Assn. of European Airlines announced that Croatia Airlines President and CEO Ivan Misetic will chair the organization this year, succeeding KLM President and CEO Peter Hartman. US Airways promoted Senior VP and CFO Derek Kerr to executive VP (he will remain CFO) and named Sabre Holdings Senior VP-Air Services Brad Jensen as senior VP and CIO.
Pinnacle Airlines flew 407.3 million RPMs in December, up 11.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose at the same rate to 537.3 million ASMs, leaving load factor at 75.8%.
France's government is set to lend French banks €5 billion ($6.49 billion) with the understanding that the funds will be used to finance aircraft purchases, a measure aimed at preventing airlines from cancelling orders with Airbus, according to widespread reports in Europe. The government apparently is seeking a way to assist Airbus without directly subsidizing the manufacturer, which has warned that 2009 will be "a very challenging year" ( ATWOnline, Jan. 16).
Finnair pilots represented by the Finnish Airline Pilots Assn. will stop working overtime hours and have called strikes for Feb. 11, 13, 16, 18 and 20, the airline announced. Finnair and the union reached a six-month labor agreement last summer providing for a one-time 3.9% wage increase on top of the annual 4.5% bump. The carrier said pilots now want an additional 4% raise and changes in pension arrangements, fleet deployment policy and rest days that Finnair said would boost costs by an additional 7% per year.
Kelowna Flightcraft signed a six-year contract with Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance to maintain the CF6-50C2 engines on its fleet of DC-10-30 freighters. Work will take place in KLM E&M's Schiphol engine shop.
CIT Aerospace announced the lease of one A320-200 to Swiss International Air Lines. Aircraft is powered by CFM56-5B4/Ps and scheduled for delivery in April.
Lufthansa Systems reached a three-year extension on its contract with KLM cityhopper to streamline crew management and operations control using its NetLine/Crew, NetLine/Ops and NetLine/Ops Maintenance Control technologies.
Korean Air will begin upgrading its long-haul premium seating in May when it takes the first of three 777-300ERs slated to be delivered this year. New aircraft as well as three current 777s will be fitted with the new seats by year end and deployed to New York JFK and Los Angeles. KE's entire widebody fleet eventually will feature the new seats, including A380s scheduled to begin delivery next year and 787s. Key components of the upgrade will be replacing 170-deg. business-class seats with 180-deg.
American Airlines and the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants announced implementation of a new Aviation Safety Action Program that encourages cabin staff to voluntarily and confidentially report safety-related issues without reprisal. AA and pilots represented by the Allied Pilots Assn. suspended their ASAP last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 9, 2008).
El Al agreed to plead guilty to colluding on cargo shipping charges and will pay a $15.7 million criminal fine, the US Dept. of Justice announced. The Israeli carrier joined LAN Cargo and subsidiary ABSA Cargo Airline, which also pleaded guilty last week and will pay a combined fine of $109 million ( ATWOnline, Jan. 23).
Lufthansa cancelled 46 domestic and European flights out of its Frankfurt hub owing to a 3-hr. warning strike staged by flight attendants Friday morning. The UFO trade union had issued a warning of industrial action following a breakdown in negotiations over a wage increase ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18, 2008).
Iberia and its pilots represented by SEPLA reached a tentative labor agreement retroactive to 2005 and continuing through this year. IB said the deal ended a "10-year-long period of contention" and now must be approved by union membership. It calls for a one-year, 2.3% pay increase retroactive to 2007, a 2008 raise equivalent to the annual inflation rate and a 2.7% bump this year. Contract also covers productivity and job security issues and includes a 50% reduction in hours when pilots reach age 60.
Continental Airlines said December consolidated RASM rose 3.5%-4.5% year-over-year. Traffic fell 6.7% to 7.11 billion RPMs against a 8.1% decline in capacity to 8.9 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.2 points to 79.9%. Frontier Airlines said December yield rose 1.7% year-over-year to 11.75 cents and unit revenue climbed 11.3% to 9.34 cents. RPMs fell 9.7% to 721.2 million while capacity dropped 17.5% to 907.2 million. Load factor was up 6.9 points to 79.5%.
Airbus issued a Safety Bulletin to A320 operators relating to the importance of protecting all aerodynamic data sensors during painting and maintenance and performing low-speed tests at safe altitude. The warnings came as French investigators closed in on the cause of the crash of an Air New Zealand A320 being flown by an XL Airways crew on a test flight off the French coast in November ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12). All seven occupants died when the aircraft plunged into the Mediterranean Sea near Perpignan.
Cebu Pacific Air transported 6.7 million passengers in 2008, up 23% from the prior year, and expects 9.3 million in 2009 as it adds three A320s and three ATR 72-500s to its fleet. It now flies to 15 international and 27 domestic destinations, with five new domestic airports to be added in the coming months. President and CEO Lance Gokongwei said Cebu was "able to successfully convince more Filipinos to travel by air despite economic uncertainties" by offering all-inclusive fares and discounts for passengers declining to check luggage.
The US government took another small step toward a revamp of the nation's air transport infrastructure last week as a proponent was confirmed as the new transportation secretary and the Government Accountability Office officially commended FAA for its progress.
Nav Canada introduced ADS-B coverage over the Hudson Bay, eliminating "an 850,000-sq.-km. gap in Canada's radar coverage," the air navigation services provider said. The first use of ADS-B involved an Air New Zealand Jan. 15 flight from London Heathrow to Los Angeles. Sensis Corp. is supplying Nav Canada with ground equipment consisting of an antenna, a receiver and a target processor installed at stations along the Hudson shoreline.
Ray LaHood, President Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Transportation, told the US Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee during his confirmation hearing Wednesday that he is committed to upgrading to the NextGen air traffic management system and is against the recently suspended slot auctions at New York area airports ( ATWOnline, Dec. 23, 2008). "I know this NextGen stuff is expensive, but we have to do it," LaHood was quoted as saying.
Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. signed a contract with Taiwan-based Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. to design and manufacture slats, flaps, belly fairings, rudders and elevators for the new MRJ family of 70/90-seat jets ( ATWOnline, Sept. 5, 2008). First flight of the MRJ90 is scheduled for 2011 with certification and first delivery expected by 2013. The smaller MRJ70 will follow a year later.
United Airlines will conduct a small test of RFID bag tags at Chicago O'Hare next month, according to an employee communication. "We're looking to validate whether this technology will speed up the baggage check process," Initiative Leader Gary Dulaney said. More than 1,000 high-mileage travelers will participate in the six-week trial, which is being conducted "in close partnership with the Star Alliance Technical Advisory Committee," he said. Customers will receive RFID bag tags at their homes and will check in online before arriving at ORD.
Chinese government cut the domestic fuel price by an additional 5.7% to CNY5,440 per ton, a move that will help airlines save about CNY4 billion this year, according to Haitong Securities Aviation Analyst Ma Ying. Fuel currently accounts for more than 40% of Chinese carriers' operating costs ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22, 2008).
The Irish government yesterday rejected Ryanair's €1.40 ($1.81)-per-share offer for its 25% stake in Aer Lingus, killing off the LCCs bid, which required 90% acceptance. Ryanair said it "will respect and abide by" the decision but continued to claim that its offer, which valued EI at €748 million, "greatly exceeds the intrinsic value" of its smaller rival. Yesterday, EI announced a new transatlantic joint venture with United Airlines scheduled to launch in March 2010 (see story below).
Lufthansa Technik won a seven-year Total Material Operations contract with Sama covering six 737-300s. Contract takes effect in March and covers pooling, MRO and supply of materials.
