EasyJet and Airbus announced yesterday that the LCC will exercise 20 A319 options that were part of a three-year-old deal for 120 firm orders and 120 options. The carrier will pay approximately $900 million for the 156-seat aircraft, to be powered by CFM56-5s. They will be delivered in 2008 and 2009. EasyJet already operates 59 A319s. The remaining 61 included in the original order are expected between now and 2008. The airline said that "the terms of payment are substantially the same as those for the purchase of the first 120 aircraft."
Hainan Airlines is close to completing a deal for a 70% stake in Hong Kong carrier CR Airways, which made waves earlier this week with its order for 10 787s and 30 737-800s ( ATWOnline, Dec. 21). Previous reports indicated Hainan will acquire 60% of the nascent Regional, Reuters reported. It reportedly will pay HKD350 million ($45.1 million) for the stake and hold it through a company incorporated in Hong Kong. The other 30% will be held by CR Airways founder Robert Yip.
Varig creditors rejected the carrier's sale to Docas Investimentos, a fund owned by newspaper owner Nelson Tanure, who paid $112 million for a 25% stake in Varig SA and a 10-year "lease" on an additional 42% ( ATWOnline, Dec. 14). The decision drew cheers from Varig employees, according to the Associated Press. A Varig spokesperson said creditors have approved an alternative recovery plan involving investment funds and that the airline intends to put into service next year the 18 aircraft currently grounded. It has until Jan. 8 to present its restructuring plan.
Continental Airlines announced yesterday that it earned $172 million from the sale of 9 million shares of common stock in the Dec. 15 IPO of Copa Holdings ( ATWOnline, Nov. 29), and that it will contribute $50 million of the proceeds to its pension plans, bringing its 2005 pension contributions to $354 million. Continental still owns 12 million shares in Copa.
Southwest Airlines and Boeing have been sued by two passengers who were aboard the 737-700 that veered off a Chicago Midway runway earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 16). A law firm representing the pair said they were injured in the accident and alleged the airline and the City of Chicago were negligent. Neither Southwest nor Boeing had seen the complaint, according to media reports.
JetWorks Leasing said it arranged the sale of two ex-Southern Winds 737-200s from PLM Worldwide Leasing Corp. to AeroDirect and the sale of a DC-8-73F from US Bank NA to Spanish cargo carrier Corporacion Ygnus Air, which had been leasing the aircraft.
Airbus announced it placed work packages for the A320, A330/A340 and A380 worth $200 million over 10 years with Russian companies Irkut Scientific Production Corp. and Voronezh Aircraft Production Assn. Deliveries of components and subassemblies from the two firms will begin at the end of 2006-beginning of 2007.
Northwest Airlines executives have been named in a class-action lawsuit filed by a New York firm alleging they engaged in insider trading prior to the carrier's Chapter 11 filing on Sept. 14. Defendants include CEO Doug Steenland, former CFO Bernard Han, Chairman Gary Wilson and former director Alfred Checchi, who were among stockholders who netted combined proceeds of approximately $30 million for trades conducted between April 21 and Sept. 14.
US FAA said yesterday that Chalk's Ocean Airways, the operator of the 58-year-old Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard that crashed near Miami ( ATWOnline¸ Dec. 20), is voluntarily grounding its fleet in order to conduct inspections on its remaining fleet, according to media reports. The airline owns four aircraft similar to the one that crashed Monday, killing all 20 aboard.
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, reported a $187 million net loss for November in a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court, including $159 million in largely noncash reorganization expenses involving aircraft-related transactions. The company posted a net loss of $698 million in October, 84% of which was tied to charges related to the termination of its pilots' defined benefit pension plan ( ATWOnline, Nov. 24).
TAM yesterday confirmed its A350-900 order announced at the Paris Air Show ( ATWOnline, June 17), increasing the number of firm orders to 10 from eight and decreasing the number of options to five from seven. Deliveries of the three-class aircraft will begin near the end of 2012. "The A350 is the ideal solution for our long-haul network development," TAM President Marco Bologna said. The airline will be the A350's launch customer in Latin America. It already is the region's largest Airbus operator.
