Airbus "terminated" talks with Latecoere regarding the sale of two industrial plants in France, a setback in its effort to implement the Power8 restructuring program. The announcement follows a similar termination of negotiations in March with MT Aerospace regarding the divestiture of three German industrial plants ( ATWOnline, March 28). A primary plank of Power8 is the divestiture of six or seven plants slated to play key roles in the development and construction of the A350 XWB.
British Airways flew 8.8 billion RPKs in April, down 7% from the year-ago month, against a 0.4% decline in capacity to 12.29 billion ASKs. Load factor fell 5.1 points to 71.6%. Air Canada and Jazz flew a combined 4 billion RPMs in April, up 0.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 0.4% to 4.83 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 82.7%.
Embraer reported a more than tripling of its first-quarter net income to $85 million from $26.2 million in the prior year on a 60.6% surge in revenue to $1.34 billion as commercial aircraft deliveries nearly doubled to 38 compared to 20 last year. Operating income more than tripled to $48.7 million from $15.5 million in the year-ago quarter. The manufacturer delivered 15 E-175s, 17 E-190s, three ERJ-145s and three E-195s during the quarter. Its firm order backlog at quarter's end was $20.3 billion, up 26.1% over $15 billion at the end of the prior-year quarter.
CAE won orders for full-flight simulators and related CAE Simfinity training devices valued at more than C$60 million ($59.4 million) from Lufthansa Flight Training, Flight Training Finance, Swiss Aviation Training and Zhuhai Flight Training Centre. LFT purchased a CAE 7000 Series 777-200 LRF FFS, while FTF ordered a CAE 7000 Series 757 FFS and SAT committed to a CAE 7000 Series E-190 FFS. ZFTC bought two CAE 5000 Series A320 FFSs as well as a CAE Simfinity A320 IPT, a reconfigurable CAE Simfinity APT trainer and a CAE Simfinity 787 VSIM.
Lufthansa Systems reached a deal with Saudi Arabian Airlines to provide its SAP ERP technology for streamlining MRO processes. Technology features a rotation planning system and advanced scheduling and documentation capabilities. LHS entered the agreement as part of an IT consortium that includes SAP, InfoTrust and Atos/Hewlett-Packard.
Australia's Regional Express (Rex) has been forced to cut more services because of the continuing pilot shortage ( ATWOnline, Nov. 6, 2007). It will withdraw from the Cooma-Sydney route indefinitely--it was scheduled to recommence in June--as well as reduce flying elsewhere in the network.
Lufthansa Technik won a contract from Croatia Airlines to provide component support for its four Q400s, plus two soon to be delivered. It will be LHT's first time working on the turboprop.
US Senate ended debate on FAA reauthorization legislation without voting on the bill yesterday, likely ending any chance the agency will receive a new authorization before a new President takes office in January. The chamber last week took up long-stalled legislation to fund and modernize FAA, including establishing a budget for building a satellite-based ATC system, but senators began arguing over amendments and rules of debate once it officially was introduced ( ATWOnline, May 2).
Azul Linhas Aereas Brasileiras will be the name of JetBlue Airways founder and former Chairman and CEO David Neeleman's new Brazilian airline. The Azul moniker, Portuguese for blue, was chosen over Samba following a public vote. Neeleman is CEO of the new carrier, which is scheduled to begin flying in January and has 76 E-195 firm orders and options ( ATWOnline, March 28).
European Commission withdrew previously announced plans to limit the maximum size of cabin baggage throughout the EU to 56x45x25 cm. Decision to shelve the plan, which already had been postponed from May 2007, was made to avoid "undue operational complications and inconvenience for passengers on cabin baggage size." Initial plans to restrict the size of hand baggage were part of a package of security measures drawn up in 2006 following the discovery of a terrorist plot to smuggle explosives aboard transatlantic flights.
US FAA said that more than five years have elapsed since it conducted assessments on 103 system designs at eight airlines, exceeding the timeframe during which the reviews were supposed to have taken place and the latest in a string of admissions by the agency regarding lapses in its airline oversight.
