SITA signed a five-year, $76 million contract with Saudi Arabian Airlines to implement and maintain global communications and desktop infrastructure. The hybrid network solution is expected to reduce communications-related costs, increase flexibility and advance a range of applications including a new Passenger Management System.
Airbus parent EADS CEO Louis Gallois told reporters in France that the manufacturer may need to slow production rates in 2009 owing to airlines' inability to take planned deliveries because of the weak economic environment. "I could not give a figure of a percentage of the 2009 delivery backlog that might be at risk," he said.
Air Mauritius said it suffered falling revenue and an "unprecedented deterioration of its financial performance" largely attributed to losses related to fuel hedges in its third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, leading to a nine-month loss of approximately €18 million compared to an €11.6 million profit in the year-ago period. The company realized a nine-month net loss of €20.5 million on its fuel hedging contracts and mark-to-market losses through the nine-month period totaled €129.5 million.
AerCap Holdings said it signed new lease agreements for 14 aircraft during the fourth quarter of 2008. It also delivered 12 aircraft and nine engines under lease agreements, purchased 11 aircraft and six engines, sold three aircraft and five engines and disassembled two aircraft and seven engines. New lease agreements were with Air China (three new A330s), Sichuan Airlines (three new A330s), Air One (three new A320s), Indonesia's Batavia Air (three 737-400s), North American Airlines (one 767-300) and AeroMexico (one 767-300). As of Dec.
Jat Airways transported 1.4 million passengers in 2008, up 4% from 2007, while cargo fell 13% to 2,829 tonnes. Passenger load factor rose 2 points to 64%.
American Eagle and the Transport Workers Union agreed to seek US federal mediation if the two sides cannot reach a labor agreement by Jan. 17. Key issues in the negotiations include compensation, benefits and contract duration. TWU represents 3,550 grounds workers at the regional carrier.
Zambian Airways suspended operations over the weekend, citing an inability to handle rising costs. The carrier also reportedly owed National Airports Corp., which controls the nation's airports, more than $2 million. Government officials indicated they would meet with the airline's executives to discuss a potential state-assisted reorganization.
AirTran Airways plans to recall 60 furloughed pilots and hire additional flight attendants, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. AirTran cut 180 pilots and 300 flight attendants in September ( ATWOnline, July 8, 2008). The 60 recalled pilots, which are in addition to 35 recalled last month, are anticipated to be needed for increased summer flying.
Snecma Services won a seven-year Engine Services per Operation contract with CSA Czech Airlines to provide MRO support for CFM56-3s. Snecma will furnish remote engine monitoring services and Snecma Services Brussels will handle shop visits.
Iberia promised to cooperate fully with an inquiry by Spain's Public Works Ministry into alleged mistreatment of passengers during a major winter storm in Madrid that caused hundreds of cancellations last Friday and Saturday. "We've had reports of [IB] conduct toward its passengers that is unacceptable," Public Works Minister Magdalena Alvarez told reporters, according to Reuters.
News from Travel Technology Update: GDS executives are calling for the development of technical standards for the booking and processing of airlines' unbundled fares, ancillary revenue and other sales innovations. "Standards are good, but let's all keep in mind that this is about differentiation," Suzanne Rubin, American Airlines' managing director of merchandising and distribution strategy and president of AAVacations, said. "We don't want something that puts us right back into the same box of commodity product."
American Airlines flew 10.32 billion system RPMs in December, an 8.2% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 8.6% to 13.03 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.4 point to 79.2%. American Eagle flew 588.1 million RPMs, down 12.4%, against a 13.5% fall in capacity to 837.3 million ASMs. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 70.2%. Alaska Airlines flew 1.48 billion RPMs in December, down 5.2% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 10.9% to 1.84 billion ASMs and load factor was up 4.9 points to 80.7%.
Chinese government decided to grant domestic airlines a three-year tax break on fuel charges retroactive to Jan. 1, 2008, as part of its effort to mitigate the impact of the global economic downturn on the country's commercial aviation industry. The tax relief is expected to save Chinese carriers about CNY2.5 billion in operating costs, but local industry analysts argued that it will do little to improve airlines' financial performance since the tax rate on fuel surcharges is only 3%.
