Southwest Airlines is interested in acquiring assets that may have to be sold off to complete US Airways' proposed $8 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines ( ATWOnline, Nov. 20). Chairman Herb Kelleher reportedly called senior executives at both carriers to convey his interest, especially for assets on the East Coast. Southwest told reporters last month in Dallas that it is pursuing extra aircraft aggressively and has a strong desire to expand.
Boeing named Doug Kight VP-human resources for Boeing Commercial Airplanes effective next month. He currently is VP and assistant general counsel at corporate headquarters in Chicago.
Allegiant Travel Co., parent of Allegiant Air, filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in anticipation of an IPO of its common stock. The offer comprises 5 million shares of common stock listed on NASDAQ, or 5.75 million if underwriters exercise overallotment options. Merrill Lynch & Co. will be sole book-runner with Bear Stearns & Co. and Raymond James as co-managers.
Gol yesterday slightly lowered its financial outlook for the full year, citing "the recent problems with the air traffic in Brazil." The airline said "a higher number of delayed and cancelled flights" have "inhibited" traffic and lowered short-term demand, reducing projected 2006 net revenues to BRL4 billion ($1.85 billion) from the previously forecast BRL4.1 billion. Projected operating margin was lowered to 23% from 26%-28% while earnings per share decreased to BRL3.75-4.00 from BRL3.90-4.30.
Aeroflot Chairman and CEO Valery Okulov told ATWOnline during an interview in Vienna that the carrier will post a 2006 profit of more than $200 million (it earned $220 million in 2005) and that there are no plans for an IPO despite the Russian government's August hint that it was prepared to part with its interest in the flag carrier ( ATWOnline, Aug. 17).
SkyWest Inc. said yesterday that it has been selected for the first allocation of regional jet flying by Delta Air Lines. It will operate 12 CRJ700s from Cincinnati previously flown by Comair beginning in February, bringing the number of aircraft it operates for DL to 228 RJs and 24 turboprops. SkyWest said it has not determined which of its operating companies will fly the aircraft.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said yesterday in a letter to Aer Lingus shareholders that the LCC will not raise its €2.80 ($3.59)-per-share bid despite the poor response from EI shareholders. "In our opinion, there is nothing in the Aer Lingus defense document or its strategy as articulated by the chief executive that justifies a price in excess of €2.80," O'Leary said in the letter, according to press reports. Ryanair has extended the deadline for its offer until Dec. 4 ( ATWOnline, Nov.
Aeroflot is looking to consolidate the domestic airline industry further, according to Chairman and CEO Valery Okulov, and will launch a regional carrier in eastern Russia that will combine several smaller airlines and "quickly help to better organize air traffic in this area...on both long-haul and local routes," he said on the company's website.
British Airways will launch service from London Gatwick to Port of Spain (thrice-weekly via Barbados aboard 777s), Dresden (daily aboard 737s) and Sarajevo (thrice-weekly aboard 737s) from March. At the same time, it will suspend flights from LGW to Athens, Kiev, Newcastle and Riga. BA reached a codeshare agreement with Caribbean Airlines, which will place its code on BA flights to Port of Spain, Barbados and Antigua. Separately, BA flew 9.58 billion RPKs in October, a 1.1% increase over the year-ago month.
SkyEurope Airlines is nearing a decision to open a base in Vienna, which is just 60 km. from its Bratislava hub. It currently serves Innsbruck and Salzburg in Austria. A source close to the project told ATWOnline that the carrier plans to base up to three 737s at VIE and launch services to both Western and Eastern Europe. SkyEurope also plans to operate a twice-daily VIE-INN service, which will be the first domestic LCC route in Austria.
Delta Air Lines said yesterday that it will recall 700 additional furloughed maintenance workers beginning in mid-December, bringing to more than 2,000 the number of employees the bankrupt carrier has recalled in recent months, including 200 previously announced maintenance personnel, 1,000 flight attendants and 130 pilots ( ATWOnline, Nov. 10).
