Air France-KLM Group posted "an excellent performance" in terms of both traffic and unit revenue in September. Traffic increased 9.6% to 16.07 billion RPKs on 4.9% higher capacity of 19.35 billion ASKs and load factor gained 3.6 points to 83.1%. The number of passengers rose 7.3% to 6.2 million. Traffic on the European network, including France, increased 7.6% on a 1.3% rise in capacity and load factor was up 4.4 points to 74.4%. Cargo activity saw a slight improvement, with traffic ahead 2.3%. Capacity grew 6.6%, causing cargo load factor to slip 2.7 points to 65.2%.
SAS is set to unveil a new efficiency program next month in response to continuing losses, particularly among its Swedish and Danish Scandinavian Airlines units, Group President and CEO Jorgen Lindegaard told media Friday. The company already has reaped SEK12.8 billion ($1.7 billion) in savings out of a goal of SEK14 billion from its Turnaround 2005 program, but that is not enough, Lindegaard said. "SEK14 billion is fine, but we have to go [beyond] that. We have loss-making companies in Sweden and Denmark, which we won't allow [to make losses] next year."
Delta Air Lines said it is resuming its full flight schedule after canceling "select flights" as part of emergency fuel conservation efforts adopted "to address critical fuel shortages" in the southeastern US that were created by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The carrier did not provide a figure for the number of cancellations during the two weeks that the "short-term emergency fuel conservation initiative" was in effect.
Iberia, as expected, unveiled its three-year Director Plan aimed at increasing productivity and revenues while reducing costs, largely through a combination of layoffs, outsourcing and automation. The plan also calls for a three-year wage freeze, "linking payroll increases to results." A profit improvement target was not presented, but a target of €600 million ($726 million) has been reported previously ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3).
Independence Air announced the departure of CFO Richard Surrat, who "resigned in order to pursue other opportunities." His replacement is David Asai, a seven-year veteran of the company who served most recently as VP, controller and assistant secretary.
MAIR Inc., parent of Mesaba Airlines, warned Friday that it may have to file for bankruptcy protection in light of actions taken by its bankrupt partner Northwest Airlines. Northwest has defaulted on $28 million owed to the Airlink carrier and is removing nine of 35 Avro RJ85s it subleases to Mesaba by the end of this month in order to return them to the lessor. It has said it intends to repossess the remaining 26 by year end.
TNT Express signed a contract with GECAS for two additional 737-300SFs, bringing the total number of 737s in its fleet to nine. The new aircraft will be converted from passenger to freighter configuration by IAI's Bedek Aviation Services and modified to comply with Chapter IV noise emission standards. TNT will introduce the aircraft to its European Air Network in August and December 2006.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. will exit bankruptcy via a $3 billion, six-year, all-debt financing package, the company said yesterday. JP Morgan and Citigroup will be lead managers for the offering, which UAL said has "very competitive terms." The interest rate is LIBOR plus 450 basis points. Exit financing will be used to repay the debtor-in-possession facility, make other payments required to exit bankruptcy and insure a strong cash balance when the company leaves bankruptcy.
Prisma Aviation Services remarketed an ATR 42-300 together with a package of spare parts to aircraft inventory and parts specialist Dart Aviation in France. The aircraft, which had been stored at Rome Fiumicino since March 2005 following the voluntary liquidation of Air Industria in 2003, will be parted out.
RASSA Holdings said Aeropostal Alas de Centroamerica signed an agreement to use its R@N Web-based passenger service system. The proposed startup airline is based in Costa Rica and plans to begin operations this month using DC-9s and MD-80s.
Italian government, as expected ( ATWOnline Oct. 6), approved a financial assistance package for Italian airlines amounting to €200 million ($239 million). Deputy Transport Minister Mario Tassone stressed that the aid package is directed to the Italian airline industry as a whole to "help them overcome moments of crisis owing to the rising fuel price," La Republica reported. It added that Alitalia will receive approximately €80 million.
American Airlines Cargo raised its fuel surcharge from $0.50/kg. to $0.55/kg. for most international shipments of US origin and from $0.20/lb. to $0.22/lb. for US domestic shipments. New rates take effect Oct. 19. The fuel surcharge also will be adjusted in local currency for most shipments not of US origin unless the adjustment is not allowed for regulatory reasons.
Ray Siegfried II, who built Nordam Group into one of the largest privately owned aerospace companies in the world, died Thursday at the age of 62. He had been suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Siegfried, who stepped back from the CEO position in 2001 when he was diagnosed with ALS, served as chairman. When he took over what was then Northern Oklahoma Research, Development and Manufacturing Co. in 1969, the firm was bankrupt and had only eight employees. Today it has more than 2,300 people at locations around the globe.
Iberia financed an A340-600 on a 12-year Spanish operating lease. Equity was supplied by Madrid Leasing while the debt was underwritten by Caja Madrid and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Ultra said its Airport Systems business signed a $9 million contract to provide IT integration services to Shanghai Pudong. Ultra will install its UltraIB integration broker product at the airport. It is supplying UltraIB services for the London Heathrow T5 project as well.
Lufthansa and the ver.di public service workers union reached agreement yesterday on a new contract that will secure the jobs of 12,000 ground staff employed by Deutsche Lufthansa AG and seven other group companies. In return for layoff protection through March 31, 2009, the union accepted changes to the pay structure. Although no current employee will see his or her pay reduced, "the future salary progression may change in some cases," LH said.
Globe Air Cargo will become Ethiopian Airlines' cargo general sales agent in the UK. Ethiopian currently operates six weekly 757 flights from London Heathrow to Addis Ababa and plans to increase its capacity later in the year when 767s will be introduced on the route.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, "there is no clear evidence" that US airlines operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection "harm the industry by contributing to overcapacity or underpricing their competitors," according to a new study by the US General Accounting Office, the investigative and research arm of Congress.
Michael Brag was appointed acting CEO of SAS Component following the departure of Per Boll. Brag is CCO at SAS Technical Services and will retain this position.
AirBaltic celebrated its 10th anniversary Oct. 1. Over the decade, the Latvian carrier enplaned more than 3 million passengers, launched direct flights to 46 destinations and opened a second hub in Vilnius. Main shareholders are the Latvian state with 52.6% and SAS AB with 47.2%. The fleet numbers seven 737-500s and seven F50s.
Gol today begins operating six weekly flights from Sao Paulo to Campina Grande via Recife. Separately Gol said it flew 890 million RPKs in September, up 77.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity rose 59.1% to 1.18 billion ASKs and load factor jumped 8 points to 75.5%.
American Eagle flew 676 million RPMs in September, a 26.2% increase over the same period a year ago. ASMs were up 20.4% to 977 million while load factor rose 3.2 points to 69.2%. The number of passengers boarded increased 14.2% to 1.6 million. Year-to-date, RPMs grew 26.7% to 5.9 billion, ASMs were up 22.6% to 8.4 billion and load factor improved 2 points to 69.9%. Mesa Air Group's RPMs increased 12% in September to 509 million as ASMs grew at the same rate to 739 million. Load factor remained flat at 68%. The number of passengers carried rose 14% to 1 million.
