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.
Finnair will take a €7 million ($8.8 million) direct hit as the result of last week's flight attendant strike ( ATWOnline, Oct. 23) in addition to a €3 million loss in future ticket reservations, the airline said yesterday. It now forecasts an operating profit "clearly below" last year's €81.9 million. "Our goal is to develop our Group structure towards profitability on the basis of the plans we have previously published.
CSA Czech Airlines has started to contact potential investors in its cargo terminal and handling operation in Prague ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3). Prospective buyers should be shortlisted by the middle of December. CSA has started preparing to transform the terminal into a subsidiary, which should be established in January.
Bmi discontinued its daily London Heathrow-Mumbai service because of a problem with the landing gear on the A330 it uses on the route, The Times reported. "We have tried without success to locate a suitable replacement unit but the uncertainty of the length of time we will be without the aircraft has also not helped the situation," CEO Nigel Turner told the paper. Repair work will not begin until Oct. 30 at the earliest and bmi said it is not sure when it will relaunch service.
Consorcio Aeromexico, the holding company for Aeromexico and Aeroliteral, reported third-quarter net income of MXN124 million ($11.4 million), narrowed from earnings of MXN263 million in the year-ago quarter, according to Reuters. Revenues were down 0.7% to MXN5.61 billion.
Swiss International Air Lines will increase its service from Geneva starting Dec. 15. It will launch a daily service to Prague and boost frequencies to London City to six-times-daily from four. Both services will be aboard Avro RJs. Separately, Swiss is installing new lighter seats from Recaro on its four A321s and seven A319s. A321 capacity will increase to 200 from 186 and A319 capacity will go to 138 from 126. It already has put the seats on its 14 A320s.
US FAA needs to find an equitable and long-term funding solution that will provide for needed modernization of the ATC system as well as pay for next-generation technologies, Horizon Air President and CEO Jeff Pinneo said yesterday at the Aero Club in Washington.
Air Berlin will establish its own pilot training school in cooperation with Technic Flight Consulting Kaufer. Future flight cadets can earn their commercial pilot licenses in 24 months.
Aeroflot is forging ahead with its fleet renewal plan, announcing Tuesday in Moscow that it will pull its nine IL-86s from service next month and revealing yesterday that it has finalized a lease agreement for the seven A321s ordered a year ago.
Cathay Pacific Airways will launch a twice-weekly 747-200 freighter service to Beijing on Nov. 15, it announced yesterday. Flights will depart Hong Kong on Wednesdays and Thursdays. CX currently operates 14-times-weekly passenger service to Beijing and a 12-times-weekly cargo service to Shanghai.
Lufthansa Group today will report third-quarter net earnings of €329 million ($412.8 million), a figure calculated based upon its half-year result and yesterday's announcement that it posted a €414 million profit through the first nine months of 2006. The three-month result is down 20.9% from the €416 million earned in the third quarter of 2005. Revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 30 rose 11.5% to €5.35 billion and operating profit increased 61.9% to €353 million from €218 million, based on ATWOnline calculations.
ExpressJet Holdings, which operates as a Regional partner of Continental Airlines, established a subsidiary that will offer corporate aircraft services. ExpressJet Corporate Aviation will launch in December with ERJ-145XRs and will dedicate 10 planes to the service by May, flying them under the ExpressJet CFR 121 operating certificate. CO informed its partner in January that it would remove 69 ERJs from its network following the two companies' failure to reach a new financial agreement.
Delta Air Lines yesterday confirmed that it will be the US launch customer for the 777-200LR. It will take delivery of two of the type in early 2008, having converted two dash 200ERs it had on order from Boeing, according to a Delta spokesperson. "These aircraft will enable us to fly nonstop to ultra-long-distance destinations across Asia and the Middle East as we continue our international expansion," said Mel Fauscett, MD-fleet planning and acquisition. The aircraft will be powered by GE90 engines.
European Commission authorized two state aid measures for Air Caraibes, enabling it to cut operating costs for its regional services. The aid will permit the airline to lease a new Embraer 190 for use between Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana and a new ATR 72-500 for use between Guadeloupe, Martinique and Saint Martin at a reduced rate owing to tax credits received by the lessors. One of the measures replaces aid approved in February but cancelled by French authorities.
Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported a third-quarter net loss of $17.4 million, reversed from a net profit of $90.2 million in the year-ago quarter.
Snecma Services signed a 10-year time and material engine maintenance contract with Travel Service covering the CFM56-7s powering its 737NGs. Snecma also will provide on-wing maintenance within the scope of its Engine Maintenance On-Site service. Separately, Air Berlin signed a 10-year contract with Snecma covering MRO on the CFM56-5Bs powering its A320s. The Berlin Tegel-based LCC eventually will deploy a fleet of 100 A320s.
Air Berlin said joint check-in facilities with dba will be available from Nov 2. "The integration of dba into our company is completed. Now we have to repaint the aircraft," Air Berlin CEO Joachim Hunold said in an statement. AB acquired dba two months ago ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18) Separately, AB announced the launch of a thrice-weekly Nuremberg-Moscow Domodedovo service from Dec. 21 using 737-700s.
JetBlue Airways will cut its A320 and Embraer 190 fleets over the next three years and said it is on the verge of reaching one or more codeshare arrangements with international airlines as it strives to return to the black following its third loss-making quarter out of the past four. The carrier yesterday announced a $500,000 loss in the three-month period ended Sept. 30 compared to a $2.7 million profit in the third quarter of 2005.
Ryanair was forced to postpone introduction of flights from Marseille and Frankfurt Hahn to Morocco owing to a delay in execution of the Euro-Mediterranean air transport agreement between the EU and Morocco. The deal would give EU carriers unrestricted third and fourth freedom rights as well as the right to operate from any point in Europe to any point in Morocco including co-terminal operations. Originally expected to come this month, the signing has been pushed back to Nov.
UPS earned $1.04 billion in net income in the third quarter, an 8.9% rise over $953 million earned in the same period last year, on a 10.5% increase in revenues to $11.66 billion. International package revenues, a good measurement of UPS Airlines' services, grew 17% to $2.25 billion as international package volume climbed 19%.
EasyJet expects its profit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 to be "slightly ahead" of its previous guidance of 40%-50% growth. The LCC transported 3.01 million passengers in September, up 9.8% from the year-ago month. Load factor rose 0.1 point to 86.5%.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines' Danish cabin staff said they reached new terms with the carrier on Monday, averting a strike that would have halted both domestic and international flights from Denmark starting this weekend. The Danish Cabin Attendants Union said the one-year agreement covers a 3.5% wage hike, hours and other conditions, Reuters reported. It is effective retroactively from March and will run until Feb. 28, 2007.
Porter Airlines launched its inaugural flight out of Toronto City Centre Airport yesterday. The startup carrier will operate up to 10 weekday roundtrips to Ottawa with a fleet of 10 Q400s. Company officials said they will add other destinations that are within a 500-mi. range of YTZ. Protesters were on hand to voice their opposition to Porter, but travelers were undeterred, according to the Toronto Sun. The protesters reportedly are concerned about safety issues involved with operating an airline in an urban setting and the environmental impact.
