Bombardier reported a $168 million profit in its fiscal third quarter ended Oct. 31, down 25.7% from the $226 million earned in the year-ago period, but enjoyed an increase in commercial aircraft deliveries and yesterday announced that AMR Corp.'s American Eagle firmed options for 22 CRJ700s.
Finnair is expected to cancel more flights today as ground staff represented by the Finnish Aviation Union continue to walk off the job at Helsinki Vantaa in protest of the outsourcing moves announced Monday ( ATWOnline, Dec. 1). Around 20 flights were cancelled yesterday. Talks between the carrier and the IAU were scheduled for today.
IATA Director-Global Safety Chris Glaeser said this week that through the first 11 months of 2009 there were 73 airline accidents worldwide in which significant aircraft damage was recorded, meaning the industry is on pace for a 38% improvement from the 109 accidents in 2008. "This is the best accident rate we've seen," he told the FAA International Runway Safety Summit in Washington. However, it should be noted that there have been multiple accidents this year with high fatalities, including the May 31 Air France A330-200 crash that killed all 228 aboard.
Pratt & Whitney and Malaysia Airlines signed an MOU to establish an engine nacelle repair joint venture facility in Kuala Lumpur. Ownership will be split 50/50. It is expected to service nacelles, including for non-Pratt engines, from MAS's fleet and also to perform third-party repair work for Asia/Pacific and Middle East carriers. Pratt Global Repair Services VP Tom Hutton said the JV will allow the company "to strengthen our position in the Asia/Pacific region, where the aviation market is expected to see significant growth in the coming decades.
Shannon Aerospace will complete a D check on one Cyprus Airways A320 this month. Monarch Aircraft Engineering will support Edelweiss Air's Goa operation with line maintenance and technical handling for an A330.
Republic Airways Holdings promoted Director-Flight Operations Don Osmundson to VP-flight operations and Director-Human Resources Kathy Woolridge to VP-human resources and named Frontier Airlines VP-Planning and Strategy Daniel Shurz as VP-planning and strategy and Midwest Airlines VP-Planning and Revenue Management Greg Aretakis as VP-revenue production for Republic's branded airline operations.
Nigerian Eagle Airlines, formerly Virgin Nigeria, signed an MOU with Delta Air Lines "to explore areas of commercial cooperation that will expand travel options," the carriers announced yesterday. The agreement opens the door for loyalty program linkage and a codeshare on DL's New York JFK-Dakar-Abuja service. Nigerian Eagle also announced a "network-wide" codeshare and interline deal with Ethiopian Airlines.
Panasonic Avionics Corp. will provide Asiana Airlines with its eFX IFE system onboard two A321s. OZ already offers eFX on four 747-400s, seven 767-300s and two A330-300s.
News from Travel Technology Update: Since American Airlines told delegates to the Computerized Airline Sales and Marketing Association conference in October that it plans to move all indirect volume to direct connections, industry observers have wondered what such a world would look like and how it would change relationships among airlines, travel agencies, GDSs and customers. Jim Davidson, chief executive officer of Farelogix, shed some light on the issue during the recent PhoCusWright conference in Orlando. "It's not about eliminating the GDS channel," he said.
Allegiant Air flew 350.5 million RPMs in November, up 25.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 24.6% to 387.9 million ASMs and load factor increased 0.6 point to 90.4%.
Air Canada will begin charging economy passengers C$30/$30 to check a second bag on flights to/from the US and C$50/$50 on flights to/from Europe and Israel on Jan. 19. A second piece of checked luggage will continue to be free on flights within Canada and to/from Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Australia. Premium loyalty program members will be exempt.
ARINC announced a comprehensive technology replacement agreement with Avicom Japan, that country's service provider for airline and civil aviation communications, under which it will enhance Japan's ACARS data link infrastructure with "efficient ACARS multiple-service technology." New technology will allow for increased data link message traffic while enabling Avicom to prepare for eventual controller-pilot data link communications and aeronautical telecommunications network operations, according to ARINC.
