US Dept. of Transportation's "Air Travel Consumer Report" said the nation's largest airlines had a higher ontime performance rate in August (79.7%) than in both July (77.6%) and the year-ago month (78.4%). BTS data showed carriers canceled 1% of their scheduled domestic flights in August, down from 1.6% in August 2008. Hawaiian Airlines led US carriers with an ontime arrival rate of 94.7%, followed by Alaska Airlines at 85.8%. Comair was last at 65.9%.
LTU reached a settlement with ver.di, the service workers' union representing its 1,400 flight attendants, on a new labor contract. The Air Berlin subsidiary now has concluded collective bargaining negotiations with all its unions. The flight attendants' agreement is subject to ratification by Nov. 13 via a secret ballot vote to be conducted by ver.di.
Aviareps expanded its agreement with Asiana Airlines to represent Asiana in Italy, Spain and Portugal. It now serves as GSA for the Korean carrier in 10 European countries.
Transaero Airlines and Austrian Airlines reached a codeshare agreement on the Moscow Domodedovo-Vienna route in which Transaero will add its UN code on Austrian's thrice-daily service and Austrian will put its OS code on Transaero's daily DME-VIE flight.
Pilots from European airlines held an "action day" yesterday at 22 airports across the continent and various sites in Brussels, including the European Parliament and European Commission, protesting EU flight/duty-time rules that they claim are "potentially dangerous."
GECAS delivered two new A320-200s to Air Berlin. Acquired through a purchase/leaseback transaction with the airline, the aircraft are part of an existing order agreement.
Midwest Airlines pilots and flight attendants likely will find themselves out of work when the carrier, acquired over the summer by Republic Airways Holdings, begins to return its nine remaining 717s to Boeing next month.
Alaska Airlines' September traffic increased 1.4% to 1.45 billion RPMs on a 1.4% cut in capacity to 1.86 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 90%, up 2.2 points. AirTran Airways flew 1.37 billion RPMs in September, up 11.4%, while capacity lifted 7.2% to 1.78 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 77%, up 2.6 points. US Airways' September mainline traffic lowered 1.6% to 4.57 billion RPMs on a 0.6% capacity decrease to 5.76 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 79.3%, down 0.8 point.
Navtech signed an agreement with Cebu Pacific Air to provide its flight planning software Navtech Flight Plan, which features cost indexing and least-cost route calculations that it says allows airlines to maintain the most efficient daily routes and optimized flight plans.
Alitalia took delivery of another three new A320s, bringing the number in its fleet to 35. A further five will be delivered by year end. The three newest A320s replace three MD-80s. AZ's fleet renewal plan calls for arrival of a further 55 A320s and 12 A330s. The carrier's new A320s feature leather seats equipped with individual LCD screens. Separately, AZ opened its first business-class lounge at Rome Fiumicino's Terminal C.
The European Commission confirmed Friday that it sent a "statement of objections" to American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia in September, warning the carriers that their proposed cooperation on transatlantic services "may be in breach of European rules on restrictive business practices."
Etihad Airways moved its thrice-daily London Heathrow-Abu Dhabi service from LHR's Terminal 3 to the new Terminal 4. The carrier is investing £200 million ($124.2 million) in its space at the new terminal, building a lounge, spa and shower facilities and installing Wi-Fi capability.
Air Berlin and subsidiary LTU reached a tentative agreement with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots union on a new labor contract retroactive to Jan. 1, 2009. It includes a guarantee of no pilot layoffs through Dec. 31, 2010, when the contract will expire. The VC membership will vote on ratification at a Nov. 13 meeting.
JAT Airways resumed flying Friday after reaching an agreement with JAT Tehnika to begin paying debt it owes to the MRO company today. JAT Tehnika's mechanics, which service JAT Airways aircraft, stopped working for two days last week to protest the airline's failure to pay the maintenance company in a timely fashion, forcing the Serbian carrier to ground its fleet temporarily ( ATWOnline, Oct. 2). JAT Airways has admitted that it owes JAT Tehnika about $1.5 million and is a month behind in making payments.
Timco signed a five-year contract with Thomson Airways covering maintenance and modification on its 767-300s. Contract includes a two-year option. In the first year of the program, Timco will install APB 767 winglets and new inflight entertainment systems on the 767-300s. GE Aviation inked a 15-year OnPoint solution agreement with Azul covering maintenance, repair and overhaul of CF34-10E engines that power the carrier's 36 E-190s/-195s on firm order plus four on lease. The agreement is valued at $1 billion. Work will take place at the GE facility in Petropolis.
Travelport said Brussels Airlines selected its ETAT e-ticketing solution to enable approved Galileo-connected users in Rwanda to issue e-tickets on bookings made with the airline.
TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil delivered two ERJ-145s formerly operated by Thai carrier PB Air to GECAS after performing a C check. The aircraft immediately went into operation with Passaredo Linhas Aereas.
Amadeus reached a five-year, full-content distribution agreement with TACA International Airlines covering all inventory from TACA as well as its subsidiaries Lacsa, Aviateca and TACA Peru.
Jeppesen said it received FAA certification to design, flight validate and maintain public Required Navigation Performance Special Aircrew and Aircraft Authorization Required procedures in the US. As part of the qualification process, Jeppesen designed a public RNP procedure to Runway 28 at Savannah/Hilton Head International. The procedure is expected to be operational in the 2009 fourth quarter.
IATA reported yesterday that investors "looked more favorably" at airlines in September "as signs emerged of an upturn in this highly cyclical industry," but it reiterated that the worldwide industry is on pace for an $11 billion full-year loss.
Frontier Airlines Holdings, parent of Frontier Airlines and Lynx Aviation, officially emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday and was acquired by Republic Airways Holdings as planned.
JAT Airways said yesterday that its fleet was grounded owing to a strike by JAT Tehnika mechanics that service its aircraft. The mechanics reportedly are protesting the airline's failure to make payments to JAT Tehnika in a timely manner. "We are negotiating and expect to find a solution," a spokesperson for the Serbian carrier told Reuters. "Our debt to JAT Tehnika is $1.5 million and we never disputed that. We are a month behind in paying it." JAT Tehnika has 900 employees.
AirTran Airways said it entered into agreements with its principal credit facility lender and its largest credit card processor to extend and modify both its credit facility and its credit card processing arrangement, "resulting in enhanced liquidity and improved financial flexibility." The carrier did not place a specific value on the accords but said that it expects to end the current quarter with more than $400 million in unrestricted cash and short-term investments.
Etihad Airways completed its first European export credit agency-guaranteed transactions covering $233 million to finance the purchase of two A340-600s. In the first deal, HSBC Bank, acting as the mandated lead arranger, lender, facility agent, security trustee and hedge provider, will furnish financing valued at $122 million to the airline over 12 years. The second $111 million agreement was signed with Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, which acted as mandated lead arranger, lender, facility agent and security trustee. Debt placement for this deal was undertaken by SkyBlue Capital LLC.
