AAR Corp. was forced to shut down operations at its Miami landing gear repair station after FAA issued an Emergency Order of Suspension to the company's Landing Gear Services subsidiary, which generates about 6% of the MRO provider's revenue. AAR said it has been "in regular communication" with FAA since July 2008, when the regulator issued a "notice of alleged discrepancies" following an inspection of the Miami facilities. "The company was in the process of responding to that request when it received the order of suspension," AAR said.
Lufthansa Passenger Airlines flew 8.92 billion RPKs in January, a 6.2% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 3.1% to 11.95 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 2.4 points to 74.6%. Swiss International Air Lines flew 2.14 billion RPKs in January, up 4.3% year-over-year. Capacity climbed 6.3% to 2.96 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.4 points to 72.9%.
Jazz Air, Air Canada's regional partner, reported a net profit of C$134.8 million ($109.9 million) in 2008, down 10.5% from the C$150.7 million earned in 2007, on a 9.4% rise in revenue to C$1.64 billion. Operating expenses were up 10.9% to C$1.49 billion and operating profit fell 3.2% to C$148.3 million. The airline said it earned 71% of the performance incentives available under its capacity purchase agreement with AC, totaling C$15.7 million. Fourth-quarter profit of $34.9 million was 0.5% lower than the year-ago period's while operating income climbed 10.3% to C$39.7 million.
US Airways told employees it will lay off 233 ramp workers and gate/ticket agents in 10 cities owing to capacity cuts and the loss of contracts to provide ground services to other airlines at affected airports. Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Tucson will see the biggest reductions. "These are uncertain times marked by less business flying, fewer family vacations and rising unemployment," US Chairman and CEO Doug Parker wrote in a note to employees cited by the Associated Press.
SkyWest Inc., parent of regional carriers SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported a $112.9 million profit in 2008, down 29.1% from the $159.2 million earned in 2007. Operating revenue rose 3.6% to $3.5 billion against a 7% increase in expenses to $3.24 billion. Operating income fell 25.9% to $255.2 million from $344.5 million. The company's fleet as of Dec. 31 comprised 374 Bombardier CRJs (234 with Delta Air Lines, 119 with United Airlines, 12 with Midwest Airlines and nine unassigned), 56 Embraer 120s (44 with UA and 12 with DL) and 12 ATR 72s (DL).
Likely reflecting the impact of the severe economic downturn in the US, airline ticket sales through Airlines Reporting Corp. plunged nearly 25% in January, the airline-owned company reported.
ATR received approval from London City Airport to operate the ATR 72-500 there following successful completion of steep-approach trials and noise tests. The aircraft joined the 42-300 and 42-500 in operation at LCY on Aer Arann flights to/from Isle of Man.
Air France KLM flew 16.11 billion RPKs in January, a 1.9% fall from the year-ago month. Capacity was down 1.2% to 21.03 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 0.5 point to 76.6%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 647.6 million RPMs in January, down 0.6% year-over-year. Capacity rose 5.4% to 827.3 million ASMs and load factor fell 4.8 points to 78.3%. Gol flew 2.32 billion system RPKs in January, down 10.2% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 10.7% to 3.37 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 68.9%.
Air China is evaluating the purchase of a 24% stake in Air China Cargo worth CNY718 million from Beijing Capital Airport Holding Co. CA Board Secretary Huang Bing noted a final decision on making the cargo company a wholly owned CA subsidiary "will depend on the specific situation of the cargo market at home and abroad." Last year the airline raised its stake in Air China Cargo to 76% from 51% through purchase of Gold Leaf Enterprise Holdings' stake in CA Cargo shareholder Langxing Co ( ATWOnline, Feb.
This year may not be a good one for regional airlines as mainline partners continue to cut capacity and seek contract concessions, analysts from Raymond James & Associates said at last week's Growth Airline Conference in New York. "Capacity is being reduced and organic growth opportunities are limited," analyst Duane Pfennigwerth said. "Future growth could come from consolidation or a move towards more high risk opportunities."
Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson said the manufacturer is "cautiously optimistic" regarding 2010 but is "prepared" to cut aircraft production rates if necessary.
Volga-Dnepr Group, parent of Volga-Dnepr Airlines and AirBridgeCargo Airlines, increased revenue from its charter and scheduled air cargo services by 46% in 2008 to $1.4 billion. Cargo tonnage rose 25% year-over-year to 267,000 tonnes and FTKs jumped 32%.
