Serbian government said Friday that it will offer for sale a 51% stake in Jat Airways for a starting price of €150 million ($231.9 million). The tender, set to published July 15, according to press reports, will include an option to acquire up to 75% of the airline. "Anyone can bid, but bidders outside the EU will have to run in a consortium," Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic said. "Our main request is to keep Jat as the national carrier and keep the Serbian flag on it." It reportedly has assets worth $150 million and is carrying €209 million in debt.
Luxair narrowed its full-year loss to €860,000 ($1.3 million) in 2007. It did not provide the year-ago result. It cited the addition of three Q400s, implementation of a "new, clear, transparent pricing structure," expanded e-ticketing and route rationalization for the improvement. Parent LuxairGroup, which counts the airline as one of four subsidiaries, reported a profit of €18.2 million.
Missouri state government authorized up to $240 million in tax credits to entice Bombardier to build its CSeries assembly plant at Kansas City International, the Associated Press reported. Bombardier said it also is considering a site near Montreal. The $400 million plant reportedly would create up to 2,100 jobs. Bombardier hopes to announce a launch customer for the new 110/130-seat jets by year end.
Delta Air Lines' voluntary severance offer has been accepted by 4,000 employees, double the number of workers it originally planned to slash via the program. The carrier, which plans to cut domestic capacity by 10% year-over-year in the second half of 2008 ( ATWOnline, June 3), said the workers accepting the severance offer will leave in the fall.
Air Transat parent Transat A.T. posted net income for its fiscal second quarter ended April 30 of C$40.7 million ($39.8 million), down 32.2% from C$53.8 million earned in the year-ago quarter. The company said earnings were affected negatively by a C$17.9 million writedown related to asset-backed commercial paper holdings.
Australia's Virgin Blue announced Friday a range of capacity reductions and a A$50 million ($46.9 million) cost-savings package in response to continuing record fuel prices.
SITA signed a $6.2 million deal with Sweden's Skyways Express to overhaul passenger management processes and manage seasonal variations in passenger traffic. Five-year contract calls for migration to SITA's Passenger Management and Revenue Optimization Solution Suites.
ATA Airlines, which shut down early last month ( ATWOnline, April 4), is suing FedEx Corp., saying its decision to cancel a contract for military charter operations forced ATA into bankruptcy, the Associated Press reported. The charter operation was a key component of ATA's business and generated some $400 million in annual revenue.
American Airlines flew 11.76 billion system RPMs in May, down 1.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell at the same rate to 14.39 billion ASMs and load factor was level at 81.7%. American Eagle flew 726.6 million RPMs, down 9.5%, against a 6.5% decline in capacity to 994.1 million ASMs. Load factor dropped 2.4 points to 73.1%. Continental Airlines said May consolidated unit revenue rose an estimated 6.5%-7.5% year-over-year. It flew 8.28 billion consolidated RPMs, up 1.8%, against a 2.2% increase in capacity to 10.2 billion ASMs. Load factor slid 0.3 point to 81.2%.
Cyprus Airways is considering a partial renewal of its fleet to cut down on its growing fuel bill, it said this week. "We are looking at the possibility of a part renewal of our aircraft in some depth. We expect to have a partly renewed fleet by the next summer season," Chairman Kikis Lazarides said at a Nicosia news conference, Reuters reported. It said CY's fleet of two A319s, seven A320s and two A330-200s has an average age of 12.5 years. The airline reported a rare profit in 2007 ( ATWOnline, Feb.
United Airlines yesterday joined American Airlines and US Airways (see story above) in announcing that it will charge $15 to check a first bag on North American flights. The fee will apply for trips from Aug. 18 for tickets purchased from today for flights within the US and to/from Canada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. First and business class passengers will be exempt as will UA and Star Alliance "premier status" members. The carrier estimated that the fee and $25 it is charging for a second checked bag will generate $275 million in revenue annually.
