Air France KLM will be changing its top management structure in line with increasing integration between the two airlines and marking the conclusion of the three-year phase-in period following their merger in May 2004.
Southwest Airlines flew 5.92 billion RPMs in April, up 3.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 9.6% to 8.19 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 4.4 points to 72.3%.
ABX Air signed a two-year agreement with ANA to operate two 767-200 freighters to support ANA's cargo operations in Japan, China and Thailand. Effective May 15, the deal is expected to generate $22 million in annual revenue for Ohio-based ABX, an all-cargo carrier that primarily operates flights on DHL's US network but has been seeking to expand its base of services. "This agreement underscores ABX's commitment to grow its presence as an international provider of aircraft and aircraft-related services," President and CEO Joe Hete said. It has 35 767s in service, including 29 for DHL.
PAR Capital Management, which played a key role in US Airways' emergence from bankruptcy and had been its largest shareholder when it sold 6.5 million shares to Goldman, Sachs & Co. in February, ( ATWOnline, Feb. 16), sold off nearly all its remaining shares Tuesday to UBS Securities. The 6.75-million-share transaction leaves PAR with just a 0.29% stake in US, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Copa Airlines yesterday announced an order for four 737-800s valued at $282 million for delivery in 2011 and 2012. The Panamanian carrier already operates 24 737NGs and now has 10 on order. Boeing previously listed the order as being from an unidentified customer. Copa operates four of the world's longest 737 routes from its Panama City hub to Buenos Aires, Santiago, Sao Paulo and Los Angeles.
SkyWest Inc., parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported first-quarter net income of $34.8 million, up just 0.6% from $34.6 million in the year-ago period. Operating revenue rose 6.3% to $789 million while expenses climbed 7.5% to $709.4 million, sending operating income down 4% to $79.6 million from $82.9 million. The fleet grew by 30 aircraft year-over-year to 425, including six new CRJ900s and 10 CRJ700s "from another operator" added during the recently completed quarter. SkyWest carriers flew 4.02 billion RPMs during the three months, up 10.4%.
Bmi Group reported a pre-tax profit of £29.7 million ($59.4 million) for 2006, nearly triple the £10 million generated in 2005. Operating profit before exceptional items increased 85.5% to £10.2 million. Revenues rose 4.2% to £905.4 million while passenger boardings remained static at 10.5 million, 40% of which were carried by its bmibaby low-fare subsidiary. Per its custom, the company did not provide separate financial results for the mainline, bmibaby and bmi regional.
Japan Airlines yesterday revised down its earnings forecast for its 2006 fiscal year ended March 31 to a net loss of ¥16.2 billion ($135.5 million), significantly changed from a February forecast of a net profit of ¥3 billion for the 12 months.
Compass Airlines, Northwest Airlines' new regional subsidiary, launched its maiden flight yesterday out of Washington Dulles. For now, Compass will be operating a single CRJ200 on two daily roundtrips between IAD and Minneapolis/St. Paul. It expects to put the first of 36 E-175s into service by the third quarter.
Shanghai Airlines' 2006 annual profit plummeted 82.2% to CNY8.2 million ($1.1 million) from earnings of CNY46 million in 2005 as revenues rose 24.5% to CNY9.93 billion and costs climbed 27% to CNY8.49 billion. In the 2007 first quarter, SAL remained stuck in its downturn with a CNY95.8 million loss. Operating revenue increased 27.41% to CNY2.55 billion against a 29.5% lift in costs to CNY2.3 billion.
Swelling ancillary revenue and effective seasonal capacity deployment were among the reasons cited by WestJet for a booming first quarter during which the Canadian LCC posted net earnings of C$29.9 million ($26.8 million), more than double the C$12.9 earned in the first three months of 2006.
Volga-Dnepr Group reported sales of $725 million in 2006, up 55% from 2005, and is projecting $1 billion in revenue this year. It said rising turnover resulted from development in its An-124-100 (revenue up 26%) and IL-76 (up 114%) charter freight businesses and expansion at AirBridge Cargo (up 96%), which operates four 747Fs. V-D transported more than 155,000 tonnes of freight last year, 98% of which was flown internationally. AirBridge reported revenues of $227.4 million and transported 78,400 tonnes of cargo, up 79% on the prior year.
Northwest Airlines reported a $90 million profit for March, reversed from a $226 million deficit in the year-ago month, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Revenue slipped 0.3% to $1.12 billion against a 9.4% fall in expenses to $934 million. Operating profit more than doubled to $174 million from $80 million. The company took $54 million in net reorganization charges during the month, nearly all of which came from rejection of aircraft, including a delivery cancellation claim for 13 CRJ200s.