Massive fuel hedging losses and falling revenue resulted in a 43% drop in fiscal third-quarter profit at Singapore Airlines Group, to S$337.2 million ($225.5 million) from the S$590 million earned in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2007.
Russia's Interstate Aviation Committee yesterday released its final report on last September's Aeroflot Nord 737-500 accident near Perm that killed all 88 onboard, finding that the pilot who "lost spatial orientation" had been drinking.
Greece's Marfin Investment Group said it is "ready to proceed to direct negotiations" with the government regarding its floundering effort to privatize Olympic Airlines and that it is willing to invest up to €200 million ($259.5 million) to acquire OA's three divisions. The government's tender failed to produce a satisfactory offer by last week's deadline ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5), at which point officials reached out to Greek investors seeking a bid.
Southwest Airlines began testing onboard Wi-Fi Internet connectivity in conjunction with Row 44 yesterday, deploying the technology on one 737. It also is partnering with Yahoo! to offer an inflight homepage. Service will be free during the test period, which will last "the next few months" and include three more aircraft that SWA is in the process of equipping. US Federal Communications Commission has not given approval for permanent inflight use and SWA said it will wait to evaluate the trial period before deciding whether to move forward with fleetwide equipage.
SunExpress, the joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines, reported a 33.8% year-over-year increase in 2008 revenue to €406.8 million ($526.2 million) on a 40.9% surge in passenger numbers to 4.2 million. Load factor rose 1.1 points to 77.6%. It said it was profitable but did not release financial figures. SunExpress operates 14 737-800s and three 757-200s and will take delivery this year of three -800s that will replace the leased 757s. It will fly 816 weekly frequencies to 87 destinations during the upcoming summer schedule.
Thomas Cook Group announced that it plans to acquire Lufthansa's 24.9% stake in its Condor Airlines subsidiary for €77.2 million ($99.9 million) under options granted in 2007. Condor transported just under 7 million passengers last year but suffered a 10% year-over-year decline in January, a source close to the airline told ATWOnline. Last fall, Thomas Cook pulled out of negotiations to combine Condor, TUI Travel's TUIfly and LH's Germanwings ( ATWOnline, Sept. 30, 2008).
Bandeirante operated by Brazil's Manaus Aerotaxi crashed in the Manacapuru River Saturday while on its way to the Amazon city of Coari, killing both pilots and 22 of the 26 passengers onboard. The aircraft, which first flew in 1981, was certified to carry a maximum of 19 passengers, according to the Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network.
Delta Air Lines said yesterday that it and subsidiary Northwest Airlines will stop using about 170 gates at airports throughout the US as the merged carriers consolidate operations. CEO Richard Anderson told employees in a recorded message that DL and NWA facilities at US airports all will bear the Delta name by year end. Branding will become uniform at airports internationally by the middle of next year, he said. He claimed the consolidation of airport facilities "translates into multimillions of dollars of rental savings."
US airlines posted an ontime arrival rate of 76% in 2008, up from 73.4% the year before, the US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported. In December, the 19 reporting carriers were on time at a 65.3% rate, up 1 point year-over-year. Airlines cancelled 3.3% of their domestic scheduled flights, a 0.2-point improvement from December 2007. Hawaiian Airlines' December ontime arrival rate of 79.6% was the best, followed by US Airways at 72.1% and American Airlines at 69.9%. Worst was Comair at 55.1%, followed by Alaska Airlines at 58.4%.
Virgin Group President Richard Branson was upbeat at Friday's Seattle delivery ceremony as V Australia took delivery of the first of seven 777-300ERs and, speaking to ATWOnline, dismissed naysayers who warned of starting an airline in difficult times.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is not interested in joining a global alliance even as it copes with the impact of the global downturn ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5).
Cargolux Airlines International announced the launch of Cargolux Italia, a subsidiary that will operate long-haul cargo flights from Milan Malpensa. It plans to start operations as soon as ENAC grants certification, which is expected in April. No further details were announced.
EASA formally approved the 777F Friday following FAA certification on Feb. 3, Boeing announced. Launch customer Air France is scheduled to take first delivery this quarter ( ATWOnline, Nov. 18, 2008).
