EasyJet asked the UK government "to resist calls" from the CAA for a £1 ($1.79) levy per passenger to be imposed on all UK-originating international flights to fund its ATOL scheme to protect customers when tour operators fail. "We agree that consumers should be protected against the financial failure of airlines, but we disagree violently with the solution proposed by the CAA.
Citing "the strength of the combined networks of Air France and KLM" and its strategy of targeting "fast-growing markets in Latin America and Asia, as well as to oil and gas destinations," Air France said it is raising system capacity (ASKs) 6.4% in the 2005-06 winter schedule compared to the 2004-05 schedule, with intercontinental capacity up 8.6%.
Panasonic Avionics Corp. signed a letter of intent to use AeroMobile's inflight mobile communications technology in its S3000 AVOD IFE system as well as its new-generation X series systems efx, eX2 and x-wireless.
Continental Airlines planned to cease operations at Houston by noon today in the face of what is expected to be the second Category 4 hurricane to hit the US Gulf Coast in less than a month. Continental, which maintains its largest hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport and has limited operations at close-in Houston Hobby, said flight cancellations for the mainline and Continental Express are expected to total 1,089 on Friday and 828 on Saturday.
Swiss International Air Lines board of directors elected Rolf Jetzer chairman in its first meeting since being reconstituted to give effect to the carrier's acquisition by Lufthansa. Walter Bosch was elected deputy chairman. The size of the board was reduced from eight members to five and previous members Pieter Bouw, Claudio Generali, Michael Pieper, Jan Audun Reinas and Peter Siegenthaler retired.
Thales said ANA ordered a 737-700 simulator for installation at the ANA Flight Training Center at Tokyo Haneda for delivery in early 2006. Malaysia Airlines ordered an A380-800 simulator that will fitted with an Evans & Sutherland EP1000 visual system using LaserWide projection.
JetBlue A320 landed safely and without injury to any of those onboard Wednesday evening after its nose landing gear jammed during retraction, leaving the wheels turned 90 deg. from the aircraft centerline. The flight had just departed Burbank en route to New York JFK. After circling for nearly 3 hr. to dump fuel and try to clear the problem, the pilots made an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport around 6:19 p.m. local time and passengers deplaned normally. The landing was captured live on national television and seen by passengers on the aircraft's LiveTV screens.
Avion Group ordered four 777 freighters and took purchase rights on two more with deliveries beginning in February 2008. The aircraft will be offered on ACMI leases by Avion subsidiary Air Atlanta Icelandic. Additionally, Boeing said it is in "serious negotiations" to convert three of the carrier's 747-400 passenger aircraft into freighters. Boeing did not provide a separate value for the 777Fs but said that in combination with the possible conversion program, value of the transaction at list prices is approximately $1 billion.
SkyEurope Holding, parent of the airline, completed its initial public offering of 12.98 million shares priced at €6 ($7.33) per share. The offering consisted of 10 million new shares and 2.98 million existing shares, including an overallotment option of 1.18 million shares. Total proceeds were €78 million of which €60 million went to the company. Market capitalization, based on the offering price, is €120 million.
Republic Airways Holdings completed the previously announced purchase of slots and aircraft from US Airways for $90 million ( ATWOnline, June 27). The deal included the purchase of 10 Embraer 170s for $38.2 million and the assumption of $168.7 million in debt and the leases on 15 170s. The aircraft will continue to be operated in the US Airways Express network. Republic also purchased 113 commuter slots at Reagan Washington National Airport and 24 commuter slots at New York LaGuardia for $51.6 million.
Sinex Aviation Technologies Corp., which provides aviation maintenance software solutions and consulting services, changed its name to EmpowerMX. The Duluth-based company also said it released Reliability Manager, a new module in its FleetCycle Suite that will automate data-gathering for aircraft maintenance and reliability functions, tying processes together based on aircraft reliability workflow.
Delta Air Lines plans to eliminate 7,000-9,000 jobs by the end of 2007 and reduce pay for most of those employees who remain as it tries to restructure under bankruptcy protection, the carrier said yesterday. The cuts are in addition to 6,000-7,000 jobs targeted for elimination in last year's Transformation Plan, which aimed at achieving financial benefits totaling $5 billion through 2006. In yesterday's announcement, Delta put the size of its current workforce at 52,000, although in a supplemental brief to last week's bankruptcy filing it claimed 60,000 employees.
