Prospect of a merger between state-run Indian Airlines and Air India gained momentum with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signing off on development of a strategy for the combination, according to Indian Express. The newspaper reported that Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel briefed Singh yesterday and outlined scenarios including merger.
Industrial action is brewing at Malaysia Airlines over the government's recent decision to allow AirAsia to take over most of the national carrier's loss-making domestic routes. MAS unions are threatening picket-line action, which may escalate. The unions fear that up to 7,000 staff may lose their jobs. The move to allow AirAsia access to all MAS routes has been on the table for more than 18 months as the LCC posts solid profits while MAS struggles to find blue skies.
Swiss International Air Lines' fourth-quarter loss narrowed to CHF97 million ($74 million) compared with CHF123 million a year earlier, Bloomberg reported.
British Airways yesterday said it wants to raise the retirement age for staff as one of a series of measures aimed at easing its pension obligations. The airline currently has a pension deficit liability of £1 billion ($1.75 billion) in its New Airways Pension Scheme. It said it will make a payment of £500 million into the plan once the changes are accepted by unions.
Lufthansa beginning April 3 will expand its betterFly €99 return fares being offered from Hamburg to the rest of Germany for travel within Europe. The offer applies to all LH nonstop flights from any German airport to any destination in the EU, Switzerland, Norway and Turkey, a total of 181 routes to 76 points in 25 countries.
GA Telesis was awarded a servicing contract to manage and remarket more than 50 aircraft including 747-200s, 757-200s, 737-200s, 727-200Fs, MD-82s, DC-9-30s, DC-10-30s and Super 27Fs on behalf of Aviation Refinancing Transaction. The five-year contract also includes 70 spare engines.
Lufthansa named Stephan Gemkow CFO effective June 1. He is a member of Lufthansa Cargo's executive board and is responsible for finance and human resources. His term will last three years. Predecessor Karl-Ludwig Kley resigned earlier this month to take a position at Merck ( ATWOnline, March 14). Deutsche Lufthansa Senior VP-Corporate Finance Roland Busch will succeed Gemkow at Lufthansa Cargo.
Royal Jordanian announced, as expected, a firm order yesterday for seven Embraer 195s. Aircraft will be powered by GE CF34-10s and laid out in a 100-seat, two-class configuration. According to an industry source, RJ also took options on an additional eight 195s. The Amman-based carrier will take delivery of three of the aircraft in the final quarter of this year, two in 2007 and two in early 2008. It is purchasing four, while three will be on operating leases from GE Commercial Aviation Services.
Growth in international express package shipments and effective yield management on the domestic air transportation front played key roles in FedEx Corp.'s strong fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28, resulting in net income of $428 million, up 35% from the year-ago quarter's $317 million profit.
Hawaiian Holdings, parent of Hawaiian Airlines, reported a net loss of $19.5 million for the three months ended Dec. 31 and a 2005 full-year loss of $12.4 million.
Swiss International Air Lines, which joins Star Alliance next month, will codeshare with Star member SAS between Switzerland and Scandinavia as well as with Blue1 from Zurich to Helsinki. Swiss-Spanair cooperation will be offered between Zurich and Barcelona and Madrid. Codesharing will be initiated with Croatia Airlines between Zurich and Zagreb and with Darwin Airline on the Bern-London City sector. The codesharing is set to begin March 26, at which time agreements with Malev, Finnair and Qantas will be terminated.
European Regional airlines reported a 6.3% increase in scheduled traffic in 2005, according to the European Regions Airline Assn. Average passenger load factor was 61.5%, the highest year-end figure since ERA began collecting data in 1987, a result of "continued prudence among operators in increasing capacity." A high of 67.3% was reached in July.
AirBaltic reported a net loss of €1.9 million ($2.3 million) for 2005 owing to a €4 million charge related to the return of Avro RJ70s. Excluding the charge, the Riga-based airline said it would have earned €2.07 million compared with a loss of €1.2 million in 2004. Operating revenue totaled €120.4 million and passenger boardings reached 1.04 million.
Joseph Leonard, AirTran Airways' chairman and CEO, is the 2006 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award. He is receiving the honor "for his outstanding achievements, perseverance and 30 years of aviation excellence." The award is named for the man who piloted the first commercial passenger flight from St. Petersburg to Tampa, covering 21 mi. in 23 min.
Royal Jordanian reported a 2005 profit of JOD21.7 million ($30.6 million) before deducting a share to be distributed to employees, up 25% from net earnings of JOD17.2 million in 2004. The airline said last year's profit was 33% above forecast. Revenues rose 12% from JOD345 million in 2004 to JOD387 million while expenses increased 11% to JOD352 million.
Enigma announced the availability of Enigma InService MRO, which it said is based on the 3C Platform and claimed is the "first out-of-the-box maintenance publishing and delivery solution that provides all the technical support information needed for efficient aircraft service and support."
Air Arabia, which launched in October 2003, reported a 2005 net profit of AED32.1 million ($8.7 million) as annual passenger numbers surged 122% to 1.13 million and its network expanded by more than half to 23 destinations. It recently took delivery of its first A320, increasing its fleet to five aircraft. Three more A320s will arrive this year.
United Airlines and Shanghai Airlines announced a codeshare agreement yesterday covering 11 flights from May 15. UA flights included are Shanghai to Chicago O'Hare and San Francisco, SFO to Los Angeles, Newark and New York JFK, and O'Hare to Newark and New York LaGuardia. Shanghai Airlines will operate codeshare flights from Shanghai Pudong to Shenyang, Chengdu, Dalian and Qingdao.
Garuda Indonesia will introduce 737-800s on its daily Perth-Bali-Jakarta service beginning March 26, replacing dash 400s. The carrier said the route will be among the first to use the new aircraft because of Western Australia's importance to the Bali tourist trade.
Delta Air Lines needs to have a cost-saving agreement with its pilots soon, CEO Gerald Grinstein said yesterday. "They have to reach that agreement. We have got to get that done by late spring," he told ATWOnline in Atlanta. Delta wants pay and benefit reductions and efficiency improvements valued in excess of $315 million per year from its Air Line Pilots Assn. unit, which has offered $115 million on top of $1 billion in givebacks provided in 2004 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 13).
Gol announced that subsidiary Gol Finance is offering perpetual notes to finance the acquisition of 737NGs. The notes will be senior unsecured debt obligations and have no fixed maturity date; however, they are callable at par after five years. The amount of the offering was not announced.
Finnair selected the Rolls-Royce Trent 1700 over the GEnx launch engine to power the nine A350-900s it ordered late last year ( ATWOnline, Dec. 8, 2005). The carrier also holds four options on the new widebody, which will begin delivering in 2011. The engine deal is worth close to €400 million ($487.4 million) at list prices.
JetBlue Airways announced a new leadership structure in its legal, corporate finance, government affairs, supply chain, finance and information technology departments. VP, General Counsel and Assistant Secretary Jim Hnat was named senior VP. Director-Litigation and Regulatory Counsel Joanna Geraghty was named VP-associate general counsel. John Harvey now is senior VP-corporate finance and treasurer and will oversee the carrier's new VP-fuel position. VP-Government Affairs and Associate General Counsel Rob Land was promoted to senior VP.
AerCap, a major aircraft lessor and financier based in the Netherlands, said it signed an agreement to acquire Miami-based AeroTurbine for an undisclosed price. AeroTurbine specializes in aftermarket commercial aircraft engine and parts sales and holds an FAA-approved Certified Repair Station license to support its engine leasing and trading activities. It was founded in 1997 by CEO Nick Finazzo and COO Robert Nichols, who will remain in their current positions, according to AerCap.
