Amadeus IT Group appointed Amadeus Global Travel Distribution Executive VP-Commercial David Jones as president and CEO effective Jan. 1, succeeding Jose Antonio Tazon, who will become nonexecutive chairman. Jones joined Amadeus in 1992 and has been at his present position since 2000. In addition, CFO Luis Maroto will add the deputy CEO title and Senior VP-Corporate Strategy Philippe Chereque was named to succeed Jones.
CIT Aerospace signed leases for two A330-200s with Mexicana, the first A330s for the airline. Aircraft are powered by Trent 772Bs and will be used to launch Mexico City-Madrid service. Delivery is scheduled for November and December.
Abu Dhabi Aviation announced the acquisition of a 95% stake in Maximus Air Cargo, which flies eight freighters on charter and ACMI operations for commercial customers and the UAE government. Maximus said nine-month revenue rose 227% year-over-year to $86.4 million.
Delta Air Lines and Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, expanded their marketing services agreement to give AS passengers more access to DL's international flights and DL passengers more access to AS and Horizon's western US network.
CFM International announced that British Airways placed an order for 20 CFM56-3 Advanced Upgrade kits for its 737 Classic fleet. Order is valued at approximately $33 million at list prices and potentially could encompass as many as 44 engines. Delivery begins early next year. Kit features three-dimensional high-pressure compressor aerodynamics and new high-pressure turbine hardware and provides up to a 1.6% improvement in specific fuel consumption, CFM said.
Gol and Varig parent Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes suffered a BRL294.3 million ($131,1 million) loss in the third quarter, reversed from a BRL45.5 million profit in the year-ago period, as special charges eclipsed improvement on the operating level.
Boeing said it will deliver the first 777F to Air France in the 2009 first quarter rather than the current quarter as a result of the recently concluded machinists strike, according to press reports. The manufacturer last week announced a 6-9-month delay to its 747-8 program ( ATWOnline, Nov. 17). The Everett Herald said Boeing has two 777Fs in flight testing and one in production. There are 73 orders for the aircraft. Meanwhile, the company last Friday completed destructive testing on a full-scale composite 787 wing box.
Rosavia is the official name of the new state-owned, Moscow-based airline comprising 10 regional carriers, including the remnants of the AiRUnion alliance. Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov said Rosavia "will be a large, serious company with a powerful potential and will rival Aeroflot," Interfax reported ( ATWOnline, Oct. 24).
EasyJet said yesterday that the UK High Court approved its application for judicial review of the regulatory process that allowed BAA to impose what the carrier called "an exorbitant increase" in passenger charges at London Gatwick ( ATWOnline, March 12). UK CAA authorized BAA to raise charges by 21% to £6.79 per passenger this year and by 2% above inflation annually for the subsequent four years.
ABX Air parent Air Transport Services Group yesterday outlined its plan to survive beyond next year's expected termination of its operation as a DHL subservice airline, saying it will become a smaller, diversified company that will wet- and dry-lease aircraft and provide expanded MRO services to third parties at its Wilmington, Ohio, base.
Electromagnetic interference from the powerful VLF transmitters at the Harold E. Holt US Communication Base near Exmouth in Western Australia, along with passengers' portable electronic devices, are the focus of investigators looking into the violent midair upset of a Qantas A330-300 that injured 70 passengers last month ( ATWOnline, Oct.
Skyways Aviation concluded five F50 lease transactions with airBaltic on behalf of Largus Aviation. Largus purchased three aircraft currently operated by BT and extended leases by 4.5 years each. Remaining two are operated by Sweden's Skyways Express and will be released this month and in April. AWAS leased a second 767-300ER to S7 Airlines ( ATWOnline, Oct. 10).
Airbus parent EADS reported a €679 million ($848.4 million) profit in the third quarter, reversed from a €776 million loss in the year-ago period, and said it "faces the impacts of the financial crisis in a position of strength" thanks to a "large and well diversified order book."