Swissport International will provide ground handling to easyJet at Geneva, where the LCC will be operating 250 weekly flights by December. The five-year agreement covers passenger services, ramp and ticketing. Swissport already services easyJet at Paris Charles de Gaulle, London Stansted, Hamburg and Basel.
Aeroflot will lease six IL-96-300s, the same type that was grounded last month, it said in a statement. The aircraft will leased for 15 years from Ilyushin Finance Co. In August, Russia grounded all IL-96-300s owing to problems with the brakes ( ATWOnline, Sept. 12). Transport officials have hinted the planes may be allowed to fly again in October after repairs. Aeroflot, which has six of the 13 IL-96-300s currently in use, was forced to cancel some of its flights to the US, Canada, Vietnam, China and South Korea.
Northwest Airlines will lay off at least 900 and as many as 1,400 flight attendants through Jan. 31 as it shrinks in bankruptcy. According to a statement on the website of the Professional Flight Attendants Assn., NWA plans two rounds of furloughs covering the first 900. The first will be effective Oct. 31, "while the second is slated for sometime in January 2006." The carrier plans an additional 500 furloughs at that time, but that number is subject to change, PFAA said.
CAE announced a number of simulator orders valued in total at C$58 million ($49.6 million). Japan Airlines ordered three 737NG simulators scheduled to be delivered over a 12-month period beginning in the spring of 2007. Finnair ordered an Embraer 170 simulator and accompanying FMS trainer for delivery and installation in the summer of 2006. Air New Zealand purchased a CAE Simfinity 777 integrated procedures trainer.
The strike at Boeing that has idled aircraft assembly lines since Sept. 3 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 6) is beginning to impact schedules at other airlines as well, with Ryanair and ANA announcing changes to services owing to delivery delays. ANA will postpone the planned introduction of the 777-300ER between Tokyo and Los Angeles that had been set for Oct. 8. It will continue to operate the route with current aircraft.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. lost $30 million in the month of August, primarily owing to $82 million of largely noncash reorganization expenses related to the rejection of aircraft. Excluding reorganization charges, the company reported a net profit of $52 million for the month. It did not provide a comparison with 2004, but last year it reported a net loss for the month of $56 million net of $11 million in reorganization expenses ( ATWOnline, Sept. 24, 2004).
Hurricane Katrina has had a "fairly significant impact" on Southwest Airlines' operations, but CEO Gary Kelly does not see a "dramatic hit to earnings" in the third quarter that ends next week, although "clearly it won't be a plus."
Cyprus Airways said job cuts are inevitable in a survival package to be put to authorities for approval next week. The group posted a net loss of CYP20.4 million ($43.3 million) for the first half of 2005. Reuters reported that the company is working on the best possible redundancy package for an unspecified number of its 2,000-plus staff.
Delta Air Lines yesterday said it will launch service between Boston and Baltimore/Washington International Airport Dec. 1 with six daily roundtrips. The route, as well as new services out of its Atlanta and Salt Lake City hubs, will be operated by carriers in the Delta Connection feeder network. In the case of Boston-BWI, flying will be performed by Comair. New nonstop destinations from Atlanta include Madison and Green Bay, Wis.; Burlington, Vt., and Springfield, Mo., all of which will be operated by Atlantic Southeast Airlines.
FedEx Corp. said net income for the fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31 rose 3% to $339 million from $330 million on a 10% increase in revenue to $7.71 billion. Operating expenses grew 11% to $7.12 billion, propelled by a 51% jump in fuel expense. Operating income was up 1% to $584 million from $579 million last year.
Gol and its Mexican business partners submitted a preliminary business plan to Mexican civil aviation authorities covering their proposal to create a low-cost carrier. Plans are to begin service in the second quarter of 2006.
TAP Portugal and bmi signed up to trial the commercial use of mobile phones onboard of some of their A320 family aircraft in partnership with OnAir, the Airbus-SITA joint venture. The trials will take place toward the end of 2006 based on the current timetable to have OnAir's onboard equipment "fully certified" with "the necessary telecommunications regulatory framework put in place."
China's airline industry will absorb 2,600 new airplanes worth $213 billion over the next 20 years, according to Boeing's "Current Market Outlook," making the PRC the largest market for aircraft outside the US. China's fleet will nearly quadruple to more than 3,200 aircraft by the end of the forecast period, according to Boeing. Single-aisle aircraft will account for 1,678 deliveries while "intermediate twin aisles" such as the 787 and 777 will comprise 568 airplanes. Boeing sees a market for just 73 units of 747 size and larger. Regional jets will total 293 units.
