Precision Conversions will provide Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management with a 15-pallet-position 757-200PCF. Following modification next year at the Flightstar facility in Jacksonville, CargoJet will operate the Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft under a lease from BBAM.
Aeroports de Paris plans to increase main airport fees at Charles de Gaulle and Orly by 3.8% in 2008, down from the 4.25% hike it applied this year. The proposal represents a preliminary estimate of the average increase in passenger fees, landing fees, aircraft parking fees and fees for the use of fueling facilities, ADP noted. It added that the 3.8% figure takes into account "buoyant" passenger traffic growth in 2007 as required by a "ceiling adjustment mechanism" included in its contract with the French government as part of its privatization.
Silverjet reported £11.8 million ($24.4 million) in passenger revenue in the six months ended Sept. 30, its first full fiscal semester since launching operations in January. The all-business-class carrier launched a second daily London Luton-Newark service during the period. It also announced a proposed placing of £12 million and a proposed convertible loan of £10 million from TFB Ltd.
Pinnacle Airlines bought out all of Northwest Airlines' common stock holdings in the regional carrier. Pinnacle announced the purchase of 2.5 million shares from NWA for $13.22 per share, or $32.9 million. It also agreed to purchase the Class A Preferred Share retained by NWA in January. It has repurchased 4.5 million shares of its common stock since launching a repurchase program in May, leaving 20% of total shares outstanding.
SkyWest Inc. placed a firm order for 18 CRJ700 NextGen aircraft and four CRJ900 NextGens, plus 22 options that can apply to either type, Bombardier announced Friday. SkyWest subsidiaries SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines operate the world's largest CRJ fleet of 244 CRJ200s, 102 CRJ700s and 17 CRJ900s. This is its first NextGen order. Firm aircraft are worth $773 million at list prices. The new CRJ700s, configured with 66 seats in three classes, will be operated by SkyWest Airlines for United Express.
Delta Air Lines named former Pinnacle Airlines Chairman and Greyhound Lines CEO Stephen Gorman executive VP-operations, succeeding the retiring Joseph Kolshak. Gorman previously was executive VP-flight operations and technical operations at Northwest Airlines and became Pinnacle chairman in 2003.
Nationwide Airlines of South Africa announced Friday that the South African Civil Aviation Authority suspended the carrier's Aviation Maintenance Organization license, resulting in the grounding of all flights. "We have approached the CAA for further details and guidance in respect of any actions they would like us to implement that would enable them to reinstate the AMO's license at which point normal operations will resume," Nationwide CEO Vernon Bricknell said in a message to customers posted on the airline's website.
Attempting to leave no trace is a noble, often unsung pursuit. You don't have to tiptoe across rice paper to sense the courage of that ideal. For aviation manufacturers and suppliers, a greener footprint calls for vision, commitment and stewardship. Practices that foster energy efficiency, pollution prevention, longer lifecycles, recycling and responsible disposal no longer bow to the bottom line. "There's more consistency around the world about the need to be environmentally accountable," says Goodrich Environmental, Health and Safety Director Dennis Hussey.
BASED IN COPENHAGEN but with warehouses scattered around the globe, Satair is one of the leading distributors of aircraft production parts and spares. In the year to June 30, 2007, it boasted revenues of almost $360 million, up 37% from the previous year. Of this growth, 18% was organic with the remainder attributable to acquisitions that made a sizeable contribution. For the current FY it is forecasting revenue in the range of $400-$410 million, up 13%, reflecting a period of consolidation following considerable acquisition activity in the last couple of years.
The speed at which revenue is processed and understood together with the level of accuracy that results from certain accounting methods has been a growing concern in the airline industry for some time now. Greater processing complexity tends to drive cost up, and these days cost is a factor that most airlines can't afford to be complacent about.
DURING ITS DRAMATIC 19-MONTH stint in Chapter 11, the third-largest US carrier focused adeptly on costs, especially the folks in purchasing. "To put a bit of scale to it," says Shawn Anderson, Delta Air Lines VP-supply chain management, "we renegotiated over 2,000 contracts600 separate sourcing initiatives."
