Boeing named Integrated Defense Systems VP-Europe Ian Thomas as VP-Boeing International and president of Boeing India succeeding Anil Shrikhande, who is moving to IDS.
VLM Airlines said yesterday it will introduce a BAe 146-300 into its previously all-F50 fleet from April 16 and use the jet on four of its 10 weekday Rotterdam-London City flights. "Increasing numbers of business travelers are utilizing our network and, in particular, our London City-to-Rotterdam service, and this larger, faster aircraft is essential to meet this growing demand," MD Johan Vanneste said. The new aircraft will "release some Fokker 50 capacity" for increased frequencies on unidentified routes.
Oneworld is discussing membership with China Eastern Airlines, alliance Managing Partner John McCulloch announced in a briefing with reporters cited by Reuters. Oneworld has yet to recruit a member from mainline China, while SkyTeam is preparing to welcome China Southern Airlines and Star Alliance will admit Air China and Shanghai Airlines.
UPS said Friday it will cancel its order for 10 A380Fs, expressing doubt that Airbus can maintain the delayed delivery schedule agreed to last month and leaving the manufacturer with no orders for the freighter version.
Sweden's FlyMe abruptly suspended all flights Friday and announced it will file for bankruptcy "as soon as possible" following notification from the bank that handles the airline's online transactions that sales were suspended that morning and that more than SEK60 million ($8.5 million) in payments would be held as security.
SkyEurope reduced its operating loss in its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, but nonoperating charges and taxes wound up pushing the Slovakian LCC deeper into the red.
Delta Air Lines reported a January net loss of $109 million, narrowed from $300 million in January 2006. Loss before reorganization items was $115 million compared to $213 million in the year-ago month. Operating loss declined to $65 million from $146 million. Passenger RASM rose 3.7% to 9.69 cents and mainline unit costs fell 4.8% to 10.09 cents, or 7.1% to 7.19 cents excluding fuel. The airline said it "remains on course" to emerge from bankruptcy protection in the spring.
Increased competition from low-cost carriers has resulted in a drop in the percentage of US airports served exclusively by regional airlines, according to a new report from Velocity Group. During the first quarter of 2007, regionals exclusively served 257 of the 434 airports that handle scheduled traffic in the lower 48 states, representing 59.2% of the airports receiving scheduled air service, a drop from 65.1% in the year-ago quarter. This represents the first decrease "in nearly two decades," Velocity said. "I expect this trend to continue," the company's Doug Abbey said.
Indian government, at a cabinet meeting last week chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave final approval for the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines ( ATWOnline, Feb. 23). The two state-owned carriers will become a single entity when all legal formalities are completed, a process that is expected to take no longer than 16 weeks. Full operational integration is expected to take about two years. The combined airline will operate a fleet of about 120 aircraft and employ some 30,000 workers.
Icelandair Group reported a ISK550 million ($8.3 million) loss in the three months ended Dec. 31, its first quarter since splitting from investment company FL Group.
ExpressJet Airlines reached a capacity purchase agreement with Delta Air Lines to operate 10 Embraer 145XRs, the only aircraft that remain from the 69 that Continental Airlines cut from the service agreement with ExpressJet in January 2006.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission gave the green light to Airline Partners Australia's proposed A$11.1 billion ($8.74 billion) buyout of Qantas. ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said yesterday that there were some potential issues but "there was no likely substantial lessening of competition in each of these cases, having regard to restrictions on related party transactions under the [APA] consortium and the level of competition in the relevant markets."
AirTran Airways yesterday responded to Midwest Airlines' accusation that "AirTran's business is deteriorating" ( ATWOnline, March 1), saying that its "record speaks for itself." AirTran told this website that "Midwest's comments are out of line and inconsistent with the reality of the market.
LTU German Airlines and Condor confirmed they are discussing a possible tie-up six months after LTU MD Juergen Marbach said the two might forge a partnership in the wake of Air Berlin's acquisition of dba ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4, 2006). "We are in concrete talks. Currently we are discussing what cost savings could be achieved," LTU majority owner Hans Rudolf Woehrl told the dpa news service.
Northwest Airlines lost $349 million in January, narrowed slightly from a $382 million deficit in January 2006. Revenues rose 0.2% to $892 million and expenses fell 4.3% to $914 million. Operating loss decreased to $22 million from $65 million in the year-ago month. NWA took $291 million in reorganization charges in January.
Air Deccan obtained certification for a Full Flight Trainer manufactured by Mechtronix Systems. Unit originally was acquired by ATR Training Center and used by DN pilots. The FFT can be configured for either the ATR 42-500 or 72-500.
Years of heavy losses taught US airlines that given the up-and-down nature of the business and the number of factors (such as energy prices) beyond their control, they simply had to manage what could be managed. That meant rigorous cost-cutting and adopting a strict discipline concerning capacity growth and nonfuel expenses. While the post-9/11 restructuring of the US industry may have been "brutal," as recently characterized by Senate aviation subcommittee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), it appears to be paying off.
Despite the advent of color displays, weather radar interpretation remains among the blackest of airborne arts. "It still requires significant interpretation and work by the pilot to dig out the information," says Roy Robertson, a principal engineer for Rockwell Collins.
AeroSvit Airlines named Aron Maibert DG. AirCell appointed Robin Salem senior VP-strategy & business development and Frances Phillips senior VP-airline solutions. AJ Walter Aviation welcomed Brian Doran as chairman. American Airlines selected Denise Lynn as VP-global human resources services. British Airways promoted Gareth Kirkwood to dir.-operations and Steve Gunning to succeed Kirkwood as World Cargo MD. ATA introduced Edward J. Barron as VP-government affairs & legislative counsel.
British Airways signed a new three-year agreement with Galileo, the GDS unit of Travelport. It is the first GDS agreement announced by the carrier since its previous pacts expired at the end of February. The new deal, which goes into effect April 10, is basically a "continuation" of Galileo's travel agency opt-in program that was launched in 2004, according to the carrier.
US Bankruptcy Court judge approved Northwest Airlines' deal to acquire regional partner Mesaba Airlines under a stock purchase and reorganization plan ( ATWOnline, Jan. 24). The deal still must be approved by a judge overseeing the Mesaba bankruptcy.
Aeroflot said it expects to report a 2006 net profit of RUB6.98 billion ($267.1 million), which would represent a 15.6% improvement over the RUB6.03 billion earned the year before when it suffered a slight drop in net earnings. Revenues grew 13.5% to RUB71.32 billion. The airline carried 7.3 million passengers last year, up 8.9%. Load factor rose 1 point to 70.1%.
KLM appointed Marc Lammens VP-commercial strategies effective April 1. Welmer Blom succeeds Lammens as director-sales and services at KLM The Netherlands.
AirAsia is booming, enjoying its "best quarter ever," according to CEO Tony Fernandes, and boosted its full-year guidance following yesterday's announcement that it posted a MYR150.1 million ($42.9 million) profit in the second fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, about triple its MYR51.3 million profit in the year-ago period.
