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.
Alteon Training and 787 launch customer ANA will establish a Tokyo Training Center at Haneda as part of the Alteon global training support network for the Dreamliner. The center will house a full flight simulator, flat-panel simulator, desktop systems, courseware and instructors and will be ready by the first quarter of 2008. The first 787 training center to be announced by Alteon, it primarily will serve ANA but will be available to all 787 operators.
Northwest Airlines named David Davis as its new senior VP-finance and controller replacing Jeff Putnam, who resigned. Davis returns to NWA after serving most recently as CFO of Houston-based Kraton Polymers LLC.
British Airways launched a voluntary scheme through which passengers may make a cash donation "to offset the carbon dioxide emissions from their flight." The money raised will be used by Climate Care, which invests in "sustainable energy projects that tackle global warming by reducing carbon dioxide levels." Air travelers can make the donation via a link from the airline's website "for the cost of emissions created by their journey." According to BA, the donation for a roundtrip fare between London Heathrow and Madrid would be £5 ($9.20), while a return flight to Johannesburg wo
Norwegian carried 321,365 passengers in August, up 71% over the year-ago period. Traffic rose 103% to 304 million RPKs, while capacity climbed 48% to 348 million ASKs. As a result, load factor jumped 15 points to 75%. Yield, however, fell 15% owing to an increased share of international traffic with lower average yields. The Oslo-based LCC noted that 75% of bookings came via the Internet during August, up from 60% a year ago.
United Airlines and South African Airways will begin codesharing this fall. Starting Nov. 1, SAA will place its code on UA domestic flights from Washington Dulles to San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Subject to regulatory approval, the UA code will appear on SAA's Washington Dulles-Johannesburg service and its service within Africa and between South Africa and Europe. SAA will become a fully integrated Star Alliance member in early 2006.
Contract talks between Northwest Airlines and the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. aimed at ending a 23-day walkout broke down Sunday and the company said it will begin hiring "permanent replacements" for striking mechanics today ( ATWOnline, Sept. 12). Negotiations apparently collapsed over the issue of severance pay for workers whose jobs were to be eliminated or outsourced.
Star Alliance said it became the first alliance to offer frequent-flier program upgrade redemption options across the group rather than on an individual carrier basis. The enhancement is available to the FFP members of ANA, Austrian Airlines, LOT, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. Other Star carriers including Scandinavian Airlines will begin to participate during 2006.
Northwest Airlines raised the level of concessions it is seeking from striking mechanics and aircraft cleaners while cutting the number of workers it will bring back. According to wire service reports that NWA declined to confirm, which cited officials of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., the company is seeking $203 million in labor cost savings from AMFA, up from the $176 million it sought prior to the strike. Additionally, whereas it previously wanted to eliminate roughly half of the 4,400 positions filled by AMFA members, it now seeks to bring back just 1,000 of the workers.
CAE will provide A320 pilots to Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling in what is known as a pilot provisioning program. CAE committed to find A320 type-rated pilots for Vueling as well as to train those who do not have type ratings. Initially the program targets recruitment of 80 candidates over a period of 18 months.
With jet fuel costs expected to rise by more than $9 billion this year, the Air Transport Assn. is pushing for tax relief from Congress and the Bush Administration. "There simply is no rational business plan we can continue to operate under with fuel at the price it is today," ATA CEO James May said during an interview with CNBC Friday. The trade group has raised its industry loss forecast for 2005 to $9-$10 billion.
Aeroflot Russian International Airlines reported that earnings for the first half to June 30 fell 14.3% to $69.3 million from $83.6 million in the year-ago period, largely owing to higher fuel prices. Revenue rose 18.7% to $1.04 billion but operating costs climbed 23.3% to $957 million, reducing operating income 16.8% to $86.5 million from $103.3 million.
Mechtronix said its Ascent FFS X 737-800 simulator received Level D certification by CAAC. The unit is installed at the Flight Simulator Training Center of Civil Aviation Flight University in Guanghan, Sichuan Province.
CSA Czech Airlines will end its Prague-Newark route by the end of October but continue to operate A310 services to New York JFK. Separately, the airline said it expanded its e-ticket facilities for travel agents in the UK with Amadeus and Galileo. Sabre will come online Sept. 15 and Worldspan Oct. 1.
