US Airways Group last Friday said its investors took up their last tranche of options to purchase additional shares of US Airways Group common stock at $15 per share. The remaining one-third of the options, exercisable for approximately 2.5 million shares, were scheduled to expire Oct. 13.
Caribbean Star Airlines will acquire three new Q300s from Bombardier, the first step in going to an all-Q300 fleet, according to CEO Skip Barnette. Sister carrier Caribbean Sun will begin eight weekly flights between San Juan and St. Eustatius (Statia) Nov. 15. Half the flights also will link St. Kitts to Statia. The airline will increase its current service from San Juan to St. Vincent, St. Thomas, St. Croix and Tortola by an additional flight each day.
Mxi's Maintenix software will be used by China Airlines as part of an agreement between CAL and Boeing under which Boeing will supply to CAL its Enterprise One solution of which Maintenix is a core component. Also, KLM Engineering & Maintenance selected Maintenix to support its A330 MRO. It already uses the solution for 737 MRO management.
European low-cost seat capacity rose by 29% in 2004, accounting for 22% of intra-European capacity--up from 11% in 2002--and "in excess of 30% of all passengers traveling on intra-European routes," according to Route Development Co.'s recently released Low-Cost Monitor 2005. Traditional carriers, meanwhile, "remained almost static in 2003 and increased seat capacity by only 2% in 2004, according to the study, which was supplied to ATWOnline by the UK-based company.
Singapore Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines implemented a codeshare agreement for customers traveling between Warsaw and Singapore and beyond markets in Asia. Beginning Oct. 30, SIA passengers will be able to connect to LOT's daily services to Warsaw through SIA's European gateways of Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Zurich. LOT customers will have more travel options to Singapore on SIA's twice-daily flights from Frankfurt and daily flights from Zurich and Amsterdam, with connections in Singapore for travel onward into Asia and the South Pacific.
Ukraine International Airlines plans to boost capacity 35% next year as part of a strategy to gain a larger presence in its home market. "With more foreign carriers coming to the Ukraine, we have to react," President Yuri Miroshnikov told ATWOnline in Kiev. The fleet will increase from nine 737 Classics to 12 with the addition from next spring of two 737-500s and one 737-400, and will rise to 20 by 2009.
Just days after Air New Zealand said it likely will outsource a major share of its heavy maintenance requirement ( ATWOnline, Oct. 20), Qantas confirmed that it is considering a substantial restructure of its engineering and maintenance operation as well, with a decision expected within 3-4 months. MRO operations "are changing rapidly throughout the world, with a big push towards scale and lower cost locations," CEO Geoff Dixon said in a statement. "The competition between MROs is becoming as competitive as the rest of the industry."
WestJet Executive VP-Operations Tim Morgan left the airline Oct. 18 "for personal reasons," the company said in a statement. Morgan was one of the founders of WestJet. President and CEO Clive Beddoe expressed regret at his departure, noting that he "contributed greatly to our success over the past 10 years." Morgan also was a member of the airline's board. Separately, the Calgary-based LCC said its board approved the purchase of a 737-700 through conversion of an option. Delivery will occur in December 2006.
Russian domestic airlines are not keeping up with their foreign competition, an Aeroflot official told parliament Friday, according to the Russian News and Information Agency. The number of passengers on foreign carriers operating in Russia is expected to grow 12% year-over-year compared to 2% on domestic carriers. "Under these conditions, it is ultimately impossible to make cost-effective flights; for example, the Tu-154M uses 4.8 tons of fuel per hour, whereas its foreign counterpart Airbus A320 uses only 2.3 tons," Aeroflot GD Valery Okulov said.
Swiss International Air Lines is selling its 57.2% stake in Loyalty Gate Ltd., a leading provider of services for frequent-flier programs, to London-based International Customer Loyalty Programs. Loyalty Gate Ltd. has managed the Swiss TravelClub program. Following Swiss's decision to transfer Swiss Travel Club to Miles & More as of April 1, 2006, the airline and the minority Loyalty Gate Ltd. shareholders agreed to the sale to ICLP.
JetBlue Chairman and CEO David Neeleman won the 2005 Tony Jannus Award for "outstanding contributions within the commercial aviation industry." The award will be presented Oct. 27 in Tampa.
