Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation announced yesterday that airlines will have until March 31 to pay their present outstanding fuel bills to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and, in addition, will be able to procure their fuel on credit until that date ( ATWOnline, Oct. 20).
Boeing's third-quarter net income plunged 38% to $695 million from $1.11 billion last year, and Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney conceded that the machinists' strike "had a major impact" on earnings.
Austrian Airlines Group's privatization continued to be in doubt yesterday as reports that Lufthansa presented the only offer for state holding company OIAG's 42.75% stake went unconfirmed by both AAG and LH. Austrian has said it will make an announcement Monday. A Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said on Austrian radio that there is one potential bidder, while other reports suggest LH, S7 Airlines and even Air France KLM want more time or further talks before presenting a bid.
Mokulele Airlines was flying again yesterday, one day after shutting down following a US FAA inspection that revealed cabin crews were not properly trained on the use of life preservers and fire extinguishers. "They grounded all the planes and conducted intensive training for all of their staff," an FAA spokesperson told ATWOnline. Mokulele recently signed an agreement with Republic Airways to operate up to four E-170s for inter-island service in Hawaii. It currently operates 56 daily flights to seven Hawaiian destinations.
JetBlue Airways operated its first flights from New York JFK's new Terminal 5 yesterday, with an arrival from Burbank at 5:05 a.m. inaugurating the facility. All JetBlue departures, in addition to all domestic and international arrivals that pre-clear US customs, will operate out of the new facility. The 635,000-sq-.ft. terminal has 26 gates on three concourses, 65 self-serve kiosks, 40 check-in counters and a central security checkpoint with 20 screening lanes. It can accommodate up to 250 daily departures.
Vueling Airlines reported an €18.7 million ($24.8 million) operating loss through the first nine months of 2008, reduced from a €38.4 million negative EBIT in the year-ago period, Reuters reported. Sales rose 32.2% year-over-year to €354.4 million and passenger numbers were up 2.1% to 4.7 million.
Northwest Airlines reported a third-quarter net loss of $317 million, reversed from a $244 million profit in the year-ago period, citing a $410 million noncash charge related to fuel hedging as the reason.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines parent SkyWest Inc. said it expects third-quarter net income "to be lower than previously anticipated" and fall between $24.2 million and $26.5 million. It posted a $42.9 million profit in the third quarter of 2007. SkyWest said the lowered forecast was the result of the elimination of nine aircraft from ASA's agreement with Midwest Airlines and a larger-than-expected reduction in block hr. scheduled by partners of both subsidiaries.
Gulf Air secured a $25 million unsecured loan from BMI Bank, which it said will be "infused into the working capital of the company" and used for financing "various development plans."
SpiceJet named former Flight Options COO and Chief Strategy Officer Sanjay Aggarwal as CEO, effective immediately. Flight Options is a private aviation provider based in Cleveland. Aggarwal previously was manager-financial planning at US Airways. SpiceJet operates 15 737NGs to 16 Indian destinations USA3000 Airlines named IndiGo COO Steven Harfst as its new president and CEO, succeeding the retiring Angus Kinnear. Before joining IndiGo, Harfst was North American Airlines COO. USA3000 operates 11 A320s to 13 destinations.
United Technologies Corp. announced that Hamilton Sundstrand President David Hess will succeed Stephen Finger as president of Pratt & Whitney on Jan. 1 when Finger retires. Alain Bellemare, currently president of Pratt & Whitney Canada, will succeed Hess at Hamilton Sundstrand. Hess and Bellemare will report to UTC President & CEO Louis Chenevert. Hess, 53, joined UTC in 1979 and has been with Hamilton Sundstrand since 1995. He has held his current position for three years.
Goodrich inked a deal with US Airways to refurbish half its CFM56-5B thrust reversers and provide initial exchange units to facilitate a maintenance program. Contract will run through 2012 under the Goodrich Aerostructures Prime Solutions program. Work will take place in Foley, Ala.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. reported a third-quarter net loss of $779 million, reversed from a net profit of $334 million in the year-ago period, blaming the bulk of the result on a $519 million noncash net loss on fuel hedge contracts caused by the recent drop in oil prices.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. promoted Senior VP-Marketing Dennis Cary to senior VP and chief marketing and customer officer. In addition, it named Chief Customer Officer Graham Atkinson as president of UA's Mileage Plus loyalty program.