US airlines enjoyed another strong financial quarter in the three months ended Sept. 30, with the 10 largest carriers all in the black for the second straight reporting period and posting a cumulative net profit of $1.67 billion compared to a $738 million loss in the year-ago quarter. But executives worry that the next down cycle may not be too far away. Fuel costs are ascending rapidly and the US airline industry doesn't exactly have a history of long-term financial stability.
In addition, V Australia, Virgin Blue's new long-haul airline, will adopt the Amadeus Altea Customer Management System. The standalone solutions for the company's short-haul operations will manage connectivity on behalf of Virgin Blue's interline and GDS partners. They also will process incoming e-ticket coupons from interline partners, enabling Virgin Blue to receive passengers from full-service carriers such as Etihad and Virgin Atlantic.
Alaska long has been called America's last frontierthe final refuge for the restless, the risk-takers and the adventurers. But it also has been an entrepreneurial frontier, providing a chance to build business success from its vast expanses of undeveloped wilderness. The founding fathers of Alaska Airlines, marking its 75th birthday this year, were both adventurers and entrepreneurs. And certainly they were risk-takers, bush pilots par excellence who often literally flew on a wing and a prayer.
AeroTurbine promoted Michael King to president. Air Canada named Michael Rousseau CFO. Airports Council International elected Aeroports de Montreal President & CEO James Cherry chairman for a two-year term. AirTran Holdings elevated Robert L. Fornaro to CEO & president. Allegiant Air named Andrew Levy CFO and Scott Sheldon principal accounting officer. AWAS appointed John Nozell chief investment officer. BAE Systems tapped Paul Tattersall as VP-trading & services-Asset Management business.
Qantas is facing a bumpy ride, with industrial upheaval looming over Christmas and a potential class action suit related to the airline's cargo price-fixing plea ( ATWOnline, Nov. 28).
Grand China Air, created by HNA Group to be the country's fourth-largest commercial carrier, today will operate its first flight from Beijing to Dalian, although it postponed the ceremony to mark its launch to next month.
Alitalia revised the deadline for nonbinding offers to Dec. 6 after receiving an update from its adviser, Citigroup, on potential industrial and financial investors who may bid for a majority shareholding. Air One/Intesa Sanpaolo, Lufthansa and Air France KLM reportedly remain interested ( ATWOnline, Nov. 21).
TAM CEO Marco Antonio Bologna resigned Wednesday to join TAM Empreendimentos e Participacoes, which the airline described as "a company pertaining to the Company's controlling block." He will be succeeded by VP-Operations David Barioni Neto, who in turn will be succeeded by Fernando Sporleder Jr.
Russian court ruled yesterday that Boris Berezovsky, a longtime political enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has been living in exile in the UK since 2000, fraudulently embezzled RUB214 million ($8.78 million) from Aeroflot when he maintained financial control over the carrier in the 1990s. He rejected the verdict as a "farce" and the UK government said it would not extradite Berezovsky to Russia.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. may have decided to sell off its regional subsidiary American Eagle but there may not be a frantic rush by other regional airlines or investors to acquire it.
Malev Hungarian Airlines announced that it will cut staffing levels by 9%, resulting in annual savings of HUF1.2 billion ($6.9 million). It did not say when the layoffs will take place. The carrier employs 3,508 and said it will cut a "maximum" of 250 workers even though 9% would equal 315. CEO Peter Leonov confirmed the 9% figure, saying that "besides reducing expenditures, optimization of the staff level is necessary primarily to ensure that 91% of the employees. .
Airbus's hopes to make some quick sales of the A380 to ANA and Cathay Pacific Airways appear to have faded, with the former playing down speculation that it is on the verge of ordering the aircraft. A spokesperson told ATWOnline yesterday that ANA is "continuously in talks with the manufacturers and will watch the introduction of the A380 with interest and examine it and the 747-8I when the time is right." At last month's handover of the first A380 to Singapore Airlines ( ATWOnline, Oct.
Air China plans to order 40 Airbus aircraft in the next five years to support its European expansion, President Li Jiaxiang revealed yesterday at the EU-China Business Summit in Beijing.
