Taiwan government agreed to allow Taiwanese airlines to seek permission from China to overfly Chinese airspace to save on fuel costs. In 2003, China offered to allow Taiwanese carriers to use its airspace but the Taiwan government declined. In a further softening of the Taiwanese hard line, the government agreed to allow its airlines to start negotiations on direct charter and cargo flights between the countries. Singapore and Sri Lanka finally formally signed an open skies agreement that came into effect last November.
Gol flew 959.7 million RPKs in July, up 62.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 55.5% to 1.2 billion ASKs and load factor was up 3.3 points to 80%. Year-to-date figures were not provided.
United Airlines flew 10.7 billion RPMs in July, down 2.4% compared to the year-ago period. Capacity dropped 4.2% to 12.38 billion ASMs and load factor was up 1.6 points to 86.4%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs dipped 0.2% to 66.51 billion, ASMs declined 2.7% to 81.43 billion and load factor gained 2.1 points to 81.7%. Northwest Airlines flew 7.47 billion RPMs in July, up 5.4% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 3.4% to 8.54 billion ASMs and load factor was up 1.2 points to 87.5%.
SR Technics Ireland was awarded a five-year contract by TUI Group for repair and overhaul of APUs on some 60 737/757/767 and A330 aircraft. SR Technics also committed to provide spare APUs on a lease basis during the repair cycle. TUI Group airlines are Hapagfly and Hapag Lloyd Express (Germany), Thomsonfly (UK), Britannia (Scandinavia), Corsair (France), Jetair (Belgium) and Arkefly (Netherlands).
In what SITA INC called "the first ever deal of its kind at a European airport," Dusseldorf outsourced its IT support in a contract worth $200 million over 10 years. SITA said it won the contract "with the strong support of its partners, EADS Telecom Deutschland GmbH and Siemens AG." There will be no redundancies among the existing 63 IT staff at the airport, SITA added.
Mediated negotiations between Northwest Airlines and its Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn.-represented employees broke down Wednesday after the carrier "refused to move beyond unacceptable demands," the union said. "Northwest's continued refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations destroyed yesterday's session and left little hope for a consensual agreement needed to avert a strike," AMFA National Director O.V. Delle-Femine said. "There is no use scheduling another negotiating session unless both parties come prepared to negotiate."
Frontier Airlines named former ATA Senior VP John Happ as its new senior VP-marketing and planning and Bill Schuyler as its new director-schedules. It promoted Anne McCollum to senior director-reservations and customer support.
Southwest Airlines flew 5.96 billion RPMs in July, up 14.7% over same month last year. Capacity climbed 12.7% to 7.28 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.4 points to 80.8%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 10.7% to 34.68 billion, ASMs rose 12% to 48.95 billion and load factor dipped 0.9 point to 70.8%.
American Airlines flew 13.62 billion RPMs in July, up 8.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 3% to 16 billion ASMs and load factor was up 4.1 points to 85.1%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 7.2% to 81.64 billion, ASMs rose 1.7% to 103.75 billion and load factor gained 4 points to 78.6%. Delta Air Lines flew 11.83 billion RPMs in July, up 6.1% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 5% to 14.07 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 84.1%.
AirTran Airways will launch daily nonstop flights from Flint to Ft. Myers Nov. 8 using 717s. Separately, AirTran flew 1.1 billion RPMs in July, up 39.4% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 32.6% to 1.36 billion ASMs and load factor was up 3.9 points to 80.8%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs rose 32.3% to 6.45 billion, ASMs increased 29.4% to 8.67 billion and load factor gained 1.6 points to 74.4%.
Rockwell Collins was selected by Hapagfly (formerly Hapag-Lloyd Flug) to provide its Programmable Audio Video Entertainment System on 10 new 737-800s with an option for 10 additional aircraft. Deliveries are expected to begin in January.
An Air France A340-300 skidded off the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport during a thunderstorm yesterday and broke into pieces, but there were only minor to moderate injuries among the 297 passengers and 12 crewmembers onboard, all of whom were evacuated safely before the aircraft wreckage caught fire.
