United Airlines yesterday joined American Airlines and US Airways (see story above) in announcing that it will charge $15 to check a first bag on North American flights. The fee will apply for trips from Aug. 18 for tickets purchased from today for flights within the US and to/from Canada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. First and business class passengers will be exempt as will UA and Star Alliance "premier status" members. The carrier estimated that the fee and $25 it is charging for a second checked bag will generate $275 million in revenue annually.
Continental Airlines yesterday detailed route closures stemming from its decision last week to downsize ( ATWOnline, June 6), leading to a mainline system capacity reduction of 6.8% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. From Sept. 3 it will discontinue a number of routes. Most prominently, it will stop flying Houston Intercontinental-Washington Dulles, IAH-Oakland, Newark-Cologne/Bonn, EWR-Salt Lake City, Cleveland-IAD and Guam-Bali.
Silverjet announced that it has reached "principal terms" with Kingplace, an Irish-registered investment group managed by Geneva-based Heritage, to acquire and re-launch the all-business-class carrier. Silverjet shut down two weeks ago when it failed to secure promised funds from a UAE-based investor ( ATWOnline, June 2). The London Luton-based airline's administrators said the transaction is expected to be completed by Friday.
Transaero announced that Alexander Pleshakov was reelected chairman and Olga Pleshakova was reelected GD. AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings promoted VP-Finance and Treasurer Arne Haak to senior VP-finance, treasurer and CFO. Haak joined AirTran in 1999 and has held his current job since January 2006. He succeeds Stan Gadek, who left to take over as CEO of Sun Country Airlines ( ATWOnline, March 6)..
The death toll from Tuesday's Sudan Airways A310 runway excursion accident in Khartoum stands at 30, many fewer than originally feared, with most passengers able to escape the aircraft before it was consumed by fire.
Japan Airlines will use the introduction of its 777-300ER on routes to the US to unveil its latest first and business class seats. It will launch the JAL Suite in first class and the JAL Shell Flat Neo Seat in business starting with its Tokyo-New York JFK route thrice-weekly from Aug. 1 and daily from Aug. 11. San Francisco will come online Sept. 13 and Chicago O'Hare and Los Angeles from April 1. The -300ER will replace 747-400s, cutting fuel burn by 20%.
Boeing yesterday said it finalized a deal to acquire Vought Aircraft Industries' interest in Global Aeronautica, a 787 fuselage subassembly facility in South Carolina. Contract makes GA a 50/50 joint venture between Boeing and Alenia North America. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Air France is urging manufacturers to launch a medium-haul aircraft program that will generate greater fuel efficiency gains compared to the current 737 and A320 family offerings.
Finnair is preparing to reduce capacity by about 2% initially due to the soaring cost of fuel and slowing demand and also may cut jobs, CEO Jukka Hienonen told Helsingin Sanomat. "If we have to make a reduction that equals the level of average overcapacity in Europe, 7%-10%, we will face staff cuts," he said. Finnair held talks with staff Tuesday regarding possible capacity reductions. Hienonen previously told ATWOnline that he is preparing the airline for what he considers to be an impending crisis in commercial aviation.
Brussels Cargo, the cargo division of Brussels Airlines, launched a new daylight courier service to and from Brussels that will be marketed by Globe Air Cargo. It initially is serving Athens, Barcelona, Lisbon, Nice, Madrid and Warsaw carrying pieces of up to 32 kg. each.
While stressing it supports "the principle" of the inclusion of aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme, Air France lambasted proposals by a European Parliament committee as unfair, discriminatory and potentially damaging to the financial health of European carriers.
A Sudan Airways A310 en route from Damascus to Khartoum caught fire after landing, leading to as many as 120 fatalities, according to some reports, though it does appear that many passengers were able to escape. The aircraft, believed to be carrying 217 passengers and crew, landed at Khartoum in the midst of a sandstorm and heavy rain, according to numerous reports. A Sudanese official said on Sudanese TV that "it landed safely. . .and [pilots] talked to the control tower which told them where to taxi. At this moment an explosion happened."
