Swiss International Air Lines on Friday announced that it will need to slash an additional 800-1,000 jobs by mid-2006 as it reported a net loss of CHF140 million ($121.5 million) for 2004, narrowed from CHF687 million in 2003. The layoffs are necessary in order to shed another CHF300 million in annual costs by 2007. Swiss warned that if they are not in place "swiftly," it will be unable to post a positive result for 2005.
Germanwings plans to set up its third base at Berlin Schoenefeld and initially will base two aircraft at the airport. It will launch direct service from Berlin to Ankara, Istanbul, Moscow, Split, Stockholm and Zagreb June 5.
Hawaiian Airlines, which has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for two years, Friday received bankruptcy court approval for its plan of reorganization, which was developed jointly by its creditors committee and investor group Ranch Capital. The airline said after its two remaining open labor contracts with its pilots and flight attendant unions are ratified and a formal order is entered by the court, it should emerge from Chapter 11 in early April.
British Airways said it has learned its lesson and will never cry victory again, yet it hopes it has reversed the trend of falling revenues. It expects its turnover to increase 3%-3.5% in the current financial year to March 31 and 3%-4% in FY06 following four successive years of declines. Revenues fell 20% from just over £9 billion ($17.3 million) in FY01 to about £7.5 billion in FY04.
Jouve Aviation Solutions was chosen by EVA Air to provide an integrated electronic maintenance manual and job cards system to support the airline's fleet.
Kitty Hawk reported net income of $5.4 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, which included a net one-time gain of $3.6 million. This compares to net income of $2.2 million in the prior-year period. Scheduled freight revenue rose 19.5% to $43 million. For full-year 2004, the company posted net income of $6.5 million, which in addition to the fourth-quarter special items included a further $1.8 million in net special charges. This compares to net income of $2.6 million in 2003, which included $3 million in special income.
Virgin Blue Deputy CEO and COO Rob Sherrard resigned for what he called "long considered and purely personal reasons." He was co-founder of the airline and oversaw its operations from its inaugural flight on Aug. 31, 2000. CEO Brett Godfrey paid tribute to Sherrard as a "strong leader" and "a mentor to many," adding he "made an outstanding contribution." Andrew David, previously GM-Pacific Airline for Air New Zealand, will replace Sherrard as COO.
Embraer inked an agreement with Chautauqua Airlines to manage and streamline the carrier's spare parts inventory using the Embraer Collaborative Inventory Planning program. According to the plane-maker, ECIP "shortens delivery times for contracted parts and establishes a baseline for carriers to better manage costs."
Canadian low-fare airline Jetsgo suspended operations without warning Friday and said it would seek bankruptcy protection. The action, which occurred at the start of the March vacation break for many colleges and universities in Canada, stranded an estimated 17,000 passengers, according to wire service reports. In a statement released Friday, JetsGo Founder and President Michel Leblanc said, "We deeply regret that this had to happen. The decision to cease operations was only taken after difficult deliberation."
Cebu Pacific inked a 12-year maintenance cost per hour agreement with GE Engine Services for maintenance, overhaul and repair of the 31 CFM56-5Bs that will power its new fleet of A319s/320s. According to GE, the agreement is worth $50 million. Cebu Pacific is scheduled to take delivery of 12 new A319s it ordered last December between 2005 and 2007. It will take two A320s in April and May.
Paul Boghosian, head of Hawaiian Investment Partners Group, which has proposed a bankruptcy reorganization plan for Hawaiian Airlines, was arrested after he allegedly agreed to pay a $500,000 bribe to an FBI agent posing as a hedge fund manager in exchange for a $2.5 million loan, the Associated Press reported. In addition, Boghosian made a number of misrepresentations to the bankruptcy court, among others regarding HIP's ability to provide approximately $300 million in new equity funding and financing in order to carry out the reorganization plan, it was charged.
