THERE IS POSSIBLY NO MORE demanding yet resource-rich territory than the "outback" of Western Australia. With summer temperatures above 40 deg. C (104 deg. F) and rugged mountain ranges, it is a challenging environment for the airlines that service almost 50 towns and mine sites spread over an area about one-third the size of the continental US. But those challenges are the fuel that feeds the innovation and success of Perth-based Skywest Airlines, one of Australia's fastest-growing carriers.
FL Group has sold its entire stake in Finnair, the airline announced yesterday. It reduced its 24.4% stake to 12.7% in December ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20, 2007) and yesterday sold all of its remaining 16.3 million shares. Neither company revealed the buyer[s], but FL said the transaction was valued at ISK13.6 billion ($174.4 million).
Air France KLM and Alitalia unions will continue negotiations today after AZ Chairman Maurizio Prato gave both parties another 24 hr. to reach a basic accord, according to widespread press reports. Neither AF KLM nor the Italian carrier issued a formal statement yesterday as the deadline for reaching an agreement on the so-called effectiveness clauses for a possible tie-up expired. AF KLM previously had indicated a willingness to continue negotiating beyond the deadline ( ATWOnline, March 31).
Boeing reached agreement with Vought Aircraft Industries to acquire its interest in Global Aeronautica, a fuselage subassembly facility in North Charleston that performs work on the 787.
S7 Airlines will add four A320s to its fleet during its summer schedule, which began yesterday. First already has been delivered and will begin flying from Moscow Domodedovo to Barnaul and Krasnodar this month. Others will fly from DME to Kemerovo, Sochi, Novosibirsk and Frankfurt and from Novosibirsk to Vladivostok and Beijing, where S7 will operate out of the new Terminal 3. A320s will replace Tu-154s. It will use A319s on a thrice-weekly DME-Dublin service beginning April 27.
Ryanair will close its Dublin Telesales Operation at the end of May and cut up to 40 positions as part of a cost-reduction program announced last week ( ATWOnline, March 27). CEO Michael O'Leary said phone bookings now account for fewer than 1% of sales. Ryanair will maintain call centers in Germany and Romania, which he said are 60% cheaper to operate than the Dublin office.
Alaska Airlines flew 1.42 billion RPMs in February, up 13.5% from the year-ago month, against a 9.4% increase in capacity to 1.94 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 2.6 points to 73.3%. Finnair flew 1.77 billion RPKs in February, a 17.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 20.3% to 2.37 billion ASKs and load factor fell 2 points to 74.8%. Estonian Air carried 51,851 passengers in February, up 18.4% from the year-ago month.
Sri Lankan government named P. B. Jayasundera as the new chairman of SriLankan Airlines, in which the government holds 51.05%. It will seat four on the new board while Emirates, which holds 43.63%, will have three seats. Air India parent National Aviation Co. of India named Raghu Menon as chairman and MD effective today, when he will replace Vasudevan Thulasidas, whose term is concluding. Menon has been serving as special secretary and financial advisor in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft purchased the Pacelab Cabin solution in order to develop customer-specific cabin configurations and "promote sales" of the Superjet 100 regional aircraft.
Northwest Airlines will join several US legacy competitors and begin charging North American economy passengers $25 for a second checked bag on each segment ( ATWOnline, March 19). Policy goes into effect May 5, applies to Northwest Airlink customers and includes an increase to $100 from $80 for three or more checked bags and to $50 from $25 for pieces weighing more than 50 lb.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines resumed normal schedules Friday after completing inspections of wiring on hundreds of temporarily grounded aircraft, while US FAA said it will issue preliminary findings this week of its audit of domestic carriers' compliance with airworthiness directives.
Kingfisher Airlines will eliminate the Deccan brand once the carriers complete their merger in late April, Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya told reporters, according to widespread press reports ( ATWOnline, Dec. 21, 2007). He also said Indian civil aviation authorities confirmed that Kingfisher will be able to fly abroad using Deccan's original operating certificate beginning Aug. 28 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 14).
Air France KLM will retain 4,191 out of approximately 7,400 AZ Servizi workers under a new plan submitted to unions last week rather than the 3,300 it originally anticipated, according to a document accessed by Reuters ( ATWOnline, March 26). It eventually plans to cut an additional 500 positions, the news agency reported, and still plans to cut approximately 1,600 employees from Alitalia's flying operation and close the cargo subsidiary in 2010.
Delta Air Lines yesterday grounded 117 MD-88s to inspect wiring, leading to an expected 275 flight cancellations through early today. The move came a day after American Airlines began wiring inspections on all 309 of its MD-80s. AA's inspections continued yesterday, leading to more than 130 flight cancellations in addition to the 325 it cancelled Wednesday ( ATWOnline, March 27). Inspections stem from US FAA's audit of domestic airlines' compliance with agency airworthiness directives.
Lufthansa Systems will continue to provide its Lido Operation Center flight planning solution to Finnair under a five-year contract extension. Agreement covers various IT solutions to optimize routing calculations.
Delta Air Lines flight attendants will vote between April 23 and June 3 on whether to unionize, the US National Mediation Board told the carrier yesterday. Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, seeking to represent the group, recently gathered signatures from a majority of DL's 12,000 flight attendants, surpassing NMB's 35% threshold for calling a unionization vote. More than half the FAs will have to cast ballots in favor during the voting period for unionization to occur. Past efforts to organize DL cabin staff have been unsuccessful.
Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulow confirmed SU's interest in investing in either Jat Airways or CSA Czech Airlines as both Eastern European carriers approach privatization ( ATWOnline, March 4). He was speaking to La Tribune. Meanwhile, a source close to Austrian Airlines Group confirmed to ATWOnline that there recently have been talks between SU and AAG but they ended without the Russian carrier deciding to invest. Aeroflot derives 37% of its revenue from its European network.
UK Office of Communications yesterday approved the use of mobile phones on UK-registered aircraft once approved by EASA and UK CAA. "If such approval has been secured, it will be a matter for individual airlines to judge whether there is consumer demand for these services," it said, adding that an onboard communications system may be switched on by cabin crew once the aircraft reaches 3,000 m.
Star Alliance carriers Air Canada, Air China, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines each completed the transfer of their operations to Beijing International's Terminal 3 yesterday. The move was part of the collocation plan developed as a result of Air China and Shanghai Airlines joining the alliance last year. A similar collocation will be completed at Shanghai Pudong on April 29.
US Transportation Security Administration acknowledged that a US Airways pilot and member of the Federal Flight Deck Officer program "accidentally" discharged his handgun on a Saturday flight between Denver and Charlotte. It said the flight "was never in danger" but that it will "take this matter seriously and an investigation is underway." The A319 has been removed from service, US told the Associated Press, and the pilot is on leave.
A US federal appeals court ruled yesterday that New York State's airline passenger rights law violates federal law, rendering it invalid and dealing a blow to those considering similar laws in other states.
