Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler said the current industry downturn will last longer than the one associated with SARS in 2003 but that there will be little, if any, cross-border consolidation, particularly in Asia, as a result. "It's already looking difficult and the question is how long and how deep it will be," Tyler told ATWOnline at the Australian Airports Assn. national convention in Perth. But relief will not come through consolidation, which did not occur during the 1997 Asian financial crisis or SARS, as many analysts predicted.
Amadeus said Spanair completed migration to its Altea platform and is managing reservations, sales and inventory through its Customer Management Solution.
IBM reached a deal with TAM for technology services, including installation of IT infrastructure and associated help desk and field support. Contract is expected to improve the carrier's server as well as its check-in system and tickets and reservation software.
Tunisair, SITA and Medsoft, a Tunisian IT company, have launched Aviation IT Services Africa, which will provide all information and computer technology services (both administrative and operational) to the airline over the next 10 years using adapted SITA solutions. The venture has launch capital of $3 million and will be held jointly by Tunisair (50%), SITA (49%) and Medsoft (1%). "This is the largest outsourcing deal SITA has ever signed with an airline," CEO Francesco Violante said at the recent Arab Air Carriers Org. meeting in Tunis.
Aer Lingus yesterday said its full-year operating loss will be "closer" to the lower end of the projected €20-€30 million ($25.7-$38.5 million) range forecast previously but that it expects another operating loss in 2009. Operating loss through the first half of 2008 was €22.3 million.
Vought Aircraft Industries, which produces the 787's rear fuselage, yesterday said it was temporarily ceasing operations at its Charleston plant, claiming that Boeing is so far behind on the program that Vought cannot afford to keep the facility running for the remainder of 2008. In a move that highlights the cascading effect of 787 program delays and the recently concluded Boeing machinists' strike, about half the Charleston plant's 400 employees will be out of work at least through year end. Vought said it hopes to restart rear fuselage production in the 2009 first quarter.
American Airlines flew 10.51 billion system RPMs in October, an 8.8% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 7% to 13.3 billion ASMs and load factor was down 1.5 points to 79%. American Eagle flew 641.7 million RPMs, down 15.5%, against a 10.8% fall in ASMs to 921.3 million, dropping load factor 3.9 points to 69.6%. US Airways Group flew 4.89 consolidated RPMs in October, a 3.5% decrease year-over-year, against a 5% fall in ASMs to 6.02 billion. Load factor increased 1.3 points to 81.3%.
News from Travel Technology Update: Farelogix said it is building an open-source front end for its FLX platform that will better meet the needs of travel management companies and enable airlines to merchandise their products more easily. Dubbed Project Hawkeye, it can be used as an off-the-shelf agent desktop or customized and extended to fit a particular customer's business, preferences or workflow needs.The application can be used separately from FLX when it is developed against a user's own travel source connections, Jim Davidson, chief executive officer of Farelogix, said.
Belgian government announced plans to cancel introduction of an airline passenger tax ( ATWOnline, Oct. 20). Assn. of European Airlines Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus said the decision "brings a note of sanity to the ticket tax debate."
DHL yesterday pulled the plug on its five-year push to become the "third alternative" to UPS and FedEx in the US express shipping market, announcing that all domestic US services will cease early next year as it focuses exclusively on international operations to/from 15-20 US metropolitan areas. "The basic reason is that the US is a highly concentrated duopoly market and the reality is. . .UPS and FedEx's scale, market reach and brand awareness have made it impossible for us to make it economically viable," DHL Express CEO John Mullen told reporters in a conference call.
Austrian Airlines Group will run out of cash by mid-2009 at the latest if it is unable to find a new owner or secure funding from the Austrian government, which was asked by Lufthansa to take responsibility for a significant portion of AAG's debt in exchange for a German takeover ( ATWOnline, Oct. 28). Analysts from Austrian banks now predict a 20% chance of bankruptcy.
Aer Lingus employees at Dublin, Cork and Shannon represented by SIPTU voted "overwhelmingly" to take industrial action before Dec. 1 in response to EI's proposal to cut 1,245 full-time-equivalent positions ( ATWOnline, Oct. 7). Ireland Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey called on the two sides to restart talks, according to Irish media.
