Ryanair said it filed a legal action in the Council of State, France's highest administrative court, against the government and a complaint to the European Commission challenging what the LCC called "an unlawful labor decree" that forces foreign airlines to apply domestic labor laws when basing aircraft in France. Ryanair claims that the regulation, which came into force Nov. 23, "is contrary to European laws on free movement of labor and services and the freedom of establishment and is also contrary to the liberalized air transport market."
Nordam Group extended Ken Lackey's tenure as chairman and CEO through 2008. President and COO John Uczekaj left the company. CFO Bill Peacher will take over as COO of Nordam's Repair Group and Lackey will handle COO duties for the manufacturing divisions.
Korean Air last week finalized its $5.6 billion order for 10 777-300ERs, five 747-8Fs, five 777Fs and five 737NGs, along with options for eight additional aircraft (four -300ERs, two -8Fs and two 737-900ERs). The purchase agreement was signed in November ( ATWOnline, Nov. 22, 2006). Deliveries will begin in 2009. Separately, KE is expecting to post a KRW240 billion ($255 million) pre-tax profit in 2007, 33.3% higher than the KRW180 billion expected for 2006, according to a regulatory filing cited by Reuters.
Serial airline investor FL Group was busy over the holidays, announcing that it had purchased a 5.98% stake in American Airlines parent AMR Corp. for more than $400 million and selling LCC Sterling Airlines for €210 million ($277 million) in cash and a three-year shareholder loan to Icelandic consortium Northern Travel, of which FL Group is a member. FL Group now is AMR's third-largest shareholder with 12.8 million shares. It said it has been building the stake "for a considerable period of time" and made the announcement once it exceeded the 5% reporting threshold.
World Air Holdings, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, last week said it posted a $5.9 million net profit in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 8.5% from the $5.5 million earned in the year-ago period. Its operating income of $8.2 million was a 20.2% decline from the year-ago quarter's but higher than the $6-$8 million forecast in November when it announced the delay in its third-quarter report ( ATWOnline, Nov. 22, 2006).
Jet Airways signed a purchase agreement for 10 787-8s "in order to maintain and expand the company's international operations. . .and to deploy the most modern and economically efficient aircraft," the airline said yesterday in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange. Jet expects to take delivery between July 2011 and December 2012. No engine choice was indicated. Boeing confirmed the order and said the aircraft are valued at more than $1.5 billion at list prices.
SriLankan Cargo will launch a regional charter service that will include destinations not served by regularly scheduled flights. It said it will obtain all landing clearances. It operates two freighters and also carries cargo on 14 mainline aircraft.
Monarch Airlines carried more than 3.2 million scheduled passengers in 2006, a 24% increase over 2005 when the UK-based LCC carried 2.6 million. The figures exclude charter activity and represent earned seats flown on scheduled services to Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Cyprus from Aberdeen, Birmingham, London Gatwick, London Luton and Manchester. Monarch will increase capacity on a number of popular services and launch eight new routes in 2007: To Ibiza from LGW, LTN, BHX and MAN, LGW-Murcia, LTN-Almeria, LTN-Larnaca and MAN-Jerez.
OVER THE LONG TERM, AIR CARGO is a reliable growth industry. Nearly all experts tracking the movement of airfreight globally, including both Boeing and Airbus, project average annual scheduled air cargo traffic growth of about 6% over the next 20 years, higher than the anticipated rate of growth for passenger traffic. But from year to year, and even within the same year, airfreight traffic can fluctuate wildly, subject to the changing winds of an unpredictable and often volatile global economy.
THREE YEARS INTO AN AMBITIOUS transformation plan intended to enable Alaska Airlines to grow and prosper in both good and bad times, executives here say they are making solid progress in achieving the goals of "Alaska 2010." Unit costs are falling, revenues are rising and the improvements are finding their way to the bottom line. Excluding special items, earnings at the parent company level for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 totaled $77.9 million compared to $71.5 million a year earlier on an 11% rise in revenues to $936 million.
AFTER A DREAM RUN THAT SAW the doubling of capacity in two years and the opening up of dozens of routes all over the country, India's domestic airline industry seems to be headed for a hiatus. Signs of weakness in the sector are now there for all to see. Every airline is battling red ink and the carriers are expected to tot up aggregate losses of more than $500 million for the year to March 31, 2007.
FOLLOWING A BETTER-THAN-expected 2006, 2007 may well be the peak year in the current airline earnings cycle and certainly will surpass last year's result. Analysts with whom ATW spoke are guardedly optimistic about the New Year, with expectations for the first industrywide net profit since 2000 barring any new shock(s) to the system.
