Aegean Airlines is a possible candidate to be the next Star Alliance regional member. The Greek carrier begins codeshare services with Lufthansa this autumn. Lufthansa, which was the sponsoring airline for Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines to join Star regional, could offer the same option to Aegean. "Normally the carrier decides which sponsoring partner they want. But we would be interested to help," Lufthansa Group Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline.
Independence Air expects to eliminate some 600 jobs in the coming weeks, representing 18% of the workforce, as it matches employment levels to a reduced number of aircraft and daily departures. "As a result of the change in our operations, our overall employment will go from 3,400 to 2,800," spokesperson Rick DeLisi told ATWOnline Friday. "This will be accomplished through a variety of methods." In addition, the current 350 daily departures will be reduced to 230. At startup the carrier had up to 600 daily departures.
Lufthansa Commercial Holding GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is selling its 52.6% stake in Loyalty Partner GmbH to British private equity company Palamon Capital Partners. Lufthansa said it will realize a book profit of around €100 million ($121 million) in the just-ended third quarter. After the sale, the carrier will continue "the successful cooperation between Miles & More and the Payback bonus card program operated by Loyalty Partner." Iberia board is expected to approve its 2006-08 Director Plan when it meets Thursday.
EasyJet is seeing further management changes in the wake of the appointment of Andrew Harrison to succeed Ray Webster as chief executive effective Dec. 1 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 2). Webster announced in May that he would be retiring. Joining the exodus of senior managers is COO Ed Winter, who stepped down Sept. 30 and is being replaced by Mike Szucs, who came to easyJet from British Airways in 2003. Winter joined the Luton-based LCC in August 2002 when it acquired BA's Go Fly low-fare subsidiary, where he held the COO position.
Qantas appears to be moving toward a 787/777 order after airline sources confirmed to ATWOnline that the carrier and Boeing are close to finalizing a longer-range variant of the 777-200LR that would have a reach of just over 10,000 nm. (18,500 km.), enabling the Australian airline to operate from Sydney to London nonstop year round with 250 passengers.
Swissport is selling its 49% shareholding in its S. Stuttgart Ground Services joint venture to AHS, citing a desire to focus on its majority-owned operations. Terms were not disclosed. The JV dates back to 2001 when it was established by Swissport Stuttgart and Flughafen Stuttgart. The sale to AHS is being done "in amicable agreement" with Stuttgart Airport. The transaction will be transparent to customers and no redundancies or major organizational changes are planned. Current CEO Klaus Knopfle will remain as head of the company, Swissport said.
AirTran Airways' approximately 300 mechanics and aircraft inspectors, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, ratified a new 48-month labor contract. The airline said more than 70% of IBT members voted in favor of the agreement. AirTran will introduce service from Richmond to Ft. Myers Feb. 15 with a single daily roundtrip using a 717. It begins nonstop service between Richmond and Orlando on Nov. 8 as previously announced. AirTran also announced a fifth daily nonstop from Richmond to Atlanta effective Nov. 16.
International passenger traffic growth slowed in August from the torrid pace set in the first seven months of the year, IATA reported. August international traffic (RPKs) rose 6.1% compared to August 2004 versus a year-over-year improvement of 8.3% for the first eight months of the year. Cargo traffic increased just 2.8% in the month against an average of 3.6% year-to-date through August. "While we have tracked a softening cargo market since the beginning of the year, this is the first indication of a slower demand for passenger services.
Boeing employees represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ratified their tentative agreement with company in voting Thursday, putting an end to the nearly four-week walkout that began Sept. 2. In a statement, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Alan Mulally said, "We're very pleased with today's contract ratification by our machinists and look forward to their return to work. Our focus now shifts to ensuring a smooth restart of our production system and a return to a steady flow of airplane deliveries to our customers.
AAXICO hired Juergen Schibalski as regional business development mgr.-Hamburg office and Paula Glover as dir.-sales-the Americas. ACE Aviation Holdings named Brian Dunne executive VP & CFO, succeeding Rob Peterson, who becomes executive VP-finance & CFO at Aeroplan. Greg Cote was named senior VP-corporate finance & strategy. Aerospace Products Int'l. chose Jean-Marie Pogu as senior VP-marketing & sales. Air Transport IT Services appointed T. Jeffrey Shull senior VP-airport solutions.
