Lufthansa CFO Stephan Gemkow was elected to the board of JetBlue Airways, the New York-based carrier announced. He joins Swiss International Air Lines President and CEO Cristoph Franz on the 11-member board ( ATWOnline, Feb. 11).
ALAFCO announced the lease of eight A320-200s to Saudi Arabian Airlines for eight years each. Delivery is scheduled in 2009 and 2010. The Kuwaiti lessor struck a deal with Saudi Arabian for 17 long-haul aircraft in June ( ATWOnline, June 26). The combined deals are worth $3.3 billion, ALAFCO said.
British Airways' planned all-business-class flights between London City and either New York JFK or Newark will launch in autumn 2009 and have just 32 seats that can be converted into lie-flat beds, the carrier announced yesterday. The twice-daily service will be aboard an A318, the largest aircraft that can operate at LCY, and will refuel at Shannon on the westbound journey. Passengers will complete US arrival checks in Ireland. Eastbound flights will be nonstop. BA vowed customers will be able to arrive at LCY up to 15 min.
Sensis Corp. announced that its Airport Surface Detection Equipment Model X is now operational at Detroit Metro. ASDE-X combines surface movement radar, transponder multilateration and ADS-B "to provide air traffic controllers with real-time, highly accurate position and location information of all aircraft and vehicles on the airport surface," the company said.
Sterling Airlines reappointed Almar Orn Hilmarsson president and CEO replacing Reza Taleghani. The former JP Morgan executive took over from Hilmarsson in March after the latter had been at the post for nearly three years ( ATWOnline, March 5). The move coincides with a change in the shareholding of Northern Travel Holding, which bought Sterling in December 2006 from FL Group.
Chinese carriers continued to suffer falling passenger demand in July. Air China's RPKs decreased by 8.4% from the year-ago month, while passenger boardings fell 6.8% to 3 million and load factor plunged 8.1 points to 73.3%. China Southern Airlines' RPKs slid 4.2% year-over-year and load factor dipped 1.4 points to 75.1%. It is noteworthy that CA's and CZ's international RPKs dropped 13.7% and 13.3% respectively, mainly owing to heightened security measures related to the Beijing Olympics and slowing global demand. CZ cut its international capacity 14.2% last month.
US Air Transport Assn. forecast a 5.7% year-over-year fall in the number of passengers traveling globally on US airlines during the Labor Day holiday period from Aug. 27 through Sept. 3 to 16 million. Decline comprises a 6.5% domestic drop and a 1% international increase. Air France KLM flew 20.1 billion RPKs in July, up 1.8% year-over-year, against a 3.9% increase in capacity to 23.82 billion ASKs. Load factor fell 1.8 points to 84.4%.
BAA completed the long-awaited £13.3 billion ($24.81 billion) refinancing of its seven UK airports, which it said will provide "a stable, long-term, investment grade financing platform for investment in [London] Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports over the coming decades."
American Airlines said $7.1 million in civil penalties for alleged safety violations proposed last week by US FAA are "excessive" ( ATWOnline, Aug. 15). The agency alleged that AA "used the wrong provisions of its Minimum Equipment List to return two MD-83 aircraft to service after pilots had reported problems, and flew the planes 58 times in violation of FAA regulations.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. named VP-Investor Relations Kathryn Mikells to succeed Executive VP and CFO Jake Brace when he retires on Nov. 1. Mikells, who joined UA in 1994 as a financial analyst and has held several leadership positions throughout the company, will be senior VP and CFO. Brace joined the company in 1988 and has been CFO since 2001. He will continue to serve in an advisory role, UA said. UAL also named former Northwest Airlines pilot and Air Line Pilots Assn. officer Howard Attarian as VP-flight operations, effective Sept.
Thai Airways set aside THB700 million ($20.6 million) that it hopes to use for early retirement packages to induce 500 workers to leave the airline, the Bangkok Post reported. Thai also said it will cease operating flights from Bangkok to New York JFK and Auckland. The moves came after the carrier posted a THB9.24 billion second-quarter loss ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14), widened from a THB417.4 million deficit in the year-ago quarter and its largest quarterly loss since 1997.
