Jazz Air said yesterday that owing to planned fourth-quarter capacity reductions by Air Canada, with which it has a contract to operate regional flights, it will reduce its flying by 5% in the year's final three months and cut 270 employees. AC said last month that it will reduce total system capacity by 7% year-over-year in this year's fourth quarter and the 2009 first quarter and slash its workforce by 2,000 ( ATWOnline, June 18).
Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday issued a profit warning saying that first-half and full-year 2008 results "are expected to be disappointing" as its fuel expenses have risen by approximately 60% so far this year.
AirTran Airways will impose a 15% pay cut on officers and a 5%-8% cut on most staff, according to a letter to employees from Chairman, President and CEO Bob Fornaro cited by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Approximately 48% of AirTran employees are unionized, the paper said, and the carrier will have to negotiate the reductions. It expects them to take effect next month and for overall wage expense to fall 10% over the next six months. AirTran announced its most recent capacity cut two weeks ago ( ATWOnline, June 17).
Bob Johnson stepped down as head of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise yesterday, announcing his retirement at age 60 just two years after he was appointed CEO of the high-flying aerospace company ahead of the 2006 Farnborough Airshow ( ATWOnline, July 13, 2006). George Mushahwar was named acting CEO. He previously was COO of Dubai-based TECOM Investments. In a statement, Johnson said DAE has made significant strides over the past two years, "but now is the right time for me to retire.
British Airways reached an agreement to acquire French all-business-class operator L'Avion for £54 million ($107.7 million) and will integrate the company into its new premium transatlantic subsidiary OpenSkies.
Lufthansa said it is expecting a 10% increase in passengers flying between Germany and Russia. It transported 1.7 million between the countries in 2007 and currently flies to nine Russian destinations.
SkyEurope Airlines this week opened its fourth base at Kosice. It has invested €30 million in the facility, which it is calling a "satellite hub" and where it expects to handle 340,000 passengers this year, up 80% from 2007. It is offering 11 daily flights from the airport to Split, Bratislava, Prague, London Stansted, Dublin and Manchester.
Continental Airlines said it expects to make a July 11 announcement regarding special charges recorded for the recently completed quarter related to the capacity reductions planned for the second half of this year ( ATWOnline, June 13), plus "other special items" recorded during the second quarter related to gains on the sale of its stake in Copa Holdings and other moves. It is scheduled to release second-quarter earnings on July 17. CO flew 8.63 billion consolidated RPMs in June, a 0.1% slip from the year-ago month.
Southwest Airlines flew 6.88 billion RPMs in June, up 0.7% year-over-year, against a 5.7% increase in capacity to 8.8 billion ASMs. Load factor fell 3.9 points to 78.2%.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. informed the US Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that it will record a noncash impairment charge of $1.1-$1.2 billion in the second quarter related to the capacity reductions announced in May ( ATWOnline, May 22).
Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines is expected to be the first Chinese mainland carrier to operate a charter flight across the Taiwan Strait Friday, with Taiwan's China Airlines following suit later that day from Taipei to Shanghai.
FlyYeti.com, the low-cost joint venture between Air Arabia and Yeti Airlines operating out of Kathmandu, will suspend operations on July 16 owing to what it called "difficult operating conditions in Nepal and a presently opaque regulatory environment" and political conditions that made it impossible to guarantee the renewal of aircraft operating leases that expire this month.
Lufthansa, including its Swiss International Air Lines subsidiary, has become continental Europe's biggest North Atlantic carrier despite its reluctance to take quick advantage of open skies, flying 22 nonstop routes between Germany/Switzerland and North America.
British Airways is retreating from its position that BAA should be broken up ( ATWOnline, March 12), according to a letter the carrier sent to the UK Competition Commission that was obtained by The Independent. BA wrote that it now is "concerned that ownership separation may prove counterproductive in so far as it diverts BAA management attention away from expansion of runway capacity or creates uncertainty around the status of government policy, thereby jeopardizing construction of a new runway at Heathrow.
Etihad Airways increased passengers during the first half of 2008 by 41% year-over-year to 2.8 million and said it remains on track to carry 6 million for the full year. Load factor averaged 73%, up 9 points. Its Crystal Cargo division transported more than 127,000 shipments in the first half, up 22%.
Jet Airways said it has gained approval from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation to serve as the Type Rating Training Organization for its Type Rating Training School, which will enable it to "induct pilots in smaller batches at regular intervals in order to optimize the usage of simulator as well as ground school training facilities. . .[leading to] faster, more-efficient induction of pilots into its workforce to fly its growing fleet."
Alitalia is facing its "last chance" for survival and needs a "complete break" from its past, Chairman Aristide Police told shareholders at the ailing flag carrier's annual meeting last week. "We are facing the last chance and we cannot risk missing it," he said. "We will certainly need to follow new paths which will represent a complete break with the past, abandoning quickly what is unjustifiable and inadequate."
Frontier Airlines promoted Senior VP-Finance Edward Christie III to senior VP and CFO. He joined Frontier in 2002. Swissport International appointed John Batten executive VP-cargo.
Qantas Group unveiled an overhauled Qantas Frequent Flyer program, offering its more than 5 million members the option of using points to book any seat on any Qantas or Jetstar Airways flight. Qantas Frequent Flyer CEO Simon Hickey said the enhanced program combines a range of new and expanded benefits with the more traditional fixed points redemption option that has been available for many years.
ABX Air welcomed Mike Gerdes as VP-flight operations. AeroInfo Systems tapped Kenneth J. Goosen as president. AirBridgeCargo Airlines appointed Ludwig Hamburger regional dir.-Europe, Middle East & Africa. AirTran Airways announced that Bob Fornaro has become chairman, succeeding Joe Leonard, who is retiring. Fornaro remains president & CEO as well. Arne G. Haak was elevated to senior VP-finance, treasurer & CFO. Alteon promoted Allen Thompason to chief pilot & VP-flight operations.
Alaska Airlines, in an effort to conserve fuel and reduce carbon emissions, has implemented mobile ground-based air units for cabin venting, cooling and heating on parked aircraft at 19 gates at Seattle-Tacoma International. It also retrofitted its 737s with blended winglets manufactured by Aviation Partners Boeing.
S7 Airlines announced the issuance of RUB2.3 billion ($98.2 million) in debentures scheduled to mature five years from the date of issue. Alpha Bank is lead manager. S7 said the issue is designed to "refinance the debt portfolio."
MAIR Holdings, which shut down its Big Sky Airlines subsidiary in March ( ATWOnline, Feb. 12), said shareholders last week approved the dissolution and liquidation of the parent company. Yesterday it filed a notice to delist its stock from NASDAQ, with the last day of trading scheduled for July 7.
