Varig's bankruptcy reorganization took a new twist Tuesday after a Brazilian buyout fund reportedly took controlling interest in the airline's parent, Varig SA. According to Reuters, the fund, Docas Invertimentos, owned by Nelson Tanure, paid $112 million to the Rubem Berta Foundation for 25% of the voting shares owned by the Foundation. It agreed to "rent" a further 42% of the shares, giving it control of the airline. TAP Portugal previously agreed to participate in a restructuring of Varig that would see the Foundation lose control of the carrier ( ATWOnline, Nov. 3).
Lufthansa "will look seriously at the 747-8," Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline Saturday at a Star Alliance meeting in Montreal, citing in particular the decision by Boeing to offer the GEnx as the engine for the new model.
Blue1, the SAS subsidiary in Finland, will add three MD-90s, boost ASKs more than 70% and increase its destinations from 14 to 25 with the start of the summer season in March. The Star Alliance regional member will add Athens, Barcelona, Dublin, Dusseldorf, London, Madrid, Nice, Paris, Rome, Warsaw and Zurich to its network. "This heavy expansion is our response to the market need," said Stefan Wentjarvi, president and CEO. The airline said it already is the biggest operator between Finland and Scandinavia.
Austrian Airlines Group officially began the search for a new CEO to replace Vagn Soerensen, who announced that he will leave the company by September 2006. Application deadline is Jan. 9.
Delta Air Lines and its approximately 6,500 pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., announced a tentative agreement Sunday, ending several contentious weeks of threats, spin and bluster from both sides. The accord, subject to union ratification by Dec. 28, suspends US Bankruptcy Court hearings on Delta's request to cancel the current contract and will be in effect until March 1, by which time a comprehensive deal must be reached.
Frontier Airlines named Christopher Collins senior VP-operations. He came from JetBlue Airways, where he was VP-system operations. TNT Express promoted Matthew McDonough to president, North American region.
China Southern Airlines signed an agreement with Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise for the lease of five new A320s. The carrier already counts 58 A320s among its fleet of 257 aircraft. The new A320s will be delivered directly from Airbus in the first half of 2006 and will be leased for 12 years each. The deal is the largest bulk placement by SALE to date. The 158-seat, two-class aircraft will be powered by IAE V2500s.
TAM Brazilian Airlines announced it selected the CFM56-5B to power 25 new A320s. The deal is worth $300 million at list prices, according to a CFMI spokesperson. TAM placed an order for 20 A320s plus 20 options at this year's Paris Air Show ( ATWOnline¸ June 17), at which time it had a backlog of 10 A320s.
Honeywell said it received FAA certification for its nitrogen generation system for 747s. The Honeywell inerting system is based on technology that reduces the risk of a fuel tank's flammability by injecting nitrogen-enriched air, displacing oxygen and reducing the risk of a fuel tank fire or explosion. Nitrogen inerting is one method of complying with a recent FAA NPRM ordering airlines to reduce flammability levels of fuel tank vapors in order to eliminate the risk of center wing tank explosions on commercial transports ( ATWOnline, Nov. 15).
US Federal Communications Commission established rules for auctioning spectrum in the 800 MHz band dedicated to commercial air-to-ground telecommunication services, setting the stage for an auction early next year, according to Verizon Airfone. Assuming Verizon acquires a license, it said it expects to be able to offer inflight wireless Internet access in 2007. It has been demonstrating the first airborne system featuring third-generation CDMA technology since September 2004 and inflight trials have achieved ground-to-air peak data speeds of 2.4 Mbps.
Japan Airlines became the first carrier to implement Boeing's Airplane Health Management system, which monitors the condition of an aircraft in flight and relays information in real time to prepared maintenance crews at the gate. JAL uses it on 747s and 777s.
Northwest Airlines reached agreements with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney for the continued delivery and financing of the 14 A330-300s and dash 200s still on order. The deal, subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court, calls for Airbus to finance 10 aircraft and Pratt four. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in 2006 and 2007. "The continued financing agreements with Airbus and Pratt & Whitney will ensure that Northwest can continue to meet customer needs by offering a wide-ranging international route system," President and CEO Doug Steenland said.
Southwest Airlines said Friday that the 737-700 that landed and veered from the runway at snowy Chicago Midway and crashed into cars at a nearby intersection, killing a six-year-old boy, was a new aircraft delivered in July 2004 and had been released from a maintenance check at its Phoenix MRO facility on Dec. 7, a day before the accident, and there was no indication of any problems. The airline said Flight 1248's captain is a 10-plus-year veteran of the carrier.
