Ryanair said it won a third injunction, this time from the TAR Lazio court, overturning ENAC's decision to divert late-evening flights from Rome Ciampino to Fiumicino. The LCC said the aviation authority "unlawfully" diverted 18 flights this year.
Atlantic Southeast Airlines flight attendants represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants ratified a new three-year contract, with 70% of participating cabin staff voting in favor.
Transaero announced a partnership with Gazprom Neft that "guarantees prompt and efficient jet fuel supply" in Russia "on favorable terms" in return for reduced fares for Gazprom employees.
Lufthansa said it was "surprised" by a strike called by 1,000 pilots flying for LH subsidiaries Eurowings and CityLine that resulted in the cancellation of 465 flights yesterday and 525 scheduled for today. Pilots walked out at noon yesterday and will remain on strike until midnight tonight. The Cockpit union called the strike on short notice and said all major airports in Germany would be affected. Its strike window will close at the end of this week, but it is expected that members will vote on further strike action shortly.
Airbus won EASA certification for its OnAir mobile phone system for its single-aisle aircraft. The manufacturer is the first to receive this type of certification for production and forward-fit installation. Separately, EASA granted Airbus Production Organization Approval, recognizing the manufacturer's status as a single integrated European company and confirming the establishment of a global quality framework for management, responsibilities, procedures and resources.
TAM flew 1.96 billion domestic RPKs last month, up 9.3% year-over-year, against an 18.3% hike in capacity to 2.91 billion ASKs. Load factor dropped 5.6 points to 67.1%. International RPKs rose 32.9% to 1.2 billion while ASKs climbed 26.8% to 1.65 billion, lifting load factor 3.4 points to 72.6%. WestJet flew 1.12 billion RPMs in June, up 17.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 23.1% to 1.45 billion ASMs and load factor fell 3.4 points to 76.5%.
Tunisair announced a capital increase of $14 million through the issue of 16.2 million new shares on the Tunis bourse that will be distributed to existing shareholders at a ratio of one new share for every five held. Shares carry a nominal value of TND1 ($0.85)
Kuwait parliament on Monday gave final approval to the privatization plans of Kuwait Airways. The state plans to sell 40% of the carrier to the public and 35% to a long-term investor within two years. The airline, which operates 17 aircraft, is expected to be privatized within 10 months ( ATWOnline, Jan. 10).
Honeywell won a 10-year extension on its contract with Southwest Airlines to provide MRO for avionics and mechanical products on 737s. Contract covers up to 520 aircraft plus future deliveries and includes Honeywell APUs, HMUs, lighting, components and wheels and brakes.
Boeing said it received an offer from TRC Capital Corp. to purchase 2 million shares of common stock, representing less than 1/3 of 1% of its outstanding shares, at $63 per share. The manufacturer said it "does not express an opinion and does not make a recommendation as to whether shareholders should tender their shares in TRC's mini-tender offer."
LOT Polish Airlines President and CEO Dariusz Nowak told ATWOnline that LOT is restructuring ahead of its planned privatization, a process that will be its "biggest challenge." He said one move will be to add more charter flights to its low-fare subsidiary Centralwings, which operates 737 Classics. He said the company is looking to position Centralwings as "a kind of mixed charter and maybe LCC flights to some selected points." He said the mainline has adopted some of Centralwings' low-cost strategies in order to reduce its own cost base.
SR Technics signed a five-year, $165 million Integrated Engine Solutions agreement with South African Airways Technical covering maintenance of the CFM56-5Cs powering SAA's A340s.
Transaero flew 7.97 billion RPKs during the first six months of 2008, up 55% year-over-year. Passenger numbers climbed 56% to 2.1 million, a company record. The Russian carrier added two 747s, four 767s and one 737 during the semester. It now operates 37 aircraft. Copa Airlines flew 481.1 million RPMs in June, up 24.8% year-over-year, against a 21% increase in capacity to 598.6 million ASMs. Load factor rose 2.5 points to 80.4%. SkyEurope Airlines transported 344,383 passengers last month, up 4.4% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 2.1 points to 77%.
