SAS said it reached an agreement with Worldspan under which the carrier will obtain "lower distribution costs" while distributing its "full content" to the GDS. SAS reached a similar agreement with Sabre earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4), while a deal with Amadeus occurred in August. Calling it "a step in the right direction," Senior VP-Airline Commercial Robin Kamark stated, "SAS wish[es] to give the market full access to our fares and products through the GDS, but while doing so, we also need to reduce our distribution costs to a competitive level."
Mesaba Aviation parent MAIR Holdings agreed to provide the bankrupt airline with debtor-in-possession financing during the carrier's Chapter 11 reorganization. According to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, MAIR has provided a term sheet and commitment letter for $35 million, of which $15 million will be available immediately "subject to usual and customary conditions. The balance will be available "upon the satisfaction of certain additional conditions, including Mesaba's delivery of an acceptable five-year business plan by Jan.
Alitalia and its trade unions agreed to an additional €65 million ($78.2 million) in annual cost savings over the next three years. The savings will be included in the updated Business Plan 2005-2008, which will be discussed by the airline's board today. The accord involves efficiency measures and productivity improvements for pilots, flight attendants and ground staff, but does not contain further job cuts or pay reductions.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft leased two 29-seat Jetstream 41s to Eastern Airways, raising the number of aircraft in the British airline's J-41 fleet to 19. Eastern is now the largest fleet operator of the type outside the US.
Sabre Holdings said it signed a five-year agreement with AirTran Airways under which the Orlando-based LCC committed to make "all its fares and inventory available through the Sabre Travel Network and Travelocity." Additionally, Travelocity Partner Network will become the sole supplier of hotel, cruise and AirTran Vacations packaging for the AirTran website.
US Airways named Hal Huele senior VP-technical operations. Huele, 57, most recently was senior VP-safety and regulatory compliance. He replaces John Prestifilippo, who joined Spirit Airlines as senior VP-technical operations. Also departing US Airways for Spirit was MD-Europe Tony Lefebvre, who becomes senior VP-customer service for the Ft. Lauderdale-based budget carrier.
Air Atlantique took delivery of the first of two ATR 72s purchased from Finnair. The Coventry-based carrier expects to have the aircraft in service, along with its three other ATRs, by the end of October.
Airbus, a week after the program received formal go-ahead, announced that Eurofly signed a letter of intent for three A350-800s for delivery from 2013 ( ATWOnline, Oct. 7). The Italian leisure airline also signed up to lease two A330-200s powered by PW4000s starting in late 2006. Including the Eurofly deal, Airbus now has 143 commitments for the A350 and expects to hit 200 by year end.
Comair, Delta Air Lines' Regional subsidiary, announced Thursday it will cut 250-650 more jobs as part of its effort to reduce costs by $70 million in support of the parent company's emergence from Chapter 11. Comair announced 350 layoffs at its Cincinnati hub five weeks ago. A company spokesman told ATWOnline yesterday that the airline will examine the impact of a planned December reduction in fleet size and traffic before deciding how many layoffs will be required. Those cuts likely will not happen before year end. The changes will not be immediate.
Northwest Airlines wants permission from its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., to create a new feeder carrier separate from the mainline that will operate aircraft seating up to 100 passengers in the Northwest Airlink program with "no numerical or use restrictions." The scope clause in the existing pilot contract sets a maximum size limit of 69 seats and a numerical limit of 54 RJs with 50-69 seats.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Bedek Aviation Group will convert up to six 747-400 Combis into Special Freighters under a contract with EVA Airways valued at $100 million. Order includes four firm and two option aircraft. Work on the first begins in the second half of 2007.
Mesaba Aviation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, a victim of the financial problems at Northwest Airlines, which sought bankruptcy last month and defaulted on $30 million in payments related to Mesaba's participation in the Northwest Airlink program.
Qantas began implementing enhanced QuickCheck facilities in Brisbane, permitting passengers with hold luggage to check in using the airline's automated ticket kiosks. Service is scheduled to begin in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra during the next two months.
