Travelport, which operates the Galileo and Worldspan GDSs, and IBM announced a "multiyear, multimillion-dollar agreement" under which IBM will provide Travelport with "significant upgrades to its existing systems architecture and software infrastructure." Under the agreement, Travelport will upgrade its core operating system software to the IBM z/Transaction Processing Facility. Sabre Travel Network signed a three-year global distribution agreement with British Airways, providing global access to the airline's full content and inventory via the Sabre GDS.
AirTran Airways yesterday opened pilot and flight attendant bases at Milwaukee for more than 100 737 crewmembers. "Opening these crew bases is the next natural step of our expansion in Milwaukee," Chairman, President and CEO Bob Fornaro said. AirTran began operations at MKE in 2002. Yesterday it launched twice-daily MKE-Dallas/Fort Worth service, saying it is "the only carrier to operate full-sized, Boeing jets on the route." A spokesperson told ATWOnline it is operating the service with 717s.
European Regions Airline Assn. said its members recorded a 4.2% decrease in passengers carried for 2009. ASKs remained stable compared to 2008 and RPKs rose a slight 0.5%, inching load factor up 0.3 point to 64.8%. "The economic recession has been worse than the combined effects of the Gulf War and 9/11, making 2009 the most challenging year on record," the organization stated. "Nevertheless, ERA has continued throughout to fulfill its role in providing essential air services for Europe's regions.
Lufthansa pilots renewed their threat to strike for four days starting April 13 unless they can agree with the German flag carrier on terms for arbitration. The Vereinigung Cockpit union denied several German media reports that it had dropped its strike call as demanded by the airline. A one-day pilots strike in February cost LH around €48 million ($64.7 million) as it was forced to cancel 2,000 flights.
Continental Airlines and US Airways implemented passenger deplaning procedures for lengthy tarmac delays in preparation for the US Dept. of Transportation's new rule taking effect April 29 that will require airlines to let passengers disembark when delays reach 3 hr. or face hefty fines.
Two of the airline industry's ancillary revenue pioneers are attempting to see how far the fee-for-service concept can be pushed, with Spirit Airlines announcing that it will charge passengers up to $45 for carryon bags and Ryanair revealing that it is continuing to pursue its pay-per-use toilet idea.
AerCap Holdings signed a five-year, $120 million corporate debt facility agreement with UBS as lead arranger. The facility will be used for "general corporate purposes," it said.
Republic Airways Holdings will rebrand Frontier Airlines and Midwest Airlines, both of which it acquired last year, under a single name and plans to announce the new moniker (likely either Frontier or Midwest, though there is some speculation that a combined name or new brand could be revealed) in dual ceremonies in Denver and Milwaukee on April 13, The Indianapolis Star reported. The rebranded airline will be managed out of Republic's Indianapolis headquarters.
Pinnacle Airlines and United Steelworkers AFL-CIO reached a tentative agreement to amend the collective bargaining accord covering 930 ground operations employees at Memphis and other locations. Ground operation employees now must ratify the agreement, it said.
AirTran Airways flew 1.74 billion RPMs in March, a 9.6% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity grew 5.5% to 2.07 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 3.1 points to 83.8%. AirTran said the load factor and RPMs represent new all-time company records for both the month of March and the first quarter. Allegiant Air flew 571.2 million RPMs in March, up 15.4% year-over-year, against a 14.4% lift in capacity to 636.7 million ASMs. Load factor rose 0.8 point to 89.7%.
Southwest Airlines Pilots Assn. said the US Dept. of Transportation should not approve the Delta Air Lines/US Airways slot-swap deal. Under an arrangement announced last month intended to alleviate DOT concerns, DL would gain a net 110 slot pairs at LGA and US a net 37 at DCA
FedEx moved to take another step in the effort to automate air cargo, yesterday introducing Electronic Trade Documents, which will allow shippers to upload international shipping documentation electronically. IATA has been pushing the air cargo industry to embrace "e-freight," arguing that paper accompanying airfreight adds more than $1 billion in costs annually and creates mistakes, lost documents and related confusion that cause cargo to get held in customs facilities ( ATW, June 2008).