SkyEurope Airlines is planning to expand aggressively from its new Vienna base, possibly to 15 aircraft, in order to challenge Austrian Airlines' "Focus East" strategy, CCO Karim Makhlouf told ATWOnline. Speaking last week at the French Connect seminar in Nantes La Baule, Makhlouf said, "In times of consolidation it is normal to go where you expect a gap in the near future," adding that he considers Austrian to be "the weakest hub carrier in Europe. They have a cost problem. That is why we will attack them."
Indian government yesterday made seat assignments compulsory for all domestic airlines. The Office of the Director General of Civil Aviation said it was imposing the regulation "in order to ensure correct loading of aircraft and keeping the center of gravity of the aircraft within limits at all times during flight."
Shenzhen Airlines is looking to capture a significant share of the Chinese business aviation market with Yalian Business Jet Co., a recently established joint venture with Business Aviation Asia of Hong Kong and National Trust, a Beijing-based financial services provider. The carrier holds a 46% stake in the new entity with an investment of CNY46 million ($6 million), while BAA and NT put in CNY43 million and CNY11 million respectively for 43% and 11%.
Alitalia Group's net debt as of March 31 was €1.07 billion ($1.46 billion), down 2.7% from Feb. 28. During March the company repaid €14 million of medium/long-term financing.
HNA Group, parent of Hainan Airlines and several other carriers, reported net profit of CNY51.2 million ($6.6 million) in the first quarter, a more than fourfold improvement over earnings of CNY12.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenue rose 20.6% to CNY3.45 billion against a 21.5% lift in costs to CNY2.72 billion. The company attributed the good results to "tightening cost control" and "fleet expansion," pointing out China's air transport market upturn also boosted its traffic revenue.
WITH A HISTORY OF 86 YEARS of operation and bragging rights as the fourth-oldest airline in the world, Compania Mexicana de Aviacion is about as "legacy" as a carrier can get. It played a crucial role in building Mexico's airport and airways system, was at one time owned by Pan American World Airways and even can boast that a certain Charles Lindbergh piloted one of its flights. It is a heritage that no one at Mexicana cares to forget, leastwise CEO Emilio Romano, who has led the airline since March 2004.
Airbus appointed Gerald Weber head-operations and member of the Executive Committee, Tom Williams acting head-procurement, Patrick Gavin executive VP-engineering and Charles Champion to succeed Gavin as executive VP-customer services. Air Dolomiti named Jorg Eberhart VP-marketing, network & commercial. Alaska Air Group promoted Wendy Jones to MD-internal audit and Jeff Butler to staff VP-station operations. Alpha Aviation Group tapped Groeme Ogilvie as VP-global operations. ALTA selected Gonzalo Yelpo to succeed Celestino Pena as chief legal counsel.
MAXjet Airways named Extra Space Storage CEO Kenneth Woolley as chairman, replacing Richard Sharp. It also named former Spirit Airlines CFO John Severson as CFO, George Paul as COO and Ceciley Bachnik as VP-people services.
Air China reported a net profit of CNY403 million ($52.1 million) for the first quarter, a result that contrasts sharply with the recently announced losses by China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. CA did not provide year-ago figures. The company cited "expansion of its principal operations and the investment income derived from Cathay Pacific Airways" as key to its performance ( ATWOnline, March 21). Operating revenue reached CNY10.47 billion against costs of CNY10.44 billion.
Pinnacle Airlines signed a 10-year capacity purchase agreement with Delta Air Lines to operate 16 CRJ900s as Delta Connection. Pinnacle will acquire and finance the 76-seat aircraft, to be delivered November 2007-July 2008, and begin flying for DL in December. "We are excited about this opportunity to join the Delta family," President and CEO Phil Trenary said.
Airline Partners Australia's A$11.1 billion ($9.21 billion) bid for Qantas was dealt yet another blow yesterday as acceptances fell to 25.52% from 27.8% as the offer moves into its final week ( ATWOnline, April 24). APA must secure 50% acceptance by Friday evening to trigger a two-week extension of the offer, giving it time to reach the revised target of 70%. It did say that more than half of QF shareholders have accepted the offer.
China Southern Airlines will join SkyTeam formally by year end, Group MD and CZ Chairman Liu Shaoyong announced Saturday at a summit between Chinese civil aviation leaders and the alliance in Sanya.