Air France KLM flew 16.83 billion RPKs in December, up 1.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.9% to 21.32 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 78.9%. Southwest Airlines flew 5.79 billion RPMs in December, up 1.1% from the year-ago month, against a 1% decline in capacity to 8.32 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 1.5 points to 69.7%. LAN Airlines flew 2.44 billion RPKs in December, up 10.7% year-over-year. Capacity rose 12.6% to 3.26 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 1.3 points to 74.7%.
United Airlines dropped plans to furlough an additional 250 flight attendants because it needs more cabin staff for its international network ( ATWOnline, Sept. 29, 2008), according to a memo from Senior VP-Onboard Service Alex Marren cited by the Associated Press. UA also decided not to furlough up to 205 customer service and ramp employees at Chicago O'Hare because a sufficient number took voluntary leave and 43 will shift to part-time from fulltime.
SkyEurope Airlines announced that GECAS terminated leases on six 737s effective Jan. 8 and the aircraft have been returned to the lessor. The LCC said the capacity has been "replaced" and that all scheduled flights are being operated, although it provided no further details. It also said that Longstock SAPO, a Greek/Portuguese investor ( ATWOnline, Dec.
French investigators now have access to data from the flight data and voice recorders salvaged from an Air New Zealand A320 on lease to XL Airways that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in late November, killing all seven onboard ( ATWOnline, Dec. 5, 2008). The data were extracted successfully in the US, raising hopes that France's Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses will gain insight into the accident, as the crew had given no indication of any problem to air traffic control.
Lufthansa Technik announced the establishment of Lufthansa Technik Maintenance International, a 100% subsidiary integrating the former Condor/Cargo Technik it previously acquired. LTMI will be based in Frankfurt and will assume responsibility for airline third-party MRO business previously handled by LHT. It will continue to maintain Lufthansa Cargo's MD-11s as well. The unit has some 1,000 employees.
European Commission, as expected ( ATWOnline, Jan. 9), granted conditional approval for the merger of Clickair and Vueling Airlines Friday. Clearance depends upon the release of slots at Barcelona "and other European airports to address competition concerns." Clickair, Vueling and Iberia, which will hold 45% of the new airline, have offered to cede slots on "all routes where competition concerns were identified," according to the EC.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes will cut some 4,500 positions from its payroll this year in "an effort to ensure competitiveness and control costs in the face of a weakening global economy," it said Friday.
Oneworld announced the following London Heathrow relocations: Finnair will transfer to Terminal 3 from T1 on Jan. 27; Iberia will switch to T3 from T2 on Feb. 25; British Airways will transfer remaining flights at T1 to T3 on Feb. 25. American Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan Airlines and Royal Jordanian all are based in T3. Qantas will switch over from T4 later this year.
US National Transportation Safety Board in a preliminary report issued this week offered no scenarios to explain what factors may have caused a Continental Airlines 737-500 to depart the runway during takeoff on Dec. 20. The aircraft was destroyed when it veered from the left side of the runway on its takeoff roll, crashing into a ravine and catching fire, injuring 38 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 7). NTSB said the runway "was bare and dry and free of debris." Winds of 24 kt. gusting to 32 kt.
Hit hard by the deepening global financial crisis, Chinese airlines posted a net loss of CNY7.7 billion ($1.13 billion) in the first 11 months of 2008, according to CAAC Vice Minister Yang Guoqing. Yang noted in a conference this week that the carriers suffered from a sharp decline in demand last year, especially on international routes. Even Hong Kong and Macau slipped. Based on the regulators' rough estimate, Chinese airlines transported 192 million passengers in 2008, down 13% from 2007. Cargo volume plummeted 14.8% to 4 million tonnes.
Lynne Osmus was appointed by President George Bush as FAA acting administrator effective Jan. 16, when current Acting Administrator Bobby Sturgell has said he will resign. Sturgell had named Osmus, formerly assistant administrator for security and hazardous materials, as acting deputy administrator this week. She is expected to serve in the post until President-elect Barack Obama's yet-to-be-named choice for administrator is confirmed by the Senate, a process that could take some time. Obama takes office Jan. 20.