The Russian government is moving ahead with forging a state-owned airline alliance to replace defunct AiRUnion, with the first board meeting of the new nine-carrier grouping scheduled for Nov. 11. The company will be 51% owned by Russian Technology Corp., a source close to the negotiations confirmed to ATWOnline, with Russia Airlines (or some derivative thereof) reportedly the preferred name. RIA Novosti reported that the Moscow city government will hold the remaining 49% ( ATWOnline, Oct. 2).
Delta Air Lines intends to reduce its number of regional partners as the merger with Northwest Airlines approaches. "If you add everyone up together now you have nine [regional partners]," Delta Connection Senior VP Don Bornhorst told the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I think the right answer is going to be along the lines of seven or eight. We have too much lift in Delta Connection." He said there no longer is a "seller's market" for regionals.
Ryanair will open bases in Alghero and Cagliari in March, creating eight domestic and 11 international routes to/from Sardinia. AHO and CAG become the LCC's sixth and seventh Italian bases. It will base two new 737s at CAG and launch service to Brussels Charleroi, Genoa, Karlsruhe Baden, Paris Beauvais, Rome Ciampino, Trieste, Brescia (all start March 30), Cuneo, Dusseldorf Weeze, Edinburgh, Marseille, Seville, Treviso (March 31), and Manchester (April 1).
Copa Airlines flew 472.5 million RPMs in September, up 16% year-over-year, against an 11.1% rise in ASMs to 624.1 million. Load factor jumped 3.2 points to 75.7%. Frontier Airlines' September mainline yield rose 8.3% year-over-year to 10.6 cents while RASM climbed 15.1% to 8.78 cents. It flew 711.9 million RPMs during the month, down 8.3%, against a 13.7% fall in capacity to 859.9 million ASMs. Load factor rose 4.9 points to 82.8%.
The Austrian government's effort to privatize Austrian Airlines Group hit a snag as Air France KLM withdrew its interest while Lufthansa and S7 Airlines declined to make formal bids by yesterday's deadline and requested more time. State holding company OIAG had intended to announce the winning bidder on Oct. 27 and had targeted the end of the month to find a buyer for its 42.75% stake ( ATWOnline, Sept. 12), with the Franco-Dutch, German and Russian companies emerging as frontrunners.
SkyEurope Airlines "did not fulfill its payment plan" with Austrian Airlines Group and no longer will have its 737-700s serviced by Austrian Technik, AAG CEO Alfred Oetsch told Vienna's Die Presse. In addition, several SkyEurope aircraft were not refueled at VIE last week owing to unpaid fuel bills. US investor York Global Finance, which holds 29.9% of the LCC, plans to lead a consortium that intends to take a complete or majority stake ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17). It hopes to finalize the deal at a board meeting scheduled for Nov. 10.
Austria's Niki expects to report a profit in 2008, President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline. The carrier posted a $3.5 million profit in 2007. It will take delivery of a second A321 next May and lease an A320 from new partner Air Berlin for six months beginning next April ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17). Two E-190s are expected to arrive at around the same time, lifting Niki's fleet to 13 aircraft.
American Airlines' order for up to 100 787s for delivery between 2012 and 2020, announced last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16), begins to answer questions about the program's potential production ramp-up.
Rockwell Collins announced plans to acquire SEOS, a visual display provider for full-flight simulators. Headquartered in West Sussex with 150 employees, the company will assume RC's name and join its Simulation and Training Solutions organization. Deal is expected to be finalized in 30 days. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Moroccan government plans to privatize Royal Air Maroc and its Atlas Blue subsidiary, according to a document cited by Reuters. Some or all of the carriers will be sold directly to investors or through the Casablanca Stock Exchange, the government said. No timetable was announced.
