Gol and VRG parent Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes submitted a request to Brazil's National Civil Aviation Agency for authorization to integrate Gol and VRG into a single airline company. "The proposed reorganization will simplify the corporate structure of Gol's subsidiaries, maximizing administrative efficiencies, optimizing revenues and reducing financial and operational costs, besides greater operational flexibility," it said. The Gol and Varig brands would be maintained, Gol said.
Martinair appointed Frank de Jong as VP-planning and Harm Winkeler as VP-Asia Pacific. Former Jet Airways CEO Nikos Kardassis, who ran the carrier from 1993 to 1999, will return to Jet as head of its North American operation as senior VP-the Americas and senior adviser to the chairman for corporate strategy and finance. Jet has launched four daily North American services in the past year.
Air Line Pilots Assn. filed a lawsuit on behalf of Astar Air Cargo pilots against DHL for "breach of contract and fraudulent inducement" relating to the delivery giant's decision to shift its US flying from Astar and ABX Air to UPS ( ATWOnline, May 30). "By proposing to shift its North American flying work away from [Astar] to UPS, DHL is breaching job security commitments it agreed to provide to Astar pilots in return for various benefits it received under the current labor contract," ALPA said.
FedEx Express yesterday launched revenue service with the first of 12 757-200 converted freighters it is scheduled to add over the next year, starting eight-times-weekly flights between Memphis and Washington National, its first service to DCA. The 757F is the first of the type to enter the delivery giant's fleet. It is investing $2.6 billion to replace its 90 727-200Fs with 90 757Fs and last year inked a deal with Singapore Technologies Aerospace covering 87 757-200 passenger-to-freighter conversions over seven years ( ATWOnline, Jan.
Austrian Airlines Group plans to phase out 12 CRJs. One will be retired, two will be replaced by Q400s acquired from SAS Group and nine will be made available for sale. Meanwhile, AAG subsidiary Austrian Technik Bratislava is targeting the F70/100 market. "ATB is the only maintenance facility beside the manufacturer in the Netherlands for Fokker jets. ATB is also JAR 145 approved," COO Peter Malanik told ATWOnline. ATB employs 130 staff and is looking to increase third-party work.
United Airlines yesterday filed a federal lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against the Air Line Pilots Assn., which the carrier claimed has engaged "in deliberate, organized and unlawful job actions" that have resulted in "hundreds" of flight cancellations. UA claimed the union and four specific pilots participated in "organized sick leave abuse in opposition to the company's plan to reduce its fleet size and furlough pilots" and to pressure the company to reopen collective bargaining negotiations.
LTU brand will disappear after more than 50 years in the aviation industry. Founded in 1955, the Dusseldorf-based carrier was acquired by Air Berlin last year ( ATWOnline, Aug. 9, 2007). "It is easier to concentrate on a single brand, Air Berlin," CEO Joachim Hunold told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche. The change will not be immediate as some bilateral agreements, like those with Mexico and Thailand, still require aircraft to wear the LTU livery.
OpenSkies will change the configuration of its 757s operating from Paris Orly and Amsterdam to New York JFK into a two-class cabin ( ATWOnline, July 29) with 40 seats in its Prem+ class and 24 in Biz. The 30 economy seats will be removed to enable expansion of Prem+ from 28 seats. Biz offers 180-deg. lie-flat beds and 73 in. of legroom whereas Prem+ seats feature a 140-deg. recline and 52-in. pitch. Following reconfiguration, scheduled to be introduced Oct.
Investigators examining the decompression explosion onboard a Qantas 747-400 last Friday found that a part from the suspect and missing oxygen bottle No. 4 burst into the aircraft's cabin and moved an exit door handle ( ATWOnline, July 29)."There was never any danger of the door opening," Australian Transport Safety Bureau Director Julian Walsh told media. ATSB investigators have focused on the oxygen bottles in the aircraft's forward cargo compartment as the culprit in the explosion, which tore a 1-sq.-m.
Aircraft Leasing & Management was contracted by Air Mauritius to remarket two A319-112s powered by CFM56-5B6/Ps. Aircraft will be offered for lease for up to three years.
Frontier Airlines entered into a letter of intent to sell six of its 47 A319s to VTB Leasing, which will place the aircraft with Rossiya. The parties previously had agreed to the transfer of two A319s and two A318s ( ATWOnline, March 24). The revised agreement calls for VTB to purchase the six A319s next month. Frontier said it also has reached an agreement "on other sale/leaseback transactions that further supplement its liquidity positions." The transactions are worth approximately $80 million to the airline, it said.
