Midwest Airlines flew 254 million RPMs in May, up 38.2% over the year-ago period. Capacity climbed 26.7% to 358.2 million ASMs and load factor gained 5.9 points to 70.9%. For the five months ended May 31, RPMs rose 22.8% to 1.21 billion, ASMs increased 12.4% to 1.69 billion and load factor jumped 6.1 points to 71.3%.
ARINC's Asia/Pacific division will establish a joint venture with China's Aviation Data Communication Corp. to "research and develop new products and services for the global aviation market."
Independence Air celebrated its one-year anniversary last week. In addition, the carrier greeted its 5 millionth passenger at a ceremony at Washington Dulles.
Northwest Airlines named William Lentsch as its new VP-station operations. He replaces Suzanne Boda, who became VP-inflight services earlier this month. Lentsch joins Northwest from Champion Air, where he served as COO.
TAT Industries will purchase Sabena Technics following several months of discussions, as first reported by this website in March ( ATWOnline, March 21). TAT and Sabena signed an MOU at the Paris Air Show last week for the acquisition by TAT of the share capital of the MRO subsidiary of Sabena, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001. The MOU was approved by the various players involved, including the company's works council. The workforce agreed to a cut in salaries, which was a condition for TAT to keep the current level of employment.
LAN Airlines implemented interline e-ticketing with the alliance's member airlines--American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, Finnair and Aer Lingus--and their 17 affiliates.
Alaska Air Group's board of directors elected Marne McCluskey to the newly created position of VP-employee resources for Horizon Air. In this role, she will be responsible for the employee resource teams in Seattle and Portland and oversee recruiting and staffing, learning and development, performance management, employee compensation, employee relations and employee records and systems.
Iberia flew 3.99 billion RPKs in May, up 9.4% on the year-ago period, while capacity increased 7.3% to 5.35 billion ASKs. Consequently, load factor improved 1.4 points to 74.7%, the highest level ever reached by the airline in the month of May. The number of passengers carried grew 6.8% to 2.5 million. For the first five months of the year, passengers increased 2.8% on the year-ago period to 11 million, RPKs grew 7.1% on a 6.2% rise in ASKs, and load factor gained 0.6 point to 74.5%.
United Airlines and its International Assn. of Machinists-represented employees finalized a five-year agreement reached in principle last month, the union said Friday.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. placed a new $17 million revolving credit facility with First Tennessee Bank. The facility replaces the existing revolving credit agreement with Northwest Airlines, which was set to expire June 30.
CSA Czech Airlines completed reconstruction of its catering building in Prague, which will allow it to increase production of meals from 15,000 to 18,000 a day. CSA invested CZK136 million ($5.5 million) in the facility. The additional capacity could raise planned revenues from services for third parties by up to 25%.
26 Galileo International announced partnerships with Global Travel International, a privately owned travel company that provides the tools necessary to become an independent travel agent, and eTravCo, a travel agency resource that furnishes support to travel agent members. Both companies are using Galileo Web Services to develop online booking engines for their home-based clientele.
SR Technics UK was granted Japan Civil Aviation Bureau approval and is now the only organization in the UK to have Perform Repair and Alteration approval. The JCAB authority allows SR Technics UK to perform repairs and alterations to Japanese-registered aircraft components at its Stansted facility.
Alaska Airlines and its 700 aircraft technicians, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract. Terms of the deal were not released, but AMFA Region 1 Director Louis Key said it provides "job security language and wage increases that are unique to the current industry environment." The airline said the ratification process is expected to begin within the next two weeks.
Air Canada announced three executive appointments yesterday. The airline named Sean Menke executive VP and CCO effective July 11. He formerly was senior VP and COO at Frontier Airlines. In addition, AC appointed Joshua Koshy executive VP and CFO, effective Aug. 1. Previously, Koshy was senior VP-information technology at Emirates Group. He replaces Rob Peterson, who will continue in his role as executive VP and CFO of AC's parent company, ACE Aviation Holdings.
Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May called on the US government to reject proposals for special aviation taxes to fund international development projects.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and JetBlue Airways signed an educational collaboration agreement that "encourages cooperation between the two organizations," including training programs for JetBlue crewmembers.
The European Commission extended its initial investigation into the acquisition of Swiss International Air Lines by Lufthansa by two weeks to July 8. At that time, the EC will decide whether to clear the deal, conditionally clear it or open an in-depth probe that could last up to four months. A two-week extension usually is accorded in order to look at the "remedies" the carriers have proposed to meet competition concerns raised by the Commission. It also allows third parties, including competitors, to comment on the proposed changes.
Air Berlin plans to take on the future Swiss subsidiary of larger rival Lufthansa at its home base in Zurich. "Switzerland with Zurich, where we already have a plane, will become a further area of growth for us," Reuters quoted Air Berlin head Joachim Hunold as saying.
CAE was awarded a contract to provide Air Canada with two full-flight simulators for Embraer 170s and 190s, along with a suite of CAE Simfinity training devices. Based on list prices excluding BFE, the contract is valued at approximately C$27 million ($27.8 million).
US bankruptcy judge yesterday ruled that US Airways is allowed to offer retention bonuses to its managers and other salaried workers but not to its officers, Reuters reported. The airline said it needed the bonuses in order to keep as many employees as possible while it completes its reorganization and then merges with America West Airlines.
Styrian Spirit selected two NetLine products, NetLine/Ops and MaintenanceControl, from Lufthansa Systems that will help the carrier "optimize its resource planning and control processes." Meanwhile, the airline will take delivery of a CRJ700 next week.
