Delta Air Lines' turbulent year, which featured its September bankruptcy filing, ended with a net loss of $3.82 billion, or $2.21 billion excluding reorganization and special items, with the former figure representing a 26.5% improvement over a 2004 deficit of $5.2 billion.
US FAA named Dr. Frederick Tilton the new Federal Air Surgeon. He served as deputy Federal Air Surgeon for the past six years and replaces recently retired Dr. Jon Jordan.
Hawaiian Airlines signed letters of intent to acquire four 767-300s rejected by Delta Air Lines during its bankruptcy reorganization and said yesterday that it will announce the dates of delivery and introduction into service at a later date. The four aircraft will be overhauled and configured with 18 first class and 242 coach seats and will bring Hawaiian's dash 300 fleet to 18.
ANA's board of directors decided yesterday to sell 230.5 million shares of common stock, with an overallotment option of 19.5 million additional shares. The shares constitute about 14% of ANA's outstanding stock and are worth approximately ¥109.6 billion ($929.7 million), according to news reports. The subscription period is scheduled for March 6-8.
SkyEurope Airlines is shifting capacity from Poland, where low-cost competitor Wizz Air holds sway, to the Czech Republic, where the Slovakian carrier will open its fifth base at Prague Ruzyni. "In spite of being influenced by the low-cost revolution mostly from the UK, the market in Prague remains underserved and missed a dedicated low-cost, low-fare airline based there," SkyEurope said. It will take delivery of 16 149-seat 737-700s over the next two years and will base a pair in Prague.
Bombardier said it delivered 337 aircraft in 2005, up slightly over the 329 delivered in 2004. But the increase was owing to robust business jets sales rather than commercial aircraft. Of last year's delivery total, 149 were commercial aircraft compared to 200 in 2004.
Thai Airways said it earned a profit of THB3.8 billion ($96.6 million) in its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, a 33% drop from the THB5.72 billion profit posted in the year-ago quarter, Reuters reported.
Freddie Laker, whose name became synonymous with low fares, died Feb. 9 in Hollywood, Fla. He was 83. Aviator, showman, entrepreneur and populist, Laker briefly shook up the transatlantic established order with his Skytrain service before going bust as a result of his own mistakes, a ruthless and even illegal response by incumbent competitors, fallout from the DC-10 grounding and the global recession of the early 1980s.
SAS Group yesterday overruled objections by its pilots unions in Sweden and Denmark and announced it is implementing "the operational transfer" of the pilots into the individual airline units in each country effective March 1.
Aegean Airlines extended its engine maintenance and repair agreement with Snecma Services for two more years, until 2009. The deal covers Aegean's CFM56-3s. The original contract, signed in March 2004, encompassed engine MRO plus analysis of inflight performance. The extension includes an exclusive Time & Material provision.
Sabre Airline Solutions said Gulf Air and TAP Portugal signed to use its AirServIn-Flight Solutions systems "allowing them to integrate their entire range of catering and cabin services management and drive savings of up to 15% from their total catering budgets." Separately, Sabre Travel Network signed a long-term GDS agreement with online travel agency priceline.com.
Shandong Airlines advised the Shandong Stock Exchange that it will acquire eight 737-800s to be delivered in 2007 and 2008. Six will be purchased from Boeing and two will be leased. Thomas Cook Airlines said it will lease a third A330-200 from CIT Group for delivery in October. Aircraft is powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700s.
Hamburg International, a German charter airline, ordered 14 A319s and took options on a further six. The contract was signed in December, Airbus said. Engine choice and delivery dates were not announced. According to ATW's "World Airline Report," the carrier currently operates six leased 737-700s, which it will replace with the new aircraft.
Cathay Pacific's traffic rose 12.5% in January to 6.08 billion RPKs. Capacity climbed 11.4% over the year-ago month to 7.56 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.8 point to 80.4%. Its most significant increases were on North American routes, where traffic rose 21.5% to 1.75 billion RPKs and capacity grew 19.2% to 2.02 billion ASKs.