Michael Levine, a former executive with multiple carriers who is considered a principal architect of US airline deregulation, strongly rejected calls for "re-regulation" during a speech before the International Aviation Club in Washington yesterday, arguing that the industry "will need the kind of innovation and flexibility that government regulation would impede" in order to survive the fuel cost crisis.
Delta Air Lines yesterday doubled its fee for checking a second bag for domestic flights to $50 for tickets purchased from tomorrow for travel on or after Aug. 5. "As fuel costs remain at record levels, Delta believes revising the fee structure for excess bags and specialty items is essential," the carrier stated.
JetBlue Airways CEO Dave Barger will take a 50% cut in his base salary for the July 1-Dec. 31 period "in recognition of the challenges faced by the company and its employees in the current industry environment," the airline said. Barger makes $500,000 per year.
Continental Airlines unveiled details of a 180-deg. lie-flat business-class seat to be installed on its 787, 777 and 757 aircraft. "Customers will begin seeing lie-flats seats on [777s] that primarily serve transatlantic and transpacific routes in the fall of 2009, with installation on [757-200s] beginning in 2010 and on [787s] as the aircraft are delivered," CO said. New seats will recline to a flat bed extending 6.5 ft. and can be as wide as 25 in. owing to an adjustable arm rest.
Honeywell delivered the nitrogen generation system for the 737NG, which it said "is the first fully FAA-certified fuel tank inerting solution for commercial transport aircraft." Two weeks ago, US FAA announced that within two years all new aircraft must include technology designed to reduce significantly the risk of center fuel tank explosions such as the one that is believed to have resulted in the 1996 loss of TWA 800 ( ATWOnline, July 17), and all passenger aircraft built after 1991 must be retrofitted.
Sichuan Airlines is preparing the launch of a new business jet joint venture with European Flight Services despite the decline in domestic demand that has accompanied surging fuel prices. Shanghai-based Genesis Investment Management also is expected to be a stakeholder in the new company, which will be named EFS Asia Pacific and will adopt the Legacy 600 as its main fleet type.
Lufthansa reported no cancellations and "only a few minor delays" yesterday despite 5,000 cabin and ground workers starting a strike to demand a 9.8% pay increase ( ATWOnline, July 28). The ver.di union insisted that the effects of the work action will be felt in coming days. There is no indication of how long the strike may last, with the union describing the walkout as "indefinite."
Virgin America unveiled a new product called Main Cabin Select allowing passengers to reserve exit row or bulkhead seats with 38-in. pitch. Service also includes complimentary food and drink, dedicated overhead bin space and priority check-in, security screening and boarding. MCS will be available from mid-October.
Iberia flew 4.58 billion RPKs in June, down 2.3% year-over-year, against a 0.9% lift in ASKs to 5.65 billion. Load factor fell 2.7 points to 81.1%. SAS Group airlines flew 4.13 billion RPKs in June, up 3.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.9% to 5.53 billion ASKs and load factor fell 1.8 points to 74.7%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 2.73 billion RPKs, up 3.8%, against a 7.4% lift in ASKs to 3.54 billion. Load factor fell 2.7 points to 77.1%.
As Qantas continued to investigate last Friday's 747-400 incident (see next item), it continued to plan for its future with the announcement that Jetstar Airways CEO Alan Joyce, 42, will replace outgoing CEO Geoff Dixon effective Nov. 28. Joyce, a Dublin native who also holds an Australian passport, has led QF's no-frills subsidiary since 2003. He previously worked at Aer Lingus and Ansett Australia.
Embraer unveiled plans for two new industrial facilities to be located in Evora. One will manufacture complex airframe structures and the other will focus on metallic assemblies and other composites. It will invest up to €148 million over the next six years to develop the new facilities. Sites were selected based on access to qualified labor, logistical infrastructure and a planned technological center dedicated to aeronautics, the manufacturer said.
B/E Aerospace yesterday completed its acquisition of Honeywell Aerospace's Consumables Solutions business, which distributes fasteners and aerospace hardware, for $1.05 billion comprising $901.4 million in cash and 6 million shares of B/E common stock. The sale of Consumables Solutions, which generated $524 million in revenue last year, was revealed last month ( ATWOnline, June 10).
Former SAS Cargo Director-Sales and Marketing for North America Timothy Pfeil agreed to plead guilty and serve six months in prison "for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices for air cargo rates," the US Dept. of Justice announced yesterday. SAS pleaded guilty and agreed last month to pay a $52 million criminal fine ( ATWOnline, June 27). The investigation also has ensnared British Airways, Korean Air, Qantas, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Martinair and Air France KLM.
