China Eastern Airlines remains confident in its plan to introduce Singapore Airlines as its strategic investor despite the fact that the exclusive stake sale agreement signed with SIA last September will be invalid after Aug. 9. "As fuel prices keep surging, it is a difficult time for the airline industry, which makes it more necessary for carriers to conduct cooperation," CEA Board Secretary Luo Zhuping said. "I think our cooperation with SIA won't be hindered by the short-term difficulty caused by the rising fuel price.
Spirit Airlines last week announced a plan to reduce nonfuel expenses by 15% through the retirement of five aircraft, schedule adjustments and layoffs.
Delta Air Lines and ExpressJet Airlines "have mutually agreed to cease all ExpressJet Delta Connection operations" effective Sept. 1, DL said yesterday. ExpressJet currently operates 23 ERJ-145s on Delta Connection flights primarily from Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. DL said it intends "to award a portion of this flying," including all SLC flights, to another unidentified carrier.
Eight years to the month after the crash of an Air France Concorde began the countdown to the end of the age of supersonic air travel, a French judge ruled that five individuals as well as Continental Airlines should stand trial for manslaughter in the disaster. The decision, announced yesterday by the prosecutor's office in the Paris suburb of Pontoise, did not specify when the trial will start.
American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia are close to applying for antitrust immunity to form a transatlantic revenue- and profit-sharing joint venture, the Financial Times reported yesterday, citing executives at the carriers.
Lufthansa Systems reached a six-year deal with Gol for provision of its NetLine resource management solution and MRO technology. Implementation is expected in the 2009 first quarter.
American Airlines flew 11.85 billion system RPMs in June, down 3.1% year-over-year, while capacity declined 1.2% to 13.86 billion ASMs. Load factor dropped 1.7 points to 85.5%. American Eagle flew 736.7 million RPMs, down 8.6%, against a 2.3% decline in capacity to 980.8 million ASMs. Load factor fell 5.2 points to 75.1%. Delta Air Lines flew 11.69 billion system RPMs in June, up 0.2% year-over-year, against a 0.7% rise in ASMs to 13.68 billion. Load factor dropped 0.5 point to 85.4%.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways will launch an advertising campaign this weekend informing consumers of their right to claim refunds following the carriers' admission that they colluded on transatlantic fuel surcharges between August 2004 and March 2006 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 19).
Germanwings will phase out four of its 29 A319s Nov. 1. "We don't want to make the mistake of expanding at any cost. The business of our industry has changed, especially the high fuel prices. We have to be profitable. That's why we have to reduce our fleet," MD Thomas Winkelmann said. It was not clear whether any destinations will be removed from the network or if there will be any employee reductions.
MWW Group will provide JetBlue Airways with contingency planning and training services, incident response support and issues management counsel under a deal announced Tuesday. Contract covers on-site support in 53 markets across the US, Caribbean and Latin America.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. told its employees this week that more than 6,700 of them will be cut by year end, representing about 8% of the company's total workforce.
Jazz Air said yesterday that owing to planned fourth-quarter capacity reductions by Air Canada, with which it has a contract to operate regional flights, it will reduce its flying by 5% in the year's final three months and cut 270 employees. AC said last month that it will reduce total system capacity by 7% year-over-year in this year's fourth quarter and the 2009 first quarter and slash its workforce by 2,000 ( ATWOnline, June 18).
Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday issued a profit warning saying that first-half and full-year 2008 results "are expected to be disappointing" as its fuel expenses have risen by approximately 60% so far this year.
AirTran Airways will impose a 15% pay cut on officers and a 5%-8% cut on most staff, according to a letter to employees from Chairman, President and CEO Bob Fornaro cited by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Approximately 48% of AirTran employees are unionized, the paper said, and the carrier will have to negotiate the reductions. It expects them to take effect next month and for overall wage expense to fall 10% over the next six months. AirTran announced its most recent capacity cut two weeks ago ( ATWOnline, June 17).
Bob Johnson stepped down as head of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise yesterday, announcing his retirement at age 60 just two years after he was appointed CEO of the high-flying aerospace company ahead of the 2006 Farnborough Airshow ( ATWOnline, July 13, 2006). George Mushahwar was named acting CEO. He previously was COO of Dubai-based TECOM Investments. In a statement, Johnson said DAE has made significant strides over the past two years, "but now is the right time for me to retire.
British Airways reached an agreement to acquire French all-business-class operator L'Avion for £54 million ($107.7 million) and will integrate the company into its new premium transatlantic subsidiary OpenSkies.
Lufthansa said it is expecting a 10% increase in passengers flying between Germany and Russia. It transported 1.7 million between the countries in 2007 and currently flies to nine Russian destinations.
SkyEurope Airlines this week opened its fourth base at Kosice. It has invested €30 million in the facility, which it is calling a "satellite hub" and where it expects to handle 340,000 passengers this year, up 80% from 2007. It is offering 11 daily flights from the airport to Split, Bratislava, Prague, London Stansted, Dublin and Manchester.
Continental Airlines said it expects to make a July 11 announcement regarding special charges recorded for the recently completed quarter related to the capacity reductions planned for the second half of this year ( ATWOnline, June 13), plus "other special items" recorded during the second quarter related to gains on the sale of its stake in Copa Holdings and other moves. It is scheduled to release second-quarter earnings on July 17. CO flew 8.63 billion consolidated RPMs in June, a 0.1% slip from the year-ago month.
Southwest Airlines flew 6.88 billion RPMs in June, up 0.7% year-over-year, against a 5.7% increase in capacity to 8.8 billion ASMs. Load factor fell 3.9 points to 78.2%.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. informed the US Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that it will record a noncash impairment charge of $1.1-$1.2 billion in the second quarter related to the capacity reductions announced in May ( ATWOnline, May 22).
Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines is expected to be the first Chinese mainland carrier to operate a charter flight across the Taiwan Strait Friday, with Taiwan's China Airlines following suit later that day from Taipei to Shanghai.
FlyYeti.com, the low-cost joint venture between Air Arabia and Yeti Airlines operating out of Kathmandu, will suspend operations on July 16 owing to what it called "difficult operating conditions in Nepal and a presently opaque regulatory environment" and political conditions that made it impossible to guarantee the renewal of aircraft operating leases that expire this month.