Smiths Detection unveiled Tuesday its Hi-Scan 6040aTiX, a new multi-view X-ray inspection system promising to detect and pinpoint explosives in carry-on baggage. The machine can replace other Hi-Scan systems without necessitating significant changes in checkpoint design, the company said. It is expected to go into full production by mid-2006.
Atlantic Air Transport, part of English charter company Air Atlantique Group, took delivery Oct. 7 of its first ATR 72. The turboprop, purchased from Estonia's Aero Airlines, joins a fleet of three ATR 42-300s operating ACMI contract and ad hoc passenger and cargo flights. Skyways Aviation arranged the transaction.
United Airlines intends to recall approximately 300 pilots next year to meet an expected increase in flying. This is about 16% of the pilot population currently on furlough, or 5% of the airline's total pilot population. As of Oct. 7, United had recalled 234 pilots in 2005 out of 2,172 on furlough.
Lufthansa Group said it flew 10.1 billion RPKs in September, up 3.9% over the same month last year. With ASKs up 2.5% to 12.7 billion, load rose 1.1 points to 79%. LH said the increase in RPKs was owing to strong growth across all regions, with Asia/Pacific traffic up 8.2% and Middle East traffic 7.8%. Cargo traffic (RTKs) fell 4.7% to 659 million on a 1.3% reduction in ATKs to 1.03 billion, pushing cargo load factor down 2.2 points to 63.9%.
Aeroflot entered into an agreement Oct. 7 with Mail of Russia--the Russian post office--to load and transport and domestic and international mail on regular, added and charter flights. Previously, Aeroflot carried only international mail, according to the airline. Some 36% of its mail service now will occur inside Russia.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, has begun distributing 40,940 shares of new common stock as it continues to restructure following its emergence last year from Chapter 11. The shares will go to holders of allowed general unsecured claims against AAWW and its subsidiaries and are the first to be allocated since an initial pro rata distribution of more than 16 million shares in July. Distribution of the remaining 1,065,950 shares to holders of allowed claims will occur on a quarterly basis beginning in January. As of Sept.
Emirates postponed launch of its second daily A340-500 nonstop between Dubai and New York JFK from Nov. 7 to Nov. 16. The carrier cited the impact of the strike at Boeing, which caused a delivery delay that forced it to continue to use the aircraft on other services. Separately, Emirates noted it is increasing its presence in five Asian markets. It added two weekly flights to Hong Kong on Oct. 1, bringing its weekly total to 14. At the end of October it will add three direct flights to Jakarta each week, returning to Dubai over Singapore.
Northwest Airlines yesterday asked the US Bankruptcy Court to reject its existing labor agreements if it is unsuccessful in negotiating new contracts with its unionized employees. The so-called Section 1113(c) motion starts a 51-day negotiating period unless both sides agree to an extension.
EasyJet will set up a base at Milan Malpensa, its sixth in continental Europe and first in Italy, and launch new routes to Athens, London Gatwick, Madrid, Malaga and Paris Charles De Gaulle. These routes are in addition to the current Berlin service and the daily flight to Dortmund which commences on Oct. 30. Daily service to London begins Dec. 1. Daily services to Paris, Madrid and Malaga follow on March 27 and Athens comes on line the next day, also with a daily service.
Air France Cargo and KLM Cargo are implementing the next phase in their cooperation that aims to present One Face to the Customer without, however, integrating the operational activities of the two organizations. A Joint Cargo Management Team headed by Michael Wisbrun is responsible for the integrated commercial functions, including sales, customer service, products, marketing, revenue management and network planning. Strategy and development functions, including commercial IT functionality and alliances, also are integrated into the management team.
LAN Airlines finalized a previously announced order for 25 A318s and A319s with options on 15 A320 family aircraft ( ATWOnline, July 1). LAN is launch customer for the PW6000 on the A318, while the A319s will be powered by IAE V2500s.