Qantas A380 suffered a dual tire blowout on landing at Sydney last week. Flight QF32 from Singapore arrived at SYD on Wednesday at 8.30 p.m. local time and on touchdown is understood to have suffered a brake problem that apparently locked the wheels.
ANA confirmed the merger of its Air Japan charter and ANA & JP Express cargo subsidiaries, following up on a corporate plan announced last month ( ATWOnline, March 22). Both operate 767s. ANA & JP will be dissolved following the acquisition by ANA of shares held by Japan Post Service (33.3%), Nippon Express Co. (10%) and Mitsui OSK Lines (5%) last week. Air Japan employs 411 and ANA & JP 207. ANA said the impact on its consolidated results "will be minor."
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said last week that the airline wound up flying "well over 80%" of those customers booked on flights during the March 27-30 flight attendants' strike
FAA said that pilots taking specified antidepressant medication will be permitted to fly on a case-by-case basis if they have been treated with the medicine for at least one year. Additionally, it said it will not take action against pilots who take advantage of a six-month opportunity "to share any previously nondisclosed diagnosis of depression or the use of these antidepressants." FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said, "We need to change the culture and remove the stigma associated with depression.
Chinese government cut the domestic fuel price by CNY10 ($1.46) per ton to CNY5,200. It is the second adjustment this year following a CNY20 per ton increase on Jan. 1. Beijing makes a decision on the fuel price each quarter. Fuel currently accounts for 40%-50% of Chinese carriers' total operating expenses. China Southern Airlines is expected to benefit most from the new cut as it operates the largest number of domestic routes, comprising 80% of its total. CZ will save about CNY25.5 million in annual fuel costs.
IATA reported that demand for passenger travel and cargo transport "continues to rise strongly," but noted that carriers are adding back capacity "at a cautious pace," leading to a slower rise in yields. In its latest "Airlines Financial Monitor," the organization said that "capacity restraint [is being] partly achieved by reducing aircraft utilization, slowing recovery of profits." But with load factors high, fares are 10%-11% higher than mid-2009 levels, it said.
The US Dept. of Homeland Security Friday began implementing enhanced, "more flexible" security protocols for international flights to the US, including additional screening of passengers matching "current, intelligence-driven and threat-based characteristics."
Pan Am International Flight Academy of Miami was awarded a three-year, $3.5 million contract from FAA to provide pilot training for FAA inspectors on A300, 737-200, 737-300, 747-400, 767, 777, CRJ100/200, CRJ700, DC-8 and E-170/190 simulators.
Air Pacific named Virgin America Senior VP Dave Pflieger as its new MD and CEO effective May 1, succeeding the retiring John Campbell. Pflieger, 47, joined VX in 2004 and led the effort to secure certification as a US carrier. An A319/A320 captain, he piloted the airline's inaugural flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles. Prior to joining VX, he was VP-operations at Delta Air Lines subsidiary Song.
Virgin America, Virgin Blue and its V Australia subsidiary announced the linkage of their loyalty programs. VX and Blue also announced a cabin crew exchange program set to start in October.
Lufthansa pilots represented by Vereinigung Cockpit have proposed arbitration to settle their dispute with the airline prior to the four-day strike scheduled to start April 13, a union spokesperson told the Associated Press. In response, LH said it would only discuss arbitration if VC first called off the strike. Chief Officer-Group Airlines and Corporate Human Resources Stefan Lauer told reporters in Frankfurt this week that the airline will seek damages from VC if the strike occurs and that extensive negotiations are required to solve the dispute.
Bahrain Air said it is targeting a breakeven 2011 and that its board has boosted its authorized capital by 50% to BHD30 million ($79.3 million). The carrier, which began flying two years ago, launched thrice-weekly flights to Dhaka and four-times-weekly service to Chittagong last month and plans to begin serving Istanbul Ataturk on June 16. It operates four A320s and two A319s.
ICAO said its four-day High-Level Safety Conference in Montreal concluded with a "strong mandate" by attendees to "create a global safety information exchange to enable analysis of key safety indicators." The HSC, attended by more than 600 participants including ministers and directors general of civil aviation from 150 member countries, called upon ICAO "to facilitate the collection, analysis and dissemination of safety information" provided by member states and industry stakeholders throughout the international aviation community.