Continental Airlines yesterday detailed route closures stemming from its decision last week to downsize ( ATWOnline, June 6), leading to a mainline system capacity reduction of 6.8% year-over-year in the fourth quarter. From Sept. 3 it will discontinue a number of routes. Most prominently, it will stop flying Houston Intercontinental-Washington Dulles, IAH-Oakland, Newark-Cologne/Bonn, EWR-Salt Lake City, Cleveland-IAD and Guam-Bali.
Silverjet announced that it has reached "principal terms" with Kingplace, an Irish-registered investment group managed by Geneva-based Heritage, to acquire and re-launch the all-business-class carrier. Silverjet shut down two weeks ago when it failed to secure promised funds from a UAE-based investor ( ATWOnline, June 2). The London Luton-based airline's administrators said the transaction is expected to be completed by Friday.
Transaero announced that Alexander Pleshakov was reelected chairman and Olga Pleshakova was reelected GD. AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings promoted VP-Finance and Treasurer Arne Haak to senior VP-finance, treasurer and CFO. Haak joined AirTran in 1999 and has held his current job since January 2006. He succeeds Stan Gadek, who left to take over as CEO of Sun Country Airlines ( ATWOnline, March 6)..
The death toll from Tuesday's Sudan Airways A310 runway excursion accident in Khartoum stands at 30, many fewer than originally feared, with most passengers able to escape the aircraft before it was consumed by fire.
Japan Airlines will use the introduction of its 777-300ER on routes to the US to unveil its latest first and business class seats. It will launch the JAL Suite in first class and the JAL Shell Flat Neo Seat in business starting with its Tokyo-New York JFK route thrice-weekly from Aug. 1 and daily from Aug. 11. San Francisco will come online Sept. 13 and Chicago O'Hare and Los Angeles from April 1. The -300ER will replace 747-400s, cutting fuel burn by 20%.
Boeing yesterday said it finalized a deal to acquire Vought Aircraft Industries' interest in Global Aeronautica, a 787 fuselage subassembly facility in South Carolina. Contract makes GA a 50/50 joint venture between Boeing and Alenia North America. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Air France is urging manufacturers to launch a medium-haul aircraft program that will generate greater fuel efficiency gains compared to the current 737 and A320 family offerings.
Finnair is preparing to reduce capacity by about 2% initially due to the soaring cost of fuel and slowing demand and also may cut jobs, CEO Jukka Hienonen told Helsingin Sanomat. "If we have to make a reduction that equals the level of average overcapacity in Europe, 7%-10%, we will face staff cuts," he said. Finnair held talks with staff Tuesday regarding possible capacity reductions. Hienonen previously told ATWOnline that he is preparing the airline for what he considers to be an impending crisis in commercial aviation.
Brussels Cargo, the cargo division of Brussels Airlines, launched a new daylight courier service to and from Brussels that will be marketed by Globe Air Cargo. It initially is serving Athens, Barcelona, Lisbon, Nice, Madrid and Warsaw carrying pieces of up to 32 kg. each.
While stressing it supports "the principle" of the inclusion of aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme, Air France lambasted proposals by a European Parliament committee as unfair, discriminatory and potentially damaging to the financial health of European carriers.
A Sudan Airways A310 en route from Damascus to Khartoum caught fire after landing, leading to as many as 120 fatalities, according to some reports, though it does appear that many passengers were able to escape. The aircraft, believed to be carrying 217 passengers and crew, landed at Khartoum in the midst of a sandstorm and heavy rain, according to numerous reports. A Sudanese official said on Sudanese TV that "it landed safely. . .and [pilots] talked to the control tower which told them where to taxi. At this moment an explosion happened."
US federal judge ruled that the families of victims killed in the August 2006 Comair Flight 5191 crash in Lexington may sue the airline for punitive damages, according to a report in the Louisville Courier Journal. The crash, which killed 49 of the 50 people onboard, occurred when the CRJ200 took off from the wrong runway. The National Transportation Safety Board said pilot error was the principal cause of the accident. Plaintiffs also will be allowed to seek punitive damages from James Polehinke, the copilot who was the only survivor of the crash.