Jamaican government and International Finance Corp. signed an $820,000 grant agreement with the US Trade and Development Agency "to assist with technical services for the Air Jamaica divestment process," Jamaica's Ministry of Finance and Public Service announced. The government is targeting March 2009 as its divestment deadline. Prime Minister Bruce Golding previously said that Air Jamaica lost approximately $170 million in 2007 and has accumulated losses in excess of $1 billion overall. It carried 1.7 million passengers last year.
Aer Lingus will increase its checked baggage fee on short-haul flights effective May 8. Cost for airport check-in will rise to €18 ($27.84) from €12 and online check-in will go to €12 from €9. EI does not charge baggage fees on long-haul services.
Etihad Airways said it achieved 100% e-ticketing across its entire network of 45 destinations after bringing Peshawar, Tehran and Khartoum online. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier achieved 96% e-ticketing with its interline partners.
American Airlines flew 10.79 billion RPMs in April, down 6.6% from the year-ago month owing largely to the MD-80 flight cancellations. Capacity fell 4.3% to 13.46 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 2 points to 80.1%. American Eagle flew 681.8 million RPMs, down 7.6%, against a 3.1% drop in capacity to 963.3 million ASMs. Load factor slipped 3.4 points to 70.8%. Southwest Airlines flew 6.26 billion RPMs in April, up 5.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.3% to 8.63 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 72.6%.
European Commission has given Italian officials until May 19 to respond to its request for more information on the €300 million bridge loan the outgoing government awarded Alitalia last month ( ATWOnline, April 30). Meanwhile, speculation continues on possible interest in AZ, including from Air One and Lufthansa.
EDS and Microsoft will team up under a comprehensive eight-year alliance being announced today that calls for EDS to use "selected Microsoft tools in the modernization and operation" of EDS's airline solutions including reservations, flight planning, flight operations and "service oriented architecture products."
Malaysia Airlines is offering 1 million free domestic fares this month to promote its new Everyday Low Fares program, which MD and CEO Idris Jala said "will redefine the rules in the travel industry" if successful. MAS's effort to compete against low-fare giant AirAsia will feature nonrefundable one-way fares of MYR76 ($24) and MYR120 between East and West Malaysia excluding airport taxes and surcharges and will be available online at least 30 days prior to departure. Jala said there will be no loss in revenue, as the fares represent 30% of surplus seats that otherwise would go unsold.
SriLankan Engineering said it is conducting mandatory CFM56 modifications at its shop at Bandaranaike International for SriLankan Airlines' fleet of A340s. Work includes upgrades to strengthen the integrity of the C duct.
IATA reported a 5.8% year-over-year increase in March international traffic and said that the slowing growth "only tells a part of the story." DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani warned that "astronomical oil prices are hitting hard and the buffer of an expanding economy has disappeared. The fortunes of the industry have taken a major turn for the worse." March figures were impacted positively by the shift in the Easter holiday, which fell in April in 2007. Adjusting for the change, traffic rose only 4%. Capacity grew 6%, lowering March load factor to 77.7%.
Boeing completed carbon brake testing for its 737NG and plans to submit the results to US FAA for certification during the second quarter. Brakes are manufactured by Messier-Bugatti. Production entry is slated for the third quarter. Aircraft currently in service will be offered a retrofit program.
JetBlue Airways named former British Airways Executive VP-The Americas Robin Hayes as executive VP and chief commercial officer. He will be responsible for revenue, network, sales and marketing strategy.
Continental Airlines reported an estimated 3%-4% year-over-year increase in consolidated April RASM. It flew 7.84 billion consolidated RPMs during the month, down 0.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.4% to 9.86 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 2.9 points to 79.4%.
Alitalia Group said its net debt at the close of the first quarter was €1.35 billion ($2.1 billion), a 1.1% reduction from the figure on Feb. 29. It had €180 million in cash-in-hand and short-term financial credits.
