SkyWorks Leasing arranged the sale of two Frontier Airlines A319s to a special-purpose company affiliated with VTB Leasing, Moscow, for onward lease to Rossiya Airlines.
Air France Industries and KLM Engineering & Maintenance signed a deal with South African Airways subsidiary SAA Technical for repair services and spares pool access across the carrier's fleet. AFI and KLM E&M currently provide component support for SAA Technical's 11 A319-100s, 15 A340-300s/-600s and 21 737-800s. Deal also covers AFI and KLM E&M subsidiary EPCOR, which maintains SAA's A340 APUs.
US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said yesterday that FAA has accepted recommendations from the independent review team, composed of nongovernment experts, that she established and dispatched in April to conduct reviews of US airlines' safety programs ( ATWOnline, April 21) following revelations about Southwest Airlines' noncompliance with an agency airworthiness directive.
Oxford Aviation Academy said this week that it acquired General Flying Services, an Australia-based ab initio training provider, under a deal backed by STAR Capital Partners. Financial details were not disclosed. GFS, which operates from two airports in Melbourne, last fiscal year trained more than 300 cadets (many from Southeast Asia, China and the Middle East) and anticipates more than 500 pilot graduates over the next few years.
Farelogix signed a multiyear agreement with Air Canada to distribute ala-carte fare products, product attributes and flight passes to users of its FLX Platform through a direct connect with the carrier's AC2U platform. Technology allows travel agents to shop, price, book and service exclusive Air Canadae content.
AiRUnion COO Gustav Baldur said the struggling Russian airline alliance will be shut down at the latest by Sept. 30 ( ATWOnline, Sept. 9). Speaking to ATWOnline at an international symposium of the Austrian Aviation Assn., Baldauf said the AiRUnion project had failed. "Now we will present a new concept [to the State of Russia] today in Moscow [to show] how a replacement airline project could be functional."
Continental Airlines said it has furloughed 148 pilots as part of its effort to trim operating costs that were sparked by higher fuel prices. It added that the furloughs were in line with plans announced in June to retire 67 737s, lower 2008 fourth-quarter mainline domestic capacity by 11% and reduce its workforce by 3,000 ( ATWOnline, June 6).
CAE won orders for full flight simulators and related CAE Simfinity training devices valued at more than C$54 million ($50.6 million) from Cathay Pacific Airways, Southwest Airlines, Lufthansa Flight Training and Flight Simulation Co. CX ordered a CAE 7000 Series 747-8 FFS, CAE Simfinity Integrated Procedures Trainer and CAE Simfinity Virtual Maintenance Trainer for 747-8s. The simulator is slated for delivery in 2010 to the carrier's Hong Kong training facility. SWA purchased a CAE 7000 Series 737-700 FFS featuring its True electric motion system.
Air Canada said yesterday that it will begin offering passengers inflight Internet service in spring 2009 via Aircell's Gogo mobile broadband service. AC plans to roll out the Gogo system on select flights to the US next year, initially installing the system on its A319s operating on transborder routes. VP-Marketing Charles McKee said the carrier ultimately plans "systemwide" deployment. AC becomes Aircell's first non-US customer for inflight Internet service. Passengers will be able to access Gogo with a standard Wi-Fi-equipped laptop or personal electronic device.
Turkish Airlines plans to realize a further $100 million in cost savings thanks to what CEO Temel Kotil called "intensive cooperation" with IATA. "We plan to get these savings with more fleet efficiency," he told ATWOnline. More direct routes and reduced use of APUs on the ground will be key to reaching the target, he said, adding, "In addition to that, we have a very young fleet which saves us a lot of fuel as well."
AWAS announced the acquisition of two A330-200s from ILFC. Aircraft were part of a six-aircraft buy and are operated by Malaysia Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. It also leased one 737-400 to Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air.
Airbus yesterday presented details of its Power8 Plus restructuring program to labor unions representing its employees, telling workers that the cuts envisioned in the original Power8 restructuring program no longer are sufficient.
Alaska Airlines said its entire fleet will be equipped by the end of this month with Honeywell's Runway Awareness and Advisory System, which provides audible alerts in cockpits when aircraft approach and enter taxiways and runways. RAAS aims to prevent pilots from using the wrong runway. Alaska said it began installing the system on its 737s in July.
LAN Airlines will introduce a premium economy product within South America on Sept.15. It will feature a middle seat in each row that converts into a table. It will be available on flights from Santiago to Buenos Aires, Guayaquil, Quito, Lima, Sao Paulo Guarulhos and Montevideo and from Lima to Quito, Bogota, Medellin and GRU.
ARINC added Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband to its portfolio and is selling the connectivity service and applications to the aviation market. ARINC said it has made "major enhancements" to its Oi Onboard Internet offering to take advantage of the increased bandwidth available with SwiftBroadband. It also can offer "real-time credit approval capability to Oi, enabling airlines to offer pay-per-view entertainment to passengers during flight."
European Commission announced yesterday that it has opened an "in-depth investigation" into the planned acquisition of Martinair by Air France KLM because the takeover "might substantially reduce competition." KLM currently owns 50% of Martinair shares and intends to acquire the other 50% from Maersk ( ATWOnline, Aug. 21). The EC cited the potential negative impact of a merger on competition "as regards at least passenger transport between Amsterdam and. .
Magellan Group, an aftermarket supplier of aircraft products and services, announced that ACG Investment Capital Partners, a joint venture between Aviation Capital Group and FB Transportation Capital LLC, made an investment in Magellan. Terms were not disclosed.
Emirates has replaced its A380 with a 777-300ER until Sept. 12, citing training and engineering issues. EK had planned to use the A380 for training in between its Dubai-New York JFK services but engineering work has taken more time than expected. At the same time, its plan to operate daily A380 flights to JFK beginning Oct. 1 has slipped several weeks because of a delay in the delivery of its second aircraft. Sources in Hamburg told ATWOnline that aircraft will not be delivered until the third week of October due to delays in interior outfitting.
JetBlue Airways said yesterday that it will auction more than 300 roundtrip flights and six "getaway vacation packages" on eBay through Sept. 14. It said opening bids will be "a nickel or a dime" excluding taxes and fees.
Amadeus and transavia.com yesterday reached a distribution deal to make the airline's inventory available on Amadeus's system using its Ticketless Access solution. Technology will allow travel agencies to make transavia.com bookings within preferred GDS environments.
With no new talks scheduled between Boeing and the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the manufacturer's production lines remained silent yesterday and suppliers and airlines began to assess the potential damage of a protracted strike.
Rockwell Collins said easyJet debuted its dPAVES inflight entertainment system on an A321. System features 10-in. retractable LCD displays and Airshow 4200 Moving Map server integration.
Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday held a groundbreaking ceremony for its cargo terminal at Hong Kong International. It is investing HK$4.8 billion ($614.8 million) in the facility, which is slated to be completed by the second half of 2011. The terminal will have an annual capacity of 2.6 million tonnes and, while owned and operated by Cathay, will be a common-use facility open to all airlines.
New Alitalia will be organized by Nov. 1, according to Italian Minister of Productive Activities Claudio Scajola, who told media that the country "need[s] an airline which can be competitive as soon as possible," according to Bloomberg News. It will not be an easy road, however, as at least five unions yesterday rejected the layoffs and new contracts necessary to the government's rescue plan.