Air New Zealand expects to make a decision on whether to outsource its widebody and engine MRO activities on Dec. 19, CEO Rob Fyfe said Friday. Speaking at a Star Alliance media briefing in Montreal, Fyfe said the airline's engineering union presented a counterproposal that is being studied by management. ANZ estimates it would save NZ$25 million per year by sending the work outside at current labor rates.
Continental Airlines flight attendants, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, released details of the long-awaited four-year agreement signed with the carrier last week ( ATWOnline, Dec. 9). Terms include preservation of pay rates for current cabin staff, a top base pay rate increased to $50 per hour prior to the end of the agreement, a no-furlough clause, enhanced crew rest, improved commuter and reserve issues, profit-sharing and stock option plans.
Syrian Arab Airlines said its planned Regional carrier joint venture with Middle East Airlines should be ready to launch service in the second quarter of next year. The new airline, Phoenician Express, initially will operate a pair of 50/70-seat aircraft on a network based out of Damascus and Beirut. The two carriers jointly will own 50% of PE and the other half will be owned by private investors. The airline will serve domestic destinations in Syria and international routes to countries including Jordan, Cyprus, Turkey and Egypt.
Styrian Spirit CEO Otmar Lenz is leaving the airline after three years in charge to become MD of Fly Niki, the Austrian low-fare carrier. He will be reunited with former boss Niki Lauda, with whom Lenz was one of the founders of Lauda Air. Separately, Styrian Spirit will start six-times-weekly Graz-Salzburg-Paris service from Dec 15. Meanwhile, Fly Niki will open its third hub in Austria in summer 2006 and will base one A320 at Linz. The Air Berlin partner also will add Funchal to its network.
US National Transportation Safety Board Member Ellen Engleman Conners asked President Bush to withdraw her nomination for a second term as chairman, saying in a letter that she "intends to focus on continuing to serve as an aggressive advocate for safety in her role as a member of the Safety Board. . .without the additional demands of the chairmanship."
Qantas scrapped domestic and transtasman base commissions to travel agents in Australia and New Zealand and reduced payments on international sales from 7% to 5% in a move designed to lower distribution costs and improve profit margins. The decision reflects global trends, increasing direct ticket sales--particularly through the Internet--and the growth of online-based low-cost subsidiary Jetstar, according to Qantas.
White House yesterday defended the two air marshals who shot and killed 44-year-old Rigoberto Alpizar as he exited an American Airlines 757 at Miami International Airport (ATWOnline, Dec. 8), although there were some discrepancies in witness accounts about whether or not the Costa Rica-born US citizen claimed to be carrying a bomb, according to media reports. "From what we know, the team of air marshals acted in a way that is consistent with the training that they have received," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters.
Virgin America Inc., a US-based startup, announced yesterday that it has secured $177.3 million in committed funding and has filed an application for certification with the US Dept. of Transportation to operate as an interstate carrier.
The supervisory board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG yesterday approved an order for 12 CRJ900s that will be configured for 84 seats and will replace 50-seat CRJ200s. In a statement, the airline said, "The competitiveness and cost-efficiency of the regional fleet are of crucial importance in Lufthansa's European operations and for feeder flights to intercontinental connections at its major hubs."
Scandinavian Airlines Group agreed to sell its holding in Jetpak Group, a same-day door-to-door delivery service, to Denmark-based Polaris Private Equity for SEK490 million ($61.2 million), resulting in a capital gain of approximately SEK410 million. The transaction is expected to close before year end and is conditional upon approval of the appropriate authorities.
British Airways, after a two-year review, signed what it called "one of the largest engineering contracts awarded in the airline's history" with GE Engine Services. The 10-year, £1.5 billion ($2.6 billion) agreement will see GEES responsible for MRO on BA's RB211-524s and CFM56s powering its 57 747s, 21 767s, 32 737s and 10 of its 26 A320s. It replaces an existing contract due to expire at year end.
Germanwings confirmed its June commitment for 18 A319s plus 12 options, signing a contract yesterday that will more than double the size of its fleet. The Cologne-based LCC already operates 19 A319s and three A320s. The new single-class, 156-seat aircraft will be powered by IAE V2500s in an engine deal worth more than $500 million, according to Pratt & Whitney. "The new A319s will ensure that we can continue our success that we enjoyed in the LCC market since October 2002," Germanwings Management Board Chairman Joachim Klein said.
