Copa Airlines flew 416.6 million RPMs in January, up 30.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 21.9% to 504.5 million ASMs and load factor rose 5.5 points to 82.6%.
UK-based MyTravel and German tourist conglomerate Thomas Cook are merging in a deal that will create the second-biggest travel company in Europe behind TUI. The new company, called Thomas Cook Group, will produce combined revenue of about €12 billion ($15.6 billion) selling holidays to some 19 million customers a year. It will be based in London.
Northwest Airlines introduced an A330 on flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Honolulu, completing the retirement of its DC-10s ( ATWOnline, Oct. 31, 2006). NWA flew 5.96 billion RPMs in January, a 1.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.8% to 7.64 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.8 points to 77.9%. Domestic traffic grew 2.7% to 3.14 billion RPMs, capacity was up 3.3% to 4.12 billion ASMs and load factor dipped 0.5 point to 76.2%.
Alitalia Chairman Giancarlo Cimoli has been replaced by Banca di Roma Chairman Berardino Libonati, the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance announced. It did not say whether Cimoli, who was appointed in 2004, also would be replaced as CEO. The decision comes ahead of the carrier's Feb. 22 shareholders' meeting and coincides with the review of the 11 "expressions of interest" the government received from potential buyers of the troubled airline ( ATWOnline, Jan. 31).
Qantas yesterday released an independent expert report supporting its recommendation that shareholders accept the A$11.1 billion ($8.61 billion) or A$5.60 per share private equity takeover bid by Airline Partners Australia. The analysis by accounting firm Grant Samuel makes up part of Qantas's target statement and argues that the price is fair and reasonable. In fact, Grant Samuel indicates that anything above A$5.18 per share is a good deal and suggests that if the bid fails the share price, currently at A$5.40, will sink to A$4.20.
Comair pilots were back at the bargaining table yesterday in yet another effort to forestall the imposition of some $15.8 million in proposed wage and benefit cuts. Comair officials reportedly were reviewing the latest proposal from the pilots and had extended the deadline for imposing the cuts until after midnight last night. A bankruptcy court judge ruled Feb. 7 that the pilots, who are represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., were forbidden to strike or take other job actions against Comair, a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.
Frontier Airlines will launch daily Denver-Vancouver service on May 5 aboard A319s. It flew 637.3 million RPMs in January, a 10.8% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity was up 12.3% to 977.2 million ASMs and load factor fell 0.9 point to 65.2%.
Hawaiian Airlines announced that US FAA Air Traffic Organization COO Russell Chew will leave Washington and join the airline as its executive VP-operations. He replaces the retiring Norm Davies. A former pilot, Chew worked for American Airlines for 17 years and was MD-system operations control before joining FAA in 2003.
EADS co-CEO and Airbus CEO Louis Gallois is scheduled to meet today with German Finance Minister Michael Glos to discuss the Power8 restructuring plan, details of which are expected to be revealed to Airbus employees on Feb. 20. Glos warned yesterday that job cuts and facility closures must be "evenly spread between Germany and France."
Just one day after reporting a thumping profit, Qantas was brought back to earth Friday when Singapore's Tiger Airways unveiled plans to launch Australian domestic services by year end with five new A320s. During the announcement tipped last week by ATWOnline ( ATWOnline, Feb. 9), Tiger President and CEO Tony Davis took a cheeky swipe at Qantas, saying his airline is ready to "deliver Australians genuine low fares, competing in a market which has returned to a cozy duopoly and seen fares increase."
Air Canada reported 2006 operating income of C$259 million ($218.5 million), down 18.6% from C$318 million in the prior year, as revenue rose 6.4% to C$10.07 billion and expenses increased 7.3% to C$9.81 billion. AC posted a fourth-quarter operating loss of C$5 million, narrowed from an operating loss of C$91 million in the year-ago quarter. President and CEO Montie Brewer described the period as "one of the strongest fourth quarters in Air Canada's history."