Lufthansa Systems said Hapag-Lloyd Flug opted for the Lido Route Manual, a new electronically generated navigation chart system. The contract covers more than 40 Hapag-Lloyd and Hapag Lloyd Express aircraft and has an initial term of five years.
Air Asia's 49%-owned Indonesian affiliate airline PT AWAir was denied authority to fly to Singapore by that nation's CAA. "We are very disappointed by the treatment of CAAS in preventing AWAir from exercising our rights as an Indonesian-based carrier," the airline said in a statement, and it accused CAAS of engaging in delay tactics and using its application to serve Singapore as a "bargaining chip" in recent bilateral negotiations with the Indonesian government.
Delta Air Lines, which posted an industry-high $5.2 billion loss in 2004, said it expects to report a "substantial" loss in 2005 as well and warned in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that if it is unable to reduce its operating expenses further and continues to experience significant losses, it will be forced to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 4.78 billion RPKs in February, up 18.6% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 11.4% to 6.18 billion ASKs and load factor rose 4.7 points to 77.4%. For the two months ended Feb. 28, RPKs jumped 15.6% to 10.19 billion, ASKs increased 12% to 12.97 billion and load factor gained 2.4 points to 78.5%.
Bmi said it intends to begin thrice-weekly service from London Heathrow to Riyadh "shortly" after it launches its first scheduled long-haul flights from LHR to Mumbai on May 14. The exact start date for the Riyadh flights is not yet known--"We don't even have a month yet," a bmi spokesperson told ATWOnline. She added that the carrier hopes to be able to start the Riyadh service somewhere in the next summer schedule depending on regulatory approvals that still have to be obtained.
Swiss International Air Lines flew 1.4 billion RPKs in February, down 12.4% compared to the year-ago period. Intercontinental traffic dropped 14.9% to 1.03 billion RPKs while European RPKs dipped 3.9% to 351 million. Total capacity (ASKs) declined 14.3% to 1.95 billion, driven by an 18% fall in intercontinental ASKs to 1.3 billion, while European ASKs were down 5.6% to 632 million. As a result, system load factor rose 1.6 points to 71.2%. On European routes, load factor was up 1 point to 55.6%. Intercontinental load factor climbed 2.8 points to 78.7%.
Judicial investigation into the role played by Continental Airlines in the July 2000 Air France Concorde crash began in Paris yesterday. According to the Associated Press, Investigating Judge Christophe Regnard placed the US carrier under investigation for manslaughter and involuntary injury, a preliminary step before formally charging it. Accident investigators determined that the crash occurred after one of the tires on the Concorde's main landing gear ruptured, sending pieces of rubber and metal into the jet's fuel tanks and spilling fuel, which ignited.
JAL Group yesterday raised its profit forecast for the current financial year ending March 31 to ¥27 billion ($260 million) from ¥23 billion and revealed further details of its previously announced restructuring plan for the three fiscal years from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2008 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7).
Lufthansa and NetJets, as expected ( ATWOnline, March 8), yesterday announced a partnership argreement to create Lufthansa Private Jet, which will permit travelers to fly by business jet from more than 1,000 airports around Europe to Lufthansa's Munich hub to board connecting flights in first or business class. The agreement was signed in Munich by Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber and NetJets Chairman and CEO Richard Santulli. LH will conduct a six-month market test of the service beginning with the start of the summer schedule from March 29.
Gol flew 553.7 million RPKs in February, up 5.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 15.1% to 782.3 million ASKs and load factor declined 6.2 points to 70.8%. The airline did not provide year-to-date results.
Cathay Pacific Airways reported its second-best year with profit to shareholders of HK$4.42 billion ($566 million) for full-year 2004, up sharply over net income of HK$1.3 billion in SARS-affected 2003. Cathay attributed the growth to the improved Hong Kong and global economies compared to 2003 and noted that 2004 would have been its best year on record had there not been a sharp rise in the price of fuel.
