Air France announced the introduction of a new seat on A320 family aircraft operating domestic flights. The Recaro seat will be phased in from Jan. 30 and will be 40% lighter (weighing 9.1 kg.) than its predecessor and feature 2-3 in. in additional legroom and a 15-deg. recline, AF said. Separately, AF denied reports that it is planning to introduce the compulsory purchase of an additional economy class seat for overweight passengers, saying it "has no intention of making corpulent passengers pay for a second seat." From Feb.
CAE announced the sale of A320 and A330 CAE 7000 series full flight simulators to China Eastern Airlines subsidiary Shanghai Eastern Flight Training. Simulators are valued at C$30 million ($29.2 million) at list prices and will be delivered in 2011. SEFT currently operates six CAE FFSs: Four A320s, one A330/A340 and one 737. CAE said it also has received the cancellation of an unidentified simulator order placed last year.
Air China parent CNAC is expected to receive a CNY1.5 billion ($219.4 million) cash injection from the Chinese government to pay back the loans it used to finalize last year's acquisition of its Air China Cargo subsidiary, according to CA Board Secretary Huang Bin.
Bmi will cease offering business class on flights from London Heathrow to destinations in the UK and Ireland from Jan. 27. In addition, passengers purchasing higher Flexible Economy fares will be able to change tickets without a fee and will have access to lounges, reserved seats at the front of the aircraft and free food and beverages onboard. It also announced the launch of twice-daily London Heathrow-Vienna service on March 28 using an A320. Star Alliance partner and fellow Lufthansa subsidiary Austrian Airlines will codeshare.
News from Travel Technology Update: When you think about groundbreaking technology in the travel industry, your thoughts probably don't turn to a 125-year-old company. But NCR Corp., founded to market the first mechanical cash register, has over the last century been a leader in areas as diverse as automated credit systems (1914) and digital computers for aviation (1952).
Amadeus will provide Emirates, Finnair and TACA with its Marketing Information Data Tapes, which contain information about airline bookings made by travel agencies connected to the Amadeus GDS.
SIA Engineering Co. broke ground for a non-OEM provider of MRO services by purchasing a stake in Pratt & Whitney's PW1000G engine "risk-revenue sharing program" in exchange for a key role in Pratt's MRO network. SIAEC, a member of Singapore Airlines Group, will hold a 3% stake in the engine RRSP for the Bombardier CSeries and a 1% stake in the Mitsubishi Regional Jet engine RRSP.
Boeing, Etihad Airways, Honeywell's UOP subsidiary and the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (an Abu Dhabi-based research and graduate program partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) announced an agreement to establish a major initiative dedicated to developing "sustainable energy solutions." The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Project will use integrated saltwater agricultural systems to support the development and commercialization of biofuel sources for aviation and co-products.
Continental Airlines will record $77 million in fourth-quarter special charges and $145 million for the full year, as well as a noncash income tax benefit, it said. The fourth-quarter items comprise $36 million in aircraft-related charges, $29 million in pension plan settlement charges and $12 million in route impairment charges. Full-year totals are $89 million, $29 million and $22 million respectively in addition to $5 million in severance payments.
American Airlines will increase its charge for the first checked bag on domestic flights to $25 and the second bag to $35 effective Feb. 1, matching the raises announced by Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airways ( ATWOnline, Jan. 14). Premium passengers and loyalty program members are exempt.
MAS Aerospace and Engineering signed a three-year deal with SpiceJet covering C and D checks on the Indian carrier's 19 current and 12 incoming 737NGs. MAS will service aircraft at its Hyderabad facility, a joint venture with GMR Aerospace Engineering, when it enters operation in the 2011 first quarter.
Bombardier Commercial Aircraft President Gary Scott yesterday said the manufacturer is in "advanced discussions with some customers" for CSeries orders and that he would "be surprised if we don't announce another order in the first half of next [fiscal] year," beginning Feb. 1. Scott was speaking to reporters in Dublin. Lufthansa and Lease Corp. International are the only customers so far and have ordered a combined 50 firm aircraft and 50 options.
Aer Lingus announced the departure of Deputy CEO and COO Niall Walsh, effective immediately. EI CEO Christoph Mueller will assume Walsh's duties temporarily with assistance from Chief Engineer Fergus Wilson, the airline said. A search for a new COO is underway.
Iberia's merger with British Airways could be concluded next month, according to Caja Madrid Chairman Miguel Blesa. The head of IB's largest shareholder (23%) told reporters, "We're on the right track. I think February will be decisive for the deal. There's not much left that needs agreeing to, if anything at all. I don't know if it will be [signed] in February but it won't go past March," according to Reuters. The merger MOU was signed in November ( ATWOnline, Nov. 13).