With Northwest Airlines set to return 15 CRJs to lessors and Delta Air Lines expected to downsize its wholly owned Regional subsidiary Comair, eyes are focused on Independence Air, which could saturate the market for 50-seat regional jets if it enters bankruptcy and liquidates as some analysts expect. The financially struggling carrier already has cut its fleet from more than 80 CRJ200s to 57, with more reductions likely to follow.
British Airways named Tim Steeds its new director-safety and security from next month, succeeding Geoff Want, who was promoted to director-ground operations earlier this month. Steeds, a captain with 31 years of flying for BA, has spent the last three years as head of quality and regulations and was the airline's chief technical pilot in 1997-2002. He will retire from flying at the end of 2005.
World Air Holdings raised its revenue and operating income guidance for the third quarter that ends today on better-than-expected performance at World Airways and recently acquired North American Airlines. The parent now is forecasting quarterly revenues in the range of $215-$225 million compared to $195-$205 million previously, with military revenues of $145-$155 million versus $121-$131 million. It expects operating income to be $22-$24 million compared to the prior forecast of $15-$17 million.
Memphis-based Pinnacle Airlines is bracing for inevitable staff reductions that could begin as early as next week owing to planned capacity cuts at bankrupt Northwest Airlines, with which Pinnacle codeshares ( ATWOnline, Sept. 27).
Alitalia denied that it had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Air Alps and planned to relocate the Austrian Regional to the province of Bolzano, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Alitalia noted that any agreement with Air Alps would be limited to commercial considerations, as it is not permitted to buy shares in other airlines until the end of 2005 under the conditions set by the European Commission in approving a government-guaranteed €400 million ($482 million) bridging loan.
Air France will increase its fuel surcharge by €6 ($7.22) to €44 for long-haul flights and by €2 to €12 for mid-range flights from Oct. 4. It also will raise its domestic flight surcharge by €1 to €8.
MAIR Holdings, parent of Mesaba Aviation, reported yesterday that Northwest Airlines paid it only a fraction of what it is owed for participating in the Northwest Airlink feeder program for the first half of September.
Ryanair joined easyJet in calling on the British government to reject CAA's proposal to increase the tax on tickets for all UK passengers ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26). Last week, CAA published an assessment supporting its case for what it calls "modernizing the financial protection of air travelers and holidaymakers." It recommends that the scope of the current protection system be extended to protect all air travelers flying from the UK on international flights, with tour operator and airline passengers being covered by a single scheme funded by a short-term £1 levy on tickets.
Northwest Airlines is seeking concessions valued at $190 million per year from the approximately 14,400 fleet and passenger service employees, stock clerks and other workers represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and also wants to impose a temporary 5% pay cut that will remain in place until the company exits bankruptcy.
SAS Cargo, in conjunction with Sterling's purchase of Maersk Air's passenger business, is taking over the former Maersk Air Cargo from Oct. 1. The takeover includes the freight sales agency for eight foreign airlines in the Nordic and Baltic countries and 22 employees. Terms of the deal were not released.
Boeing and Malaysia Airlines incorporated a new Jeppesen Terminal Charts application into the Class 3 Boeing Electronic Flight Bag on MAS's two 777-200ERs, giving pilots access to Jeppesen's extensive library of more than 40,000 charts for airports around the globe while eliminating the volumes of paper charts once required on the flightdeck. The airline must complete a six-month evaluation period that began in July before it can cease using paper charts on its EFB-equipped aircraft.
Air France exercised options for three additional CFM56-powered A318s seating 123 in a single-class layout. AF launched the model in 1999 with an order for 15. It brought its first A318 into service in October 2003 and currently operates nine fitted with seating for 34 passengers in business class and 72 in coach. It will take delivery of nine more, including the three newly ordered aircraft, between now and spring 2007.
