Delta Air Lines will slash at least 3,000 people from its payroll following a larger-than-anticipated response to the voluntary severance offers it announced in March, when it said it was targeting 1,300 front-line and 700 administrative job cuts ( ATWOnline, March 19). "We'll be working through plans to ensure our operations are covered and there could be future hiring for operational needs, depending on capacity needed," DL told the Associated Press.
The world's airlines are facing an "extraordinary crisis" brought on by soaring fuel prices and slowing traffic growth that has the potential to transcend aviation and impact the global economy, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani told the almost 900 delegates and media at the organization's 64th Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Istanbul.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is in talks to order an additional 50 aircraft worth approximately $2.5 billion in the next 18 months, DAE Capital CEO Bob Genise told Reuters. "Despite the rise in jet fuel prices, there are pockets of strong performance," he said. The lessor committed to 200 aircraft at last year's Dubai Air Show ( ATWOnline, Nov. 13, 2007).
SR Technics and Japan Airlines signed a 10-year deal for component services including exchange, maintenance, repair and logistics on 40 737NGs. Contract covers management of components from consignment stock held in Japan. Deal is valued at $25 million and takes effect July 1.
Aloha Airlines, which shut down in March after declaring bankruptcy ( ATWOnline, April 1), is trying to sell off a legal claim filed in 2006 against Mesa Air Group, according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Aloha said it will file a motion with the court next week, anticipating an auction the following week. "A lawsuit is no different than a propeller," said James Wagner, an attorney for Aloha Chapter 7 trustee Dane Field.
Amadeus won a 10-year extension on its agreement with British Airways for IT services related to implementation of its Altea Departure Control management system for passenger check-in. BA expects to complete migration to the Altea suite in 2012.
Iberia decided to withdraw its bid for Spanair last week, shortly after telling reporters at its annual shareholders meeting that it had decided to "consider what the future of our offer is within this new market environment" ( ATWOnline, May 30), Reuters reported. It then submitted a stock exchange filing indicating it would withdraw the bid. Spanair parent SAS Group did not comment.
Swiss International Air Lines named Peter Spring CCO of its Edelweiss Air subsidiary effective Aug. 1. BAA and Ferrovial named Stephen Peat MD of its new airports division with responsibility for running six of BAA's seven UK airports (excluding London Heathrow). He currently is director-operations for Ferrovial subsidiary Amey's Tube Lines consortium.
JetBlue Airways increased the offering size of its 5.5% convertible debentures due 2038 to $175 million from the $160 million announced earlier last week ( ATWOline, May 29). Sale of the two series of debentures worth $87.5 million each is expected to close Wednesday.
Frontier Airlines lost $16.5 million in its first three weeks of bankruptcy to April 30, it reported in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Revenue of $69.1 million was offset by expenses of $81.4 million, resulting in an operating loss of $12.3 million. Frontier also announced an agreement with First Data Corp., the credit card processor whose decision to increase customer receipt holdback drove the Denver-based carrier into bankruptcy ( ATWOnline, April 14).
US and Kenya announced an open skies agreement in Washington Friday. Deal is effective immediately and allows US carriers to fly to another African country from Kenya after three years. Kenya is the US's 20th open skies partner in Africa.
Travelport GDS reached long-term agreements with Lufthansa and Swiss International Air Lines to waive all GDS surcharges for Travelport agencies participating in the carriers' forthcoming preferred fares programs in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. "We are delighted to have signed such ground-breaking agreements with Lufthansa and Swiss and to be able to guarantee surcharge-free booking for all of our travel agency customers for over three years." Travelport MD-Europe, Middle East, Africa and Brazil Bryan Conway said.
Oman Air transported 445,923 passengers in the first quarter, a 49.9% increase from the year-ago period. It said it lost money during the quarter "because of the foremost expansion programs to make the airline competitive."
CAE won orders for full-flight simulators and related Simfinity training devices valued at more than C$56 million ($56.6 million) from Aeroflot, Ansett Aviation Training, Skymark Airlines and a JV company that owns 50% of CAE's training center in Bangalore. SU purchased a CAE 5000 Series A320 FFS slated for delivery to its Moscow facility this year, while Skymark ordered a CAE 7000 Series 737-800 FFS for 2009 delivery. AAT committed to a CAE 7000 Series A320 FFS.
MANY AIR CARGO OPERATORS WOULD LIKE TO MIMIC the passenger side of the airline industry's move away from paper processing. E-tickets now are nearly universal; old-fashioned paper tickets are not even an option in most of the world. But as IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani is fond of saying, the documents traveling with air cargo could fill 39 747 freighters annually and add an estimated $1.2 billion to the global industry's yearly costs.
JOACHIM BUSE BELIEVES good procurement is a consummate balancing act--trying to drive the lowest possible cost without letting that cost cripple contenders. "It's our job to reduce costs and be aggressive pricewise," says Lufthansa Passenger Airline's corporate procurement VP. But in the end analysis suppliers have got to make a decent living.
Faced with demand for global flexibility, carriers are looking constantly for adaptable and cost-effective ways to ensure that passengers experience the same recognized airline brand and associated level of quality service they expect no matter where in the world they embark or disembark. Behind the scenes, carriers are equally keen to ensure that aircraft are maintained at the same level of operational readiness as they would be back at the home base.
THERE IS MAGIC IN THE AIR AT SOUTH KOREA'S ASIANA Airlines. Whether it is flight attendants trained to entertain passengers with sleight-of-hand tricks or the industry-leading reliability of its aircraft and engines, the magic is working. But everything has not always worked like magic for Asiana, which turned 20 in February.
It's not too late for struggling airlines to shift to new technology and cut costs, according to Paul Coby, chief information officer of British Airways. Coby, who also is chairman of the board of SITA, told delegates to SITA's Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels to take advantage of the "community model" that allows carriers to use new technologies on a per-transaction basis rather than requiring a large upfront investment.
FROM GECOMMERCIAL AVIATION Services' perspective, acquiring The Memphis Group and entering into the aircraft parts market in October 2006 seemed like a natural progression of good business. After all, GECAS had been a TMG customer for many years. It understood firsthand the scope of the company's distribution and the quality of its service.
IN TERMS OF AIRLINE PASSENGER traffic, India has been among the fastest-growing markets in the world for about three years. The large number of first-time air travelers in a
BUILDING A BASE OF CUSTOMERS and maintaining brand loyalty have become increasingly difficult for traditional network airlines. The rise of large and well-capitalized low-cost carriers, the emergence of the Internet as an anonymous one-stop shopping mall for travel and the growing absence of person-to-person contact between an airline and its customers are complicating life for those trying to promote and maintain a distinctive brand.
Travelport GDS signed agreements with Lufthansa and Swiss that assure that the full content of both airlines will be made available to all Galileo and Worldspan users worldwide through 2011. Under the new agreements, all GDS surcharges will be waived for Travelport GDS travel agencies who choose to participate in the new Lufthansa and Swiss Preferred Fares programs, soon to be launched in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. The agreements take effect July 1, when Lufthansa and Swiss implement the Preferred Fares plans.
