KD avia 737-300 en route from Barcelona landed on its belly at Kaliningrad on Oct. 1, although none of the 138 passengers and six crew were hurt, according to press reports and Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network. KD Executive Director Leonid Itskov told Interfax that the fuselage was not destroyed and that passengers evacuated with slides. According to ASN, the crew declared an emergency following an unsafe gear indication and confirmed gear did not deploy following a low pass. The crew landed the aircraft gear up on its second approach.
Continental Airlines said September consolidated RASM rose an estimated 8%-9% year-over-year, with mainline RASM climbing 9%-10%. It flew 6.49 billion consolidated RPMs last month, down 10.9%, against an 8.1% fall in capacity to 8.49 billion ASMs. Load factor dropped 2.5 points to 76.5%. American Airlines flew 9.86 billion system RPMs in September, a 9.1% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 7% to 12.87 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.8 points to 76.6%. American Eagle flew 587.4 million RPMs, down 17.2%, against a 9.9% fall in ASMs to 910.7 million.
Boeing last week said it is combining its Alteon training subsidiary with existing training groups within Boeing Commercial Airplanes "to form a new, unified training organization" that will retain the Alteon name and become a business unit within Boeing Commercial Aviation Services. The new organization will provide customers with "a single integrated business encompassing all development, deployment and delivery of aviation training and flight services," the company said.
Mesa Air Group announced that Paul Foley has been tapped to serve as COO. Foley formerly was president and CEO of Mesaba Holdings, parent of Mesaba Airlines and Big Sky Airlines. Under his leadership, Mesaba Airlines exited bankruptcy protection and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines. Big Sky shut down in March after continued losses ( ATWOnline, Dec. 21, 2007).
Hawaiian Airlines last week took delivery of the first of four 717-200s on lease from Boeing Capital Corp. Remaining aircraft will arrive one per month in November, December and January, at which point HA will have 15 717s operating on its inter-island network. Aircraft will seat 118-123 passengers with eight seats in first class and will replace a 767-300 used on inter-island routes while restoring a spare aircraft to HA's 717 and 767 fleets.
Sun Country Airlines, which is seeking to gain financial independence from scandal-hit parent Petters Group Worldwide ( ATWOnline, Oct. 1), announced yesterday that President and CEO Stan Gadek was appointed chairman replacing Tom Petters, who resigned. DHL Express named George Kerschbaumer executive VP-commercial division. He formerly served as Deutsche Post World Net's executive VP-corporate development.
Etihad Crystal Cargo this week took over its sales and customer service activities in Thailand from local cargo general sales agent United Kargo Kare. UKK had handled Etihad's sales in Thailand since 2004, but the carrier said it determined that its own local team should take over given the market's "strategic importance." Thailand is Crystal Cargo's second-largest Far East market and the carrier projects its business there will grow 8% annually over the next five years.
KrasAir and Domodedovo Airlines, two of the five members of the defunct AiRUnion alliance, have been granted approval by Russian authorities to operate certain flights until Oct. 31. The other three carriers--Omskavia, Samara Airlines and Sibaviatrans--will shut down operations by Sunday.
European Low Fares Airline Assn. criticized the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency for its "abusing pricing policy" and called on it to reduce its cost base significantly and introduce a single charge zone for terminal navigation services in Poland. "PANSA's pricing policy is clearly to the detriment of passengers and regional airports, which risk losing many of the direct routes, opened by low fares airlines in recent years, as operating to Polish regions becomes prohibitively expensive compared to other European regions," ELFAA Secretary General John Hanlon warned.
Southwest Airlines flew 5.31 billion RPMs in September, down 5.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 0.8% to 8.38 billion ASMs, lowering load factor 4.5 points to 63.4%.
AiRUnion, the failed Russian airline alliance that comprised five carriers, ceased to exist Tuesday as the management company shut down. The Russian government intended to replace AiRUnion with a state-owned grouping of nine airlines ( ATWOnline, Sept. 11), but AiRUnion COO Gustav Baldauf told ATWOnline that "we are still working on a concept for a follow-up company" and that decisions on how the replacement alliance would function "will take some time."