US federal judge ruled that the families of victims killed in the August 2006 Comair Flight 5191 crash in Lexington may sue the airline for punitive damages, according to a report in the Louisville Courier Journal. The crash, which killed 49 of the 50 people onboard, occurred when the CRJ200 took off from the wrong runway. The National Transportation Safety Board said pilot error was the principal cause of the accident. Plaintiffs also will be allowed to seek punitive damages from James Polehinke, the copilot who was the only survivor of the crash.
Austrian Airlines Group issued a profit warning projecting a loss of up to €90 million ($141.8 million) in 2008 owing to high fuel costs and tough competition.
Aer Lingus said it will reduce its long-haul capacity by 15% for the 2008-09 winter season owing to "unprecedented" fuel costs, the weak US dollar and a slowing economy. The carrier conceded that based on current fuel prices and the uncertain economic outlook, it expects "at best" to break even for 2008. The reduction will include suspension of its five-times-weekly Dublin-Los Angeles service from Nov. 2. It also decided to take two A330s out of service in 2009 when it takes delivery of two new A330s, keeping the fleet to nine rather than expanding to 11 as had been planned.
Dublin Airport Authority awarded Siemens a €40 million ($63 million) contract to design and build a baggage handling system for Dublin Airport's new passenger terminal T2. The project is scheduled to open in spring 2010. DUB's €395 million T2 will be capable of handling up to 15 million passengers per year.
Delta Air Lines yesterday told regional partner Pinnacle Airlines that the capacity purchase agreement the two carriers signed in April 2007 will be terminated as of July 31, claiming that the Memphis-based airline has failed to meet ontime performance standards.
Aviareps will provide Delta Air Lines with ticketing services and sales for Malaga-New York JFK service. DL began the new route on June 4 and will operate it four-times-weekly.
JetBlue Airways subsidiary LiveTV yesterday reached an agreement to purchase Verizon's Airfone network, a move that the company said will "anchor [its] inflight e-mail and messaging platform." Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. LiveTV plans to enhance and expand Airfone's Kiteline service, an inflight e-mail and messaging service targeted at the commercial aviation market. JetBlue already offers inflight e-mail on a single A320 on a trial basis via the Airfone network.
Amadeus said it reached an agreement with Singapore Airlines to replace the carrier's existing passenger service systems with its Altea Customer Management Solution. Technology is expected to enhance sales and reservations as well as global inventory management and departure control operations. Decision follows a comprehensive review of Amadeus's experience in migrating from legacy applications and platforms to newer technologies.
Emirates said it will operate its first A380 commercial flight on Dubai-New York JFK service Aug. 1 and from Aug. 8 will operate the route with the aircraft thrice-weekly. The flights are in addition to the twice-daily service it already offers on the route. The aircraft, the first to be powered by Engine Alliance GP7200s, will be configured with 489 seats: 14 first class, 76 business and 399 economy. It also will provide 13 tons of belly hold capacity for cargo.
SkyWest said it ended its quest to acquire ExpressJet Holdings after the latter announced a new service agreement with Continental Airlines last week ( ATWOnline, June 9). In April, ExpressJet rejected an unsolicited buyout offer from SkyWest Inc. valued at $3.50 per share or around $180 million, claiming that the offer undervalued the carrier ( ATWOnline, April 28).
Hainan Airlines is joining with the Yunnan local government in southwestern China to launch Yunnan Airlines, which will be comprised mainly of the assets of Lucky Air, an HNA subsidiary launched in 2006 that apparently will cease to exist. Based on an agreement signed between HNA and the Yunnan government, another HNA subsidiary, Grand China Air, will be the controlling stakeholder of the new Yunnan Airlines. The entity is reported to have a registered capital of more than CNY3 billion ($43.3 million).
