Healthy loads and yields helped Copa Airlines and AeroRepublica parent Copa Holdings mitigate the impact of rising fuel costs in the first quarter, when it suffered a relatively mild 18.7% decline in net income to $39.5 million from $48.6 million in the year-ago period. Results the company characterized as "strong" were boosted by a 21.9% year-over-year increase in operating revenue to $295.9 million. Operating income slipped 14.9% to $51.7 million from $60.8 million as fuel costs climbed $21.7 million.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines executives continued to push the merits of their proposed merger this week, assuring both federal and state legislators that no "frontline" workers will be cut, while the two carriers' pilot groups plan to meet next week.
Tiger Airways enjoyed an 81.6% increase in revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31 on a 50% rise in passengers to 2.3 million. Full-year capacity climbed 39.6% and load factor rose 8 points. The Singapore-based LCC did not provide further details and said full results will be released following a formal audit.
EasyJet more than trebled its net loss for the six months ended March 31 to £43.3 million ($85.4 million) from £12.7 million in the year-ago period owing largely to higher fuel costs and the integration of GB Airways.
British Airways flew 8.8 billion RPKs in April, down 7% from the year-ago month, against a 0.4% decline in capacity to 12.29 billion ASKs. Load factor fell 5.1 points to 71.6%. Air Canada and Jazz flew a combined 4 billion RPMs in April, up 0.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 0.4% to 4.83 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 82.7%.
Hainan Airlines still is exploring the possibility of joining an alliance although it has not made a firm decision, Liang Pubin, GM of the carrier's Brussels office, told ATWOnline. "We have a team that is exploring the possibility," he said. "The general idea is that it is a necessity to join an alliance, but we have to research the actual advantage and disadvantages of becoming an alliance member and then of course, we have to see what the possibilities are.
Embraer reported a more than tripling of its first-quarter net income to $85 million from $26.2 million in the prior year on a 60.6% surge in revenue to $1.34 billion as commercial aircraft deliveries nearly doubled to 38 compared to 20 last year. Operating income more than tripled to $48.7 million from $15.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The manufacturer delivered 15 E-175s, 17 E-190s, three ERJ-145s and three E-195s during the quarter. Its firm order backlog at quarter's end was $20.3 billion, up 26.1% over $15 billion at the end of the prior-year quarter.
CAE won orders for full-flight simulators and related CAE Simfinity training devices valued at more than C$60 million ($59.4 million) from Lufthansa Flight Training, Flight Training Finance, Swiss Aviation Training and Zhuhai Flight Training Centre. LFT purchased a CAE 7000 Series 777-200 LRF FFS, while FTF ordered a CAE 7000 Series 757 FFS and SAT committed to a CAE 7000 Series E-190 FFS. ZFTC bought two CAE 5000 Series A320 FFSs as well as a CAE Simfinity A320 IPT, a reconfigurable CAE Simfinity APT trainer and a CAE Simfinity 787 VSIM.
Lufthansa Systems reached a deal with Saudi Arabian Airlines to provide its SAP ERP technology for streamlining MRO processes. Technology features a rotation planning system and advanced scheduling and documentation capabilities. LHS entered the agreement as part of an IT consortium that includes SAP, InfoTrust and Atos/Hewlett-Packard.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines parent SkyWest Inc. reported first-quarter net income of $29.2 million, down 16.2% from $34.8 million in the year-ago period, on a 10% increase in revenue to $868 million. Commenting on the results, the St. George, Utah-based regional said that "significantly higher fuel costs. . .have risen faster than SkyWest has been able to raise fares to offset these costs."
Tarom and SkyTeam announced an Alliance Associate Adherence Agreement yesterday, paving the way for the Romanian carrier to join the group as an associate. Air Europa, Copa Airlines and Kenya Airways already are associates and FlyLAL Lithuanian Airlines said in March that it was invited to begin the associate membership process ( ATWOnline, March 25). Tarom will offer SkyTeam passengers 130 additional daily flights to Eastern Europe and the Middle East, the alliance said.
