Lufthansa flight attendants represented by the Independent Flight Attendant Org. are threatening industrial action in the coming weeks over a pay dispute, Reuters reported. The union left negotiations Friday and is demanding a 15% increase in pay and benefits for some 16,000 employees. LH has offered 10%.
European Commission authorized what it called "rescue aid" for Austrian Airlines Group in the form of a €200 million ($265.2 million) loan facility guaranteed by Austrian state holding company OIAG. The EC said the loan was issued at market rates and the amount was limited to what is needed to maintain the company ahead of its privatization ( ATWOnline, Dec. 8, 2008).
CSA Czech Airlines should be privatized this year following a Monday decision by the government to sell 91.5% of the national carrier by September. The sale reportedly is expected to generate up to CZK5 billion ($238.7 million) and will consist of a two-round tender.
SR Technics won a five-year extension on its contract with Air Caraibes Atlantique to provide MRO services for two A330-200s and two A330-300s. Valued at more than CHF100 million ($89.1 million), the contract covers technical fleet management, base and line maintenance and component services. SRT recently opened a line station in Cayenne and will continue to support operations at Paris Orly.
Japan Airlines plans to cut 2,140 jobs from its International unit by April 2011 and eliminate 1,640 of those positions altogether, while the remainder will be transferred elsewhere in the company, a spokesperson told Bloomberg News. The unit currently employs 16,240 and the move is part of an effort to reduce labor costs by an additional $109 million. JAL said there will be no layoffs and that the job cuts will come through attrition.
Singapore and the Czech Republic signed an open skies agreement on Jan. 19. There currently are no direct services between the countries. Singapore has concluded open skies agreements with more than 30 countries, including 16 in the EU.
Delta Air Lines is holding firm on a tentative agreement it reached last month with the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which manages Minneapolis-St. Paul International, saying that it will not renegotiate terms and expects the commission's board to approve the deal at a Jan. 26 meeting.
Fraport received approval from the Hessen state court to begin construction of the fourth runway and third terminal at Frankfurt Airport ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20, 2007). However, the approval contains a "proposed restriction on night flights," according to IATA, which "should be reconsidered in a future court ruling." Fraport said in June that the runway should be operational by the 2011 winter schedule.
Iberia flew 3.96 billion RPKs in December, down 7% from the year-ago month, against a 5.7% decline in capacity to 5.21 billion ASKs. Load factor fell 1.1 point to 76%. TAM flew 2.15 billion domestic RPKs in December, up 5% year-over-year, against a 14.3% rise in capacity to 3.25 billion ASKs. Load factor dropped 5.8 points to 66.1%. International traffic climbed 22.1% to 1.46 billion RPKs, capacity rose 21.9% to 2.05 billion ASKs and load factor was up 0.1 point to 71.4%.
Okay Airways applied to CAAC for permission to resume operations following its suspension last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 8, 2008). CAAC North China Regional Administration spokesperson Sun Defu confirmed to ATWOnline that the regulator received Okay's application on Jan. 15 and will conduct a safety check before granting approval, for which Sun did not provide a timetable.
A preliminary US FAA report released Friday said a US Airways A320-200 "made a forced landing on the Hudson River after striking birds and losing engine power" moments after taking off from New York LaGuardia. Flight 1549 was on its way to Charlotte but wound up ditching in the river ( ATWOnline, Jan. 16). A National Air Traffic Controllers Assn. spokesperson told the Associated Press that Capt. Chesley Sullenberger III, 57, reported a "double bird strike" less than a minute after taking off.
ACSS said it was selected by Air Berlin "to launch a collaborative program to implement and certify its SafeRoute Merging & Spacing function in the European airspace." ACSS is a joint venture between L-3 Communications and Thales. SafeRoute uses ADS-B to improve situational awareness and enhance an aircraft's operating efficiency during takeoff, flight, approach, landing and taxi, according to ACSS. The Merging & Spacing Function "makes flying more efficient by providing the pilot with speed cues that enable an aircraft to reach its approach point with greater precision. .
