Turkish Airlines and Asiana Airlines will extend their codeshare agreement to include TK's network beyond its hub at Istanbul Ataturk and Asiana's network beyond Seoul Incheon from Oct. 25. Separately, TK inked a six-year leasing agreement with Celestial Aviation Trading 66 for two 737-700s.
British Airways said it has accepted voluntary redundancy from 1,000 flight attendants and will allow an additional 3,000 cabin crew to down-gauge to part-time. It is seeking to cut 3,700 fulltime-equivalent positions by March 31. It said the latest flight attendant cuts/moves to part-time comprise 1,700 fulltime-equivalent position reductions.
Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe lashed out at governments for their "money-grabbing" emissions taxes and criticized ICAO for "its paralysis" on forging an agreement on limiting emissions from aviation.
News from Travel Technology Update: The unbundled fare is the airlines' new best friend, enabling them to boost revenues through fees for checked bags, seat assignments and other items that used to be included in the fare. And while the airlines know that the fees can be a lifeline -- the industry collected $669.6 million in baggage fees in the second quarter, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics -- they have difficulty pinpointing which flights are ancillary revenue generators.
Verizon Business signed a six-year agreement with JetBlue Airways to manage the airline's IT data center and network needs as well as provide security and IT consulting services. A newly built IP-based voice and data network will support airport kiosks, wireless Internet access and an advanced reservation system. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
TAM signed agreements with Austrian Airlines and bmi that allow members of its frequent-flyer program to accumulate and redeem points on flights operated by both airlines.
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.
