Iberia's board asked the airline's new chairman and CEO, Antonio Vazquez, to look into alternatives to its merger with British Airways, elEconomista reported.
Southwest Airlines said late yesterday that its $170 million bid to acquire Frontier Airlines was "deemed unacceptable" by a US Bankruptcy Court after the two carriers' pilot unions were unable to reach an agreement on joint work rules and seniority, paving the way for Republic Airways Holdings to purchase Denver-based Frontier.
International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said it asked the US National Mediation Board to declare that Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines are operating as a single carrier with respect to the 12,700 fleet service, flight simulator technician and plant protection employees at the combined airline. Such a declaration would clear the way for IAM to launch an organizing campaign among those workers.
China Southern Airlines yesterday became the first Chinese mainland carrier to gain regulatory approval to launch a branch company in Taipei that will be allowed to sell tickets for cross-strait flights.
Airline ticket sales through Arlington, Va.-based Airlines Reporting Corp. continued to be well down in July compared to the year-ago period, but the number of transactions was off less than 1% year-over-year and credit card sales transactions actually rose 2.6%. Total sales including airfares, taxes and fees were $5.65 billion, down 16.7% compared to July 2008, following a 20.3% year-over-year decline in June. Total fares sank 17.7% to $4.81 billion, slightly improved over the 21.3% decline in June.
US Air Transport Assn. earlier this week called on FAA to withdraw its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking overhauling airline training programs for aircraft crewmembers and flight dispatchers.
CAE announced that President and CEO Robert Brown will retire Sept. 30 to be succeeded by Marc Parent, currently executive VP and COO. Brown will continue as an adviser until the end of December. He became president and CEO in August 2004.
Delta Air Lines and US Airways yesterday announced a massive slot swapping deal that, if approved by regulators, will greatly enhance US's presence at Washington National and enable DL to "create a domestic hub" at New York LaGuardia.
Goodrich and Xi'an Aircraft International Corp. signed agreements to form two 50/50 joint venture companies that will manufacture landing gear and engine nacelle components "focused on the fast-growing Chinese aerospace market," including competing to be selected on Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China's C919 single-aisle transport currently under development. The two JVs will be between XAIC on the one hand and Goodrich Landing Gear and Goodrich Aerostructures on the other.
News from Travel Technology Update: Air Canada suspended activity related to the implementation of a new reservations system under development with ITA Software. The carrier recorded a second-quarter impairment charge of C$67 million (US$61.9 million) related to the development of the system, dubbed Polaris.
Premium Aerotec, the largest aerostructures supplier for the A350, last week began construction of a 25,000-sq.-m. hangar in Augsburg that will serve as the manufacturing plant for the new aircraft's fiber composite components, especially the large side shells of the rear fuselage section. The facility's shell is expected to be completed in November, with production set to begin in the 2010 first quarter, according to Airbus parent EADS.
US Dept. of Transportation announced civil penalties against Continental Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and US Airways for consumer regulation violations. DOT said CO was fined $75,000 for "violating the Department's requirement that airfare ads must state the full price to be paid by the consumer" on its website. HA and US "failed to disclose to consumers when flights sold by the carriers were being operated under a codesharing arrangement" and were fined $50,000 and $70,000 respectively.
Air France KLM flew 19.45 billion RPKs in July, down 3.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 4.1% to 22.86 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.7 point to 85.1%. Alaska Airlines flew 1.79 billion RPMs in July, up 0.1% year-over-year. Capacity fell 5.4% to 2.12 billion ASMs and load factor rose 4.6 points to 84.3%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 745.4 million RPMs in July, a 10.4% increase year-over-year, while capacity rose 1.9% to 874.7 million ASMs. Load factor surged 6.5 points to 85.2%.
Turkish Airlines said it has decided to lease an A321-200. It revealed no further details. Belavia Belarusian Airlines acquired one ex-Flylal 737-500 from ILFC. It now operates five 737-500s, three 737-300s, three CRJ-100/200s, four Tu-154Ms and one Tu-134.
US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said yesterday that he has asked the Dept. of Transportation's general counsel to determine whether Continental Airlines or ExpressJet Holdings "violated any laws" when 47 passengers were held overnight last week onboard an ERJ-145.
US Airways said July consolidated passenger RASM fell approximately 15% year-over-year while total unit revenue was down around 12%. It flew 5.86 billion consolidated RPMs, down 4.1%, against a 5.6% cut in capacity to 6.83 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.3 points to 85.9%. American Airlines flew 11.66 billion system RPMs in July, down 6.4% year-over-year. Capacity fell 8% to 13.36 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.4 points to 87.3%.
Hahn Air announced the launch of a redesigned website allowing greater functionality for travel agents seeking to access fares available on Hahn's partner carriers.
Ryanair said the British Air Line Pilots Assn. "temporarily suspended" its campaign to unionize the LCC's pilots "in the face of massive opposition" from the employee group. BALPA initially "threatened" to go to the UK Central Arbitration Committee, which could require a secret ballot among Ryanair's UK pilots, but opted against it because losing the vote would prevent them from trying again for three years, Ryanair Director-Personnel Eddie Wilson said.
Row 44 said it has received a permanent operating license from the US Federal Communications Commission allowing it to provide inflight Internet service in the US.
Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India said in a Draft Restructuring Plan released last Friday that over the next nine months it plans to "enhance [its] focus on [developing an] LCC for high-density domestic/international routes" along with an "aggressive route restructuring" and intends to create subsidiaries for its MRO, ground handling and cargo operations. Within 18-36 months NACIL said it expects "profitable growth" and hopes to spin off "noncore businesses" and prepare for an IPO.
Airbus has completed a second large test fuselage section for the A350. The demonstrator is 18 m. long and 6 m. in diameter and "closely reflects" the final design, according to the manufacturer. It was used to "develop and validate the complete process change" and will be involved in certification tests focusing on fatigue and damage tolerance of composites. Separately, Airbus said it delivered 34 aircraft in July, including Singapore Airlines' ninth A380, one A340-600 (Iberia), five A330s and 27 A320 family aircraft.
Boeing renamed its training organization, formerly called Alteon, Boeing Training & Flight Services. "The new name reflects the organization's expanded capabilities," the company said. "With the addition of flight services, the organization's expertise now includes customized flight and dispatch documentation, airplane performance data, operational consulting and safety analysis."
Delta Air Lines told employees in a message last week that it "must eliminate additional salaried positions" owing to the "severity of this economic downturn." It did not specify the number of jobs to be cut.
