Hawaiian Holdings, parent of Hawaiian Airlines, reported a quarterly net income of $7.83 million in its first complete quarter since emerging from Chapter 11 protection in June. On a GAAP basis, the holding company lost $1.76 million in the year-ago quarter, but GAAP revenue and expense figures for 2004 were not supplied. Operating income in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2005, was $17.93 million.
Singapore-based Tiger Airways announced it will launch service to Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory beginning Dec. 19, subject to government approval. The four-times-weekly service will be aboard a 180-seat A320 and will be the first low-fare service between Darwin and Asia. Fares will start at S$49.98 ($29.37) one way. "We are excited to launch new low-fare flights to yet another country in the Asia/Pacific region, making Tiger Airways the fastest growing low-fare airline in the region," CEO Tony Davis said in a statement.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG yesterday reported a nine-month net profit of €416 million ($490 million), nearly all of which was earned in the third quarter. The company will release complete results today, which should indicate quarterly net earnings of €415.8 million compared to a six-month profit of €200,000 and a €125 million profit in the year-ago quarter. Its nine-month profit in 2004 was €164 million. Third-quarter figures were calculated by subtracting half-year totals from the results released yesterday.
Estonian Air reported a nine-month net profit of EEK55.2 million ($4.15 million), up from EEK16.7 million in the 2004 period. Operating revenue rose 14.8% to EEK831.5 million and unit cost per ASK decreased 17%. Traffic climbed 35% to 485,400 passengers over the first nine months of 2005 and load factor rose 2 points to 61%. "Our market share in Estonia has been constantly over 45%, despite the increased competition, and we expect to keep our share of the market," President and CEO Borge Thornbech said.
US Airways Group, which merged with America West Holdings Corp., parent of America West Airlines, on Sept. 27, reported a net loss of $87 million for the third quarter, or $23 million if special items are not included.
United Master Executive Council of ALPA, which represents United Airlines' 6,400 active pilots, reelected Mark Bathurst as chairman. He will begin his second term Jan. 1. Wendy Morse (vice chairman) and Mike Hamilton (secretary-treasurer) also were reelected.
Jettainer GmbH said US Airways outsourced its ULD management in a sale/leaseback deal that gives ownership and administration of its air cargo and passenger flight containers and pallets to Jettainer, which said it expects to save the carrier nearly $2 million in ULD-related costs of ownership over the duration of the five-year contract "through focused management services and dedicated technologies."
SAS Group cited the success of its new business model in Europe and continuing cost reductions achieved through its Turnaround 2005 program as it reported net income of SEK529 million ($65 million) for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, dramatically improved from earnings of SEK133 million last year. Excluding capital gains and nonrecurring items, income totaled SEK619 million compared to SEK198 million in the year-ago period.
Northwest Airlines named Anna Schaefer VP-finance and chief accounting officer effective Dec. 1. A 14-year veteran of the airline, she most recently served as MD-accounting. NWA also named Todd Anderson GM-Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.
Air France-KLM's October traffic increased 8.9% to 16.12 billion RPKs on 6% higher capacity of 19.73 billion ASKs. Load factor improved by 2.2 points to 81.7%. AF-KLM carried more than 6 million passengers, up 5.3% on October 2004. Norwegian flew 325,981 passengers in October, up 66% compared to the same month last year. RPKs increased 74% to 268 million while ASKs climbed 48% to 336 million with the result that load factor jumped 12 points to 80%. October marked the third consecutive month in which the Scandinavian LCC set a new record for passenger boardings.
Emirates President Tim Clark again floated the concept of operating some of the carrier's A380s in an all-economy configuration seating up to 780 passengers. Emirates has ordered 45 A380s and some of these could be dedicated to the operation, which Clark dubbed Emirates Express. According to press reports, he suggested the concept partly was behind the airline's recent request for 42 additional weekly services between Australia and Dubai. However, it will not proceed with the plan in the near future because its plate already is too full.
