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.
American Airlines flew 9.97 billion system RPMs in February, up 2.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2% to 12.98 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.3 point to 76.9%. American Eagle flew 607.7 million RPMs, down 2.4%, against a 1.9% decline in capacity to 880.6 million ASMs. Load factor slipped 0.4 point to 69%. United Airlines flew 8.15 billion system RPMs in February, down 0.5% from the year-ago month, against a 3.7% climb in capacity to 10.95 billion ASMs. Load factor fell 3.1 points to 74.4%.
Astar Air Cargo pilots "overwhelmingly ratified" a new four-year labor contract, the airline said yesterday ( ATWOnline, Feb. 12). "The contract provides increased wages, benefits and security for our pilots, while also providing Astar with a platform for future business growth in an increasingly competitive marketplace," Chairman, CEO and President John Dasburg said.
Pratt & Whitney selected Hamilton Sundstrand to provide engine controls and accessories for engines covering Mitsubishi Regional Jet, Bombardier CSeries and Cessna Citation Columbus aircraft. Contract also includes fuel, pneumatic and thermal management systems.
US Air Transport Assn. yesterday came out against FAA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to require aircraft to be equipped with ABS-B Out by 2020. Although ATA supported the proposal when it was announced last fall ( ATWOnline, Oct.
Enigma said Korean Air selected its InService MRO and Oracle Complex MRO solutions to streamline maintenance operations across its fleet of A300, A330, 737, 747 and 777 aircraft. Features include comprehensive airframe, engine and component maintenance data as well as troubleshooting, repair and reporting capacities.
Japan Airlines parent JAL Group in its FY2008-2010 Medium Term Plan raised its profitability target for its 2010-11 fiscal year to ¥96 billion ($932 million) from ¥88 billion in last year's Medium Term Plan. The decision to increase the target is owing to early successes in its ongoing restructuring program, which also contributed to its raising its operating profit forecast for the current year ending March 31 to ¥48 billion from ¥35 billion.
News from Travel Technology Update: Online travel agencies have done a great job of delivering flight search results based on price, number of stops and schedule.
Aeroflot on the occasion of its 85th birthday said it intends to double its annual passenger numbers by 2015 to approximately 16 million and acquire at least one European competitor. "Aeroflot's future growth will focus on the development of the route network between Europe and Asia involving strategic alliances, infrastructure improvements and an ambitious aircraft acquisition program," CEO Valery Okulov said.
Transaero took delivery of a 767-300ER and a 747-300, bringing its long-haul fleet to 17 aircraft and its total fleet to 32. It said it is planning to add "several" long-haul routes this year including Saint Petersburg-Tokyo Narita on April 24 and flights to the US from Moscow.
LTU German Airlines MD Jurgen Marbach resigned on Feb. 29 and will be replaced by former dba MD Helmut Weixler. Marbach sold his 45% stake in LTU to airberlin in August.