Consortium TwoOne, led by Vienna airport operator Flughafen Wien, signed a share purchase agreement covering the acquisition of 66% of the Bratislava and Kosice airports in Slovakia.
Qantas executives may be taking a second look at buying into Indonesia's Adam Air ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7) after one of Adam's 737-300s was flown for 4 hr. without any navigation and communications Saturday. According to the Jakarta Post, the aircraft lost the systems about 20 min. after takeoff on a domestic flight and the pilot continued over the island of Java before landing on Sumba on an 1,800-m. runway. The 737 was on a flight from Jakarta to Makassar on South Sulawesi. None of the 145 passengers was injured.
Champ Cargosystems, a subsidiary of SITA and GF-X (Global Freight Exchange), reached agreement on offering a turnkey GF-X solution to Champ customers. "The cost for a Champ customer joining GF-X will be based on their predicted traffic volumes and the benefits they receive through GF-X," the companies said.
AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, announced that Senior VP and CFO James Beer will leave to take a job with California software firm Symantec. Beer became CFO in December 2003 after 15 years at AA. He will remain with the company through the filing and certification of its annual report. "While it is always disappointing to unexpectedly lose an executive of James' exceptional capabilities and leadership, American continues to have one of the strongest management teams in the industry, including a very strong finance department.
Bombardier, which shut down production of its 50-seat CRJ200 in October, said it will restart production "primarily to meet present and anticipated demand" for the Challenger 805 business jet. Work will begin in April at the company's Dorval facility and 50 workers will be recalled. "The flexible platform will permit us to offer three different aircraft--the CRJ200, a corporate shuttle or the Challenger 805," spokesperson Marc Duchesne told ATWOnline.
Delta Air Lines likely will seek to terminate its pilot pension plan during its bankruptcy reorganization, a top member of the Air Line Pilots Assn. said on Thursday as he repeated a warning that the union will go on strike if the carrier attempts to cancel the existing labor contract and impose a new one. In a letter to members posted on the ALPA website, Delta MEC Chairman Lee Moak said, "Management has not funded our plan in bankruptcy and now acknowledges that due to their actions, our pension plan will likely be terminated."
Ryanair was granted an injunction Friday from the TAR Lazio court stopping the diversion of flights to Rome from its base at Ciampino to Fiumicino. Seven Ryanair flights arriving after midnight have been diverted to FCO in the past six weeks, affecting more than 1,000 onboard passengers with a further 1,000 delayed the following morning at CIA as aircraft arrived from FCO. Ryanair bases five aircraft at CIA. "Ryanair is committed to using its new quieter aircraft to minimize noise generation at Rome Ciampino.
Lufthansa flew 8 billion RPKs in January, up 0.8% over January 2004 on a 2.6% rise in capacity to 11.13 billion ASKs. Load factor fell 1.3 points to 72%. The number of passengers rose 3.1% to 3.64 million. European traffic grew 5.8% on 7.1% capacity growth attributable to new connections to Eastern Europe and the BetterFly low-fare offers from Hamburg and Dusseldorf ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8).
ACE Aviation Holdings, parent of Air Canada, announced it will lay off 600 management and salaried employees, representing 20% of the nonunion workforce, as it reported a fourth-quarter net loss of C$103 million ($89.7 million), largely attributed to a C$146 million increase in fuel expense during the seasonally weak fall quarter although other costs rose as well. ACE reported a slender profit of C$15 million in the 2004 fourth quarter owing to foreign exchange gains.
FL Group announced Friday that it intends to spin off Icelandair Group into an independent subsidiary through a listing on the Iceland Stock Exchange as the parent "has undergone considerable changes recently and is now an investment company." Kaupthing Bank and Islandsbanki will manage the process, which is scheduled to be completed by mid-year. Further details will be available in the spring. FL Group also has opted to sell Reykjavik Excursions and Icelandair Car Rental, which are part of FL Travel Group, whose remaining companies will be brought into Icelandair Group.
