US Dept. of Transportation on Saturday issued a show cause order tentatively approving the application for antitrust immunity from oneworld partners American Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair and Royal Jordanian and also tentatively approved the three-way transatlantic joint venture among AA, BA and IB under which the carriers jointly will plan and manage capacity and share revenues.
Continental Airlines fleet service employees comprising ramp, operations and cargo agents voted in favor of representation by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Virgin America is raising its flat fee for checked bags from $20 to $25 for bookings made on or after Feb.12 for travel on or after March 1. The fee will be the same for "a first checked bag. . .through a tenth checked bag," the airline said. First-class passengers' first and second checked bags will be exempt, as will the first bag checked by business-class passengers and economy passengers with refundable tickets.
GuestLogix and Jetera Precision Media announced OnTouch Ads, available to carriers using the GuestLogix Onboard Retail Solution. GuestLogix will print destination-based advertisements on receipts issued from its POS handheld devices "featuring offers related to the passenger's various attributes and their travel itinerary." It said the long-term rollout "will include the integration of the new advertising service from GuestLogix with other OnTouch services deployed on travelers' mobile devices, including smartphones."
Spirit Airlines on Friday unveiled a feature on its website allowing potential customers to see how much of a given fare is comprised of fuel costs. "When a fare is $137 and fuel makes up $78 of that fare, customers can decide if the remaining $59 makes this a good time to buy," it said. The Miramar, Fla.-based LCC provides a chart showing how much fuel is used per passenger for A319 trips of various lengths with an 80% load factor. It also shows the current price of fuel and a per-passenger, per-trip fuel cost.
Kingfisher Airlines named former Delta Air Lines MD-Revenue Management, Pricing and Network Amit Agarwal senior VP-corporate development and planning. Air Berlin named SR Technics Senior Executive VP Helmut Himmelreich its new chief maintenance officer. Oman Air named former Coca-Cola executive Philippe Georgiou chief officer-corporate affairs.
The nine largest US airlines posted a cumulative net loss of $3.43 billion in 2009, ATWOnline calculated, considerably improved over a net deficit of $25 billion in 2008 when heavy goodwill impairment charges and Delta Air Lines/Northwest Airlines merger costs weighed down the collective bottom line.
Transaero Airlines, which operates 14 weekly codeshare flights with Austrian Airlines on the Moscow Domodedovo-Vienna route, is concerned about the Russian Ministry of Transport's decision to question OS's nationality. The government is arguing that, based on current bilateral agreements between Russia and Austria, OS no longer is considered a domestic airline following its acquisition by Lufthansa. It currently flies to Russia on temporary traffic rights ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8).
Blue Wings announced that it was insolvent yesterday, a month after suspending service. The Dusseldorf-based carrier said that "insolvency has become unavoidable since our principal Russian investor [48% shareholder Alexander Lebedev] has not kept his financial promises over the past several months." There is no indication that the carrier may resume flights, and no information was available regarding CEO Jorn Hellwig's effort to purchase Lebedev's stake. Hellwig owns 26% of Blue Wings ( ATWOnline, Jan. 22).
Arlington, Va.-based ARC reported ticket sales through participating travel agencies totaled $5.95 billion in January, up a healthy 10.7% over January 2009. Credit card sales, representing the bulk of agency sales, rose 12.3% year-over-year to $5.37 billion. Total fares excluding taxes and fees grew 11.1% to $5.0 billion. Domestic fares climbed 7.3% to $2.62 billion on a 6.1% gain in transactions, while international fares were up 15.6% to $2.38 billion on a 10% rise in transactions.
CSA Czech Airlines put up its entire fleet as a guarantee against loans offered by banks and the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Civil Aviation Authority sources told media in both the Czech Republic and Austria. The airline reportedly is depending on the cash to maintain operations and expects to report a record full-year loss of €115 million ($158.2 million) for 2009.
British Airways debuted its new first class cabin onboard a 777, featuring a bed widened by 60% at the shoulders, a personal wardrobe, electronic blinds and other amenities. BA said it is investing £100 million ($156.6 million) in the revamp.
The European Commission yesterday said it issued charges against "a number of companies concerning their alleged participation in price-fixing cartels in the airfreight forwarding business" and major air cargo players including UPS and DHL confirmed they were included. Other companies confirming receipt of a formal "statement of objections" from the EC included Panalpina, Kuehne & Nagel and DSV.
South African Airways said it is seeking private investors for its SAA Voyager division that administers its frequent-flyer program and its SAA Technical maintenance division. The state-owned carrier would remain in control of the two divisions but wants "equity partners," a spokesperson told Bloomberg News, while denying the move is a precursor to privatizing the airline.
American Airlines yesterday modified standby procedures for travel within and between the US, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Canada, stating that for tickets purchased from Feb. 22 it will only allow premium loyalty program members, holders of first- and business-class tickets, those who paid unrestricted economy fares and military personnel to remain eligible to fly standby at no charge on the day of travel for a flight on which they are not confirmed. Holders of standard economy tickets who want to change flights on the day of travel will be charged $50 if space is available.
Thai Airways named Pravich Rattanapira chairman of the executive board, succeeding Wallop Bhukkanasut. Air Berlin announced the departure of Chief Maintenance Officer Wolfgang Kurth, citing "differences of opinion concerning the future strategic positioning of the technical support companies and their integration in the Air Berlin Group." AB CEO Joachim Hunold will handle Kurth's responsibilities in the interim.
Southwest Airlines reportedly is under investigation by FAA for another possible safety violation related to aircraft maintenance. Multiple media reports cited sources with knowledge of the probe and The Dallas Morning News stated that FAA's Fort Worth office confirmed it but declined to provide details. According to reports, FAA is investigating whether a Seattle-based repair station contracted by the LCC used unapproved procedures to repair as many as 44 737s that then operated more than 100,000 flights.
AirTran Airways announced that flight dispatchers at its Orlando control center represented by the Transport Workers Union ratified a new 48-month collective bargaining agreement.
Australian government announced a A$200 million ($174.1 million) commitment to boost airport security across the country by 2011. All international airports are to be equipped with full-body scanners and machines that can detect liquid explosives, with A$28.5 million to be spent on a variety of screening technologies. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said full-body scanners will be introduced by early next year, the Australian Associated Press reported. Australia will spend A$32 million to increase security at regional airports.
American Airlines will begin charging economy passengers $8 for a blanket and inflatable pillow on North and Central American flights lasting more than 2 hr. on May 1.
United Airlines promoted VP-Financial Planning and Analysis Rohit Philip to the new position of senior VP-corporate strategy and business development. MD-Investor Relations John Gebo was named to succeed Philip and Tyler Reddien will succeed Gebo.
Kenya Airways flew 2.14 billion RPKs in the fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, up 1% year-over-year. Capacity rose 5% to 3.18 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 2.2 points to 67.4%. Passenger numbers rose 4.2% to 773,079.
Sabre Airline Solutions reached an agreement with Air Malta to provide its AirCentre Flight Plan Manager solution. Sabre Travel Network signed a multiyear, full-content distribution agreement with LAN Airlines and a deal to provide its SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service reservations system and Sabre AirCentre Enterprise Operations solution.
FAA yesterday published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on proposals to adjust certification regulations for FAR Part 61 and 121 pilots and "to gather information on whether current eligibility, training, and qualification requirements for commercial pilot certification are adequate."
IATA said executives from airlines around the world reported "a sharp improvement in the business environment" for the air transport industry in the final months of 2009 and are optimistic that conditions will continue to improve throughout the current year.
