Icelandair Group said third-quarter EBITDA rose 35.5% year-over-year to ISK8.4 billion ($68.2 million) on a 29% surge in revenue to ISK53.7 billion, although release of its full financial report was postponed until December because its financial restructuring "has not been finalized." It warned that depreciation and financial costs "increase[d] considerably" from the 2008 third quarter.
Air India pilots represented by the Indian Commercial Pilots' Assn. reiterated their threat to strike on Nov. 24 unless all demands are met by this Tuesday ( ATWOnline, Nov. 4). The pilots want their flying allowances--which they say have not been paid for two months--restored and object to the fact that "foreign pilots who are employed by the company are being paid approximately 30% more" than Indian nationals and are being paid promptly, ICPA Secretary S. Sabu told The Economic Times.
Delta Air Lines flew 15.3 billion system RPMs in October, a 6.5% decrease year-over-year. Capacity dropped 8.3% to 18.18 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.6 points to 84.2%. American Airlines flew 10.24 billion system RPMs in October, down 2.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 7.3% to 12.33 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4 points to 83.15%. American Eagle flew 680.1 million system RPMs, up 6%, against a 0.7% lift in capacity to 927.4 million ASMs. Load factor was up 3.7 points to 73.3%.
AAR Corp. said it amended its parts supply and maintenance contracts covering Mesa Air Group's CRJ200 and ERJ-145 aircraft "to provide Mesa with increased flexibility to respond to demand fluctuations in the 50-seat aircraft market." AAR said it will receive a cash payment as well as 15 million shares of Mesa common stock. It will return to Mesa $6.1 million aggregate principal amount at maturity of Mesa's 2023 notes and said it does not expect to increase its stock ownership in the regional airline company.
WestJet flew 1.09 billion RPMs in October, a 0.3% lift from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 1.8% to 1.41 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.5 points to 77.3%. Republic Airways Holdings airlines flew 1.76 billion RPMs in August, up 121.8% year-over-year as the company added Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines and Mokulele Airlines. Capacity was up 104.4% to 2.23 billion ASMs and load factor climbed 6.3 points to 79.3%.
SkyTeam officials said Vietnam Airlines and Tarom will join the alliance as full members in June, according to a statement from the group's Incheon board meeting cited by Bloomberg News. The Romanian carrier signed an associate agreement with the alliance in May 2008 ( ATWOnline, May 8, 2008), while VN was invited formally last April ( ATWOnline, April 16). SkyTeam also is interested in Japan Airlines, currently a member of oneworld.
Aeroflot reported a RUB5.98 billion ($204.5 million) profit in the first nine months of 2009, up 8% year-over-year according to Russian accounting standards, on a 9% drop in revenue. It carried 6.5 million passengers in the first nine months of 2009, down 8.9% year-over-year, while RPKs dropped 8% to 19.21 billion. Load factor was 69%. SU board approved the lease of six A321s, the airline said.
AirBaltic will start charging a €5 ($7.36) fee per passenger for airport check-in on Nov. 16. Internet check-in will remain free of charge. The airport fee will not be levied against loyalty program members, passengers with reduced mobility, children younger than 12 and those departing from airports at which Web check-in is unavailable.
Gol announced a management restructuring: CFO Leonardo Pereira now will be responsible for the technology, business development and strategic planning departments in addition to finance, controls and investor relations. The unnamed VP-market will head cargo, commercial, corporate communications, marketing, yield management and alliance departments, while new VP-Customers, Employees and Management Ricardo Khauaja will run the human resources and management, customer service, airport and commercial crew departments.
WestJet yesterday acknowledged that installation of the SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service reservation system last month has led to numerous complications, including a temporary website shutdown and ongoing difficulty in making changes to passengers' reservations, and asked customers for "patience" while it works out the kinks.
Continental Airlines said October consolidated unit revenue fell an estimated 14%-15% year-over-year, while mainline RASM was down 15%-16%. It flew 7.26 billion consolidated RPMs, up 1.7%, against a 2.6% cut in capacity to 8.8 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 3.5 points to 82.5%. United Airlines flew 9.68 billion consolidated RPMs in October, down 1.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 4.3% to 11.64 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2.3 points to 83.1%.
KLM will conduct a biofuel test flight on Nov. 23 using a 747 with one engine powered by a 50/50 blend of camelina-based fuel and traditional kerosene. A "select group of passengers" will be onboard, which the carrier said is a world first.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt yesterday said there is an "extreme need to refocus on professionalism" among airline pilots, citing the "recent very sad example" of two Northwest Airlines A320 pilots who "lost total situational awareness" and overflew their intended destination of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Air India pilots represented by the Indian Commercial Pilots Assn. warned they are ready to strike on Nov. 24, issuing a statement saying, "We intend to tell the public and the political leadership what is wrong with Air India. . .if issues including that of pending arrears are not addressed by Air India management by Nov. 10," the Press Trust of India reported.
Single European Sky prospects took another step forward last week following the signing of an eight-year, €50 million agreement by Eurocontrol and SITA to launch the Pan European Network Service, which will allow air navigation service providers from 38 countries to exchange operational data and voice communications across a common network for the first time.
Air Transport Assn. President and CEO James May last week wrote US State Dept. Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern urging him to "strongly and expressly oppose" the International Air Passenger Adaptation Levy, a tax on airline tickets that has been proposed by a group of countries led by Maldives. The measure would see "anywhere from $6 to $62 added to the cost of an international airline ticket" to pay for "climate change projects to be built in developing countries," according to ATA.
IATA yesterday said airlines that already have reported their third-quarter results earned a net profit of $400 million, reversed from a net loss of $1.5 billion in the year-ago period, but maintained its forecast for an $11 billion full-year loss owing a $6 billion first-half deficit and the fact that "Q4 is usually loss-making."
US House of Representatives ranking Republicans on committees with jurisdiction over labor and transportation pushed back against the National Mediation Board's proposal to change airline union-certification voting rules, saying the suggested rule alteration is "troubling" and shows "union favoritism." NMB has proposed revising its rules to allow an airline work group to unionize if a majority of those casting ballots in a union-certification vote approve, rather than a majority of the total work group ( ATWOnline, N
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. named VP-Corporate Real Estate Ajay Singh as VP-business management and information technology and appointed MD-Procurement Kate Gebo to succeed Singh. In addition, Praveen Sharma was named MD-Mileage Plus finance, strategy and information technology.
News from Travel Technology Update: The dispute between Expedia.com and Choice Hotels International may seem like déjà vu to those who remember the battle between the online agency and InterContinental Hotels Group in 2004. But there is a key difference between the old fight and the new, according to observers close to the issue.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued a draft determination finding that the planned transpacific joint venture between Virgin Blue and Delta Air Lines "is likely to assist Virgin Blue and Delta to compete more effectively against the incumbents on the routes, Qantas and United Airlines." The partnership also requires approval from the US Dept. of Transportation ( ATWOnline, July 10).
CIT Group, parent of operating lessor CIT Aerospace, filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday, proceeding with a so-called "prepackaged" financial restructuring approved by most of the company's debt holders. In a statement, CIT said that "none" of its operating subsidiaries were included in the filing. "As a result, all operating entities are expected to continue normal operations during the pendency of the cases." According to Ascend Online, CIT Aerospace is the industry's fifth-largest operating lessor with a fleet of 237 aircraft.
Qantas joined the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, the industry coalition established to accelerate the development and commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel ( ATWOnline, July 14).
