Pratt & Whitney announced a multiyear fleet technical management agreement with Singapore Airlines Cargo under which Pratt & Whitney Commercial Engines & Global Services will provide powerplant engineering and on-wing fleet management for SIAC's PW4000s.
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 13.06 billion RPKs in January, a 17.9% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 20.1% to 17.91 billion ASKs, lowering load factor 1.4 points to 72.9%. LH Passenger Airlines flew 9.2 billion RPKs, up 3.1%, against a 4.7% lift in ASKs to 12.52 billion. Load factor slipped 1.1 points to 73.5%. Skywest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew a combined 1.37 billion RPMs in January, up 9.9% year-over-year. Capacity rose 8.4% to 1.87 billion ASMs and load factor was up 1 point to 73.3%.
Air Line Pilots Assn. and the Southwest Airlines Pilots' Assn. issued statements last week protesting a proposal from Sen. Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.) that data from cockpit voice and flight data recorders be available to use as evidence when disciplining individual pilots. DeMint is the ranking member of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation's subcommittee on aviation operations, safety and security.
British Airways cabin crew represented by Unite last week announced they "unanimously backed the work of their negotiating team attempting to resolve the current dispute" and steered away from setting a date for strike action. Unite members endorsed strike action in a vote that saw 80.7% call for a walkout ( ATWOnline, Feb. 23). The union reportedly has until March 22 before its strike mandate expires under trade union legislation.
Ukraine International Airlines posted a UAH7.9 million ($977,400) profit in 2009, down 26.9% from the UAH10.8 million surplus reported in 2008. It was UIA's 10th consecutive year in the black. Revenue climbed 15.8% to UAH2.2 billion but operating income plunged 51.8% to UAH40 million from UAH83 million. President Yuri Miroshnikov said the carrier suffered just a 6% fall in passenger traffic despite a 17% decline in demand in the Ukrainian market. It operates 19 737s.
Turkish Airlines will introduce a new class and service product in between business and economy on its new widebody aircraft, CEO Temel Kotil told ATWOnline last week in Istanbul. The class is unnamed but "will exceed the premium economy standards of most other carriers and will be close to the business class of some other carriers," he said.
GuestLogix reached a multiyear agreement with Republic Airways to deploy its retail transaction platform and OnTouch, its branded onboard store design.
American Airlines and China Eastern Airlines are negotiating the latter's possible entry into oneworld, AA CFO Tom Horton said this week in comments cited by Reuters. CEA is in the market for an alliance and was hoping to make a decision by last week ( ATWOnline, Jan. 26). Horton also said that oneworld is talking with a Brazilian airline about oneworld membership. TAM is committed to Star Alliance but Gol remains in play and currently codeshares with AA.
Alaska Airlines, which tested Row 44's inflight Internet service last year, has chosen instead to offer Aircell's Gogo inflight Internet on its passenger fleet, excluding combis, by year end. The decision will prompt Aircell to add coverage in Alaska. It currently provides Wi-Fi coverage in the lower 48 states but said it wants "to ensure the service is available to the airline's namesake state." A 60-day customer trial of Row 44's inflight Internet conducted onboard an AS 737-700 last year found that 96% of passengers would use the service again
American Eagle Airlines is installing nine first class seats on each of its 25 CRJ700s and will offer "the same level of outstanding service customers experience on American Airlines" beginning July 2. By that time it also will have taken delivery of two of the 25 CRJs it has on order, all of which will be equipped with the new product
US Senate aviation subcommittee Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said long-stalled FAA reauthorization legislation "ought to be an urgent national priority." Speaking to the Aero Club of Washington, he said moving a reauthorization bill through the Senate is "my priority at the moment." Passage should be a "noncontroversial issue" that "in the end" will pass by a wide margin, he claimed. The agency's authorization officially expired on Sept. 30, 2007, and it since has remained operational via a series of temporary extensions passed by Congress
Etihad Airways said it will install new technology on its long- and ultra-long-haul aircraft that will aid it in managing inflight medical emergencies. The Tempus IC system "allows cabin crew to gather vital information about a passenger's health quickly and efficiently," including blood pressure and an electrocardiogram. It also enables the crew to take photo imagery. The information is transmitted to a medical team on the ground for further diagnosis and to make recommendations.
Amadeus reached a multiyear global distribution agreement with WestJet giving worldwide Amadeus agents access to the airline's content and real-time data.
Lufthansa Cargo and Austrian Airlines Cargo announced increased cooperation that will eliminate about 25% of the latter's 200 employees. Beginning July 1, the companies said they will "optimize" traffic through their Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna Hubs, merge global distribution services and "harmonize" product portfolios and production processes. LHC and OSC will integrate handling and distribution in Austria while freight activities in all other countries will be combined under LHC.
European Commission launched an investigation into a CZK2.5 billion ($131.7 million) loan to CSA Czech Airlines from state-owned firm Osinek in April 2009. Last October, the Czech government decided to free up the assets that secured the loan in order to allow CSA to use it as collateral to secure additional commercial loans "and continue in business," according to the EC
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.
