Mesaba Aviation, which narrowly averted a strike last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25), reached tentative labor agreements with its pilot and flight attendant unions. Negotiations continue with mechanics represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. "All along we have believed that consensual agreements are in the best interest of all involved in the company, its employees, and our passengers," Mesaba President and CEO John Spanjers said.
Qantas gave Airbus a lift with an order for an additional eight A380s, taking its firm commitments to 20 of the aircraft. It also ordered four more A330-200s to be delivered between December 2007 and September 2008 to help with the shortfall in capacity resulting from the A380 delay. In addition, it committed to five more 737-800s, which will take its fleet of that type to 38.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines said last week that it intends to sell its 75% holding in its Rezidor SAS Hospitality Group hotels unit via an IPO set to occur by year end. No new Rezidor shares will be issued via the IPO. Carlson Hotels Worldwide, which currently owns 25%, will increase its stake to 35% through the purchase of shares from SAS. In anticipation of the spinoff, the company's name is being changed to Rezidor Hotel Group. SAS said in June that it would float the unit. Rezidor operates 272 hotels.
Boeing is facing intense pressure to offer two versions of its 747-8 Intercontinental to satisfy Emirates, which is considering a commitment of up to 30 aircraft. Last month this website revealed that the manufacturer increased the length of the 747-8I to that of the freighter ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26) to satisfy demands for greater capacity from airlines such as Korean Air, China Airlines and British Airways. Originally the passenger variant had a 3.6-m.
US National Transportation Safety Board dispatched a team of investigators to Nigeria to assist in determining the cause of Sunday's ADC Airlines 737-200 crash in Abuja that reportedly killed 98 of 106 on board and one farmer on the ground. Abuja's Daily Trust reported yesterday that the aircraft's pilots were told not to take off because of poor weather but insisted on doing so.
Emirates President Tim Clark reinforced the push for a major revision of the A350 XWB first revealed by ATWOnline last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25), telling media that "Airbus would have to go beyond the current design of the A350 if it wants to win [EK's] order," Reuters reported.
SkyWest Inc., parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported net earnings of $40.7 million in the third quarter, up 35.3% from the $30.1 million earned in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2005. The year-over-year improvement is due in large part to SkyWest's acquisition of ASA during the year-ago quarter. Revenues increased 59.2% to $791.8 million and expenses rose 59.5% to $704.1 million. Operating income surged 56.8% to $87.8 million. The company flew 4.16 billion RPMs during the quarter, a year-over-year increase of 69.1%.
News from Travel Technology Update: JetBlue Airways is returning to all four GDSs with a new five-year, full-content agreement with Worldspan and participation in Amadeus in the works. Worldspan said its agreement with JetBlue will provide access to the carrier by "business travelers who book trips online using Worldspan Trip Manager XE, as well as travel buyers who purchase opaque flights or travel packages at designated Worldspan-connected travel Web sites," in addition to travel agencies.
Air China said it posted a CNY3.3 billion ($417.5 million) profit in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The carrier did not provide a comparison to the year-ago quarter but said its "stable growth was attributable to the favorable turnaround in the industry that was driven by the drop in international oil prices, an upward adjustment of fuel surcharges and the continued appreciation of the [yuan]."
Midwest Air Group reported net income of $1.7 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, reversing a loss of $26.9 million in the year-ago period. Revenues increased 23.4% to $168.6 million, reflecting a 16.8% growth in passenger traffic, and operating income improved to $400,000 from a $27.1 million loss. Expenses were up 2.7% to $168 million. Improvement was attributed to "broad marketing initiatives" that boosted passenger traffic in addition to more competitive fares. For the nine-month period, net income lifted to $1.8 million from a $51 million loss.
LAN Airlines more than doubled its third-quarter net income to $51.5 million from $23.8 million in the year-ago period as revenues grew 22.6% to $762.3 million, boosting operating margin 7.6 points to 9.3%.
AirTran Holdings, parent of the airline, sank to a third-quarter loss of $4.3 million despite record passenger numbers and revenue. The carrier earned $964,000 in the year-ago quarter, but expenses that grew slightly faster than revenue resulted in the current-period deficit. Chairman and CEO Joe Leonard said demand slowed in August due to security issues but booking levels have been "more normal" for November. The LCC's average fare did rise 11% to $90.94, helping to offset some of the sluggish demand and a 23% year-over-year increase in fuel costs.
Singapore Airlines Group reported a net profit of S$293.2 million ($186.7 million) for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, down 14.6% from a S$343.2 million profit in the year-ago quarter, a decline the company attributed to "higher fuel cost." SIA said in a statement that demand "is expected to remain buoyant" but cautioned that "the price of jet fuel is still volatile and remains high."