Irish air traffic controllers at Dublin, Cork and Shannon represented by Impact plan to strike for 4 hr. this afternoon. The Irish Aviation Authority said controllers are demanding a 6% pay increase and that it already has suspended 12 who "stopped doing work on a number of ongoing projects." IAA said the 6% increase would cost the authority €6 million ($8.6 million) per year and would be passed on to airlines.
Lufthansa's roller-coaster relationship with its pilots hit another snag Friday when the Vereinigung Cockpit union, dissatisfied with the lack of a settlement in long-running talks regarding pay and working conditions covering 4,500 pilots, opened a strike ballot. VC staged a strike in summer 2008 and has a longstanding demand for a 6.4% pay raise for crew flying mainline, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings aircraft ( ATWOnline, July 24, 2009). The ballot will close Feb.
Airbus announced the promotion of Executive VP-Customer Services Charles Champion to head of engineering, effective April 1. He will succeed the retiring Patrick Gavin. Turkish Airlines promoted Head of Marketing and Sales Faruk Cizmecioglu to VP-sales & marketing.
AeroLogic, the joint cargo venture between Lufthansa and DHL Express, added two 777-200Fs in December, doubling its fleet to four of the type. It will launch weekend service from Frankfurt to both Atlanta and Chicago O'Hare during the current winter schedule, as well as daily Leipzig-Hong Kong service (nonstop four-times-weekly). It plans to take delivery of additional 777Fs in June, July, September and December. "Demand for Europe to Asia and Europe to US remains stable, despite the weakened world economy, and is expected to increase in the mid-term," AeroLogic said.
US Air Transport Assn. reported that its third-quarter airline cost index fell 36% year-over-year to 185.3, a decline that compares to the 1.6% fall in the US Consumer Price Index. The average price paid for fuel slid to $1.94 per gal. from $3.51 in the third quarter of 2008, although the average cost of a fulltime-equivalent worker climbed 7.6%. Fuel and labor accounted for nearly 50% of airline operating expenses, ATA said.
US Dept. of Transportation fined United Airlines $30,000 for failing to include the 7.5% federal excise tax in fares published on its website during a 60-hr. period. UA was fined $75,000 last August for failing to provide proper notice of taxes and fees at the first point of publication and for publishing one-way fares without making it clear that those fares were valid only on a roundtrip ticket. DOT suspended half of the August fine and stipulated that it would have to be paid only if UA committed another violation in the ensuing year.
Jamaican government said last week that Air Jamaica's acquisition by Caribbean Airlines was "expected to be consummated" over the weekend. The deal was expected to include an equity infusion but will require the government to pay JMD27 billion ($298.8 million) toward JM's 2010 capital expense budget, debts and costs required to cover "the redundancy of hundreds of employees." The government appointed a new five-member board chaired by insurance executive Denis Lalor to oversee JM's divestment and transition to Caribbean along with President and CEO Bruce Nobles.
Pinnacle Airlines announced the closure of a $10 million credit facility with Independent Bank of Memphis. The funds will provide Pinnacle with working capital until it receives a federal income tax refund estimated to be worth $38 million. The company said it also modified a $25 million spare parts loan "to reduce certain liquidity requirements."
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 13.42 billion RPKs in December, up 19.1% from the year-ago month, against an 18% lift in capacity to 17.53 billion ASKs. Load factor rose 0.8 point to 76.6%. Lufthansa Passenger Airlines flew 9.39 billion RPKs, up 4.2%, while ASKs increased 2.7% to 12.22 billion and load factor climbed 1.1 points to 76.8%. Swiss International Air Lines flew 2.31 billion RPKs in December, a 2.4% increase year-over-year. Capacity fell 3.5% to 2.85 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 4.7 points to 81%.
The US Commodities Futures Trading Commission last week proposed to set position limits for futures and option contracts in the major energy markets in a move hailed by the Air Transport Assn. According to CFTC, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is intended "to prevent excessive concentration in these markets, consistent with CFTC's statutory framework to prevent or diminish excessive speculation that may be a burden on interstate commerce."
Aer Lingus pilots represented by the Irish Airline Pilots Assn. accepted annual pay cuts of €30 million ($43.5 million) that were recommended by an Irish Labor Relations Commission arbitrator. The reductions are part of EI's continuing effort to implement a €97 million savings program, which the airline has said is being held up by pilots' reluctance to agree to cuts ( ATWOnline, Dec. 3, 2009).
