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.
Focus Aviation, on behalf of Continental Airlines, arranged the sale of a third MD-82 to Khors Aircompany of Ukraine. Like the first two aircraft, this one will be put through a maintenance check by MNG in Turkey prior to delivery.
Boeing named Ahmed Jazzar to the new position of president of Boeing-Saudi Arabia. Jazzar joins Boeing after having spent 30 years with Saudi Arabian Airlines, where he retired as VP of its Technical Services Division.
US Airways Group, which is set to exit from Chapter 11 and merge with America West Airlines Holdings as early as next Tuesday ( ATWOnline, Sept. 19), cautioned yesterday in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it expects "significant" operating losses "to continue through 2006." On a pro forma basis, the carriers had a combined operating loss of $101 million and a net loss of $272 million on revenue of $5.14 billion for the first half of 2005.
MAXjet Airways, a proposed transatlantic premium airline, intends to commence service Nov. 1 operating six flights per week between New York JFK and London Stansted using a 767-200ER configured for just 102 passengers with 60-in. pitch. The Washington Dulles-based carrier, which began life as Skylink Airways in 2003, said it will offer "a high-quality, low-fare business class product" with everyday fares starting at $779 each way.
SN Brussels Airlines is preparing for a major management shakeup following the resignation, with immediate effect, of Management Committee Chairman Rob Kuijpers.
Sweden plans to impose a tax on airline tickets of SEK50-SEK100 ($6.50-$13) from May next year as part of efforts to help the environment, the government said Tuesday. According Reuters, airlines have protested the tax but the government said it is a necessary step as part of tax increases worth SEK3.6 billion to encourage more environmentally friendly energy use. "It is appropriate to introduce a system of taxing air traffic without unnecessary delay," it added.
A new form of airline operations is taking shape in Russia with five carriers putting their operating plans under the control of a single management company, AiRUnion, that may end up in a merger--but may not as well. Initially a December 2004 joining of KrasAir, Domodedovo Air Enterprise, Omskavia and regional carrier Sibaviatrans, the grouping later induced Samara Airlines to enlist. The name AiRUnion was announced in August at the Moscow Aerospace Show MAKS-2005, Deputy Commercial Director Alexey Marchukov told ATWOnline.
Turkish Airlines said it decided to buy five A340s it currently is leasing for a total $175 million. The carrier said in a statement that it will finance the purchases from its own resources. The lease periods are scheduled to expire between April 2006 and April 2011.
Garuda Indonesia and Boeing are in talks about an order for 10 787-8s and 18 737-800s potentially worth $2 billion. The order, if finalized, will replace a 1996 order for 777-200ERs. The 787-8s will be delivered between 2011 and 2013. The 737-800s will start the replacement of the airline's 737 Classic fleet. Garuda operates three 747-400s, an A330-300, 26 737-400s, 17 737-300s and five 737-500s.
In a move aimed at "strengthening its competitiveness" in European point-to-point markets that do not involve its hubs at Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich (Swiss International), Lufthansa is creating a new organizational unit with responsibility for "strategic and infrastructure development as well as ground processes, procurement of airport services and business processes" at the 11 German stations.