Air France is charging €50 ($63.58) to passengers wishing to reserve economy seats with more legroom on certain transatlantic flights. Seat Plus will be available during online check-in from 30 hr. before departure on service between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Seattle, San Francisco, Washington Dulles, Montreal and Toronto. AF said it will be extended across its long-haul network during the winter.
Qatar Airways secured $500 million in financing for the purchase of three 777-300ERs. Twelve-year arrangement is with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank (facility agent and security trustee) and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. Europe.
ANA announced 787 spare parts support deals with Hamilton Sundstrand and Rockwell Collins under which part and repair equipment ownerships will remain with the manufacturers and ANA will pay only for time in the air. It said it was the "first program of its kind" for the 787. Separately, RC said ANA selected its dispatch program to provide avionics support for 787s under a 10-year, fixed-price-per-flight-hr. deal.
Frontier Airlines officially cancelled plans to build a $25 million heavy maintenance base in Colorado Springs. It announced the project last year before entering bankruptcy ( ATWOnline, Nov. 5, 2007). "As part of the bankruptcy process, we've had to look at every project in the organization," a spokesperson told the Rocky Mountain News. "We've canceled those projects that don't make sense.
JetBlue Airways flew an E-190 being used by Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign from Anchorage to Buffalo last Thursday, a 2,694-nm. repositioning flight the carrier claimed was a record for the aircraft type, according to a message to employees cited by USA Today. Flight took 6 hr. 11 min. Its longest regularly scheduled 190 flight is a 1,476-nm. Boston-Austin. JetBlue flew 1.88 billion RPMs in October, down 5.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 11.1% to 2.33 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 4.8 points to 80.7%.
United Airlines canceled a planned 100% increase on the one-way fee for a second checked bag on domestic flights (it will remain $25) and said it will offer a 20% discount on the $15 first-bag fee if paid on UA's website between Nov. 10 and Jan. 31. Customers also will be able to purchase premium economy seats with 5-in. extra legroom and a $9 loyalty point program "accelerator" on the website beginning Nov. 10.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.93 billion system RPMs in October, down 2.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 4.7% to 12.17 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 2 points to 81.6%. Northwest Airlines flew 6.38 billion system RPMs in October, a 1.4% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2% to 7.57 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.5 point to 84.3%. SkyEurope Airlines transported 304,669 passengers in October, down 10.1% year-over-year. Load factor declined 6.8 points to 68%.
Lufthansa Technik reached a 15-year deal with Norwegian to provide MRO on more than 100 CFM56-7Bs. Agreement is LHT's biggest engine service contract in Scandinavia to date, covering engines on 53 737NGs as well as seven spares. Work will take place at LHT's Hamburg shop, which is under construction.
Air Wisconsin, which operates 70 CRJ200s as US Airways Express, said it provided a $35 million, 12-month loan to US. Another Express operator, Republic Airways Holdings, provided a similar loan as part of a $950 million liquidity package that US announced last month ( ATWOnline, Oct. 24). Air Wisconsin said the loan includes optional monthly extensions totaling an additional 12 months.
AerCap Holdings, the Amsterdam-based operating lessor, has "suspended all future Capex other than existing contracted Capex with Airbus" and is reducing headcount by around 15% as it seeks to adjust to the impact of the ongoing credit crunch and airline traffic downturn. The company also is "in active discussions" to sell minority stakes in parts of its portfolio.
Greek Ministry of Transport and Communications announced the companies interested in bidding for some or all of Olympic Airlines, which the government intends to split and sell by year end. Interested in Olympic's flight operations are Athens Airways, Kuwait's Fouad El Ghanim Group, Italy's MyAir, Qatar Airways, SkyEurope Airlines and US charter services Chrysler Aviation and SkyOne. Interested in OA's ground handling division are Athens Airways, Greek construction firm Ellaktor, Fouad El Ghanim, Goldair, Hellenic Cargo Group and Swissport.
Ameco Beijing, the joint venture between Air China (60%) and Lufthansa (40%), announced deals with Jet2.com and Astraeus Airlines to provide MRO on RB211-535E4 engines (two for Astraeus and one for Jet2).
