Austrian Airlines Group CCO Andreas Bierwirth told ATWOnline last week in Damascus that the carrier, which continues to pursue privatization, plans on increasing its focus on the Middle East. He said AAG is looking to be a "leading player" in the region.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, reported second-quarter net income of $1.5 million, down 96.5% from $43.2 million in the year-ago period. President and CEO William Flynn said that "aside from the impact of fuel prices. . .our performance remains on track." Fuel expenses leaped 69.5% to $207 million. Flynn added that fuel costs "will effectively be eliminated" when Polar becomes a DHL Express carrier in October ( ATWOnline, Feb.
Azerbaijan Airlines ordered two 737-900ERs and two 767-300ERs collectively valued at $449 million. One of the 767s is a substitution for a previously ordered 787, Boeing said. Azerbaijan now has a total of four 737-900ERs, two 787-8s and two 767-300ERs on firm order. "We look forward to operating the 787 and benefiting from its advanced performance features; however, the 767-300ER is the economical and logical choice to fulfill our interim capacity targets," President Jahangir Askerov said.
Qantas said yesterday that it will take delivery of its first A380 on Sept. 19 in Toulouse. It will fly the aircraft to Singapore and then to Sydney, where it is scheduled to arrive on Sept. 21. GM John Borghetti said QF will operate its first A380 commercial flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles on Oct. 20 and will operate a Sydney-LAX flight on Oct. 24. It plans to take delivery of three A380s by year end and has a total of 20 on order. It plans to launch Sydney-Singapore-London Heathrow in early 2009.
Japan Airlines Group posted a net loss for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30 of ¥3.4 billion ($31.3 million), narrowed from a ¥4.3 billion deficit in the prior-year period, and unveiled the biggest review of its network since 2002 to mitigate the rising cost of fuel.
United Airlines confirmed to Reuters and Bloomberg that it is "highly unlikely" to take delivery of 42 A319s/A320s it has on order. UA said it recorded a $91 million charge in the second quarter to cover a deposit to Airbus that it will have to forfeit if and when it officially cancels the order.
British Airways placed an order for two 777-300ERs valued at $529 million and agreed to lease four more from GECAS, Boeing said yesterday. Two of the four to be leased are new orders placed by the lessor, the manufacturer said, with the remaining two part of a 2007 order. Including the latest two, GECAS has ordered 25 777s (a combination of freighters and -300ERs) since 2006. BA also secured four 777-300ER options directly with Boeing, the manufacturer said yesterday.
Mxi Technologies said it launched its Maintenix system on KLM's fleet of A330s. Software offers engineering, maintenance planning and heavy maintenance support.
Flydubai, the LCC startup slated to launch later this year, appointed Kenneth Gile COO. He joins the carrier from Skybus Airlines, where he was president and COO for four years. Southwest Airlines named 15-year employee Kay Weatherford VP-revenue management and pricing. She had been senior director-revenue and traffic analysis.
ANA and Japan Airlines are looking to cut underperforming domestic and international routes. ANA told media that it may suspend 10 routes, while Nikkei Business Daily suggested that JAL may suspend 21 routes. Both airlines are expected to make formal announcements by the end of this week.
LOT Polish Airlines said this week that it will need to restructure as quickly as possible to avoid a cash crisis. LOT has gone through five CEOs in the last five years under changing Polish governments, hindering its ability to make long-term strategic decisions over the period. "It is a wonder that this company still exists," a carrier executive told this website.
Emirates President Tim Clark told ATWOnline that the current economic environment has not caused the airline to reconsider its long-held philosophy of going it alone and avoiding alliances, mergers or acquisitions. He dismissed as unfounded speculation that EK might be interested in Alitalia. "I believe if you cannot grow yourself, or if you need to merge with another airline, your business model is wrong," he commented. EK has resisted overtures for years to join oneworld or Star Alliance.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair parent Cathay Pacific Group blamed the relentless hike in fuel costs for a loss of HK$663 million ($85 million) in the 2008 first half, reversed from a profit of HK$2.58 billion in last year's first six months.
