Amadeus and SAS Group reached a five-year, full-content distribution agreement covering all inventory from Scandinavian Airlines, Wideroe, Blue1 and Estonian Air. Travelport reached a direct-connect content agreement with Norwegian.
Lufthansa Systems reached three-year deals with Bulgaria Air and Hemus Air to provide its Lido Airport/Obstacle data. It also renewed its contract with Avianca for the use of its ProfitLine/Price pricing solution for another two years.
Boeing joined the forward and aft fuselage sections of the first 747-8 freighter with the wing and center section in Everett. The horizontal stabilizer also was installed, with the tail cone and vertical fin expected to be added today. Nine customers have placed orders for 78 aircraft.
Lufthansa is considering cutting one flight attendant from each long-haul flight, according to an internal document cited by Neue Rhein Zeitung. The move, if enacted, would save the airline approximately €42 million ($59.6 million) and affect 750 fulltime jobs. It also is looking at ways to increase its ability to reduce its cabin staff on flights with lower load factors. A spokesperson would not confirm or deny the report but told ATWOnline that LH is "calculating everything" in terms of cutting costs but that "nothing is decided now. Everything is in flux."
TAM said it will issue 600 nonconvertible bonds worth a combined BRL600 million ($313 million) on July 24, scheduled to expire on July 24, 2013. It said the proceeds will be used to "reinforce" its working capital.
US National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker announced his resignation yesterday, effective when a new chairman/member is appointed. He is the second member of the five-member board to announce their departures this week ( ATWOnline, July 21) and the third this year ( ATWOnline, Feb. 23).
European flight crews are criticizing the EU for failing to tackle the issue of pilot fatigue, pointing out that the US has taken the lead on this perennial issue following the February crash a Colgan Air Q400 that killed 50. The European Cockpit Assn., which represents more than 38,200 pilots and flight engineers, said the EU has "shied away" from acting on the results of scientific studies that show current rules on pilot fatigue are insufficient and require improvement.
Cargoitalia received its AOC from Italian civil aviation authority ENAC allowing for the start of operations with its recently delivered MD-11F. The carrier, which relaunched under the new ownership of ALIS (66.7%) and Intesa SanPaolo (33.3%), will take delivery of a second MD-11F in the coming weeks and a third before year end. It has orders for eight A330-200Fs that will enter service beginning in 2012.
US National Transportation Safety Board Member Kathryn O'Leary Higgins has resigned effective Aug. 3. She joined the five-member board in January 2006.
US airline passenger revenue plunged 26% year-over-year in June, the eighth consecutive month of decline, while the 20.7% drop in yield was the "sharpest" this decade, the Air Transport Assn. said yesterday. The findings were based on data collected from 28 mainline and regional carriers. Passenger numbers fell 6.5% year-over-year. ATA also said May cargo traffic was down 20%, fueled by a 26% drop in the Pacific. June data was not available.
Air Canada said it received approval from retirees, managers and administrative, technical and support employees for a 21-month moratorium on pension fund contributions and fixed payments for the 2011-13 period similar to the deals ratified last week by its five Canadian unions ( ATWOnline, July 17).
Gol flew 2.07 billion RPKs in June, a 7.1% decline year-over-year. Capacity fell 4.9% to 3.25 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 1.6 points to 63.8%. Austrian Airlines flew 1.44 billion RPKs in June, down 17.9% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 15.9% to 1.97 billion ASKs and load factor slipped 1.8 points to 73%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 701.6 million RPMs in June, up 7.4% year-over-year, against a 3% rise in capacity to 825.3 million ASMs. Load factor rose 3.5 points to 85%.
US FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt moved to ease tension with the agency's 15,000 air traffic controllers yesterday at a time when the agency and the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. are in arbitrated talks over a new labor contract ( ATWOnline, May 1).
Lufthansa last week shared with the European Commission a revised offer for its proposed takeover of Austrian Airlines Group, but it was unclear whether the German carrier had made enough concessions to satisfy EU antitrust regulators.
Lufthansa Systems said AeroLogic, the cargo airline owned by DHL Express and Lufthansa Cargo, will use the Lido eRoute Manual for its navigation charts. It also chose the Lido FMS navigation database service for the flight management system and will calculate crew rotations with NetLine/Crew. In addition, AeroLogic will use NetLine/Sched for schedule management, NetLine/Ops for all operational control processes and Lido OC for flight planning via DHL Express.
US federal judge ruled against defendants including Boeing and five US airlines on a pre-trial motion relating to 22 9/11 lawsuits that are likely to start later this year. The judge stated that the defendants will not be allowed to question the FBI and other government agencies during the trials.
Travelport GDS signed an agreement with Afghan carrier Safi Airways to provide travel agents worldwide access to fares and routes from the carrier as well as the ability to e-ticket bookings. It said Safi will be the first Afghan carrier to participate in the GDS channel.
WestJet and Air France KLM launched their interline partnership, allowing AF KLM passengers to connect to Calgary-Vancouver WS flights as well as flights from both cities to Edmonton. In February the airlines said they had signed an MOU signaling their intention to codeshare by late 2009 or early 2010 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5).
Delta MEC of the Air Line Pilots Assn. said yesterday that 215 pilots have opted to take advantage of the carrier's Pilot Retirement Incentive Program, which ended Wednesday night.
Acculynk announced that AirTran Airways has started offering customers the option to pay for online purchases with its PaySecure software, which offers users a PIN debit system that does not require enrollment or a password.
