All Nippon Airways recently took delivery of its fourth 767-300F and plans to use it to launch a six-times-weekly Nagoya-Chicago cargo service via Anchorage.
Alitalia trade unions have called for 24-hr. strikes on both Sept. 29 and Oct. 9, according to Il Sole 24 Ore. The announced work stoppages follow a 4-hr. strike by unions representing pilots, flight attendants and ground staff on Sept. 18 and will add further pressure on the carrier, which remains in a precarious financial situation. It reported a loss of €221 million ($282.4 million) in the first half of 2006, widened from a loss of €125 million in the year-ago period.
Gulf Air confirmed that President and CEO James Hogan will complete his tenure at the carrier Sept. 30, earlier than anticipated, fueling speculation he will move to another airline in the Middle East. VP-Finance Ahmed Al Hammadi will take over as acting president and CEO from Oct. 1.
Continental Airlines signed a five-year, $258 million contract with the US Postal Service to carry priority, first class and express mail within the US and Puerto Rico. "We have made substantial investments in our postal facilities, employees and technology," said VP-Cargo Jack Boisen.
CAE said it was awarded three contacts for full flight simulators with a combined value of C$45 million ($40.3 million). The contracts are with Continental Airlines for a 737NG, Lufthansa Flight Training for an A320 and UPS for a 747. The 737 FFS for CO will feature CAE's Tropos II Enhanced visual system. SAS Maintenance Training will establish a new facility in Riga during the fourth quarter to perform training for 737 Classics and NGs for customers in the Baltics and Eastern Europe.
Amadeus appointed Arnaud Debuchy director for its Airline Business Group, giving him responsibility for airline account management and sales in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. BAA announced further management changes related to its takeover by Ferrovial Group, appointing Jose Leo CFO to replace Margaret Ewing. Ian Hargreaves, corporate and regulatory affairs director, will leave the company.
FedEx said this week it will invest $2.6 billion to acquire and modify up to 90 757-200s to replace its 727-200 freighters. The FedEx Express airline unit is expected to bring the new aircraft into service from 2008 to 2016.
IBM signed a 3.5-year agreement with Prague Airport to implement, maintain and manage a new IT system. Based on the mySAP Business Suite product, the integrated information system will be used by 350 airport staff, IBM said.
Avion Group reported a $69 million net loss for the nine months ended July 31 and warned of a "difficult" fiscal fourth quarter, forcing it to lower its forecast for its fiscal year ending Oct. 31. "The fourth quarter will be difficult because of challenging market conditions in the UK due to terrorist threats, delays and an unusually hot summer," the company said. "Additionally, currency changes will result in $10 million reduction in EBITDA than forecasted initially.
Qatar Airways ordered 40 high-thrust GE90 engines to power 20 777s ( ATWOnline, Sept. 13) it has on order for delivery beginning next year. The engine order is valued at more than $750 million. The carrier ordered 14 777-300ERs, which will be powered by GE90-115Bs, and six 777-200LRs, which will be powered by GE90-110Bs. "There is a strong working relationship between" Qatar Airways and GE, CEO Akbar Al Baker said.
Italy's My Way Airlines yesterday placed a firm order with Bombardier for 19 CRJ900s in a deal valued at $702 million and the manufacturer said 15 of the firm orders will convert to the CRJ900X if it launches the stretched version of the 90-seat regional jet. My Way, which was founded by former executives of defunct Volare, operates scheduled services in Europe and the Middle East with five A320s. It plans to operate the CRJ900s on domestic and regional routes.
Air France Industries was selected by China Eastern Airlines to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for the CFM56-5Cs powering its five A340-300s and CF6-80C2s powering its 10 A300-600s. The CFM56 work will be done in the AFI shop at Paris Orly while the CF6-80C2s will be serviced at Orly or the new KLM Engineering & Maintenance facility located at Amsterdam Schiphol. AFI signed a contract with Vietnam Airlines to provide fleet support for four A330s to be delivered from October.
Air Baltic President and CEO Bertolt Flick expects further dramatic growth for the Latvian carrier, projecting it will carry around 2.2 million passengers in 2007, up nearly 50% over 1.5 million this year.