US Dept. of Transportation named Dr. Karlin Toner to serve as a senior staff adviser and coordinator of inter-agency development of the NextGen air transportation system. She will chair the Senior Policy Committee overseeing NextGen and will work directly under the Secretary of Transportation.
Cabot Aviation, on behalf of Aircraft Solutions A320, arranged the purchase of three V2500-A1-powered A320-200s from Cyprus Airways. First aircraft was delivered on Jan. 14 and the other two are due in the first half of this year.
Finnair will lay off 120 employees as part of an effort to save €25 million ($33 million) in personnel expenses. It said it will achieve the remainder of the targeted savings through furloughs and the scheduled upcoming conclusion of 400 fixed-term contracts. Senior VP-Human Resources Anssi Komulainen said the layoffs will be "widely applied" and "arranged so as to minimize disruption to the flight program." Finnair said it offered employee representatives a 5% temporary pay cut, the cancellation of holiday bonuses and salary freezes but was rejected.
JetBlue Airways promoted VP-Network Planning Martin St. George to senior VP-marketing and commercial strategy and Director-Network Planning Scott Laurence to VP-network planning.
Zest Airways MA60 sustained significant damage after undershooting the runway and hitting a concrete barrier when landing at Caticlan Sunday. Flight was en route from Manila with 22 passengers and three crew. Minor injuries were reported. Aircraft first flew last year. Manila-based Zest operates four additional MA60s, three Dash 7s and two A320-200s.
Cebu Pacific Air transported 683,204 passengers in December, a one-month record for the airline. It said it will add frequencies on flights from Manila to 11 domestic destinations by March "despite the weak economic forecast for the country," increasing the number of weekly domestic flights 16.6% to 1,252. It expects to take delivery of one A320 family aircraft and two ATR 72-500s by March. Frequencies to Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Macau also will increase during March.
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines flew 1.35 billion RPMs in December, a 3.3% drop from the year-ago month. Capacity declined 9.1% to 1.72 billion ASMs and load factor rose 4.6 points to 78.2%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 652.8 million RPMs in December, down 0.4% year-over-year. Capacity rose 2.8% to 821.4 million ASMs and load factor dropped 2.6 points to 79.5%. Norwegian said December yield fell 29% year-over-year to NOK0.64 ($0.09). It flew 515 million RPKs, up 20%, against a 25% increase in ASKs to 697 million. Load factor fell 3 points to 74%.
Brussels Airlines said 40% of passengers departing from Brussels opted for self check-in last year, a 30% increase year-over-year. Of those passengers, 55% checked in online and 45% used an airport kiosk.
SkyEurope Airlines received a one-month extension to Feb. 15 on a €15 million ($19.8 million) loan granted in December 2007 and a €10 million loan from last September from York Global Finance.
SR Technics reached a deal with easyJet to provide 157 intermediate layover checks on the carrier's A319 fleet. Work will take place in Zurich via a dual HMV line allowing for two simultaneous checks. Each check will take 14 days and all are scheduled between mid-March 2009 and summer 2015. Heroux-Devtek yesterday said Fokker Services awarded its Landing Gear Division a contract to manufacture replacement landing gear components for F100s. Valued at $15-$24 million, the contract calls for aftermarket kits including piston and cylinder components.
American Airlines plans to recall 24 furloughed pilots in February, a spokesperson told the Associated Press. It will mark the first time in eight months that AA has added pilots.
All 150 passengers and five crew evacuated successfully from a US Airways A320 that executed an emergency water landing in the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan following an apparent bird strike yesterday afternoon in what appears to be the first controlled ditching of a US commercial aircraft in more than 50 years.
ST Aerospace subsidiary STA Engines will provide GE Aviation with on-wing support for GEnx-1Bs and -2Bs under a 20-year deal announced yesterday. STA will employ GE material and repair processes from its facilities in Singapore and the US, and GE will offer technical support including training manuals and equipment.
