Pinnacle Airlines Corp. announced the purchase of Colgan Air, a Virginia-based, family-owned turboprop operation that serves as a regional partner for Continental Connection, United Express and US Airways Express. Pinnacle, which operates 127 CRJs as Northwest Airlink, will pay $20 million for all of Colgan's stock, with an immediate payment of $10 million cash and an additional $10 million in the form of a one-year note secured by shares in the company.
Indian government said that Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel met with employee groups from Air India and Indian Airlines yesterday to "explain in detail the benefits that would accrue to the airlines post-merger and the collective wisdom behind the entire process." Patel said the merger between the two state-owned carriers would "involve no retrenchment, no cuts or losses in pay scale, perks or allowances" and that "service conditions would further improve." He said the new airline will operate a fleet of approximately 112 aircraft and by the end of the third year of operatio
LTU German Airlines MD Juergen Marbach announced yesterday that after talks between LTU, investors and Spanish authorities, LTU will not establish a new company to take over some South American routes from collapsed Air Madrid ( ATWOnline, Jan. 11). Marbach said there was not enough time to put together a plan "on a solid economic basis" and that LTU's offer to absorb the routes was void.
Southwest Airlines was profitable for the 34th consecutive year in 2006, but posted just a 3.1% year-over-year increase in full-year net income to $499 million from 2005's $484 million as higher fuel prices and lingering security issues slowed its inexorable growth. SWA posted a $57 million profit in the fourth quarter that represented an 18.6% decline from the $70 million earned in the year-ago period.
Japan Airlines Group is responding to strong passenger demand by increasing frequencies on seven international routes and putting its 2007 inflight product through a major revamp. From March 25 it will up its New York JFK frequencies from 10 to 13 per week and from June 1 Paris Charles de Gaulle will be served twice-daily, up from the current 10 weekly flights. JAL also will add a frequency on routes from Tokyo Narita to New Delhi and Moscow Sheremetyevo and from Osaka Kansai to Hanoi, Dalian, Hangzhou and Qinqdao.
Air France KLM Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta yesterday resigned from the Alitalia board, fueling speculation that the group might submit a bid for a controlling stake in Italy's struggling national carrier. "Since the Italian government has launched a bid to acquire stakes in the capital of Alitalia and as Air France KLM is a partner of Alitalia, the Air France KLM Chairman can no longer sit on the board of directors," AF KLM said in a brief statement.
Following five years of steep losses, American Airlines parent AMR Corp. posted 2006 net income of $231 million, a reversal from a net loss of $857 million in 2005 and its first profitable year since 2000. The company earned profits in each of the year's final three quarters, including a $17 million net gain in the fourth quarter that compared to a $600 million net loss in the fourth quarter of 2005.
European Commission allowed Malta to offer startup aid totaling MTL25 million ($75.1 million) for new air routes from Malta International Airport until September 2011. The EC stipulated that aid will be limited to five years for each new service and to 40% of startup costs.
The Chinese government is considering an injection of up to $2 billion into the country's three major airlines to address balance sheet debt problems brought on by high fuel prices. Sources in the government confirmed to ATWOnline the existence of a financial injection plan, first revealed in the Asian Wall Street Journal.
Alaska Airlines and regional affiliate Horizon Air will spend $18 million to bring the Airport of the Future check-in concept to Seattle-Tacoma International by the end of 2007. The company, which introduced the concept in 2004, said it will eliminate traditional ticket counters at the airport and replace them with "customer-friendly islands of check-in kiosks and bag-check stations." The design will allow passengers "to get from curbside to planeside in record time," Alaska VP-Real Estate Ed White said.
Airbus said it reached agreements this week to sell 26 A330-200 freighters, with 20 going to US lessor Intrepid Leasing and six to India's Flyington Freighters, marking the first sales of an aircraft type launched last summer.
