Delta Air Lines flew 8.47 billion system RPMs in February, a 6.7% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.6% to 11.31 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.8 point to 74.9%. Northwest Airlines flew 5.92 billion consolidated RPMs in February, up 5% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.5% to 7.38 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.3 point to 80.2%. Republic Airways flew 712.7 million RPMs in February, up 39.7% on the year-ago month, against a 37.9% increase in ASMs to 1.02 billion. Load factor rose 0.9 point to 70%.
Qantas yesterday introduced into service its first aircraft, a 747-400, fitted with a premium economy cabin ( ATWOnline, July 24, 2007). Executive GM John Borghetti said the product will be installed in all of QF's 747-400s and A380s. It will be available initially on Sydney-Hong Kong -400 service, with London Heathrow and Johannesburg coming on line as three more -400s are outfitted later this month. The PE cabin has 32 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. Pitch is 42 in.
Emirates President Tim Clark said the carrier will "have to raise fares and strip costs to compensate" for rising fuel prices. He told Zawya Dow Jones yesterday that EK is targeting cost savings of "at least $100 million" as well as higher fares in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.
British Airways subsidiary OpenSkies revealed several product features for the transatlantic 757 service it plans to launch in June. The three-class, 82-seat 757-200s will have 24 business class seats, MD Dale Moss wrote on the startup's website. The cabin, dubbed Biz, will feature lie-flat seats, on-demand IFE with more than 50 hr. of programming and an expanded menu with "more fresh, healthy, a la carte selections. . . and a service style that is modeled from a fine dining restaurant." A Biz ticket also will include dedicated check-in and private airport lounges.
CTC Aviation and flyLAL Training signed an agreement to cooperate in the training and supply of flight deck and cabin crew. Contract calls for delivery of training courses and other activities to support airlines in Europe and Russia.
British Airways flew 8.04 billion RPKs in February, a 5.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 4.4% to 11.77 billion ASKs and load factor rose 0.6 point to 68.4%. Southwest Airlines flew 5.43 billion RPMs in February, up 12% from the year-ago month, against a 9% increase in ASMs to 7.91 billion. Load factor rose 1.8 points to 68.6%. Ryanair transported 3.8 million passengers in February, up 20% from the year-ago month. Load factor slipped 2 points to 75%.
Clarity Systems said JetBlue Airways, Eos Airlines, British Airways and other international and regional carriers selected its Clarity 6 and Clarity FSR technology to streamline budgeting, forecasting and regulatory reporting operations.
Varig added to its growing list of interline agreements by reaching deals with six more European carriers: Aegean Airlines, Air Moldova, Air Comet, CSA Czech Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and Ukraine International Airlines. The new agreements follow interline accords already forged with its parent Gol, Air France KLM, Hahn Air, Malev Hungarian Airlines, El Al, Air One, Japan Airlines, Mexicana, Korean Air, Iberia, Qatar Airways and Delta Air Lines.
Germanwings will increase the number of employees from the current 1,087 to 1,300 during 2008, MD Thomas Winkelmann said at the ITB convention in Berlin Wednesday. Some 200 new employees will be needed as cabin and cockpit crew as the A319/A320 fleet increases from 28 to 31 this year. He said the carrier was profitable in 2007 but declined to provide figures. Turnover rose 12.7% to €630 million ($957.7 million) and passengers increased 12.5% to 8 million. Last year's load factor was 82%.
JetBlue Airways named Joseph Eng to the new position of executive VP-systems and technology. He formerly was president and CEO of IT solutions and services provider Spectrum Systems. SkyWest Airlines promoted Casey Madsen to director-employee relations, Christopher Brown to director-flight operations and Robin Wall to director-training.
United Airlines announced the distribution of $110 million in profit-sharing payments to US-based employees, bringing to $170 million the amount employees earned in 2007 from performance incentives.
AAR Corp. completed the acquisition of Miami-based third-party MRO provider Avborne Heavy Maintenance and renamed it AAR Aircraft Services-Miami. It will operate as a segment in AAR's MRO business ( ATWOnline, Feb. 28). The deal gives AAR 226,000 sq. ft. of hangar space at Miami International, boosting its overall MRO space by 22%, and adds 467 aviation maintenance technicians to a workforce that now numbers more than 2,000 AMTs worldwide. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
American Airlines likely would have gotten credit in the old, pre-global-warming days for operating a nearly empty 777 across the Atlantic to avoid further disrupting the travel plans of a handful of customers. But in today's hyper-climate of environmental concern, the airline is taking some heat for the decision. The Feb. 9 flight from Chicago O'Hare to London Heathrow, revealed in London newspapers yesterday, occurred when the originally scheduled flight was delayed 11 hr. owing to a mechanical failure and most passengers were moved to other flights.
Silvio Berlusconi, head of the Forza Italia party and the favorite to be elected Italy's new prime minister in April, said this week that he opposed Air France KLM's acquisition of Alitalia. The comments, made on domestic television, conflict with those by Lega Nord officials last month. LN is allied to the center-right coalition headed by FI ( ATWOnline, Feb. 20). "On Alitalia I am critical, very critical. I think Italy should not be deprived of its flag carrier," Berlusconi reportedly told Sky TV 24.
Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders said "preparatory work is now underway" to establish an A330 freighter final assembly line in Mobile following last week's US Air Force decision to award EADS/Northrop Grumman an initial contract potentially worth $40 billion to build KC-30 aerial refueling tankers based on the A330 design.
Singapore and Portugal concluded an open skies agreement that will become fully effective from the 2010 IATA summer schedule. Singapore now has concluded open skies agreements with 14 EU countries.
Turkish Airlines took delivery of its second converted A310-300F from the EADS EFW facility in Dresden. A third A310-300 will be converted beginning in July.
Alaska Air Group announced completion of a $100 million stock repurchase program authorized last September. It repurchased approximately 4.1 million shares of outstanding common stock, or 10%, at an average price of $24.31. The company now has around 36.5 million shares of common stock outstanding. US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. sold 12% of its stake in Delta Air Lines for $106.2 million, the Associated Press reported, citing regulatory filings. PBGC reduced its DL stake to 43.6 million shares from 49.5 million shares through 14 separate sales.
Alitalia Group said its net debt as of Jan. 31 was €1.28 billion ($1.95 billion), up 6.8% from a month prior. It made €3 million in debt repayments last month.
Lufthansa said it will cancel 142 flights today "as a precautionary measure" in the face of "token strikes" scheduled by workers at German airports. Domestic flights to and from Frankfurt will be most severely affected, it said.
AirMedia Group announced a 15-year JV with China Eastern Media Corp. to obtain concession rights for the management of digital TV and other media resources across China Eastern Airlines' fleet. AirMedia will hold 49% while CEMC takes 51%.
US FAA generally concurred with the findings of a Dept. of Transportation Inspector General report released last week that called for the agency to modernize its oversight system for aviation manufacturers to account for the increasing reliance on parts suppliers from disparate locations around the world.
