Japan Airlines announced a number of new codeshare agreements. It will expand its agreement with Cathay Pacific between Japan and Hong Kong to include a daily roundtrip between HK and Fukuoka beginning Oct. 3 that will be operated by Cathay. The flight is routed via Taipei but JAL passengers can travel only between Fukuoka and Hong Kong. Also, JAL and Korean Air will expand their codeshare to include KAL's twice-daily flights between Fukuoka and Seoul. The deal becomes effective Oct. 3, subject to government approval.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, both of which filed for Chapter 11 protection last Wednesday, have begun shrinking their operations. Northwest told its pilots union it intends to cut flying hours by 13% over the next eight months, which will result in furloughs for 400 of the 5,200 pilots currently flying, according to the Air Line Pilots Assn.
Successful airlines around the world consistently teach five lessons, said Conor McCarthy speaking at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam. McCarthy, MD of the Plane Consult consultancy, a veteran of Aer Lingus and Ryanair and a co-founder of AirAsia, said the primary rule is that the human factors in both internal company makeup and customer relations that make airlines successful are "absolutely identical regardless of where you go around the world. Don't listen to the argument, 'Oh, it's different here.'"
Lufthansa jumped its fuel surcharge for long-haul flights to €52 ($63.80) per leg from €37 and its surcharge for domestic and intra-European flights to €12 from €9. The increases are in response to the surge in oil prices caused by Hurricane Katrina. LH noted that owing to its "forward-looking fuel-hedging policy and its modern, fuel-efficient fleet, it is in a relatively good position compared to its competitors."
AirCell began a flight demonstration program of its inflight broadband system. Targeted for commercial deployment in 2007, the system "will enable airline passengers to use their own laptops, PDAs and mobile phones in a fully integrated wireless cabin over a broadband air-to-ground link." US FAA has yet to approve the use of personal communication devices on commercial aircraft.
Austrian Airlines Group is mulling a number of ways to trim capacity further in the face of what it anticipates will be massive overcapacity in Europe this winter as well as intense competition from LCCs and sky-high fuel prices.
Drager Aerospace will supply passenger service units on the 787 under a long-term contract with Boeing, the German company announced. It will deliver the first units in October 2007 and will construct a production facility in Seattle to assemble the PSUs, which contain reading lights, loudspeakers, message indicator lights, oxygen masks and other equipment.
Varig would eliminate 1,500 jobs, or around 13% of its workforce, and the Rubem Berta Foundation would give up majority control of the airline under the company's bankruptcy reorganization plan presented in court earlier this week in Brazil. The Foundation, which represents current and retired employees, owns 56% of Varig. In the past it blocked restructuring efforts that would have resulted in a reduction in its stake.
European regulators aim to stem the rising tide of low-cost competition with a slew of new laws and regulations designed to prop up tottering legacy carriers, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary charged yesterday. Delivering the keynote address at the World Low Cost Airlines Congress in Amsterdam, O'Leary pointed to the new passenger rights legislation, the proposed world development tax, restrictions on route development aid from regional airports, emissions trading for airlines and illegal state aid to carriers such as Alitalia as examples of how the EU is trying to hurt competition.
Southwest Airlines has "strongly requested" that Boeing develop a more fuel-efficient successor to the 737-700 that would use technology developed for the 787, the Seattle Times reported earlier this week. CEO Gary Kelly made the remark during an interview in Seattle. "We are now facing energy prices that no airline can make money at, at least with today's [ticket prices], so we're anxious to partner with Boeing to find a successor aircraft," the newspaper quoted Kelly as saying.
Danish competition authorities approved the purchase of the commercial activities of Maersk Air A/S by Fons Eignarhaldsfelag hf of Iceland and the merger between Maersk Air and Sterling ( ATWOnline, July 4). The successor company is Sterling Airlines. "I am very pleased that the agreement is in place. This means that many jobs are now secure and a competitive airline company has been created for the benefit of our customers. Finally we can realize the many possibilities and advances ahead of us," Sterling CEO Almar Orn Hilmarsson said in a statement.
Middle East startup Jazeera Airways plans to operate its first flights on Nov. 16, Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai confirmed. The Kuwait-based LCC initially will operate about 30 flights per week to Dubai, Damascus, Amman, Beirut and Bahrain. This will rise to more than 75 weekly flights with the addition of destinations in Egypt, India and Southeast Asia.
