AerCap established a 50/50 joint venture with LoadAir, a Kuwait-based aviation entity, to acquire, manage and market 70 A320 family aircraft to which AerCap committed at the Dubai Air Show ( ATWOnline, Nov. 24, 2005). The new company, AerVenture, will be based in Ireland. It firmed the AerCap LOI with Airbus in December. AerCap (formerly debis AirFinance) will provide complete asset management services for the portfolio. LoadAir is the trading name for International Cargo Airlines Co., which was floated on the Kuwait stock exchange in 2005.
AeroMexico placed an order for three 737-700s and three 737-800s, Boeing announced yesterday. The aircraft are worth approximately $372 million at list prices and will begin delivery in 2007. "Since they were introduced to our fleet in 2003, the Boeing 737-700 has proved to be an exceptional airplane and with the acquisition of the 737-800 in 2006, we will continue our fleet renovation program with great success," said AeroMexico CFO Francisco Cuevas. The carrier is scheduled to take delivery of eight 737NGs and two 777-200ERs this year.
Indian startup IndiGo named former North American Airlines COO Steven Harfst as its COO. New Heights Aviation Services President Jeff Wehrenberg will succeed Harfst at NAA. Amadeus appointed former Director-Airline Sales Chris Barnes VP of e-commerce sales.
United Airlines formally, and finally, exited bankruptcy yesterday after 1,150 days during which it cut annual costs by approximately $7 billion including more than $3 billion in concessions from labor unions, reduced and reconfigured its fleet to fly more profitable international routes and launched its low-cost subsidiary Ted.
Frontier Airlines will become a subsidiary of Frontier Airlines Holdings, a new Delaware corporation, according to a reorganization plan approved Tuesday by the carrier's board. There will no anticipated effect on shareholders, who must approve the plan at a meeting tentatively scheduled for March 27.
JetBlue Airways' inability to control costs and misplaced capacity increases cost it dearly in the final quarter of 2005 as it suffered a net loss of $42.4 million--by far its worst quarterly performance since it started service in February 2000. JetBlue earned $1.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The surprising 2005 result plunged the carrier into the red for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31. It posted a $20.3 million annual loss compared to a $46.2 million profit in 2004. In addition, it is forecasting a loss in both the current quarter and for full-year 2006.
Bombardier signed a contract with Regco Holdings of Toronto for 10 Q400 70-seat turboprops, with options for an additional 10. The deal is valued at an estimated $250 million for the firm orders and brings the number of Q400 orders to 175.
Smiths Aerospace and Aviall Services announced an agreement under which Aviall will become a global distributor of Smiths Aerospace systems spare parts after a transition phase of several months. "Aviall will use its core competencies of inventory forecasting and management, product fulfillment, quality management and sales and marketing to ensure Smiths' commercial aftermarket customers' requirements are met," the companies said in a statement. The 10-year agreement is expected to be valued at up to $2 billion in sales.
Aeroxchange named Jim Taylor CFO. All Nippon Airways appointed Damion Martin to head all non-Japanese PR. Assn. of European Airlines selected Wolfgang Mayrhuber, CEO and chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa, as chairman for 2006. ATA Airlines Holdings announced that Subodh Karnick becomes COO, Senior VP John Graber adds GM-military & charter operations to his responsibilities and Doug Yakola becomes CFO. Aviapartner tapped Rob Kuijpers as nonexecutive chairman and Andrew Burnett as business development mgr.
Austrian Airlines Group will end all long-haul charter flying by its Lauda Air leisure subsidiary at the end of the current winter season, with its six 767-300ERs and 777-200ERs repainted in Austrian Airlines' livery. Some charter flights, such as those to Mauritius, will be terminated, while others will become scheduled services, CCO Josef Burger told ATWOnline.
Air One won its appeal to block Alitalia's takeover of Volare Airlines, La Stampa reported. A Roman civil court argued it would be improper for Alitalia to spend part of a €400 million ($483.7 million) state-guaranteed bridge loan to buy the bankrupt LCC rather than to address its own financial difficulties. Alitalia bid €38 million for Volare ( ATWOnline, Jan. 10). Air One said it was satisfied with the ruling, whereas Alitalia described the court's decision as "abnormal," claiming it did not respond directly to Air One's appeal.
LAN Cargo named Cristian Ureta CEO. He most recently was the carrier's COO. UAL Corp. named Cindy Szadokierski VP-Chicago O'Hare operations. Ajay Singh will replace her as VP-corporate real estate.
Triumph Composite Systems of Spokane was awarded a $200 million multiyear supply contract by Vought Aircraft Industries, a structural integration partner in the 787 program. Triumph will provide products including composite ducting, machined metal parts and fittings, window assemblies, hydraulic tubing and insulation to Vought.
ATA Holdings released settlement distribution details concerning its late February exit from Chapter 11 protection, which was confirmed orally by a US Bankruptcy Court judge Monday ( ATWOnline, Jan. 31) and was due to receive official approval yesterday. Unsecured creditors will receive distributions of new common stock representing 7% of the outstanding equity in the new holding company in addition to warrants to acquire 2% of the new common stock outstanding upon emergence.
ANA Group yesterday raised its profit outlook for the fiscal year ending March 31 to ¥17 billion ($144.8 million) as it reported consolidated net earnings of ¥10.18 billion for the third quarter ended Dec. 31--its 10th consecutive profitable quarter. In the year-ago period, ANA earned ¥5.2 billion. It originally forecast that it would earn ¥10 billion in FY06.
Emirates will launch thrice-weekly service to Addis Ababa from March 27 aboard A330-200s, increasing to daily on Dec. 1. The airline also said its 777-200 fleet refurbishment is near completion. The project includes new seats in first and business classes, economy class enhancements, in-seat laptop power and personal entertainment and information systems. Remaining work on two of Emirates' nine 777-200s will be completed by January 2007.
US Export-Import Bank is seeking cash offers for the 737-400 it seized last month from Air Nauru ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22). It was the carrier's only aircraft and is being stored by Qantas at Melbourne International Airport. The bank said neither Air Nauru nor the government of Nauru is in negotiations to purchase the aircraft, which will be sold on an "as-is, where-is" basis.
United Airlines said it aims to shave average turn times by 8 min., freeing up "at least 10 aircraft in 2006." It plans to "reduce and reallocate block time" and said it already has achieved "more than a one-minute reduction in taxi-out time."
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, announced yesterday the upcoming retirement of President and CEO Jeffrey Erickson, who steered the company out of bankruptcy in 2004.
ATA Airlines received approval yesterday to emerge from bankruptcy. "I don't see any indication we won't be dealing with a solvent entity in April," Judge Basil H. Lorch III said, according to the Associated Press. ATA is expected to announce details of its emergence today.
Air New Zealand, which had been prepared to outsource its widebody heavy airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul activities, said it accepted a counterproposal from union negotiators "that could see [the work] remain in-house through a combination of redundancies and comprehensive labor reform" ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20). ANZ had set a target of achieving $32 million in savings from widebody airframe MRO over five years.
Continental Airlines flight attendants, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, ratified the four-year labor agreement reached last month, according to the airline ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12). The union is expected to release the voting results and a statement today.
ANA's new cargo airline joint venture with Japan Post will operate as ANA & JP Express or AJV, with flights scheduled to begin in August with three 767Fs ( ATWOnline, Oct. 25, 2005).