Iberia's second-quarter net profit of €21.2 million ($33 million), down 66.2% from the €62.6 million reported in the year-ago quarter, belied the operational difficulties facing the carrier, which swung to an operating loss. Operating revenue rose just 0.9% year-over-year to €1.37 billion while costs were up 5.6% to €1.37 billion. Passenger revenue dropped 2%. IB's operating result was a €4 million loss, reversed from a €56.9 million profit in the second quarter of 2007. Fuel costs climbed 48.8% to €404.6 million.
Chinese carriers are struggling with the financial strain imposed by declining domestic demand and surging fuel costs and have turned to new financing in an effort to reduce the burden.
Air France KLM reported net income of €168 million ($261.7 million) for its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, down 59.4% from a €415 million profit in the year-ago period, and said it will seek an additional €190 million in annual cost savings to counter "the new economic environment."
Malaysia Airlines unveiled a voluntary program under which employees will have the option to take voluntary leave, work part time or explore opportunities outside the company and return, according to a statement cited by Reuters. "Although we want to reduce manpower in the short term to manage our costs as we are similarly affected by the fuel price, our approach is different as we will grow in the medium to long term," MAS said.
Lufthansa A320 with 107 passengers onboard collided with a Futura International Airways 737-800 carrying 180 passengers on a Manchester taxiway yesterday, damaging both aircraft but causing no injuries. The A320 was preparing for a takeoff to Frankfurt while the 737 was scheduled to depart for Tenerife. Neither aircraft apparently was traveling at a high speed. A Manchester Airport spokesperson told Agence France Press that "the planes were taxiing towards the runway when the Futura plane touched the wingtip of the Lufthansa plane. .
Southwest Airlines flew 6.89 billion RPMs in July, down 2.3% year-over-year. Capacity rose 4.3% to 9.03 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 5.1 points to 76.3%.
Delta Air Lines notified Mesa Air Group that it is terminating the contract under which MAG subsidiary Freedom Air operates seven CRJ900s, alleging that Freedom has failed to maintain specified operational performance outlined in the contract. The timeline for the cancellation was not disclosed. Mesa believes the decision to cut its flying is part of DL's ongoing effort to reduce capacity. Others suggest the move could be in preparation for its planned merger with Northwest Airlines and a possible consolidation of regional airline operations.
Delta Air Lines announced that it will partner with Aircell to install its Gogo inflight broadband network on the carrier's entire domestic mainline fleet, which numbers more than 330 aircraft. Installation is expected to be complete next summer, after which passengers will be able to access the Internet and corporate VPNs and conduct SMS and other functions with Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Access will cost $9.95 on flights of 3 hr. or less and $12.95 on flights longer than 3 hr. Gogo will be offered initially on DL's 133 MD-88s/-90s.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. named Pratt & Whitney Senior VP and GM-Pratt & Whitney Global Services Partners James Keenan as senior VP-United Services. Keenan spent 14 years at UA before moving to Pratt.
Air Arabia reported an AED82 million ($22.3 million) second-quarter profit, up 14% from the AED71.7 million announced in the year-ago period, a result it said "demonstrate[ed] continued superior performance and ongoing organic growth." Revenue soared 79% to AED487 million.
News from Travel Technology Update: Kayak.com stopped displaying American Airlines' fares in search results after the two companies clashed over how Kayak and its subsidiary, SideStep.com, refer consumers to sites for booking American flights. American wanted Kayak to direct consumers only to its own site for booking its flights. Kayak, however, shows results from Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity and other third-party sites, and it refused to suppress those options for American flights.
Malev Hungarian Airlines said it will remove five 737s from its fleet during the winter schedule and lease them to other carriers. It will not remove any European or Middle Eastern destinations from its network, but the fleet rationalization, which includes the previously announced grounding of its two 767s and the suspension of its North American service ( ATWOnline, July 25), will result in the layoff of approximately 250 active employees and a further 150 "in a legal working relationship" with the company, or 21.6% of the workforce.