Ryanair announced a major expansion at Dublin with the unveiling of 18 new routes and additional frequencies on eight existing routes. It will base five new 737-800s at DUB beginning in April and will launch service to Marseille, Nantes, La Rochelle, Baden, Hamburg, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, Milan, Venice, Gothenburg, Malmo, Valencia, Porto, Salzburg, Bratislava, Kaunas and Humberside. The carrier said its traffic at Dublin will increase from 5.5 to 7 million passengers annually and that it will create 250 jobs.
FedEx Corp. reported a net income of $471 million for the fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30, a 33% rise from the $354 million earned in the year-ago quarter that Chairman, President and CEO Frederick Smith attributed to "customer demand. . .a disciplined pricing approach [and] solid economic growth year-over-year in the US and Asian economies."
Japan Airlines revealed yesterday that it had been flying a 747 with the left and right outboard engines reversed for seven months, Japanese media reported. The engines were misplaced during maintenance work at ST Aviation Services in Singapore last spring.
Air Nauru, the only airline providing service to the Pacific island nations of Nauru and Kiribati, was grounded last weekend when its only aircraft, a 737-400, was impounded in Melbourne by the US Export-Import Bank. The carrier also flew to destinations in Fiji, the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands.
United Airlines Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton said the carrier "disappointed" its customers Saturday "by not being prepared, as we should have been, for the extraordinary volume of passengers." The admission, contained in a taped message to employees, referred to a situation that developed at Chicago O'Hare on Dec. 17 when thousands of United customers were inconvenienced by long check-in lines and waits of up to 4 hr. or more. The terminal became so crowded that some passengers were forced to stand in lines that snaked outside, where they were exposed to subfreezing temperatures.
Ryanair pared its schedule for the first quarter of 2006 because of a one-month delay in the delivery of four 737-800s. The aircraft, delayed owing to last fall's strike by assembly line workers at Boeing ( ATWOnline, Sept. 5), will arrive in April to replace dash 200s scheduled to be removed from service this month. The older aircraft already have been sold, the carrier said. The schedule cuts will reduce monthly traffic by 200 departures and an estimated 100,000 passengers during January, February and March.
LOT Polish Airlines' supervisory board dismissed Marek Grabarek, president of the carrier's management board, as well as board members Piotr Dubno and Wladyslaw Metelski. The sackings took place at a supervisory board meeting Monday. No reason was given for the action. LOT also announced that supervisory board President Piotr Czyzewski and member SBawomir Lachowski resigned. Supervisory board member Tomasz Kopoczynski will replace Grabarek on an interim basis pending a formal selection process that will commence following a Dec. 29 supervisory board meeting.
United Airlines and its United Services maintenance division signed a three-year, $180 million deal with Pratt & Whitney for MRO on more than 200 F117 engines powering US Air Force C-17s. Work will take place at United's facilities in San Francisco and Charleston.
Lufthansa wants to reduce pilot costs further to help boost profitability and meet increasing competition in the global airline market, Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said. In an interview with Reuters, Mayrhuber questioned how long LH can continue to pay its pilots "significantly above the market rate" and said market conditions should apply to new pilots joining the company. "We have to convince the unions that lower pay is advantageous for them, as only profitable jobs are secure jobs," he said. "We have to negotiate with the unions. It is not easy.
AirAsia confirmed to ATWOnline that it has submitted a proposal to the Malaysian government to operate all but three of Malaysia Airlines' domestic routes. The plan is part of the government's review of a domestic airline system that has been a continual loss-maker for MAS. Earlier this month, AirAsia took delivery of the first of 100 A320s and announced an additional eight destinations in Indonesia from Kuala Lumpur.
Australian High Court let stand a lower court ruling ordering Air Nauru to return a 737-400 to a trustee for the Export-Import Bank of the US. Air Nauru stopped making payments on the aircraft in 2002.
PACE Aerospace Engineering and Information Technology said UK aerospace design consultancy Engaero has chosen Pacelab Cabin, a cabin configuration tool, to develop interior concepts for aircraft cabin refurbishment. Also, Bombardier signed PACE to help develop the computerized flight manual for the CRJ705.
Air New Zealand said it will proceed with plans to outsource heavy maintenance of widebody engines but has deferred until February a decision on the future of its widebody airframe MRO activity amid signs it may be able to reach accommodation with its engineering union to keep the work in-house. Sending the engine work offshore next year will result in elimination of around 110 jobs. Outsiders already perform engine MRO on ANZ's narrowbody jets and turboprops.
