Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, said last week that full-year 2008 pre-tax operating profit will "exceed $65 million," a downgrade from previous guidance of "approximately $85 million." President and CEO William Flynn cited "lower utilization of our 747-200 aircraft and weaker yields [owing to a weak economy] having a negative impact."
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh said competing with Lufthansa and Air France KLM for a minority stake in Alitalia "is certainly possible if the CAI investor group restructuring really succeeds," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported ( ATWOnline, Sept. 30). He also reiterated that BA still is "observing the development of bmi very carefully and we are interested in any acquisition that strengthens our position at Heathrow" ( ATWOnline, Feb. 7).
European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety this week voted to amend the EU's emissions trading scheme, increasing the number of emissions certificates that will be auctioned to 20% in 2013 (from 15% in 2012, when the ETS becomes effective) and to 100% in 2020. In addition, the 95% emissions allowance cap set for 2013 will be reduced annually "by a linear reduction factor" thereafter, the International Air Carrier Assn. said.
US FAA tentatively determined that Los Angeles International may have acted illegally in providing more than $40 million to the city's convention and visitors bureau, L.A. Inc., the Los Angeles Times reported. Funds were given to the tourism promotional office over a period dating back to 2002. US law allows advertising or marketing efforts aimed at increasing travel at a particular airport but forbids spending on general promotion of local tourist attractions. FAA could require that the money be returned or could seek civil penalties of up to $50,000 from LAX.
AirAsia majority shareholder Tune Air, which holds 30.9% of the LCC, said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia that it is "considering" privatizing the airline at an indicative price of approximately MYR1.35 ($0.39) per share, according to press reports. AirAsia has 2.36 billion shares outstanding, according to its website. Separately, the carrier this week retired the final 737-300 used on its Malaysian network. It now operates A320s on those routes. The company has 175 firm A320s on order plus 50 options and currently operates 42 in Malaysia, seven in Thailand and one in Indonesia.
The US Dept. of Transportation announced its intention yesterday to move forward with its controversial plan to conduct slot auctions at New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark as part of an $89 million capacity improvement plan over vehement objections from airlines and airports that are challenging the legality of the action (see next item), and also said it will impose a new limit on hourly operations at LGA.
Airline and airport organizations blasted the US Dept. of Transportation's final rule requiring FAA to conduct slot auctions at New York LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports to reduce delays, with the Air Transport Assn. saying the decision left it with "no choice but to pursue [a] court challenge" to prevent an auction. In a statement, ATA President and CEO James May said the DOT decision (see story above) "patently defies the recommendation of the Government Accountability Office, as well as the will of Congress," and "will result in a lengthy and costly legal challenge."
Delta Air Lines will offer 180-deg. lie-flat business class seats on 767-400 flights from both Atlanta and New York JFK to London Heathrow beginning next summer. DL operates twice-daily JFK-LHR service and will add an additional flight on the route to be co-operated with Air France in summer 2009. It flies daily ATL-LHR.
A Yeti Airlines Twin Otter en route from Kathmandu to Lukla yesterday crashed on landing and caught fire, killing all 16 passengers and two of three crewmembers. According to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network, "visibility was reported as poor." The flight captain was the sole survivor. The Twin Otter's first flight was in 1980, ASN said. Lukla has a single 1,600-ft. runway at an elevation of 9,380 ft.
Lufthansa Flight Training announced the opening of its Munich training center. Expected to have a staff of 24, the facility initially will accommodate E-190, A320 and A330/A340 simulators. CAE said it will add a CRJ200 FFS to support the CRJ200/900 FFS currently installed at its Madrid training center. Simulator is slated to enter service early next year.
KLM took official receipt of a new cost-saving aircraft painting system using environmentally sustainable, chromate-free paint. The system, developed by KLM Engineering & Maintenance and German manufacturer Mankiewicz, claims to use 15% less paint and allows the degreasing of the aircraft before repainting to be performed with only soap and water. Previously this required 800 litres of aggressive, flammable solvent. Paint retains gloss and color longer, dries faster and application process takes two fewer days, KLM said.
Olympic Airlines cancelled more than 100 flights yesterday as members of Greece's largest union GSEE staged a 24-hr. strike in protest of the government's plan to privatize the carrier ( ATWOnline, Oct. 1). Nearly all modes of transport were affected.
