United Airlines reached an agreement with the Assn. of Flight Attendants on the terms of a new defined contribution pension plan that includes a 3% company match and a 2% direct contribution effective Jan. 1, escalating to a 2.5% direct contribution effective Jan. 1, 2007, and a 3% direct contribution effective the following year, for a total of a 6%, double the amount of the company's original proposal. The agreement also includes $20 million in convertible notes and immediate vesting for all flight attendants currently employed by United.
Efforts by Richard Branson's Virgin Group to regain control of Virgin Blue may have suffered a fatal setback when Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission said it was opposed to Toll Holdings' proposed takeover of Patrick Corp., which holds 62.4% of the Australian low-fare airline. Toll launched a A$4.6 billion ($3.5 billion) hostile takeover of Patrick last August. Assuming the takeover had been successful, Toll would have sold enough Virgin Blue shares to raise Virgin Group's holding from 25% to 40.6%, making it the largest shareholder in the carrier ( ATWOnline, Aug.
Norwegian Air Shuttle signed a purchase agreement with Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing for a 737-300. It will be the carrier's first fully owned aircraft.
AirAsia will make its fares available in the Galileo GDS through Galileo Flight Integrator, a Web-based service. The agreement also covers Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia. It marks the first time the Kuala Lumpur-based LCC has participated in a GDS.
Group of airline and airport trade groups called for establishment of a formal Industry Consultation Body in Europe to advise the European Commission and EU member states on security measures and "to facilitate dialogue in the development of new security measures." The associations behind the statement are Airports Council International Europe, Assn. of European Airlines, European Cockpit Assn., European Regions Airline Assn., International Air Carriers Assn. and IATA.
Connexion by Boeing signed a three-year deal with Korean Air making it the first authorized modification center for retrofit installation of the Connexion product. Korean intends to retrofit third-party aircraft. By mid-2007, all of its own mid/long-range aircraft will be equipped with Connexion. Separately, Japan Airlines will offer Connexion's four channels of live television ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12) to passengers equipped with compatible personal computers beginning Jan. 23. Programming will be available on aircraft equipped with JAL Inflight Internet Service.
Northwest Airlines yesterday asked the bankruptcy court overseeing its Chapter 11 reorganization to permit it to reject the collective bargaining agreements covering its pilot and flight attendant workforces and allow it to make changes to retiree medical benefits.
Israir Airlines received permission yesterday from the Israeli government to compete with El Al on the Tel Aviv-New York JFK route, according to media reports. El Al reportedly intends to seek a legal remedy, claiming the government promised it exclusivity. Israir currently operates charter services to JFK.
United Airlines and South African Airways, a future Star Alliance member, announced a codeshare and booking agreement covering SAA flights from Washington Dulles to Johannesburg. UA customers also will be able to connect from Johannesburg to other South African markets or onto SAA flights from London, Frankfurt and Paris to South Africa. SAA customers will be able to connect and book United flights from Washington Dulles to Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.
Qantas said Monday it signed a nonbinding MOU with SR Technics to establish a joint venture providing component management services for the A380. The new company will compete with Spairliners, formed last summer by Lufthansa Technik and Air France Industries ( ATWOnline, June 13). Qantas said it is filling a similar need in the Asia/Pacific region.
Middle East Airlines took the "first steps" toward joining SkyTeam, signing an MOU Monday with Air France, which will serve as its sponsor. MEA joins Air Europa, Copa Airlines, Kenya Airways and Tarom as Associate Airline candidates and is on course to become SkyTeam's first carrier from the Middle East. Rival alliance oneworld is set to admit Royal Jordanian. MEA operates a fleet of three A330-200s and six A321-200s to 26 destinations in 17 countries, expanding SkyTeam's reach to new destinations like Dhahran and Sharm el Sheikh. It is expected to meet SkyTeam standards in 2007.
Shanghai Airlines said it has entered negotiations to join Star Alliance, according to media reports citing board secretary Xu Junmin. The carrier currently codeshares with alliance members Lufthansa and ANA.
A fourth-quarter net loss of $43 million, representing a significant improvement over a $208 million loss in the year-ago quarter, allowed Continental Airlines to close 2005 just $68 million in the red and in far better shape than it was one year ago, when it posted a $409 million deficit. Still, airline executives said yesterday that when combined with crippling fuel prices and competition from both encroaching LCCs and revamped legacy carriers, the improvement was not sufficient to forecast a return to profitability anytime soon.
DGI Training Center introduced a training program that adheres to FAA's new SFAR 99, which covers airline personnel involved in dangerous goods transport.
San Francisco International Airport will begin limited testing of e-passports that include biometric information in an embedded chip. The test will apply to passengers who are citizens of Australia or New Zealand, Singapore Airlines crewmembers and US diplomatic officials holding e-passports and traveling to SFO, Singapore Changi or Sydney. The testing, which will run through April 15, will measure the operational impact of new equipment and software used to verify the embedded information.
Alaska Airlines announced changes to its senior management team Friday, including the promotions of Kevin Finan to executive VP-operations and Glenn Johnson to senior VP-customer service for airports. The carrier said the appointments were part of the "succession plan" following the Dec. 31 retirement of Executive VP-Operations George Bagley. In addition, Alaska said VP-Safety Dave Prewitt will be leaving the company next month to take the same position at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Varig paid $56 million owed to aircraft leasing companies last Thursday, eliminating the threat that 40 of its aircraft--around 70% of its fleet--would be repossessed. The carrier, which has been operating under Brazilian bankruptcy protection since last June, also announced that it completed the sale, announced in December, of two subsidiaries for $72 million. A portion of the proceeds from the sales was used to pay off the lessors.
Gol marked its fifth anniversary of operations yesterday. In December its market share rose to 30%, making it the second-largest domestic carrier in the Brazilian market.
Although SAS Group has succeeded in reducing costs by SEK14 billion ($1.8 billion) over the past three years through its Turnaround 2005 program, the company's namesake airlines, collectively known as Scandinavian Airlines Businesses, continue to underperform.
Air Baltic carried 93,442 passengers in December, up 73% compared to the same month in 2004. In 2005 it carried 1,037,925 passengers, 76% more than in 2004. President Bertolt Flick said it was the first time the airline carried more than 1 million passengers in a year. Load factor in December was 60%, up 11 points compared to the year-ago month.
Austrian Airlines Group is eyeing service to new destinations in Siberia. "We are currently studying whether to start services from Vienna to Tjumen and Celyabinsk. We also hope to get permission to operate regular services to Kazakhstan during 2006," CCO Josef Burger told ATWOnline. In addition, Austrian plans to add 19 weekly frequencies to Eastern European destinations and 21 frequencies to Western Europe.
World Airways signed an $11 million, nine-month contract with an unidentified international freight forwarder to provide DC-10-30F cargo lift. The deal calls for World to operate five international roundtrips per week.