Italy's Air One announced the conversion of 10 A320 options into firm orders Friday, bringing its total order for the type to 40 firm along with 25 options and 25 purchase rights ( ATWOnline, Jan. 13, 2006). The 159-seat aircraft will be CFM56-5B6/P-powered.
Sale of its stake in Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise in December 2006, combined with rising loads, helped boost Singapore Airlines Group to a S$589.2 million ($384.3 million) profit in its third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, a 48.6% improvement over the S$396.6 million earned in the year-ago quarter.
United Airlines flew 9.22 billion RPMs in January, up 2% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 1.6% to 11.82 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.3 point to 78%. Delta Air Lines flew 8.86 billion systemwide RPMs in January, a 3.3% increase over the year-ago month, against a 2.9% climb in ASMs to 12.02 billion. Load factor rose 0.3 point to 73.7%. Domestic traffic fell 5.2% to 6.09 billion RPMs, capacity dropped 5.1% to 8.32 billion ASMs and load factor was down 0.1 point to 73.2%.
Southwest Airlines said Friday it will resume service to San Francisco International "in a meaningful way in the early fall," ending a six-year-plus hiatus. SWA, which serves nearby Oakland and San Jose with 142 and 77 daily departures respectively, pulled out of SFO in March 2001 after more than 18 years, citing its inability to operate profitable services to Phoenix and San Diego.
Delta Air Lines signed an agreement with Bombardier for 30 firm CRJ900s plus 30 options. Firm aircraft are worth $1.1 billion at list prices and the deal's value will increase to about $2.3 billion if all options are exercised. The order was approved by the US Bankruptcy Court. "The acquisition of these aircraft will help Delta meet its network and operational needs for 2007 and 2008," VP-Delta Connection Shawn Anderson said.
Malev Hungarian Airlines will be sold to AirBridge, a Hungarian company backed by Russia's KrasAir, according to a statement from the state privatization agency cited in press reports from Budapest. No information was provided by the agency about the terms of the sale. It marks the seventh time the government has put Malev up for bid. The Russian government holds a 51% stake in KrasAir, according to the Associated Press.
JetBlue Airways said it expects net savings of $30 million over five years by removing six seats, or one row, from each of its A320s ( ATWOnline, Dec. 21, 2006). The figure includes estimated lost revenue. Inflight cabin crew will be reduced to three and aircraft weight will fall 904 lb. Modifications are expected to be completed by March, at which time the cabin will feature 36-in. pitch in rows 1-11 and 34-in.
MAIR Holdings, parent of Mesaba Aviation and Big Sky Transportation, reported a net loss of $1.1 million for the third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, narrowed from a loss of $4.5 million in the year-ago period. Operating revenues fell sharply to $6 million from $21.2 million and expenses dropped to $8.4 million from $28.8 million. "This quarter aptly illustrates the complexity of our industry," MAIR President and CEO Paul Foley said. Mesaba Aviation reported a net loss of $30.8 million for the quarter compared to net income of $636,000 in the year-ago quarter.
Qantas scotched rumors that it is contemplating cutting its investment in Singapore-based Jetstar Asia Airways. Qantas CFO and Jetstar Asia Chairman Peter Gregg said in a statement that "Jetstar Asia is, and will continue to be, an important part of the Qantas Group's diversification strategy." Local press reports have expressed concerns over the airline's future following a number of operational cancellations and claims regarding pilot shortages.
Qantas yesterday delivered relatively good news to the Airline Partners Australia consortium bidding for the flag carrier, raising its profit forecast and reporting a A$358.5 million ($278.7 million) net profit for the six months ended Dec. 31, a 1.7% increase from the A$352.6 million earned in the year-ago period.
A sharp improvement in earnings toward the end of the year, boosted mainly by the November sale of its 65% holding in the Rezidor Hotel Group, drove SAS Group's full-year 2006 net profit to SEK4.74 billion ($676 million), significantly widened from net income of SEK255 million the prior year.