Australia's Regional Express (Rex) has been forced to cut more services because of the continuing pilot shortage ( ATWOnline, Nov. 6, 2007). It will withdraw from the Cooma-Sydney route indefinitely--it was scheduled to recommence in June--as well as reduce flying elsewhere in the network.
Lufthansa is considering taking a stake in Austrian Airlines Group, a source close to the German carrier told ATWOnline, saying, "We are watching the value of Austrian's shares very closely, especially with the shareholders meeting scheduled for [today] in Vienna."
European Commission withdrew previously announced plans to limit the maximum size of cabin baggage throughout the EU to 56x45x25 cm. Decision to shelve the plan, which already had been postponed from May 2007, was made to avoid "undue operational complications and inconvenience for passengers on cabin baggage size." Initial plans to restrict the size of hand baggage were part of a package of security measures drawn up in 2006 following the discovery of a terrorist plot to smuggle explosives aboard transatlantic flights.
China Eastern Airlines plans to schedule a second shareholder conference to consider Singapore Airlines' bid for a strategic stake following the Aug. 24 conclusion of this summer's Olympic Games. CEA minority shareholders rejected SIA's purchase of a 24% stake in January ( ATWOnline, Feb. 14).
Jamaican government and International Finance Corp. signed an $820,000 grant agreement with the US Trade and Development Agency "to assist with technical services for the Air Jamaica divestment process," Jamaica's Ministry of Finance and Public Service announced. The government is targeting March 2009 as its divestment deadline. Prime Minister Bruce Golding previously said that Air Jamaica lost approximately $170 million in 2007 and has accumulated losses in excess of $1 billion overall. It carried 1.7 million passengers last year.
ExpressJet Holdings, which flies for partners Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines as well as its own branded operation, reported a $31.3 million first-quarter loss, reversed from a $10.2 million profit in the first three months of 2007. A $13.7 million impairment charge related to investments in auction rate securities held by the company dragged on the bottom line, while revenue rose just 8.6% to $448.2 million.
Austrian Airlines Group confirmed yesterday that Saudi-Austrian investor Mohamed bin Iassa Al-Jaber wants to pull out of a deal to buy a 20% stake in the airline company worth €150 million ($231.3 million).
American Airlines flew 10.79 billion RPMs in April, down 6.6% from the year-ago month owing largely to the MD-80 flight cancellations. Capacity fell 4.3% to 13.46 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 2 points to 80.1%. American Eagle flew 681.8 million RPMs, down 7.6%, against a 3.1% drop in capacity to 963.3 million ASMs. Load factor slipped 3.4 points to 70.8%. Southwest Airlines flew 6.26 billion RPMs in April, up 5.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.3% to 8.63 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 72.6%.
Malaysia Airlines is offering 1 million free domestic fares this month to promote its new Everyday Low Fares program, which MD and CEO Idris Jala said "will redefine the rules in the travel industry" if successful. MAS's effort to compete against low-fare giant AirAsia will feature nonrefundable one-way fares of MYR76 ($24) and MYR120 between East and West Malaysia excluding airport taxes and surcharges and will be available online at least 30 days prior to departure. Jala said there will be no loss in revenue, as the fares represent 30% of surplus seats that otherwise would go unsold.
SriLankan Engineering said it is conducting mandatory CFM56 modifications at its shop at Bandaranaike International for SriLankan Airlines' fleet of A340s. Work includes upgrades to strengthen the integrity of the C duct.
Aloha Airlines' cargo operation, which employs 300 and transports 85% of goods moving by air among the Hawaiian Islands aboard six 737-200Fs, reached agreement to be purchased by Seattle-based Saltchuk Resources for an undisclosed sum.
Boeing completed carbon brake testing for its 737NG and plans to submit the results to US FAA for certification during the second quarter. Brakes are manufactured by Messier-Bugatti. Production entry is slated for the third quarter. Aircraft currently in service will be offered a retrofit program.
JetBlue Airways named former British Airways Executive VP-The Americas Robin Hayes as executive VP and chief commercial officer. He will be responsible for revenue, network, sales and marketing strategy.