China Southern Airlines said it carried 49.21 million passengers last year, up 11.5% over 44.12 million carried in 2005. In addition, China's largest airline added 64 new aircraft in 2006, bringing its total fleet to 298 planes. SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express, which will merge into Brussels Airlines on March 25, carried a combined 5.94 million passengers in 2006, up 8% over the combined total in 2005.
AirAsia could be the next major takeover target in Asia, according to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. "The Asian market is a fertile breeding ground for investor opportunities, with equal doses of liberalization and new travelers opening up massive traffic expansion opportunities," CAPA Executive Chairman Peter Harbison said. "AirAsia has the attractions of a large and expanding market share, the lowest airline costs in the world, a brand name to die for, and unquestionable recent profitability."
Former Swissair executives and board members went on trial yesterday for their alleged roles in the historic 2001 collapse of the airline, the largest bankruptcy in Switzerland's history. Nineteen executives, including former CEOs Philippe Bruggisser and Mario Corti, will mount their defense in a Swiss court near Zurich, responding to a 100-page charge sheet submitted by prosecutors that includes accusations of false accounting and unlawful management.
British Airways is holding critical talks with representatives of the Transport & General Workers Union following Monday's vote by the union's cabin staff in favor of industrial action that could begin as early Jan. 31. T&G, which represents more than 20,000 BA employees, including 11,000 flight attendants, said that more than 8,000 cabin crew, or 96%, voted in favor of a series of three-day walkouts to protest sick leave policies, pay grading and onboard staffing levels.
Aeroflot announced that it increased its share in its OJSC Aeroflot-Don subsidiary from 51% to 100%. Aeroflot-Don, based in Rostov-on-Don, carried 600,000 passengers in 2006 and has a fleet of 15 aircraft including 737-500s and Tu-154s.
Claiming that US Airways' bid for Delta Air Lines "represents a clear and present danger to the careers of all Delta employees," MEC Chairman Lee Moak told Air Line Pilots Assn. members in a letter last week that the MEC pledged to spend $15 million in an effort to derail the takeover, which he said "simply ignores the implications of our contract."
British Airways' hopes to resolve its pension deficit issue were dashed Friday when the GMB Union rejected its latest proposal, which included a one-time company contribution of £800 million ($1.55 billion) into its New Airways Pension Scheme and annual contributions of about £280 million for the next 10 years subject to the unions' acceptance of benefit changes.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 6.33 billion RPKs in December, a 4.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 3.3% to 7.8 billion ASKs and load factor rose 1 point to 81.2%. Delta Air Lines flew 9.44 billion system RPMs in December, a 3.5% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity grew just 0.2% to 12.12 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.5 points to a December record 77.8%. Domestic RPMs fell 4% to 6.59 billion against a 7.3% decline in capacity to 8.46 billion ASMs, raising load factor 2.7 points to 77.9%.
TUIfly is scheduled to launch services under its new name today. The carrier is the result of the merger announced last month of Hapagfly and Hapag-Lloyd Express, whose brands will disappear from the market ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18, 2006). TUIfly expects to fly 13.5 million passengers in 2007, up 22% from the number transported by HLX and Hapagfly together last year.
Northwest Airlines plans to emerge from Chapter 11 as an independent company in the second quarter and to eliminate unsecured debt by paying unsecured creditors with common stock in the reorganized carrier, according to its reorganization plan filed Friday.
AirTran Holdings yesterday launched an exchange offer for shares of Midwest Air Group, announcing it would pay $13.25 including $6.25 in cash and 0.5884 shares of AirTran stock for each outstanding Midwest share. The new offer values the Milwaukee-based parent of Midwest Airlines at $345 million and represents an 18% hike compared to AirTran's previous offer of $11.25 per share or $290 million.
Tiger Airways secured a $100 million loan facility to finance pre-delivery deposits for eight new A320s on order ( ATWOnline, Oct. 18, 2006). The facility was arranged and underwritten by BNP Paribas. Deliveries are scheduled for 2008-10.
