Argentine Senate signed off on the expropriation of Aerolineas Argentinas and Austral last week in a 42-20 vote, following the Chamber of Deputies' approval early this month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 5). AR owner Grupo Marsans has filed for arbitration at the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in response. Senators said last week that AR is losing ARS27 million ($7.9 million) per month, Reuters reported.
In a major blow to US-Israel aeropolitical relations, FAA Friday announced that it was downgrading Israel's aviation safety standard to Category 2 under the agency's International Aviation Safety Assessment program.
CAE sold one 787 simulator and one 777-300ER simulator to Air New Zealand. The 777 device will be delivered in 2010 to coincide with arrival of ANZ's first -300ER, with the 787 FFS to follow in 2012. CAE is providing a suite of Simfinity training devices for each aircraft type, to be used for both pilot and maintenance training.
Bmi launched a six-month trial of Mobile OnAir, offering passengers inflight communications services including the use of SMS-enabled mobile phones/PDAs and Internet access from laptop computers fitted with GSM data cards. Service is being trialed on a single A320 operating between London Heathrow and Moscow. Bmi is the first UK carrier to trial the service.
US Air Transport Assn. expressed satisfaction with last week's reports that Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) will be nominated by President-elect Barack Obama to be the new Secretary of Transportation ( ATWOnline, Dec. 18). ATA said LaHood "has a well-deserved reputation for his even-handed, thoughtful and deliberative approach to complex issues" and that it "look[s] forward to working closely" with LaHood if he is confirmed.
The Chinese government cut the domestic fuel price 32% to CNY5,050 ($736.49) per ton from CNY7,450, effective last Friday, marking the sixth time this year Beijing has adjusted the domestic price. Because of the way in which fuel prices are managed by the government ( ATWOnline, Oct. 7), Chinese airlines have not reaped the immediate benefit of the collapse in oil prices. Fuel expense currently accounts for 40%-50% of Chinese carriers' total operating expenses.
ICAO reported yesterday that preliminary traffic figures show that scheduled airline traffic (RPKs) for airlines of the ICAO member states rose just 1.8% in 2008 compared to 2007, a significant slowdown following the 7.1% rise in 2007 over 2006. Passenger enplanements climbed approximately 0.8% to 2.29 billion. ICAO said that the growth "was shared unequally between IATA airline members and other types of carriers, notably Low Cost Carriers. The non-IATA market share increased significantly, reaching 33% of domestic scheduled traffic and around 20% of total scheduled traffic."
As expected, merger talks between Qantas and British Airways ended without any agreement just two weeks after the oneworld partners formally confirmed their discussions of a tie-up via a dual-listed company structure. "Despite the potential longer-term benefits for Qantas and BA, the airlines have not been able to come to an agreement over the key terms of the merger at this time," the carriers said in a statement, adding that they will continue to work on their joint business between the UK and Australia.
Sabre Holdings acquired EB2 International, a London-based, supplier of "e-commerce enabling software products, solutions, infrastructure and services to global airlines." Price was not disclosed. Sabre said the acquisition will accelerate its technology plans for its recently launched SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service solution. EB2 and its products will become part of Sabre Airline Solutions.
Lufthansa Technik extended an agreement with the International Bureau of Aviation under which IBA provides LHT with "aircraft transitioning support services" on an as-required basis. Services covered include aircraft transition inspections, technical records audits and aircraft importations.
Chinese carriers have had mixed reactions to CAAC's recent call to "cancel or delay" 2009 aircraft orders as a part of an effort to lift the domestic airline industry out of its current difficulties. CAAC also encouraged carriers to return leased aircraft and to ground or sell older planes, in addition to capacity adjustments, in order to reduce deliveries of foreign-made aircraft ( ATWOnline, Dec. 11).
Delta Air Lines said it expects to record a one-time noncash operating expense of approximately $950 million in the current quarter, which it said is "primarily associated with the issuance of equity awards to substantially all nonmanagement employees of Delta and [Northwest Airlines] in connection with the merger." DL also entered into an agreement with Citigroup Global Markets to sell up to 18.2 million shares of common stock at $0.0001 per share. It said proceeds will be used for "general corporate purposes," including the replacement of funds used to pay merger-related taxes.