News from Travel Technology Update: Travelport plans to roll out its new travel agency desktop in early 2009 with a number of "wow factors," including access to the Sabre and, eventually, Amadeus GDSs. Development of the new work environment took a leap forward with the acquisition of G2 Switchworks' "Kestrel" point-of-sale application in April, Flo Lugli, Travelport GDS' senior vice president, commercial, said. Travelport also gained 18 former G2 employees.
Air Cargo Management Group reported that US domestic airfreight and express revenue increased just 1% year-over-year in 2007 to $32.81 billion, a "slim" gain it attributed to fuel surcharges.
Parker Aerospace reached a 10-year deal with Bombardier to develop and manufacture fly-by-wire flight control systems for widebody programs. Work will begin with the CSeries. Contract value is estimated at $3.5 billion over the life of the programs.
Austrian Airlines will cut winter schedule capacity by 5% from its original plan and will remove three aircraft from its fleet next year as part of its effort to negotiate "the current crisis in the aviation industry," it said. Service to London City will end Aug. 18 and flights to Chicago O'Hare will end at the conclusion of the summer schedule. Other "targeted" reductions will occur in Europe over the winter.
Snecma Services is "not seeing any downturn in our [CFM56 overhaul] shops" despite the fact that some airlines are reducing flying and parking aircraft, Chairman and CEO Denis Vercherin told ATWOnline at the Farnborough Airshow last week. In fact, Snecma's MRO arm has revised its business outlook upward in terms of parts demand and shop visits. "We have more CFM56-3 business than we can handle," he said.
Serbian government plans to reduce the minimum price it will accept for the sale of flag carrier Jat Airways to compensate for rising fuel prices, Deputy Prime Minister Mladjan Dinkic said last week ( ATWOnline, June 16). According to Reuters, the government initially priced the airline at €150 million and said it would sell a 51% stake in a tender expected to be called by the end of this month. Dinkic said there is a "reserve plan" if the government is unsatisfied with the tender's outcome.
Swiss International Air Lines announced the acquisition of Servair Private Charter, which it said will operate as a wholly owned, Zurich-based subsidiary called Swiss Private Aviation and "should establish the Swiss Group in the business aviation sector and provide a platform for operating the Lufthansa Private Jet fleet." SPA will concentrate on offering aircraft management services to private clients and companies and operating commercial charters. From spring 2009, the LH Private Jet fleet will be operated under SPA's AOC. Separately, LX will enhance its winter schedule Oct.
US Airways flight dispatchers represented by the Transport Workers Union said public claims from pilots that the airline is pressuring them to use less fuel are "nothing more than hot air," according to a statement posted on the TWU website. "Fuel loads are carefully planned by a certificated aircraft dispatcher who shares responsibility for the preflight planning and safety of the flight with the pilot. The company does not determine or plan the fuel loads.
The Court of Appeal The Hague last week ruled that the new environmental tax introduced by the Dutch government on air passengers does not contravene European or international civil aviation law. The tax adds €11.25 ($17.83) per ticket for intra-European flights and €45 for longer segments and was imposed on July 1 on all passengers departing Dutch airports, excluding transfer customers ( ATWOnline, Feb. 8).
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Alitalia has attracted significant investor interest and the government "will have to say no because the offer is over twice what is necessary," according to Thomson Financial. "We are working on the issue and I am personally convinced that we will be able to present a new Alitalia with a business plan for a profitable flagship carrier fairly soon."
US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure introduced a bill this week that it said "addresses issues raised by FAA whistleblowers and others" at an April hearing, including that the agency "had become too friendly with the airlines it regulates, allowing them to continue to fly aircraft that were past safety inspection deadlines" ( ATWOnline, July 3). The bill, which the committee claimed "will help restore confidence in the FAA's safety regime," would create an independent Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Of