Pinnacle Airlines reported net income of $13.8 million for the second quarter ended June 30, a 42.3% increase over net income of $9.7 million in the year-ago period. Total operating revenue rose 39.9% to $212.9 million while total operating expenses climbed 40.6% to $190.1 million, producing an operating income of $22.8 million, up 34.7% over operating income of $16.9 million in the year-ago period. "This quarter marks our tenth consecutive quarter of strong financial performance under our Airline Services Agreement with Northwest [Airlines]," President and CEO Phil Trenary said.
Continental Airlines flew 7.88 billion RPMs in July, up 7.8% over the year-ago period. Capacity rose 9.6% to 9.4 billion ASMs and load factor was down 1.5 points to 83.9%. For the seven months ended July 31, RPMs increased 9.4% to 46.29 billion, ASMs climbed 5.5% to 58.47 billion and load factor gained 2.8 points to 79.2%. For July, Continental said both consolidated and mainline passenger RASM are estimated to have increased 4.5%-5.5% compared to July 2004.
Finnair Technical Services will perform landing gear overhauls on seven ATR 72s operated by Mount Cook Airlines under an agreement with Air New Zealand Group valued at more than €1.2 million ($1.5 million).
CSA Czech Airlines Supervisory Board approved the decision of the board of directors regarding the winner of the tender for financing the purchase of 12 A320s/A319s. The banks are Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka a.s., BNP Paribas and Natexis Banques Populaires. CSA will finance its new airplanes valued at CZK10-CZK12 billion ($402.4-$482.9 million) through a 12-year financial leasing guaranteed by European export credit agencies. The aircraft will be delivered in 2006-08.
Cargo Connection Logistics Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cargo Connection Logistics Holding, was chosen by Continental Airlines to provide over-the-road service between Newark and 10 points located in the US Northeast and South.
Delta Air Lines yesterday introduced its redesigned and upgraded website. According to the carrier, the new website provides customers with more control of online ticket changes, seat assignments and check-in; the ability to cancel certain tickets within 24 hr.; the ability to calculate award mileage; more international award travel booking capability, and the ability to check in when connecting from Delta to certain other airlines.
Connexion by Boeing and Intel Corp. reached agreement to "enhance and promote high-speed inflight wireless Internet service." As part of the accord, the companies have completed compatibility testing with common Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptop configurations, making Connexion the first inflight Internet service to be verified through Intel's Wireless Verification Program.
Wizz Air signed an agreement to lease a new IAE V2500-powered A320 from ILFC. The aircraft will seat 180 in a single-class configuration. It will be delivered in April 2006 on a seven-year lease term. Volito Aviation added two A320s to its portfolio via a sale/leaseback with TACA. The aircraft are on lease with the Central American carrier through October. Financing was provided by DVB Bank AG. Volito placed a 1998 A320 with Sichuan Airlines on lease through July 2011. It is financed by PK Airfinance Luxembourg.
American Airlines Cargo added a new feature to its website that allows customers with blocked-space allocations or pre-booked arrangements to load up to 60 days of advance airbills in a simple online operation.
There is no shortage of warnings about the perils of the airline industry and the folly of not learning from its turbulent history. But the harsh lessons of the past are being ignored by many new low-cost carriers, say some analysts, who predict that the boom soon will turn into a bust.
Sabre Holdings Corp. said US Airways signed a renewal of its Direct Connect Availability Three-Year Option agreement, extending the pact one year beyond October. US Airways was the first carrier to sign a DCA-3 agreement and to join Galileo Internationals version of the program, Preferred Fares. In Sabres second-quarter earnings briefing with investment analysts, chairman Sam Gilliland said the extension of the agreement incorporates roughly similar terms and conditions as the original.
There's more truth than hyperbole in this observation, as can be demonstrated by comparing the profit margins of a random selection of suppliers to a like number of airlines over, say, a five-year period. Unless a Ryanair, Singapore Airlines or Southwest Airlines ends up in the airline draw, it probably won't even be close.
