Embraer unveiled plans for two new industrial facilities to be located in Evora. One will manufacture complex airframe structures and the other will focus on metallic assemblies and other composites. It will invest up to €148 million over the next six years to develop the new facilities. Sites were selected based on access to qualified labor, logistical infrastructure and a planned technological center dedicated to aeronautics, the manufacturer said.
Southwest Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said last week that the LCC's recently announced partnership with WestJet ( ATWOnline, July 9) likely will not be its last codeshare tie-up with another airline as it seeks to expand its reach beyond the continental US. While the deal with WS gives SWA extensive access to the Canadian market, "we're working very hard on a Hawaiian solution and also a Mexican and Caribbean solution," Kelly told analysts.
Iberia announced a labor agreement with 16,500 ground staff represented by the CC.OO. and UGT unions that will run through 2008. Deal includes a 3.5% wage increase and "new productivity and flexibility measures to streamline administration in all company areas."
Air Canada announced an agreement in principle with Continental Airlines as part of the latter's pending transition to Star Alliance ( ATWOnline, July 24). Accord includes a proposed codesharing deal, reciprocal loyalty program and lounge access and other terms.
Jet2.com parent Dart Group reported an £8.7 million ($17.3 million) profit in the fiscal year ended March 31, up from £700,000 the prior year, as the Leeds Bradford-based LCC expanded considerably. Jet2.com added 19 new routes during the year, bringing its total to 133, and enjoyed a 32% year-over-year increase in passengers to 4 million.
A missing oxygen cylinder from the rear of the forward cargo compartment has emerged as the prime focus for investigators of a decompression incident involving a Qantas 747-400 (VH-OJK) operating as QF30 from Hong Kong to Melbourne with 365 passengers and crew Friday.
Emirates will take delivery of the first of 58 GP7200-powered A380s today in Hamburg before flying it to Dubai Tuesday. The interior design has been a closely guarded secret, but insiders in Dubai have told ATWOnline that there is some "clever use of space" on the upper deck, where first and business classes are located. There is a lounge at the rear of the deck, along with two showers. First commercial flight is scheduled for Aug. 1 to New York JFK.
British Airways announced the completion of its £54 million ($107.5 million) purchase of French all-business-class carrier L'Avion Friday. The airline will be integrated into BA's OpenSkies startup by early next year. The combined carrier will operate up to three daily flights between Paris Orly and New York JFK/Newark aboard 757s.
Frontier Airlines announced the receipt of a $75 million commitment in post-petition debtor-in-possession financing from Perseus LLC, a Washington-based investment firm that also will serve as equity sponsor for Frontier's plan of reorganization.
Lufthansa ground and cabin staff represented by ver.di voted to go on indefinite strike from 11 p.m. local time Sunday evening. "Our members are ready for a strike in all areas of the company. From Monday we will be taking industrial action," union chief Erhard Ott said on German television. The strike will affect operations such as maintenance and catering initially and will not start simultaneously throughout Germany, instead affecting airports in stages.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Friday that the capital required to fund Alitalia's relaunch has been secured, although he did not disclose the origin of the money. "For now, we have two things--the necessary capital and the slogan 'I love Italy. I fly Alitalia," he told reporters following a cabinet meeting.
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe told Radio New Zealand listeners last week that further cost-cutting and capacity reductions are on the agenda as the carrier faces fuel costs that doubled to approximately NZ$2 billion in its fiscal year ended June 30. "We'll be doing everything we can to mitigate the deterioration of financial performance on our business,'' Fyfe said, adding, "There are routes where we may look at reducing capacity if we can't cover our costs.
Hawaiian Airlines flew 653.4 million RPMs in June, down 3.7% year-over-year, against a 2.8% lift in capacity to 801.5 million ASMs. Load factor fell 5.5 points to 81.5%. Mesa Air Group airlines flew 526.2 million RPMs in June, down 15.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 12.7% to 669.3 million ASMs and load factor dropped 2.4 points to 78.6%.
Delta TechOps clinched a seven-year deal with Alaska Airlines to provide MRO on CFM56-7s powering 737-700s and -900s. Contract is worth more than $200 million and is expected to draw on Delta's partnership with Chromalloy for engine solutions, quality assurance and economics.
EasyJet enjoyed a 32% year-over-year increase in revenue to £641 million ($1.28 billion) in the fiscal third quarter ended June 30 and said it has offset more than 50% of the expected full-year fuel cost increase with new revenue and cost-cutting initiatives. However, the new fiscal year will dawn with a winter that "will be challenging for the whole airline sector," and the LCC said it will cut capacity growth to 4%-6%, "with flexibility to scale back further."
Air Berlin will lease out 50 of its 1,436 pilots to other airlines in order to save around €4 million ($6.3 million) in salary. AB is grounding 14 narrowbody aircraft by Nov 1 ( ATWOnline, June 24).
China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines, both of which are based in China's largest city, denied reports that they are planning to merge. Several domestic press reports this week claimed that CEA and SAL already are in negotiations that were initiated by CEA's controlling stakeholder (the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission) and the arm of the Shanghai Municipal Government that controls SAL.
Crediting fuel hedging, capacity reductions by competitors and fare increases, Southwest Airlines overcame a difficult cost environment to post second-quarter net income of $321 million, up 15.5% from a $278 million profit in the year-ago quarter and a sharp contrast to US competitors reporting big losses.
Lufthansa may have to deal with additional strikes from next week forward. The ver.di union yesterday said it expected a "high response" from members voting to authorize additional strike action and that it is preparing for more. Voting was scheduled to conclude last night.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group reported second-quarter net income of $63.1 million, up 36.9% from the $46.1 million earned in the year-ago period, although the result was driven largely by special gains. The profit includes a positive $155.3 million adjustment for mark-to-market fuel hedge accounting and charges of $32.1 million related to fleet transition. Excluding special items, the company reported a net loss of $14.1 million compared to net income of $47.2 million a year ago.
Malev Hungarian Airlines will cancel its loss-making long-haul service from Budapest to New York JFK and Toronto this fall and withdraw two 767s from its fleet. Last flight to YYZ departs Sept. 21 and the final JFK service will be Oct. 25, ending the carrier's North American presence. "The major hike in expenditure makes it completely unviable for an airline the size of Malev to operate long-haul services economically," it said, adding that it intends to focus its resources on its European network, especially Eastern Europe, and strengthening its regional market share.
Lufthansa yesterday continued to suffer the effects of the 36-hr. strike launched Tuesday by pilots at regional subsidiaries CityLine and Eurowings ( ATWOnline, July 23). "We do not know the amount of damages we will suffer from the pilot walkout. It is not easy for us to even offer details of how many flights we had to cancel during the last 36 hours," an LH spokesperson told ATWOnline. The number will be somewhere between 900 and 1,000. The Vereinigung Cockpit union called the strike that was scheduled to last until 11 p.m.
WestJet now is allowing passengers to select their seats prior to 24 hr. before departure for a C$10 ($9.96) fee. Reserving an emergency exit row seat costs $15. Selecting a seat within 24 hr. of takeoff or at the airport will remain free. Separately, it will launch seasonal twice-weekly Regina-Las Vegas starting Sept. 8.
Garuda Indonesia pilot Marwoto Komar, who captained the 737 that crashed at Yogyakarta in March 2007, will go on trial beginning today, Deputy Attorney General-General Crimes Abdul Hakim Ritonga told reporters, according to Reuters. Komar was arrested on manslaughter charges in February ( ATWOnline, Feb. 6). Ritonga said that "both aviation and criminal codes can be used" at the trial, at which Komar will be charged with "negligence." Twenty-one people died in the crash.