Independence Air parent FLYi, which filed for bankruptcy Monday ( ATWOnline, Nov. 8), has little chance of surviving without new investors, Standard & Poor's said yesterday as it cut its corporate rating on the company from CC to D. Noting that the carrier has just $24 million in cash and entered Chapter 11 without arranging any debtor-in-possession financing, S&P analyst Betsy Snyder said in a report that "absent new investment to support a reorganization, the company likely will be liquidated."
SunExpress, a Turkish-German charter airline, will add two 757-200s next year. The carrier already operates 10 737s and 757s. It transported 1.3 million passengers through the first nine months, an 18% rise over the year-ago period.
American Airlines and Air Sahara reached codeshare and fully reciprocal frequent-flier agreements. Subject to government approval, AA plans to put its code on Air Sahara flights to 26 destinations while the Indian carrier will place its code on American flights between Delhi and Chicago and destinations beyond O'Hare.
Philippine Airlines said Tuesday it will acquire nine new A320s through 2008. The money will be borrowed from export-import credit agencies, PAL President Jaime Bautista told reporters. "We will be flying newer airplanes, which will be acquired under an operating lease agreement," he said. The airline will have the right to purchase the planes during the lease. PAL reported that it has reduced its debt by half to $1 billion and will retire the remaining loans within nine years. It is looking to modernize its 31-plane fleet and will be replacing 707s starting next year.
Ryanair posted a net profit for the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30 of €172.5 million ($203.7 million), a 16.5% rise from a €148.1 million profit in the year-ago period.
Mexico's Interjet confirmed its A320 order yesterday, agreeing to 10 firm buys and 10 options ( ATWOnline, June 17). Deliveries of the single-class, 150-seat aircraft will begin in second-quarter 2007. No engine has been selected. "The A320 is without a doubt the reference in the low-cost market," Interjet President Miguel Aleman said. The startup LCC, wholly owned by ABC Aerolíneas SA de CV, will commence operations in December from Toluca with seven used A320s.
Northwest Airlines said it reached agreement with its pilots and flight attendants on voluntary pay and benefit reductions that will save it $332 million on an annual basis, but failed to reach a similar deal with workers represented by the International Assn. of Machinists ( ATWOnline, Nov. 7). As a result, it filed a Section 1113 (e) motion with the bankruptcy court to impose $114 million in "temporary wage and benefit reductions" on IAM members.
Japan Airlines Group blamed stagnant traffic in key markets and soaring fuel prices for a ¥12.04 billion ($102.3 million) net loss for the first half ended Sept. 30 compared to income of ¥83 billion last year. JAL warned that it expects to show a full-year loss of ¥47 billion. It previously forecast a small profit of ¥17 million, but high fuel prices and flat traffic in key markets will push it into the red for year to March 31.
Aer Lingus confirmed the appointment of Merrion Capital and Goldman Sachs as its advisers to assist in the privatization process recently initiated by the Irish government. New investment is essential to fund fleet acquisition and other development expenses required to underpin growth in both the medium and long term, the Irish state-owned airline stressed in a statement.
Sixteen months after FLYi declared its independence and began operations with a fleet of 50-seat RJs, the low-fare carrier Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it will maintain operations as it seeks outside investors, attempts to restructure aircraft leases and establishes an auction process to sell off some of its assets. In a petition filed with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, it listed assets of approximately $378.5 million and liabilities of approximately $455.4 million with just $24 million in cash.
JetBlue Airways sold 7.5 million shares of stock yesterday priced at $18 per share, raising gross proceeds of $135 million. Net proceeds will be used to fund working capital and capital expenditures, including aircraft purchases. The offering was made under a Nov. 4, 2004, shelf registration statement. Morgan Stanley acted as the sole book-running manager and Raymond James acted as co-manager. JetBlue granted an overallotment option covering 1.125 million shares, which if exercised in full would raise an additional $20.3 million.
GE Commercial Aviation Training installed an Embraer 170/190 simulator at its London Gatwick training center and said that FlyBE will be the first customer under a letter of intent covering initial conversion and recurrent training on the 170/190.