Turkish Airlines won the tender to acquire a 49% stake in B&H Airlines ( ATWOnline, Sept. 5), a Bosnian government official told Reuters in Sarajevo. "After the evaluation of all bids, we found the offer of Turkish Airlines by far the best," the unnamed official told the news service. Comintel Corp. of Malyasia and a Jordanian consortium including Royal Jordanian were among THY's competitors.
Singapore Changi is to be taken over on July 1, 2009, by Temasek Holdings, the state-owned investment company with a portfolio valued at S$185 billion ($126.29 billion) as of March 31, 2008. The corporatization will see the airport's current operator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, hived off into a separate aviation regulatory and safety authority handling air traffic services, safety and economic regulation and aeropolitical negotiations.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.71 billion system RPMs in September, down 0.8% year-over-year. Capacity fell 3.7% to 12.14 billion ASMs and load factor rose 2.4 points to 80%. Etihad Airways transported 4.4 million passengers through the first nine months of 2008, up 33.3% year-over-year. Overall load factor rose 7 points to 75% while business class loads climbed at the same rate to 63%. It launched routes to four new destinations this year and will add two more, Moscow Domodedovo and Almaty, in December. It said it is "set to exceed" its full-year target of 6 million passengers.
Virgin America is introducing a Main Cabin Select fare for flights starting Nov. 3. The service class will offer passengers 38-in. seat pitch, "a more streamlined boarding process" and complimentary food and cocktails inflight. "In short, this is for the traveler who wants an upscale experience for far less than what they would pay for business class on someone else," President and CEO David Cush said.
Air France launched a booking facility for children under 12 traveling alone. The mandatory form for all unaccompanied children will be filled out automatically according to details given at the time of reservation. Customers can then print the form and hand it in to AF ground staff. AF said it is the first airline to offer online reservations for under-12 passengers on all flights and those of its franchised carriers.
Mesa Air Group said yesterday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the Air Line Pilots Assn. on a new contract of undisclosed duration. "This agreement, if ratified, will resolve many of the scheduling-related issues between Mesa and the pilot group," it said. The pilots' contract became amendable in September 2007. The sides entered into an "expedited negotiation process" and said yesterday the new contract includes "more days off. .
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary told reporters yesterday in London that "if aircraft fleet prices collapse," he would be interested in spearheading an effort to launch a long-haul LCC, Reuters reported. "There may be the opportunity to buy a fleet of long-haul aircraft cheaply next year," he said. He provided few details, but revealed his interest in the long-haul "no frills" transatlantic carrier concept more than a year ago ( ATWOnline, April 13, 2007). He said the potential airline would be independent from Ryanair.
Qantas A330-300 on its way from Singapore to Perth yesterday afternoon experienced severe turbulence and diverted to Learmonth, about 700 mi. north of its destination, with dozens injured. At least 10 were hospitalized in Exmouth, with QF confirming that both passengers and crew suffered "fractures and lacerations. . .following a sudden change in altitude." There were 303 passengers and 10 crew onboard, and local media were reporting that up to 50 were hurt. Qantas dispatched two 717s from Perth to pick up passengers as the A330 was grounded for inspections.
Air France KLM flew 17.99 billion RPKs in September, a 0.5% increase on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 2.2% to 22.25 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.4 points to 80.9%. Gol flew 1.73 billion consolidated RPKs in September, down 3.1% year-over-year. Capacity rose 4.1% to 3.03 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 4.2 points to 57%.
US Airways expects fourth-quarter mainline unit costs excluding fuel, special items and transition expenses to increase 6%-8% year-over-year, it reported in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It cited "higher engine maintenance expense" and costs associated with previously announced capacity cuts as the cause ( ATWOnline, July 23). It has hedged 56% of its fuel exposure for the fourth quarter and expects to lose $0.19 per gal. purchased as a result.
US Dept. of Transportation said the 19 reporting carriers cancelled 1.6% of their scheduled domestic flights in August, improved from 1.9% in the year-ago month and 1.7% in July. Comair (4.6%), ExpressJet Airlines (3.3%) and JetBlue Airways (3.2%) had the highest cancellation rates while Frontier Airlines (0.3%), Northwest Airlines (0.5%) and Southwest Airlines (0.6%) reported the lowest. Airlines posted an ontime arrival rate of 78.4%, up from 71.7% in the year-ago month and 75.7% in July.
