Iberia last week warned that a full-year profit is "unlikely" if "current difficult economic conditions persist." It posted a €32 million ($41.7 million) profit in 2008, down 90.2% from the prior year. It said in an investor update that it faces an "important decrease in revenues" owing to a "weakness" in traffic, a declining number business passengers and falling yields.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. and AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings said last week in government filings that a change in the way they report convertible debt owing to a new accounting rule has altered their net results slightly for the past five years.
Low-cost carriers represented 35% of all intra-European capacity last year, virtually unchanged from 2007, according to the 2009 edition of RDC Aviation's Low Cost Monitor. Growth across all sectors "slowed sharply toward the end of 2008," with aggregate annual capacity growing just 2.2%, the smallest increase this decade. Within this overall figure, however, the low-fare sector increased available seat capacity by 11% year-over-year while capacity in the non-low-cost sector dropped 2%. Significantly, the report noted that Ryanair assumed the No.
British Air Transport Assn. named former Virgin Atlantic Airways Director-External Affairs and Route Development Barry Humphries as chairman effective May 1, succeeding Monarch Airlines Chairman Danny Bernstein. BATA has 10 member airlines. Rockwell Collins named former US FAA Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell as senior VP-Washington operations.
EVA Air reported a TWD199.6 million ($5.9 million) first-quarter profit, reversed from a TWD2.29 billion loss in the year-ago period. The result represented its first quarterly profit since the 2007 third quarter. Revenue slid 29.8% year-over-year to TWD16.72 billion but falling fuel prices and full flights to mainland China made the difference, the carrier said. EVA suffered a TWD16.9 billion loss in 2008. The company last week also approved a recapitalization plan, according to the Taiwan Times.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber predicted Friday that LH's 2009 operating profit will be "distinctively positive" despite the economic downturn. Speaking at the company's annual general meeting in Cologne, he conceded that 2009 earnings likely will be "substantially below" 2008, for which LH posted net income of €599 million ($760 million) ( ATWOnline, March 12). But he insisted its business model is strong and predicted it will perform better than many of its competitors.
Chromalloy will invest $16.5 million to expand turbine engine component casting capabilities in Tampa. It said it would work with OEMs and operators to design and manufacture parts while "manag[ing] the entire supply chain process to deliver complete, engine-ready components." Facility enhancements will be ready by year end, with production ramp-up to start early next year.
Vueling Airlines is predicting another full-year profit after reporting a 72.2% year-over-year improvement in its first-quarter net loss to €6.3 million ($8.2 million) from the €22.6 million reported in the year-ago period.
Blue Wings signed a deal with Abu Dhabi's Elite Aviation to operate two A320s, which the carrier hopes will help it reacquire its operating license that was suspended by Germany's LBA on April 1 ( ATWOnline, April 17). Blue Wings owner Alexander Lebedev told reporters that he has offered a 49% stake in the airline to Aeroflot (in which he holds 30%) for €1 ($1.30). SU said it would consider the offer, according to Reuters.
Norwegian narrowed its first-quarter net loss to NOK109.6 million ($16.4 million) from the NOK210.8 million reported in the year-ago period as revenue rose 27.4% year-over-year to NOK1.39 billion. "The demand for travelling with Norwegian and advanced bookings has been satisfactory entering the second quarter of 2009," CEO Bjorn Kjos said, warning, however, that a slowdown in the business environment is expected. "Norwegian will closely monitor the traffic development and will make adjustments to the route portfolio if necessary."
UPS posted first-quarter net income of $401 million, down 55.7% from a $906 million net profit in the year-ago period, and revealed yesterday that it retired its entire fleet of 44 DC-8 freighters during the three months ended March 31. It said the fleet grounding was "earlier than expected" but reflects the current weak demand environment and its desire to become a "leaner, more efficient enterprise." It took a $181 million charge in the quarter to retire the aircraft. Despite the steep profit decline, the delivery giant sees hopeful signs down the road.
SR Technics said Vietnam Airlines extended an existing MRO agreement covering 23 CFM56-5Bs powering the airline's A320s for a further three years to 2012.
Frontier Airlines reported a 16% year-over-year fall in March unit revenue to 8.37 cents on an 11.32% decline in yield to 10.49 cents. It flew 716.1 million RPMs during the month, down 24%, against a 19.7% fall in capacity to 897.6 million ASMs. Load factor dropped 4.6 points to 79.8%.
US Airways reported a first-quarter net loss of $103 million, narrowed from a net deficit of $237 million in the year-ago period, and said it made "significant improvements" absent special items.
Virgin Blue delayed the delivery of two 361-seat 777-300ERs for its V Australia operation because of the slowdown in air travel. The fifth and sixth -300ERs have been rescheduled from 2010 to 2011 and 2012. In a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Blue said it still planned to take the "seventh" 777 in the second half of 2010. V Australia has three 777-300ERs in service operating from Brisbane and Sydney to Los Angeles and it expects to start Sydney-Perth-Johannesburg service this year.
JetBlue Airways posted first-quarter net income of $12 million, turned around from a net loss of $10 million in the year-ago period, and predicted it will "earn a profit every quarter this year."
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group lost $19.2 million in the first quarter, narrowed from a $37.3 million deficit in the year-ago period, and announced a $15 charge for the first checked bag.
Air Nostrum unveiled a comprehensive "action plan" as it posted a pre-tax first-quarter loss of €22 million ($28.5 million) on a 9% drop in passengers and a 16% decrease in revenue. A year-ago figure was unavailable. The plan could lead to the loss of 589 jobs, or 26% of its workforce, and includes a reduction of its fleet by up 10 aircraft to 59 and an 18% cut in flights. Unprofitable routes will be abandoned and the level of free services in economy will be reduced. Cabin crew on its 50-seat aircraft will be halved to one.
Vietnam Airlines posted a first-quarter pre-tax profit of VND24 billion ($1.3 million), according to a statement cited by Dow Jones that provided no year-ago comparisons. VN's 2008 pre-tax profit was $14 million ( ATWOnline, Jan. 9). First-quarter 2009 revenue was VND6.12 trillion on a 5% fall in passenger numbers to 2.3 million. Load factor rose 11 points to 88%.
China Eastern Airlines, which reported a company-record loss of CNY13.93 billion ($2.04 billion) in 2008, is committed to engineering a turnaround through cost control, targeted expansion and SkyTeam membership despite the threat of insolvency.
AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings posted record first-quarter net income of $28.7 million, reversed from a $35.4 million loss in the year-ago period, signaling "the first steps in a long recovery for our company and our industry," Chairman, President and CEO Bob Fornaro said.
EADS and Airbus signed a contract with Russian Technologies State Corp.'s VSMPO-Avisma Corp. for the supply of titanium to Airbus and other EADS divisions until 2020. Deal covers die forging parts for all existing Airbus aircraft plus the A350 and finalizes an agreement reached last summer ( ATWOnline, July 16, 2008).
Pratt & Whitney signed a five-year Engine Management Program agreement with Vietnam Airlines covering on-wing performance monitoring services for 58 PW4000 and V2500 engines.
Ryanair yesterday threatened to close its base at Dusseldorf Weeze, where it bases six aircraft and handles 2.5 million passengers per year, if a decision by the OVG Court in Munster to restrict the airport's operating hours is not overturned by April 29. The LCC said it stopped accepting bookings yesterday on all flights affected by the change in operating hours. It opened the base in 2007 and added a fifth and sixth 737-800 last winter.
