UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, named former VP and Treasurer Kathryn Mikells as VP-financial planning and analysis replacing Amos Kazzaz, who becomes VP-cost management. Mikells will be replaced by Stephen Lieberman, formerly of General Motors.
ABX Air last week reported second-quarter net income of $6.5 million, down slightly from $6.8 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 13.6% decline in revenues to $303.6 million. The cargo carrier attributed much of the revenue drop to the May 1 transfer of its line-haul truck operations to DHL, the express delivery giant for which ABX provides US air service. DHL still accounts for the vast majority of ABX's business, but non-DHL charter operations did generate $5.4 million in revenues during the quarter, a 69% increase.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 6.43 billion RPKs in July, a 7.4% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 6.6% to 7.59 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.6 point to 84.6%.
India's Jet Airways, which launched service to London last year, confirmed in a weekend statement that it has suspended UK employee Asmin Tariq, who was one of 24 people arrested in London as a suspect in the terrorist conspiracy uncovered last week. Tariq was a security employee absorbed by Jet when the carrier ended its contract with his former employer, G4S, which has relationships with British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, SAS and others, according to Jet.
SpiceJet announced an operating profit of INR715.2 million ($15.4 million) for the fiscal year ended May 31 on a higher-than-expected INR4.53 billion in revenue and yesterday celebrated its first year under a new name by confirming the conversion of its 10 737NG options into firm orders for five dash 800s and five dash 900s.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, earned $10.7 million in the second quarter, narrowed 33% from $15.9 million earned in the year-ago period, on a 7.3% decrease in revenues to $366.4 million. President and CEO William Flynn attributed the lower results to reduced scheduled flying and substantially higher fuel prices in scheduled service.
Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways launched interline e-ticketing last week. The airlines already codeshare and have linked loyalty programs and a joint lounge arrangement. Separately, Virgin launched a route-specific inflight magazine called DXB available to passengers on flights between London Heathrow and Dubai.
Buoyed by a 39.6% increase in second-quarter net profit to C$236 million ($210.4 million), Air Canada parent ACE Aviation Holdings announced Friday its intention to launch an IPO of a minority stake in the mainline and to "monetize" Air Canada Technical Services later this year.
Origin Pacific Airways suspended passenger service on Aug. 10, saying that a "hoped for capital injection" did not occur but that its "profitable" freight business would continue, albeit with a "fraction" of its 260 employees. It announced Friday that it let go all passenger service staff and was unable to offer any assistance to stranded passengers. The nine-year-old airline said Air New Zealand reneged on an agreement to assist those passengers following comments made by a Member of Parliament from Nelson, OPA's home city. It served 11 destinations.
United Airlines flew 11.07 billion system RPMs in July, a 3.4% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.9% to 12.62 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.3 points to 87.7%. Copa Airlines flew 372.9 million RPMs in July, a 14.2% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 12.1% to 449.3 million ASMs and load factor was up 1.5 points to 83%. LAN Airlines reported a 4.7% increase in July system traffic and a 6.9% rise in capacity that dropped load factor 1.6 points to 77.5%.
Sabre Holdings signed a five-year, full-content distribution agreement with JetBlue Airways. Expedia signed a five-year contract with US Airways, making the carrier's inventory and services available on Expedia.com and its affiliated sites.
Boeing announced a 50/50 joint-venture agreement with VSMPO-AVISMA of Russia for the machining of titanium forgings for the 787. The companies have been working together since 1997 and signed an MOU on the titanium JV in April. VSMPO-AVISMA will perform rough machining in Verkhnaya Salda before final machining and processing is completed by Boeing in Portland, Ore.
Northwest Airlines flight attendants announced Friday that the deadline for commencement of targeted unannounced work actions against the carrier was extended to Aug. 25 from Aug. 15 as a result of last week's terrorist threat. "In order to devote our full attention to the immediate security situation and to reduce the stress level for flight attendants until the initial reaction of the security news subsides, we have decided to extend our strike deadline by 10 days," Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA Interim Master Executive Council President Mollie Reiley said. The union set the Aug.
Quali-audit, an Air France Consulting subsidiary, launched operation as an IATA Operational Safety Audit Organization. It will employ 18 auditors from major airlines.
Air France-KLM reported revenues of €5.8 billion in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30, an increase of 11.9% on the year-ago period. "This very good performance was driven by all sectors and especially by the passenger business," the carrier said. Passenger revenues increased 12.6% to €4.34 billion with traffic rising 7.7% to 49.59 billion RPKs against a 5% hike in capacity to 60.84 billion ASKs. Load factor improved 2 points to 81.5%. Yield rose 4.5% to €8.76 cents including a favorable currency effect of 1.6%.
Aviapartner signed a joint venture agreement with Are Handling of Italy to offer handling operations under the Aviapartner name at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa. The new company, in which Aviapartner will hold a majority share, represents an annual turnover of €24 million ($30.8 million).
Spanair flew 743 million RPKs in July, up 19.1% over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 6.2% to 966 million ASKs and load factor increased 8.3 points to 77%. AirBaltic flew 163 million RPKs in July, up 28.5% over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 27.7% to 239 million ASKs, lifting load factor 0.4 point to 68.2%.
Korean Air posted a second-quarter profit of KRW15 billion ($15.4 million) compared to a loss of KRW43 billion in the year-ago quarter thanks to strong international traffic and stable growth in its cargo operations. Operating revenue increased 8.7% to KRW1.94 trillion. KE attributed the turnaround to implementation "of cost control measures across the board" and focusing service on routes with strong potential. International passenger revenue jumped 14.2%, with both ASKs and RPKs growing 5.4% to 1.37 billion and 1.02 billion respectively. Yield was up 4.6%.
Air Canada Jazz reported a second-quarter net profit of C$36.6 million ($32.6 million), doubled from net income of C$18 million in the year-ago period, on a 47.1% jump in operating revenues to C$340.1 million. The Regional attributed the strong results to decreasing all unit costs except aircraft rent and fuel, which surged 91.5% to C$34 million, and a 27.8% increase in block hr. The growth is "mainly due to the eight CRJ200s, 12 CRJ705s and 24 CRJ100s that were received in the last half of 2005 and the first half of 2006," it said.
Air Canada Jazz won't be returning to Toronto City Centre Airport anytime soon following the Toronto Port Authority's refusal to approve a sublease that would have enabled the Regional to resume operations there. Jazz was evicted from Toronto City in March by its landlord, City Centre Aviation ( ATWOnline, March 2) and failed in its attempt to stop the eviction through an injunction. The move cleared the way for startup Porter Airlines to launch operations there this fall.
Ryanair will base three new aircraft at Dublin Airport and launch 12 new routes, bringing to 63 the number of UK and European destinations it serves from DUB from December. The expansion completes "Ryanair's displacement of Aer Lingus as the national carrier of Ireland," the LCC claimed, noting it carries five times more passengers across its network than Aer Lingus each year.
Northwest Airlines flew 7.31 billion consolidated RPMs in July, a 9.4% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 11.1% to 8.3 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.6 points to 88.1%. Domestic traffic declined 9.4% to 4.05 billion RPMs against an 11.8% decrease in capacity to 4.62 billion ASMs, raising load factor 2.3 points to 87.6%. International RPMs dropped 7.7% to 2.78 billion as ASMs fell 8% to 3.04 billion, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 91.3%. Lufthansa Group flew 10.46 billion RPKs in July, up 1.4% over the year-ago month.