Ryanair will establish its 15th European base at Nottingham East Midlands with a pair of 737-800s. Ten routes will be opened from March 7, adding to five already being operated at the airport. New destinations are Berlin, Derry, Nimes, Carcassonne, Nantes, Dinard, Limoges, Lodz, Wroclaw and Bergerac. Ryanair already serves Dublin, Shannon, Murcia, Barcelona and Rome.
Teledyne Controls said Japan Airlines selected its Enhanced Digital Flight Data Acquisition Unit and Aircraft Condition Monitoring System software development services for its new 737-800 fleet.
US Airways Group's creditors yesterday approved the carrier's plan of reorganization encompassing merger with America West Airlines Holdings, leaving bankruptcy court approval as the last key step in the process. A hearing is set for today. On Tuesday, America West shareholders approved the merger. "We have worked enthusiastically to put together a robust plan that will benefit our customers, our stakeholders and our employees.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines filed for bankruptcy yesterday, meaning that four of the Big Six US legacy carriers currently are restructuring under Chapter 11 protection.
JetBlue Airways took delivery of the first Embraer 190 in ceremonies in Brazil Tuesday. It has ordered 100 of the GE CF34-powered aircraft, which will be configured for 100 passengers in a 2-2 arrangement. The 190 received FAA certification Sept. 2, three days after Brazilian certification. "Today is a day JetBlue customers and crewmembers have been looking forward to for years," said CEO David Neeleman, who attended the handover.
SkyEurope Holding AG, the Austrian company that owns 52% of Bratislava-based low-cost carrier SkyEurope, announced the publication of a prospectus covering an initial public offering of up to 12.98 million ordinary shares. SkyEurope Holding is composed of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, ABN AMRO and the European Investment Fund. Bank Austria Creditanstalt holds 28% of SkyEurope while co-founder and CEO Christian Mandl and co-founder and Chairman Alain Skowronek own the remaining 20%, according to a report published earlier this year by Raymond James & Assoc.
Northwest Airlines yesterday disclosed that it had skipped $42 million in payments as its shares plunged 58% to close at $1.41 on a report in Tuesday's New York Times that the carrier may precede Delta Air Lines into bankruptcy owing to soaring fuel costs. The article cited anonymous sources who said the airline could seek Chapter 11 protection as early as today.
AirTran Airways would be the biggest beneficiary of a Delta Air Lines bankruptcy filing and stands to inherit "16 cents of every revenue dollar Delta leaves behind," but the entire industry would profit from anticipated double-digit capacity cuts, according to JP Morgan's Jamie Baker, who "officially" joined the chorus of those "calling for an imminent Chapter 11 filing." In a report released yesterday, Baker forecast that Delta will shrink capacity 15% from current levels, "approximating the shrinkage" at United Airlines and US Airways after those carriers entered bankruptcy.
American Airlines and United Airlines have written a letter to European Commission Director for Transport Daniel Calleja complaining about the Italian government's refusal to allow them to add their codes to flights operated by their respective EU partner airlines between Milan Linate and European gateway cities, ATWOnline learned from a source close to DG TREN.
The emirate of Abu Dhabi intends to withdraw its shareholding in Gulf Air over the next six months, leaving just two owners of the Middle Eastern carrier: The Kingdom of Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman. Qatar, the fourth founding partner, left in May 2002. Gulf Air President and CEO James Hogan said there will be no change to the carrier's "core approach to business or to its ongoing business strategy."
Indonesia Transportation Ministry grounded four 737-200s belonging to different airlines for maintenance in the wake of the Mandala Airlines crash that killed 143 on Sept. 5 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 7). The groundings resulted from spot inspections of the aircraft by Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa Saturday. He told Indonesian media that "due to the current situation [air crash], we have decided to carry out ramp checks every day."
Delta Air Lines could file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as early as this week, but not before a final board meeting to discuss the situation, according to a report in Monday's Wall Street Journal that cited "people familiar with the situation."
FedEx ordered six A300-600Fs plus an undisclosed number of options, Airbus announced Sunday. Deliveries will begin in 2007. Value of the order and engine selection were not released. FedEx operates 47 A300-600Fs plus 54 A310Fs.