Hawaiian Airlines is charging that startup carrier go!, a Mesa Air Group subsidiary, is trying to drive competitors out of business in the Hawaii market. Mesa counters that go!'s smaller share of the overall market in Hawaii means that its impact cannot be as consequential as Hawaiian claims. "If it wasn't clear to everyone before, it should be now that Mesa is trying to eliminate competition in Hawaii," wrote Hawaiian Airlines President and CEO Mark Dunkerley in a statement issued Sept. 22.
Spanair flew 718 million RPKs in August, a 5.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 3.3% to 996 million ASKs and load factor rose 1.5 points to 72%. AirBaltic flew 173 million RPKs in August, up 35.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 25.8% to 246 million ASKs and load factor was up 4.9 points to 70.5%. WestJet flew 951.7 million RPMs in August, a 19% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 18% to 1.13 billion and load factor was up 1 point to 84.5%.
Northwest Airlines will launch a six-times-weekly New York LaGuardia-Grand Rapids service on Nov. 1 aboard a Pinnacle Airlines 50-seat CRJ. It also will expand seasonal services to vacation destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean from its Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul bases. Extra frequencies to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo, Montego Bay and Grand Cayman will be available Feb. 15-April 8. Separately, NWA said it flew 7.05 billion RPMs in August, down 6.2% from the year-ago month.
JetBlue Airways last week lowered its full-year guidance on pre-tax profit margin to -2%-0%, down 1 point from guidance provided in July, and lowered its third-quarter RASM growth outlook to 13%-15% from 18%-20% previously. Merrill Lynch warned that the LCC "faces significant revenue challenges." The airline also said last week that it plans to close the sales of two of its A320s this month and three more in October, resulting in a $6 million gain in the third quarter.
Mesa Air Group named Paul Skellon VP-corporate communications and international operations. Etihad Airways appointed Josephine Boulus country manager for the US.
Cathay Pacific Airways used the occasion of its 60th anniversary celebration in Hong Kong Friday to unveil a radical upgrade of its first, business and economy class products. New economy seats, set in a slight recline position that cannot be moved, aim to establish a new standard for the industry. By pushing a button, passengers can move the seat cushion forward and the seatback cushion down, producing greater recline than conventional seats. Passengers get more legroom because magazine holders have been moved from seatbacks to the front of the seat beneath travelers' knees.
Emirates will launch daily 777-300ER service between New York JFK and Dubai via Hamburg Oct. 29. The carrier enjoys fifth freedom rights between the US and Germany and is offering an introductory New York-Hamburg roundtrip fare of $425. Also, from Oct. 1 Emirates will substitute a 777-300ER for an A340-500 on one of its two daily nonstop services between New York and Dubai.
Cimber Air Maintenance Center acquired a hangar at Billund Airport in Denmark from Sterling Airlines. CAMC plans to use the facility to expand its CRJ200 support activity and eventually offer MRO services to third-party customers. It already provides line maintenance for sister company Cimber Air, which operates a fleet of nine CRJ200s. This fall, CAMC will undertake four-year checks on two Cimber CRJs.
FedEx Express, the airline unit of the global delivery giant, reported operating income of $467 million for its fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, widened from operating income of $285 million in the year-ago quarter, as revenues jumped 10% to $5.64 billion. Express operating margin in the quarter was 8.3%, up from 5.6% in the year-ago period. "Operating income and margin during the quarter improved due to revenue growth, revenue management and effective cost cuts," the company said.
US airlines' domestic yield growth slowed in August, according to data from the Air Transport Assn. The seven largest US passenger airlines excluding Southwest had an average yield of 12.61 cents per RPM last month, up 10.3% compared to August 2005. This represented the smallest year-over-year increase since March and a 1-point sequential decline from the 11.3% year-over-year improvement recorded in July. Slowing yield growth, however, is being more than offset by falling fuel prices.
Emirates SkyCargo and Austrian Airlines Cargo reached a blocked-space agreement on Emirates' weekly A310 freighter service between Vienna and Dubai. EK will switch to an A340-500 from a 777-200 on its daily cargo flight to Nagoya Centrair from Oct. 29.