Indian government announced official approval for significant modernization and expansion projects at Kolkata and Chennai airports that will bring the facilities to "international standard" and cost a combined $900 million.
ACTS and GE signed an MOU recognizing ACTS Engine Maintenance Center as a GE fulfillment center for engine MRO and on-wing and diagnostic services for CFM56-2/-3/-5A and -5C operators in the Americas.
German travel, tourism and shipping conglomerate TUI AG slipped to a €125.3 million loss in the second quarter, reversed from a €70.5 million profit in the year-ago period, owing to special items "arising in particular from the strategic realignment of flight operations."
US Airways said Merrill Lynch, the underwriter of its public offering of 19 million shares of common stock at $8.50 per share, exercised the entire overallotment option of 2.85 million shares. The resulting net proceeds from the offering are expected to be around $179 million, US said ( ATWOnline, Aug. 15).
Alaska Airlines flew 1.79 billion RPMs in July, a 2.2% year-over-year decrease. Capacity rose 2.4% to 2.24 billion ASMs and load factor fell 3.7 points to 79.7%. SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.6 billion RPMs in July, down 4.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 3.3% to 2 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.2 points to 80.1%.
SAS Group reported a SEK411 million second-quarter loss, reversed from a SEK607 million profit in the year-ago period, and announced enhancements to its Profit 2008 recovery program featuring an additional SEK400 million in savings and the grounding of seven more aircraft. "The reasons for the decrease in earnings are well known," President and CEO Mats Jansson said. "Managing this highly challenging situation is currently the primary focus of the SAS Group and the entire air travel industry."
Fly540 F-27 crashed on its way to Mogadishu from Nairobi, killing all three occupants--both pilots and an engineer. Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network said the 26-year-old aircraft was operating a cargo flight and crashed on approach. Xinhua news agency reported that it hit a telecommunications tower. The Kenyan carrier announced an ATR order last winter as it looks to expand its passenger operation ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7).
Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil told Turkish TV network CNBC-e that THY is "interested in principle in the stake sale of Austrian Airlines" but that it has "not taken a decision on this," Reuters reported ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14). He also said it is interested in the 49% stake currently being offered in Bosnia's B&H Airlines.
El Al recorded a second-quarter net loss of $11.2 million, reversed from a $16.6 million profit in the year-ago period, as rising fuel costs mitigated record revenue. "During the second quarter, El Al faced the challenge of the international crisis in aviation," President Haim Romano said. "Fuel prices continued to soar, by about 80% [year-over-year] . . . During the quarter, the fuel component represented close to 40% of flight expenses and resulted in a significant growth in company expenditure." He added that the Israeli flag carrier faces "ever increasing completion. . .
Korean Air reported a second-quarter loss of KRW288.9 billion ($278 million), widened from a KRW214.4 loss in the year-ago quarter, as costs escalated faster than rising revenue. "Fuel expenses showed a sharp increase of 80.4% triggered by a soaring fuel price and a weakening Korean won," KE said, adding that a "weaker economic backdrop" slowed traffic growth, particularly in the international passenger sector.
American Airlines firmed up commitments for 26 new 737-800s comprising 20 converted options and six new orders, Boeing announced yesterday. The six new aircraft will be part of the accelerated fleet plan and MD-80 replacement program announced earlier this week ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14). AA now has ordered 36 -800s this year and is "accelerating deliveries of airplanes booked in prior years," according to the manufacturer.
Deutsche Post World Net CEO Frank Appel defended subsidiary DHL's proposed plan to shift its US air lift from ABX Air and Astar Air Cargo to rival UPS, saying criticism from US politicians over potential job losses at DHL's US air hub in Wilmington, Ohio ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14), misses the bigger picture and that there are no grounds for an antitrust review.
Oneworld partners American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian yesterday confirmed that they filed for worldwide antitrust immunity from the US Dept. of Transportation and notified the appropriate regulatory authorities in the EU.