Swiss International Air Lines plans to add San Francisco, Abu Dhabi and Beijing to its network as soon as the industry downturn concludes, Director-External Relations & Alliances Ignazio Strano told ATWOnline at last week's Star Alliance board meeting in Chicago. Swiss also is evaluating closer cooperation with fellow Star member Austrian Airlines Group, which will be acquired by Swiss parent Lufthansa.
United Airlines said its fourth-quarter PRASM is expected to rise 3%-4% while CASM excluding fuel will rise 1%-1.5%. CFO Kathryn Mikells told employees in a conference call that "lower fuel prices are clearly good news. . .At United, every dollar per barrel that fuel declines gives us about $60 million in fuel savings per year excluding hedging impacts." UA previously said it expects to record $232 million in cash fuel hedging losses and $138 million in noncash mark-to-market hedging losses in the fourth quarter.
President-elect Barack Obama will nominate Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as the next US Secretary of Transportation, according to multiple news reports. LaHood, 63, is retiring from Congress at year end after serving in the House of Representatives since 1995. The appointment of the Republican lawmaker by Democrat Obama is reminiscent of Republican President George Bush's naming Democrat Norman Mineta transportation secretary following the 2000 election. If confirmed, LaHood will oversee the Dept. of Transportation, which includes FAA.
US Air Transport Assn. announced the release of Spec 2000 Chapter 16, Electronic Product and Part Regulatory Documentation, which describes the electronic exchange of FAA's Authorized Release Certificate and has been approved as the method for exchanging From 8130-3 in electronic format.
Turkish Airlines confirmed the addition of five widebodies in the coming months to support the growth of its long-haul operations. Additions comprise three 777-300ERs on wet lease from Jet Airways and two A330-200s that are part of an order placed in 2004. THY currently operates nine A340-500s and five A330-200s. The first two 777-300ERs are scheduled to join the fleet on Dec. 24 and 25 while the A330s are scheduled for February and April delivery. With the addition of the 777s, THY also will start offering first class.
The UK Competition Commission yesterday "confirmed" that it will require BAA to sell both London Gatwick and Stansted, setting the stage for a breakup of the airport operator's control of London's airports for which UK airlines long have pushed.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority named Cathay Pacific Airways Senior Training Capt. John McCormick as director-aviation safety and CEO effective March 1. He formerly was with Qantas and the Royal Australian Air Force.
Vietnamese LCC Jetstar Pacific parent State Capital Investment Corp., which holds 75.8%, was granted permission by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to raise money by issuing additional shares to existing holders and to reduce its holding to 51% by selling its right to buy additional shares to other domestic stakeholders, the state Vietnam News Agency reported. Qantas holds 18% of the carrier and is allowed to take up to 30% ( ATWOnline, May 26).
Airbus has no plans to provide loans to customers, contrary to published reports, a spokesperson told Dow Jones. "Backstop financing is standard industry practice and is agreed at the time of contract. This happens years in advance of aircraft deliveries and is not the same thing as providing customers with billions in loans, which Airbus does not go into," the spokesperson said.
Six major US network carriers (American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways) reported an aggregate third-quarter operating margin of -5.8%, the fourth consecutive quarterly loss and a reversal from the 8.8% achieved in the year-ago period, the US Dept. of Transportation said. Delta reported a positive operating margin of 2.2% while the rest were in the red.
Southwest Airlines yesterday added a link to WestJet's booking portal to southwest.com, which SWA called "an important first step forward in the relationship" between the LCCs that will include the announcement of codeshare flight schedules by late next year ( ATWOnline, July 9).
Russia's Ministry of Transport is working out a mechanism for distributing over the next two years RUB7.5 billion ($270.1 million) in subsidies to airlines serving the country's far east. "Our goal is to introduce a uniform system of subsidizing economy-class fares on long-haul routes to and from these regions," Transport Minister Igor Levitin explained. At present, the state provides subsidies only to particular categories of passengers, such as those in the military, pensioners or students.