AirTran Airways customer service, ramp and reservations agents rejected representation by the International Assn. of Machinists, the airline announced. The US National Mediation Board said there was an "insufficient showing of interest" from employees.
Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport announced an agreement with airline representatives regarding airport charges in 2010 and 2011. Charges will increase 4% on July 1 and an additional 3% on Oct. 1. On April 1, 2011, they will rise by another 3% and then by 2.5% on Oct. 1, 2011. In total, charges will rise 12.5% over the two-year period. The agreement is contingent on a deal setting a charge schedule in 2012-15 that must be reached by Feb. 19. In the absence of such a contract, charges will rise 8.4% on April 1.
US National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman yesterday criticized FAA for failing to act on runway safety recommendations the board repeatedly has made, including multiple recommendations first issued in July 2000.
US FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Committee said at a US Senate hearing yesterday that it has pushed back its Jan. 1 deadline for issuing new rules on pilot fatigue for an additional month. "We will unfortunately miss the first of next year," Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Peggy Gilligan said. FAA expects to complete its analysis by the end of January. Pilot fatigue has been on the National Transportation Safety Board's "Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements" since it first was published almost 20 years ago.
IATA said 75 major airlines around the world that have reported third-quarter financial results were a combined $718 million in the black, improved from a $3.37 billion loss in the year-ago quarter, but that the industry still is expected to lose $11 billion this year despite the gradual recovery.
European Commission released its updated list of airlines banned from EU airspace and cited progress with carriers from Ukraine and Angola. From the former, Motor Sich was removed from the list entirely and Ukrainian Mediterranean Airlines now is allowed to operate into the EU with one aircraft while TAAG Angola Airlines was permitted to increase the number of planes it flies to Portugal owing to "significant progress" made by the carrier and civil aviation authority "to resolve progressively any safety deficiencies," the EC said.
American Airlines yesterday named ExpressJet President and CEO James Ream as its new senior VP-maintenance & engineering. He will take over on Jan. 1, succeeding the retiring Carmine Romano. Ream held various positions at AA between 1987 and 1995 and led ExpressJet for the past eight years.
Lufthansa will charge economy passengers €40/$50 for a second piece of checked luggage on flights between Europe and North America beginning Jan. 1, a spokesperson was quoted as saying in German press reports. The first bag weighing up to 23 kg. and ski transport will remain free. Premium loyalty program members and passengers whose North Atlantic itineraries do not originate in Europe will be exempt.
Finnair announced the transfer of some 490 Northport ground handling employees at Helsinki Vantaa to Barona Group, a staffing agency, and some 130 Cargo Terminal Operations warehouse employees to Suomen Transval, effective today. "By creating solutions based on strategic partnerships, we can change our fixed costs into variable costs and focus on Finnair's core business," Deputy CEO Lasse Heinonen said. Around 200 Northport employees went on strike yesterday to protest the decision and AY said that "delays and individual cancellations are possible" as a result.
Bombardier last week said it will lay off 715 Montreal-based employees during the first seven months of 2010 as it slows the CRJ production rate, citing the "economic and airline industry environments [that] continue to make it difficult to gain new aircraft orders." It did not provide further insight into the current or future production rate for the CRJ family. Its operating profit, revenue, deliveries and order book all fell in its fiscal second quarter ended July 31 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 3).
ALAFCO, the Kuwaiti lessor, earned a KWD10.2 million ($35.8 million) net profit in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, "slightly more" than the previous year, it said.
Air India and pilots represented by the Indian Commercial Pilots' Assn. reached an agreement Sunday that allowed the carrier to avoid a strike scheduled to begin today ( ATWOnline, Nov. 18). "The agreement involves some financial payout by the airline," an AI official told The Hindu. ICPA General Secretary R.S. Otaal said AI "accepted all our demands," according to Mint.
