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.
Continental Airlines broke the silence on the US side in the standoff between US and Venezuelan authorities, announcing Friday that it "will try to accommodate travel needs of passengers flying to and from Caracas through its extensive network into the region" if Venezuela follows through with its threat to restrict access of US carriers from the end of this month ( ATWOnline, Feb. 27). CO said it will allow passengers to exchange tickets without penalty or apply for refunds.
Flynordic, Finnair's Stockholm-based low-cost subsidiary, faces significant challenges in adapting to new market realities in Sweden. "Every airline is losing money [there], including us," Finnair CEO Jukka Hienonen told ATWOnline in Helsinki. "The Swedish market has changed." Asked how much time remains for Flynordic to improve its results, he said, "more important than time is to find the right direction. We need more efficiency on the route network and frequencies.
Latin American Airline Assn. members flew 10.88 billion RPMs in January, a 1.7% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity grew 1.3% to 15.02 billion ASMs, raising load factor 0.2 point to 72.5%.
Goodrich was selected by Boeing to supply the flightdeck lighting system and cabin attendant seating for the 787. Goodrich valued the contracts at up to $110 million in original equipment and aftermarket sales over the initial contract period.
Italian government said Friday that it conditionally approved Alitalia's €38 million ($45.9 million) takeover of struggling Volare Airlines, according to press reports. Alitalia's bid had been challenged in court by domestic competitor Air One, which will continue to press its claims. The acquisition depends on Alitalia's keeping Volare's operations going for at least two years while maintaining year-end 2005 employment levels.
China Southern Airlines selected Rolls-Royce Trent 700s to power 10 A330s in a $600 million deal that includes a support package. Delivery of the new aircraft will occur in 2007 and 2008 and will add to the carrier's fleet of four Trent-powered A330s. Rolls said the Trent 700 has won a 42% share of the combined firm and option A330 business and holds the entire market in mainland China and Hong Kong.
Although still flying profitably during difficult times for US airlines, cargo carrier ABX Air said yesterday that its failure to reach certain revenue incentives under a Hub Services Agreement with primary customer DHL was the principal cause of an 18% drop in annual net profit to $30.3 million from $37 million in 2004.
SkyTeam launched a German version of its website this week. It now offers its site content in nine languages. No SkyTeam member is based in Germany but the alliance does serve 12 destinations in the country.
Lufthansa Systems will join G2 SwitchWorks and ITA Software as a preferred supplier to provide an Alternative Content Access Platform to Star Alliance airlines, Star and LHS announced yesterday. LHS is teaming with Farelogix on the project and will base its ACAP solution on "core GNE [GDS new entrant] technology" from the Miami-based company, Anselm Eggert, LHS senior VP-Business Division Passenger Airline Solutions, told journalists during a conference call.
United Airlines expanded the role of CIO Garry Kelly to include oversight for enterprise-wide strategic sourcing and continuous improvement. He is replacing Rick Poulton, who is leaving the company. Tampa Cargo President and CEO Fred Jacobsen is resigning for "professional reasons" after eight years, the company said earlier this month. His departure becomes effective March 30. The search for a successor is underway.
US airlines flew 572.89 billion domestic RPMs in 2005, an increase of 4.5% over 2004, according to statistics released yesterday by the US Dept. of Transportation. The number of passengers increased 4.1% to 634.5 million. Capacity rose just 0.9% to 742.27 billion ASMs and load factor grew 2.7 points to 77.2%. Southwest Airlines continued to set the pace with 88 million passengers, compared with 81 million in 2004. Delta Air Lines was second and American Airlines third.
Correction: ATWOnline incorrectly stated that ANA was suspending the operations of Air Hokkaido International Airlines. The airline being shuttered is Air Hokkaido. ANA maintains a small stake in Air Hokkaido International Airlines and codeshares with the new entrant, but it is not part of the ANA group of carriers. It operates to Tokyo Haneda from four cities on Hokkaido. The item subsequently was corrected on the website. ATWOnline thanks our sharp-eyed readers who caught the error.
TAM released more details about last week's global IPO in New York and Sao Paulo that netted the Brazilian carrier close to R$1.5 billion ($706.3 million), which will be used "entirely to finance its activities," the company said. Fleet renewal and expansion, through purchase and lease, will consume 80% of the proceeds. TAM currently operates 59 A319s/A320s, eight A330s and 18 Fokker RJs. It has 29 additional A320s under firm order and expects to take delivery of 11 through 2009. The remaining 20% of equity funding will be used for working capital.
Northwest Airlines yesterday urged Congress to enact pension reform legislation that will permit it to maintain its existing pension commitments rather than terminating the plans during its bankruptcy reorganization, the path chosen by United Airlines and US Airways. Delta Air Lines has all but confirmed that it likely will terminate its plans during its reorganization as well.
Swiss International Air Lines and Lufthansa, continuing the integration of their schedules, will create minihubs in Sao Paulo and Bangkok from the start of the summer season on March 26, permitting passengers to transfer between the airlines for onward travel. For example, Swiss will extend its five weekly Zurich-Sao Paolo services to Santiago while Lufthansa will have a daily flight from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires.
World Airways Holdings, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it will delay the filing of its year-end financial results. The report was due yesterday. It did not file its second- and third-quarter results until Feb. 21 owing to delays caused by the acquisition of NAA in April 2005. World said preliminary unaudited results indicate it will post a 2005 operating profit of $59-$63 million, an increase of approximately 50% over the $40.3 million earned in 2004.
Boeing and Japan Airlines signed an Integrated Material Management agreement giving the airframer responsibility for purchasing, inventory and logistics for JAL's expendable aircraft parts. Boeing and other suppliers own the parts, which are stored at a location convenient to the customer. JAL will pay for parts on an as-needed basis.
British Airways announced the proposed closure of its Travel Shops business and its Belfast call center, moves that would shave approximately 400 jobs from the cost-cutting carrier's payroll. BA's 17 UK Travel Shops, which are "forecast to make ever-increasing losses in the years ahead," will be shuttered by the end of August. The airline also will cut jobs at the London Heathrow-based Worldlink travel agency and its back office support area.
Emirates upgraded its onboard healthcare capabilities with the Tempus monitoring system, which records data such as blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature before sending it through the inflight communication system to specialists at the MedLink Response Center in Arizona. Manufactured by Remote Diagnostic Technologies of the UK, Tempus is installed on Emirates A340-500s operating services to New York, Osaka, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Christchurch. It will be added to the A380s and 777s on order.
US FAA, which has been in mediated contract talks with the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. for the past two weeks following eight months of contentious negotiations, said the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service agreed to its request to extend mediated negotiations. FMCS will oversee talks into next week.
