germanwings failed following Thomas Cook Group's decision to withdraw.
News from Travel Technology Update: Getting people to put "awesome" and "airline" into the same sentence these days is no easy feat. But JetBlue Airways managed it with its recent auction of flights and vacation packages on eBay. The idea came about when the carrier was thinking of ways to stimulate travel during the fall lull. "We were looking for something unique to get people thinking about travel," Don Uselmann, manager of business development, said. "We wanted a 'water cooler' story, something that people would talk about."
Japan Airlines yesterday said it is canceling cargo flights between Tokyo Narita and New York JFK from Oct. 1, part of a reduction in freighter services for the second half of its fiscal year ending March 31. "The airline is currently facing a tough environment, particularly in terms of its North American freighter business," JAL said. "Even though the price of fuel has stabilized, it has remained at a very high level.
SAS Group airlines flew 3.66 billion RPKs in August, down 0.7% year-over-year. Capacity rose 2.2% to 4.91 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.1 points to 74.4%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.51 billion RPKs, down 0.4%, against a 4.6% rise in ASKs to 3.41 billion. Load factor fell 3.7 points to 73.5%. Aer Lingus flew 1.68 billion RPKs in August, up 8.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 10.3% to 2.08 billion ASKs and load factor was down 1.2 points to 80.5%.
Six Hong Kong carriers, including Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair, will cut fuel surcharges on international and domestic routes by 10% and 15% respectively through October and November. Surcharges will be HK$832 ($106.97) on long-haul flights and HK$196 on short-haul. The decision, as well as cuts implemented by some foreign carriers, have put pressure on airlines from the Chinese mainland.