Norwegian's third-quarter profit of NOK27.5 million ($4.2 million) represented a 37.2% drop from net earnings of NOK43.8 million in the year-ago quarter as expansion weighed on its bottom line. The fleet expanded to 19 aircraft from 13 and capacity rose 64% to 1.69 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 1 point to 85% as traffic increased 61% to 1.43 billion RPKs. Revenue grew 48.8% to NOK877.8 million, expenses climbed 57.4% to NOK777.7 million and operating profit fell 31.7% to NOK38.4 million.
Frontier Airlines reported net income of $509,000 for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, narrowed from net income of $6.9 million in the year-ago quarter. President and CEO Jeff Potter expressed satisfaction that the carrier stayed in the black in spite of volatile fuel costs, tough competition and the negative impact of new security measures. Revenues increased 19.9% to $309.9 million while expenses climbed 25.3% to $306.8 million, producing operating income of $3.96 million including $868,000 in business interruption insurance proceeds.
Air Astana changed its flight code to KC from 4L, a shift it said was "the latest development in Air Astana's rapid growth road to becoming a world class airline." KC stands for Kazakhstan Carrier. Launched in 2002, the airline operates 15 aircraft to 24 domestic and 17 international destinations.
KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Honeywell signed an agreement to establish an APU MRO center at Amsterdam Schiphol. Under the terms of the 10-year contract, KLM E&M will be an authorized Honeywell MRO center for 737NG, 777, A330 and A340 APUs, with the potential to expand to other APUs, Honeywell Director-Marketing Sales and Service-Benelux & Scandinavia Gert Mejier told ATWOnline at MRO Europe in Amsterdam last week. The center will be set up at EPCOR, a fully owned subsidiary of KLM E&M, which expects to repair its first APU in the second quarter of 2007.
Kenya Airways posted a net profit of KES2.43 billion ($33.6 million) in the first half of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, an 8.9% increase over the KES2.23 billion earned in the corresponding six months last year. The carrier said it is committed to expanding despite concerns over fuel costs, security and increased competition. It will add a fourth 777-200ER in February and replace its two Saab 340s with regional jets. Revenues rose 12.3% to KES28.47 billion and expenses climbed 14.7% to KES24.38 billion. Operating profit was up 0.2% to KES4.09 billion.
US Airways Group reported a third-quarter net loss of $78 million, narrowed from a $99 million net loss in the year-ago quarter by the then-America West Holdings, which was considered the acquiring company in last year's merger.
China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines each reported profitable third quarters yesterday, according to statements cited in press reports from Beijing. China Southern posted a CNY1.29 billion ($163.1 million) profit, up 51.4% from the CNY852 million earned in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 21.8% to CNY13.89 billion and passenger numbers climbed 12.4% to 14.3 million.
Lufthansa Group released its expanded third-quarter and nine-month results yesterday, confirming Wednesday's announcement that it posted a €329 million ($413.7 million) third-quarter profit attributable to shareholders, down 20.9% from the €416 million earned in the year-ago quarter. LH said it was "well on course" despite the drop, citing an improved operating result, rising yields and an "ongoing upswing in demand." It forecast an operating profit of €750 million for the full year, a 30% increase over the €577 million earned in 2005.
Citing strict cost management and efficiencies gained from operating an all-737NG fleet, WestJet reported third-quarter net income of C$52.8 million ($46.9 million), a 74.3% increase from the C$30.3 million earned in the year-ago quarter and the highest quarterly profit in its history. "A significant accomplishment for this quarter was our ability to control costs," President Sean Durfy said. "CASM, excluding fuel, was down 1.1% this quarter. This was a result of prudent cost management in all areas of the organization."
Republic Airways Holdings, parent of Republic Airlines, Chautauqua Airlines and Shuttle America, reported net income of $21.9 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, a 57% increase over the $14 million earned in the year-ago period. Operating revenues grew 33% to $306.1 million while expenses rose 29.4% to $249.6 million. Operating profit climbed 51.1% to $56.6 million. For the first nine months, the company posted net income of $59.1 million, a 40% rise over the $42.2 million earned in the year-ago period.
Ryanair yesterday again encouraged Aer Lingus employees to accept its €2.80 per share offer for the flag carrier ( ATWOnline, Oct. 24) as press reports surfaced that EI CEO Dermot Mannion told union representatives, "We have no option but to further reduce costs. Do you want us to do it or Michael O'Leary to do it?" Ryanair already has promised job cuts if its bid is successful, but it said that bid is worth an average payment of €60,000 per employee.
