Austrian Airlines Group's privatization continued to be in doubt yesterday as reports that Lufthansa presented the only offer for state holding company OIAG's 42.75% stake went unconfirmed by both AAG and LH. Austrian has said it will make an announcement Monday. A Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said on Austrian radio that there is one potential bidder, while other reports suggest LH, S7 Airlines and even Air France KLM want more time or further talks before presenting a bid.
IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani warned Middle East and North African carriers that they are not immune to the current industry crisis and urged them to focus on efficiency and expanding commercial freedoms.
Mokulele Airlines was flying again yesterday, one day after shutting down following a US FAA inspection that revealed cabin crews were not properly trained on the use of life preservers and fire extinguishers. "They grounded all the planes and conducted intensive training for all of their staff," an FAA spokesperson told ATWOnline. Mokulele recently signed an agreement with Republic Airways to operate up to four E-170s for inter-island service in Hawaii. It currently operates 56 daily flights to seven Hawaiian destinations.
Vueling Airlines reported an €18.7 million ($24.8 million) operating loss through the first nine months of 2008, reduced from a €38.4 million negative EBIT in the year-ago period, Reuters reported. Sales rose 32.2% year-over-year to €354.4 million and passenger numbers were up 2.1% to 4.7 million.
US Dept. of Homeland Security released the Secure Flight Final Rule, "which shifts pre-departure [terrorist] watch list matching responsibilities from individual aircraft operators to TSA."
SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines parent SkyWest Inc. said it expects third-quarter net income "to be lower than previously anticipated" and fall between $24.2 million and $26.5 million. It posted a $42.9 million profit in the third quarter of 2007. SkyWest said the lowered forecast was the result of the elimination of nine aircraft from ASA's agreement with Midwest Airlines and a larger-than-expected reduction in block hr. scheduled by partners of both subsidiaries.
Gulf Air secured a $25 million unsecured loan from BMI Bank, which it said will be "infused into the working capital of the company" and used for financing "various development plans."
SpiceJet named former Flight Options COO and Chief Strategy Officer Sanjay Aggarwal as CEO, effective immediately. Flight Options is a private aviation provider based in Cleveland. Aggarwal previously was manager-financial planning at US Airways. SpiceJet operates 15 737NGs to 16 Indian destinations USA3000 Airlines named IndiGo COO Steven Harfst as its new president and CEO, succeeding the retiring Angus Kinnear. Before joining IndiGo, Harfst was North American Airlines COO. USA3000 operates 11 A320s to 13 destinations.
Goodrich inked a deal with US Airways to refurbish half its CFM56-5B thrust reversers and provide initial exchange units to facilitate a maintenance program. Contract will run through 2012 under the Goodrich Aerostructures Prime Solutions program. Work will take place in Foley, Ala.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. promoted Senior VP-Marketing Dennis Cary to senior VP and chief marketing and customer officer. In addition, it named Chief Customer Officer Graham Atkinson as president of UA's Mileage Plus loyalty program.
Spirit AeroSystems will supply Continental Airlines with structural parts and components for its Boeing fleet under a multiyear deal announced yesterday. Contract covers 370 737, 757, 767 and 777 aircraft.
Copa Airlines flew 472.5 million RPMs in September, up 16% year-over-year, against an 11.1% rise in ASMs to 624.1 million. Load factor jumped 3.2 points to 75.7%. Frontier Airlines' September mainline yield rose 8.3% year-over-year to 10.6 cents while RASM climbed 15.1% to 8.78 cents. It flew 711.9 million RPMs during the month, down 8.3%, against a 13.7% fall in capacity to 859.9 million ASMs. Load factor rose 4.9 points to 82.8%.
SkyEurope Airlines "did not fulfill its payment plan" with Austrian Airlines Group and no longer will have its 737-700s serviced by Austrian Technik, AAG CEO Alfred Oetsch told Vienna's Die Presse. In addition, several SkyEurope aircraft were not refueled at VIE last week owing to unpaid fuel bills. US investor York Global Finance, which holds 29.9% of the LCC, plans to lead a consortium that intends to take a complete or majority stake ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17). It hopes to finalize the deal at a board meeting scheduled for Nov. 10.
Austria's Niki expects to report a profit in 2008, President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline. The carrier posted a $3.5 million profit in 2007. It will take delivery of a second A321 next May and lease an A320 from new partner Air Berlin for six months beginning next April ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17). Two E-190s are expected to arrive at around the same time, lifting Niki's fleet to 13 aircraft.
American Airlines' order for up to 100 787s for delivery between 2012 and 2020, announced last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 16), begins to answer questions about the program's potential production ramp-up.
Rockwell Collins announced plans to acquire SEOS, a visual display provider for full-flight simulators. Headquartered in West Sussex with 150 employees, the company will assume RC's name and join its Simulation and Training Solutions organization. Deal is expected to be finalized in 30 days. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Moroccan government plans to privatize Royal Air Maroc and its Atlas Blue subsidiary, according to a document cited by Reuters. Some or all of the carriers will be sold directly to investors or through the Casablanca Stock Exchange, the government said. No timetable was announced.
Boeing may avoid a second costly labor strike with the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace following negotiations last week. The Everett Herald reported that leaders on both sides emerged upbeat following talks, with SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth telling the paper, "There was more substantive talk about issues during this two-hour meeting than we've had with Boeing since committees started meeting eight months ago." The tone represents a reversal from last month, when SPEEA offered public support for the International Assn.
Aer Arann will lay off up to 100 employees (about 25% of its workforce) as part of a restructuring it said will "better position the airline in the current difficult operating environment." The Dublin-based carrier also plans to operate nine aircraft rather than the current 13 on its own network and will focus on increasing its wet-lease business, according to press reports.
US Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) released a letter he wrote to US airline CEOs urging them to "roll back. . .fuel surcharges and extra fees" in line with lower oil prices. "It seems to me that the extra costs of flying imposed over the summer are less relevant as fuel prices have declined," he wrote.
Extech Data Systems said it added capability to its Andes 3 portable printer featuring a 32-bit microcontroller from ST Microelectronics, a 4MB Flash, 1MB SRAM memory and an in-field programmable CPU. Technology utilizes Form Fiesta, a Windows-based utility enabling users to create boarding passes, parking tickets and other forms.
UPS will raise air express shipping rates by an average of 4.9% from Jan. 5. It said the increase reflects a 6.9% rise in the base rate and a 2% reduction in fuel surcharges. The move indicates that the delivery giant is less concerned about oil prices, which have dropped sharply recently, but remains wary of the weak global economy and its potentially negative effect on express package shipping next year.
US Dept. of State's discussion draft for a "Multilateral Convention on Foreign Investment in Airlines" that was presented to reporters last week in Kuala Lumpur ( ATWOnline, March 17) now is available on both the ATWOnline home page under White Papers & Speeches and here.
Hansung Airlines, a low-cost carrier based at Cheongju, suspended operations Saturday, according to The Korea Times, which reported that the three-year-old airline had failed to pay KRW990 million ($741,000) in airport fees and wages over the past two months and was KRW27.2 billion in debt.
