SITA announced a partnership with South Africa-based LoyaltyPlus to integrate the company's customer loyalty solutions into SITA's Horizon portfolio of passenger services used by more than 130 airlines.
SR Technics signed a two-year extension of its contract with Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India for maintenance services on CFM56-5B and CFM56-7B engines powering 61 A320 family and 737-800 aircraft. Contract is valued at CHF60 million ($55.7 million). Services will be performed at SRT's Zurich Engine Maintenance Center.
Delta Air Lines flew 13.81 billion system RPMs in January, a 5% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity was cut 5.6% to 18.01 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.5 point to 76.6%. Alaska Airlines flew 1.47 billion RPMs in January, up 9.5% year-over-year, against a 1% lift in capacity to 1.9 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 6 points to 77.7%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 661.6 million RPMs in January, up 2.2% year-over-year, while capacity was cut 2.7% to 804.9 million ASMs. Load factor rose 3.9 points to 82.2%.
Lufthansa Technik extended Total Component Support coverage to Lufthansa Regional's complete fleet of E-Jets under a long-term agreement signed with CityLine that added 20 E-190/195s to contracts already running with Augsburg Airways and Air Dolomiti.
Tiger Airways yesterday took delivery of its 19th aircraft, an A320 that is the second of two purchased directly from Airbus. It leases its remaining fleet and currently serves 33 airports. It said yesterday it is "exploring the feasibility" of expanding its Indian service and mentioned Trivandrum, Kochi and Trichy as potential destinations. It currently flies from Singapore to Chennai and Bangalore.
Austrian Airlines is moving forward with the delayed restructuring of its maintenance operation and plans to cut 210 positions--a quarter of its Vienna MRO workforce--a spokesperson told the Austrian Press Agency. OS no longer will serve third-party customers, with that work being transferred to Lufthansa Technik or other affiliated providers. The layoffs are part of Austrian's effort to reduce the number of employees to 6,000 by year end
Southwest Airlines stock clerks represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters rejected a tentative five-year labor agreement reached by the parties. The deal would have covered some 170 employees. The current contract became amendable in August 2008.
ANA will make one lavatory on international widebody flights available to women only beginning March 1 under a plan announced yesterday. The airline said it received "numerous requests" for the service. Lavatories will be located in the rear of the aircraft and will be available to passengers in all service classes. It said men will have access to the facilities in certain circumstances, such as illness, "personal emergency" or if the crew lifts the restriction because there are "very few female passengers" onboard.
US Air Transport Assn. reported yesterday that US airlines' passenger revenue rose 1.4% year-over-year in January, marking the first time since October 2008 that monthly revenue did not fall, while full-year 2009 cargo numbers revealed the largest one-year decline in history at 11%. The organization said that 0.4% fewer passengers traveled on US airlines for the month but the average price to fly 1 mi. rose 0.6%, the first such increase since November 2008. "Growth was strongest on transatlantic routes, where passenger revenue rose 3.4%," ATA said.
French air traffic controllers yesterday launched four days of industrial action, reportedly in protest of the European Commission's Single European Sky initiative that they claim could result in staffing cutbacks. The French DGAC released a statement ordering airlines to cancel 25% of their flights at Paris Charles de Gaulle and half at Orly from today through Saturday.
Lufthansa yesterday confirmed that the pilots strike launched Monday has ended and that it expects to resume normal operations on Friday "at the latest," with 400 additional flights added to today's reduced schedule.
PACE announced that Air Transat purchased Pacelab Cabin to support cabin upgrade studies for the Canadian leisure airline's A310 and A330 fleets and analyze future seating scenarios "in the context" of aircraft purchasing decisions.
Singapore Airlines flew 7.29 billion RPKs in January, a 1.6% fall from the year-ago month. Capacity was cut 7.8% to 9.21 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 5 points to 79.1%. China Southern Airlines flew 8.34 billion RPKs in January, up 10.6% year-over-year, against an 8.6% increase in capacity to 10.99 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 1.4 points to 75.9%. Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair flew 8.01 billion RPKs in January, a 1.6% rise year-over-year. Capacity was cut 3.6% to 2.14 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 4.3 points to 83.8%.
Continental Airlines plans to furlough 600 reservations center employees beginning April 11, comprising 350 current employees and 250 currently on leave, according to a company memo cited by numerous press reports. Most of the furloughs will come from its Houston call center.
Skywest Airlines, the Perth-based regional operator, reported a S$7.1 million ($5 million) net profit in the half-year ended Dec. 31, reversed from a S$2.8 million loss in the year-ago semester. Skywest's parent company is incorporated in Singapore. Revenue climbed 10% year-over-year to S$107.1 million. Skywest said it "has continued to engage. .
Greek air traffic controllers are scheduled to conduct a 24-hr. strike Wednesday, according to Aegean Airlines. The carrier said it was forced to cancel its entire schedule for that day.
ICAO announced that its Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection committed "to a timetable for the development of a [carbon dioxide] standard for commercial aircraft," aiming to have it ready in 2013. CAEP's eighth meeting, held this month, also recommended standards for nitrogen oxides "up to 15% more stringent than the current levels, applicable to new aircraft engines certified after Dec. 31, 2013." A cutoff of Dec. 31, 2012, was recommended for engines produced under existing NOx standards.
British Airways flight attendants represented by Unite overwhelmingly approved a strike in a ballot that closed yesterday ( ATWOnline, Feb. 22). The union said that 80.7% (7,482) of members who voted favored industrial action, with a 78.7% turnout recorded. Unite stressed that it has not announced a strike date.
Lufthansa yesterday reached a settlement with pilots represented by Vereinigung Cockpit, suspending the scheduled four-day strike that started at midnight Sunday/Monday until at least March 8.
Dassault Aviation, has appointed Renaud Cloatre as the new sales director for the Middle East region, based in Dubai. The new appointment comes as the company establishes its new regional sales office in the Dubai Airport Free Zone.
Mapjet, a Vienna-based startup, said it will begin selling tickets on March 15 for flights to Stockholm Arlanda, Amsterdam, Sulaymaniyah and Baghdad. Service to Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich also is planned. Flights should begin on March 28 aboard three leased E-195s.
US and EU negotiators concluded discussions in Madrid last week without significant progress on a second-stage open skies agreement, sources on both sides told Dow Jones. "It is clear it is going to take some time to get a deal," an EU spokesperson said, although sources said some progress was made. The deadline is November.
FAA announced a proposed $1.2 million civil penalty against GE Caledonian, a Glasgow Prestwick-based repair station, for "improper maintenance procedures" involving 101 engines between January 2005 and May 2008. The agency said during that time GEC "used a procedure to remove the thrust pins from the forward engine mounts of 101 CF6 engines that was different than the one required by the manufacturer's maintenance manuals.
US FAA's oversight of American Airlines' maintenance program "lacked the rigor needed" to uncover "weaknesses" that created safety concerns, the Dept. of Transportation's Inspector General said in a report issued last week that was highly critical of both FAA and AA.