EasyGroup Holdings, the company of easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, appears to be heading toward a confrontation with the airline's current board and management as easyGroup increased its shareholding and voting rights in the LCC to 26.9% from 15.6% and requested the prompt appointment of two directors. Haji-Ioannou, who launched the airline in 1995, also reserved his right to appoint himself as chairman in the event the two directors, who are easyGroup employees, are not appointed.
Moog's Aircraft Group was selected by Airbus to supply flight control actuation for the A350 XWB's high-lift system. Its trailing edge actuation system will include the power control unit, inboard and outboard geared rotary actuators, gearboxes and wingtip brakes.
United Airlines Friday completed an ASPIRE (Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions) flight from Sydney to San Francisco and said it saved 1,564 gal. of fuel and 32,656 lb. of carbon dioxide emissions. UA said that 11 fuel-saving initiatives were deployed "from gate to gate." The 777 flight, dubbed "ASPIRE United," followed in the footsteps of a similar flight operated by Air New Zealand in September ( ATWOnline, Sept. 15).
The dramatic collapse in the value of the won was blamed for Korean Air's largest single-quarter loss in 14 years, a KRW684.1 billion ($492.8 million) third-quarter deficit representing a reversal from a KRW129.6 billion profit in the year-ago period. The result came on the heels of a KRW288.9 billion loss in the second quarter, when fuel prices savaged the carrier. The third-quarter loss came despite a 16.4% year-over-year rise in KE's revenue to KRW2.76 trillion.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.37 billion RPMs in October, down 12.3% year-over-year, against a 14.6% fall in ASMs to 1.72 billion. Load factor rose 2 points to 79.6%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 644 million RPMs in October, down 8.6% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 0.8% to 777.2 million ASMs and load factor fell 7 points to 82.9%. Copa Airlines flew 489.1 million RPMs in October, a 20.6% year-over-year increase. Capacity rose 15.4% to 648.7 million ASMs, lifting load factor 3.2 points to 75.4%.
Turkish Airlines posted a third-quarter net profit of approximately $197.3 million, based on a Friday statement cited by Reuters and ATWOnline calculations. The result is more than double the $88.3 million earned in the third quarter of 2007. THY reported earnings of TRY668 million ($405.3 million) through the first nine months of 2008, a 244% year-over-year improvement, according to the news service. The third-quarter result is assumed from THY's $208 million first-half profit ( ATWOnline, Sept. 1).
Russia Federal Antimonopoly Service will attempt to block Aeroflot's effort to acquire the state's 25.5% stake in S7 Airlines ( ATWOnline, Oct. 24), FAS head Igor Artemyev said yesterday on Vesti television. "We have concerns about transferring the blocking stake in the private company to SU. A monopoly could form in this situation. . .We will try to block this deal," Artemyev said, according to Reuters. The Ministry of Transport said this week that it supported SU's bid.
Royal Air Maroc reportedly is planning to establish a regional subsidiary called Atlas Inter, which will start flying in March with eight leased turboprops (most likely ATR 72s). Local media are reporting that RAM is looking to cut costs on regional routes it currently operates with A321s or 737s.
The JetBlue Pilots Assn. filed a petition with the US National Mediation Board this week seeking to become the bargaining agent for the carrier's nearly 2,000 pilots. JBPA leaders said they want formal recognition in order to provide career protection for pilots that will help "redefine pilot-labor relations in our industry." The in-house body would be not affiliated with a national union.
Austrian state holding company OIAG said yesterday that it "will only hold concluding talks with Lufthansa" regarding the privatization of Austrian Airlines Group and that "S7 [Airlines] and Air France KLM are no longer in the bidding process." OIAG now holds 41.6% of Austrian. According to press reports, OIAG indicated that S7's bid did not conform to EU specifications and AF KLM's did not arrive in time.
Copa Holdings, parent of Copa Airlines and AeroRepublica, reported third-quarter net income of $30.3 million, down 35.6% from a $46.8 million profit in the year-ago period, a drop it attributed almost entirely to noncash fuel hedge losses. Copa took a $15.5 million noncash charge on its hedging contracts owing to the drop in oil prices during the quarter. Absent the charge, its quarterly net profit would have been $45.8 million.