IAE announced that the first V2500 SelectOne engine entered service with launch customer IndiGo yesterday on a new A320. Aircraft, which was delivered to the Indian startup Sept. 23, is leased from Australia's Allco Finance Group.
Lufthansa Technik announced that the former Swiss International Air Lines technical division based in Basel has been relaunched as Lufthansa Technik Switzerland, focusing on technical support for VIP and business aircraft including the BBJ and ACJ. It also will service regional aircraft and engines operated by Swiss, such as the Avro RJ100. It employs nearly 500. The company will be headed by CEO Rainer Lindau and CFO Jan-Hendrik Labe. Lindau previously headed aircraft maintenance at Lufthansa CityLine.
US President George Bush signed the FAA Extension Act of 2008 into law, extending funding for FAA operations and programs through March 31 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 25). He also signed a Dept. of Homeland Security appropriations bill requiring DHS to conduct two additional US Exit pilot programs--one where airlines collect and transmit biometric exit data and another where US Customs and Border Protection collects data at departure gates ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26).
LAN Airlines said the required adoption of IFRS on Jan. 1 will result in a 4.3% decline in shareholders' equity as of Dec. 31, representing a $42 million reduction to $946 million. LAN said the transition will not have a "significant material effect" on future financial results.
Lufthansa Systems reached a five-year deal with Air Berlin to provide its Traffic Flow Restrictions supplement for its Lido OC flight planning solution. Technology is expected to enhance route planning efficiency and reduce fuel costs.
British Airways World Cargo's former commercial GM, Keith Packer, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix rates on international airfreight shipments and agreed to serve eight months in prison, the US Dept. of Justice announced. Under terms of the deal, which is subject to court approval, Packer also will pay a $20,000 criminal fine and has pledged to cooperate with DOJ's ongoing investigation into cargo carrier collusion. He is the first foreign national and third individual charged as part of DOJ's investigation.
ExpressJet Holdings shareholders yesterday approved a 1:10 reverse stock split, which the company said will allow it to return immediately to trading on all NYSE Group platforms and return to compliance with NYSE's continued listing standards at the close of the six-month cure period on Jan. 18 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 8).
Air Pacific's two 747-400s will be refurbished with new cabins (including seat covers, carpet and curtains), upgraded digital IFE, renewed galleys and lavatories, interior lighting and paint. The aircraft will be serviced in Singapore in October-November and February-March and a United Airlines 747-400 will be wet-leased to maintain the flight schedule. Separately, FJ will launch twice-weekly Nadi-Gold Coast on Dec. 1 aboard a 737-800.
SELF-SERVICE TECHNOLOGY, particularly booking tickets and checking in for flights online and airport kiosk check-in, has moved beyond the initial "hype period" and is here to stay, becoming a key component of "an irreversible evolution" in the way airline passengers travel.
To the extent that delays in delivery of new aircraft or the modifications, products and services that support current types can be remedied by instant exchange of accurate information within the whole supply chain, relief may be in sight. Product Lifecycle Management tools have been improved and are being used more aggressively by aerospace manufacturers. In July, Boeing expanded its agreement to use Siemens' Teamcenter to standardize PLM across all commercial and military units.
Blue Sky Alliance, a recent joint venture among Avio-Diepen, Interturbine Logistik and Satair, signed a deal with Airbus to serve as its "preferred provider" offering aftermarket spares including consumables, expendables and standard hardware materials through a single point of contact. Based in Hamburg, BSA aims to make it easier and less cost-intensive for Airbus operators to acquire spares and other parts for maintenance. Adopting a one-stop-shop concept, the alliance will employ a joint IT platform that facilitates the complex supply process for customers.
ON JULY 17, 2007, A TAM A320 touched down on Sao Paulo Conganhas's rain-slickened main runway but its 6,365 ft. were not sufficient for a safe landing. The skidding aircraft tragically overran the runway, slid across a multilane road and slammed into a TAM Cargo building. All 187 passengers and crew were killed, as were 12 occupants of the building, and the A320 was destroyed in Brazil's worst-ever airline accident.
