Airlines & Lessors

Etihad Airways has unveiled plans to set up a cadet pilot training facility, with the acquisition of the Horizon International Flight Academy’s fixed-wing training division.

Norwegian Air Shuttle and its cabin attendants’ union reached a new collective agreement this weekend, canceling a strike threat.

Lufthansa, which presented a new premium-economy class in March, has announced its first routes with the new reconfiguration.

Turkish Airlines began Istanbul-Boston service with five flights weekly, with an increase to daily service June 9.

Briefs from the May 19, 2014 issue of ATW's Skypaths

Gross Orders year-to-date, sorted by date of order placement with manufacturer. Sources: Airbus, Boeing, ATW Research

Aircraft deliveries year-to-date, sorted by delivery date. Note: AIRBUS orders are in CAPS for differentiation purposes. Sources: Airbus, Boeing, ATW research.

Airbus has confirmed that China Southern Airlines has signed a purchase agreement for 80 A320 family aircraft, comprising 30 A320ceos and 50 A320neos.

Top 25 US Airlines for the month ranked by Full-time Equivalent (FTE) employees. Full-time Equivalent (FTE) Employee calculations count two part-time employees as one full-time employee.

Spanish budget carrier Vueling has converted five of its 62 Airbus A320 orders to A321s, trimming its A320 commitment to 57 aircraft.

African budget carrier Fastjet has suspended operations at its Fly540 Ghana subsidiary as part of its long-running battle to curb its legacy Fly540 losses.

Malaysia Airlines has posted a first-quarter net loss of MYR433 million ($138 million), 59% worse than the year-ago period.

The Icelandic Parliament has banned all industrial action by Icelandair pilots, according to an airline statement.

Netherlands-based AerCap Holdings has completed the acquisition of US lessor International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC).

A CityJet flight from London City to Florence was forced to return to the airport shortly after takeoff on Thursday when a piece of the wing became detached.

Romania-based Tarom is reportedly considering resuming Bucharest Otopeni-Beijing services from August.

Airbus and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have completed a 10-hour flight from Amsterdam to Aruba with an A330-200 using sustainable jet fuel, the longest biofuel flight to date by an Airbus aircraft.

Boeing Flight Services and low-cost carrier (LCC) Scoot have signed a five-year pilot training agreement to support the Singapore-based airline’s fleet transition to 787s.

People

Worldwide commercial airline passenger traffic, RPKs, load factors, and FTKs year-to-date.

Monthly aircraft deliveries by type, engines and manufacturer, with registration, aircraft serial number and lessor information.

Republic Airways Holdings (RAH) is shrinking as a consequence of its pilots rejecting a new labor contract in April, according to chairman, president and CEO Bryan Bedford.

Eastern Air Lines Group said it has ordered Boeing 10 737-800NG aircraft, with additional purchase rights for 10 MAX 8 aircraft.

Airberlin reported a first-quarter net loss of €209.8 million ($288 million), widened from a net loss of €196.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Australian flag carrier Qantas is seeking voluntary redundancy from its pilots, in a first move to cut $1.8 billion in costs and reduce staffing levels by 5,000 over the next three years.