Air Transport Assn. promoted Marc Gonzales to VP-congressional affairs. Airports Council Int'l.-North America elected Joseph W. Walter as chair and Susan Kurland as vice chair, 2007 Associates Board. Alaska Air Group elected Brandon Pedersen VP-finance & treasurer and Andrew Harrison MD-financial planning & analysis. Alpha Airports Group named Martin Flower chairman.
Lufthansa signed an MOU to sell its 50% stake in leisure travel group Thomas Cook to KarstadtQuelle for €800 million ($1.05 billion) but will raise its stake in Condor Flugdienst from the present 10% to 24.9% and receive the shares held by Condor in Turkish holiday airline SunExpress.
Mesa Air Group signed an agreement with Shenzhen Airlines to create a Chinese regional carrier, yet to be named, that is expected to begin service within the next year operating 50-seat regional jets.
Delta Air Lines should "consider methodically, proactively and fairly strategic alternatives to its standalone Chapter 11 plan," a group of "unofficial" unsecured creditors said last week in a statement. The group of 17 creditors unaligned with the official creditors committee said it "appreciates" the DL standalone plan ( ATWOnline, Dec.
Star Alliance expelled Varig from its ranks just two weeks after CEO Jaan Albrecht told reporters at a briefing in Istanbul that the restructuring Brazilian carrier was a member in "good standing" ( ATWOnline, Dec. 11).
Etihad Airways appointed Iain Burns as its new VP-corporate communications. Burns was head of corporate communications at British Airways for five years before resigning in October ( ATWOnline, Oct. 10). Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, the Mexican airport operator known as ASUR, said CEO Kjeld Binger resigned effective Dec. 31. Chairman Fernando Chico Pardo said current management will assume Binger's responsibilities until a new CEO is appointed, which could come as soon as Jan. 19.
American Airlines said it expects fourth-quarter mainline RASM to increase 3.8%-4.8% year over year, with consolidated unit revenues rising 3.6%-4.6%. It is anticipating fourth-quarter mainline unit costs of 10.98 cents and full-year CASM of 10.92 cents. Excluding fuel, the numbers will be 7.80 and 7.58 cents, respectively. Alaska Air Group told the US Securities and Exchange Commission Friday that the company expects breakeven results in the fourth quarter, which will compare favorably to a $33 million deficit in the final quarter of 2005.
Singapore Airlines flew 7.43 billion RPKs in November, up 10.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.8% to 9.28 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 5.3 points to 80.2%. Cathay Pacific Airways flew 5.84 billion RPKs in November, a 7.7% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity grew 4.4% to 7.42 billion ASKs and load factor was up 2.4 points to 78.7%. EasyJet transported 2.6 million passengers in November, 11.2% more than in the year-ago month. Load factor was up 0.4 point to 80.5%.
Hawaiian Airlines finalized an agreement with AWAS Aviation Services that includes the purchase of three leased 767-300ERs ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1). Separately, HA flew 609.3 million RPMs in November, up 7.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 13.4% to 716.8 million ASMs and load factor fell 4.4 points to 85%.
CSA Czech Airlines revealed that it expects to turn a 2007 profit of CZK42 million ($2 million), a reversal from the CZK493 million it expects to lose this year. Its 2007 business plan projects a 5.6% increase in passenger volume to 5.7 million and includes the sale and leaseback of five 737-500s.
Meridiana is buying a 29.9% stake in Italian leisure carrier Eurofly. Olbia-based Meridiana, which is majority controlled by Prince Karim al-Hussayni, the Aga Khan, is acquiring the shares from Spinneker Luxembourg. Milan-based Eurofly was established with a 45% shareholding by Alitalia in response to the flag carrier's desire to develop the leisure travel market and launched operations in 1990. AZ acquired full control in 2000 and sold its stake to Spinneker in 2003. Eurofly was listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in December 2005, with Spinneker keeping a 44% stake.
Northwest Airlines reached an agreement with Pinnacle Airlines that opens the door for the regional to operate larger jets and seek additional business partners. Until now, Pinnacle has had an exclusive agreement with NWA that prohibited the Memphis-based regional from working with other carriers or operating aircraft with more than 50 seats. "That is very important," Pinnacle VP-Marketing Phil Reed told ATWOnline. "The most important thing was to secure our core business with Northwest. We've been a part of Northwest for 22 years."
A spokesperson for MAIR Holdings, parent of bankrupt Mesaba Airlines, confirmed to ATWOnline that the company is in discussions with Northwest Airlines about a possible acquisition.