Lufthansa Technik will provide Total Engine Support to Corsair under a 10-year agreement covering a minimum of 24 PW4000s powering the French airline's 747-400 fleet. The agreement includes provision of spare engines, engine condition monitoring services and AOG support. LHT signed Blue Panorama Airlines SpA to a five-year Total Component Support contract for its 767-300ER and 757-200 fleets and extended an existing TCS contract for its 737-400s. Also NEOS SpA added two 767-300s to its TCS contract covering its 737-800 fleet.
Boeing's Alteon Training received Level D certification from Mexican aviation authorities on its 737-800 full-flight simulator at the Centro de Capacitacion Alas de America in Mexico City.
Pratt & Whitney is reorganizing its commercial airline engine MRO operation into Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners. The new organization is responsible for MRO, replacement parts, material logistics and technical services
Southwest Airlines continues to mint money despite high fuel costs and the hurricanes that shuttered its New Orleans operation for three weeks. Citing record load factors and traffic and modest fare increases, the carrier reported a third-quarter net profit of $227 million, up 90.8% over $119 million earned in the year-ago ago period. Excluding $87 million in unrealized gains associated with derivative instruments, the current-period profit was $174 million, a 46.2% rise over 2004.
Southwest Airlines yesterday said it will launch service to Denver International Airport early next year, marking a return to the city after a 20-year absence. Schedules, fares and routes will be announced next week. "We'll have a modest start," CEO Gary Kelly said during a conference call to discuss the news. The carrier served Denver Stapleton International Airport in 1983-1986. Stapleton was closed when DIA opened in 1995. In the past, Southwest declined to operate at DIA, United Airlines' second-biggest hub, citing high costs.
JetBlue Airways Corp. squeaked by with a tiny third-quarter profit, but warned that with fuel expected to average $2 a gallon net of hedges it will report a hefty operating loss for the fourth quarter--5%-7% of operating revenues--that will push it into the red for the December period and the full year. If its assumptions hold true, it will mark the LCC's first annual loss since its 2000 startup year. Yesterday the carrier said it was making some tactical cuts in capacity during the fourth quarter, eliminating a few midweek roundtrips in some markets.
AeroMexico announced that it received the IATA Operational Safety Audit certificate last month, becoming the first Mexican airline so certified. The carrier's audit was conducted June 13-17. AeBal (Aerolíneas de Baleares) also fulfilled the requirements of the IOSA program. AeBal is a subsidiary of SAS Group and operates on behalf of Spanair in Spain using 717s.
Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported third-quarter net income of $90.2 million, up 21.9% over $74 million in the year-ago period. Excluding the impact of special items including mark-to-market fuel hedge accounting adjustments, refunds of navigation fees and restructuring items, current-period income totaled $71.5 million compared to net income of $50.7 million in 2004.
Talks between Icelandair owner FL Group and Sterling owner Fons Eignarhalsfelag over a possible merger or acquisition ( ATWOnline, Sept. 27) may be close to fruition. According to Danish media, FL Group will acquire Sterling, which itself is being merged with Maersk Air of Denmark. FL Group also owns 13.01% of easyJet.
American Airlines announced Tuesday that it received antitrust immunity from the US Dept. of Transportation for its partnership with LAN Peru, permitting a three-way alliance including LAN Airlines. AA was granted immunity with the latter in 1999. It also has applied to DOT for broad codeshare authority with LAN Peru.
Continental Airlines priced a public offering of 18 million shares of Class B common stock at $11.35 per share, which would raise gross proceeds of $204.3 million if all shares are taken up. The offering includes an overallotment option of 2.7 million shares. UBS Investment Bank is acting as the sole underwriter. On Tuesday, CO reported a third-quarter profit of $61 million, surpassing Wall Street's expectations ( ATWOnline, Oct. 18). Northwest Airlines may return leased aircraft with a five-day notice, a bankruptcy court judge in New York ruled yesterday.
Delta Air Lines expects to post a loss of $2.16 billion for the full year, excluding special items. The information was contained in a presentation to the carrier's pilots that also was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Through the first half of 2005, Delta lost $988 million excluding special items, or $1.45 billion if such items are included. In the presentation, Delta said it aims to reduce its stage-length-adjusted unit labor cost by 21% from 3.26 cents per ASM in the second quarter of 2005 to 2.59 cents through its Chapter 11 restructuring.
Soaring fuel prices and low-fare competition combined to push AMR Corp. into the red for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 as the parent of American Airlines reported a net loss of $153 million for the period, narrowed from a $214 million deficit last year.