Frontier Airlines flew 669.3 million RPMs in October, a 15.4% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 14.1% to 920.9 million ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 72.7%. Separately, Frontier named Dennis Crabtree VP-safety and security.
Airbus will boost production of A320 family aircraft to 36 per month from the current 30 over the next two years, Reuters reported. It had intended to produce 34 per month by the second quarter of 2008.
Jetstar Airways announced that it has received permission from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to operate long-haul services from Australia ( ATWOnline, July 27). The carrier said the addendum to its AOC was the "final hurdle" it needed to negotiate before launching thrice-weekly Melbourne-Bangkok service on Thursday. It subsequently will start flights from Sydney to Phuket (thrice-weekly from Nov. 24), Ho Chi Minh City (thrice-weekly from Nov. 30) and Bali (twice-weekly from Dec. 8).
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 6.02 billion RPKs in October, a 9.1% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.8% to 7.58 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 3.1 points to 79.4%.
Kingfisher Airlines and Pratt & Whitney signed a $300 million agreement at a Washington ceremony yesterday covering 10 PW4000-100 engines to power the carrier's five ordered A330s as well as one spare engine, 10 options and an exclusive overhaul and repair program. The deal, first announced at Farnborough, will be worth $500 million if all options are exercised. The US Dept. of Commerce hosted the signing to highlight the growing trade relationship between the US and India and several dignitaries, including FAA Administrator Marion Blakey, were on hand.
Lufthansa Technik is offering an Oil Smell Detection Service to eliminate unconfirmed engine or APU removals following oil smells in the cabin. The tool, for which a patent is pending, allows rapid on-wing diagnosis and spares a carrier the associated costs of removing an intact engine. "Every engine dismantled costs the operator at least $350,000 in expenses for C check, transport, capital cost and minor shop visit.
WestJet will operate seasonal Halifax-Tampa service weekly from March 13 to May 1. It also will add frequencies from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Nassau Jan. 8-April 28. WestJet flew 826.3 million RPMs in October, up 24% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 22% to 1.1 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.4 points to 74.9%.
Norwegian is taking SAS Braathens back to court, this time in an attempt to secure financial damages, according to press reports. Braathens was acquitted in a September criminal trial of illegally accessing Norwegian's reservations system ( ATWOnline, June 14) but paid a NOK400,000 ($62,300) fine for misusing confidential business information. Norwegian now wants a civil court to award further damages.
Air Transport Assn. promoted Director-Government Affairs Marc Gonzales to VP-congressional affairs. President and CEO James May said Gonzales "has made great contributions in shaping public policy."
British Airways yielded to union concerns over its effort to raise the normal retirement age to 65 from 55 for aircrew and 60 for ground staff as part of a series of concessions required to tackle the £2.1 billion deficit in the New Airways Pension Scheme ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16). "The airline has now included the option of a normal retirement age of 60 in return for increased contribution rates," BA said.
Alitalia flew 3.4 billion RPKs in October, up 2.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.7% to 4.51 billion ASKs and load factor improved 0.7 point 75.3%.
Vueling Airlines expects to lose €7.1 million ($9.1 million) this year but to post profits of €24.2 million in 2007 and €36.2 million in 2008, according to a regulatory filing and IPO prospectus cited by press reports.
Calling itself "a pro-consumer maverick," US Airways moved quickly Friday to head off an antitrust challenge to its proposed $8 billion takeover of Delta Air Lines, asserting in a government filing that the "New Delta" will offer "consumer-friendly fares" and will not stifle competition in a market in which LCCs play a significant role.
Air France KLM Group expects to decide on Wednesday whether it will launch a new carrier focusing on the medium-haul leisure market. The startup would be modeled on its Amsterdam-based transavia.com subsidiary, which offers a mixture of charter and scheduled low-fare flights, and would be based at Paris Orly South. It would operate a fleet of 186-seat 737-800s to a selection of popular tourist destinations such as Morocco, Tunisia and Spain.
