Star Alliance It is common knowledge that a rising tide lifts all boats, but does that hold true for much heavier equipment? In the spring of 1997, five visionary airlinesLufthansa, United Airlines, Thai Airways, SAS and Air Canadaopted to test those waters, announcing the formation of Star Alliance and setting out to prove that cooperation beyond bilaterals has a place in this most competitive of industries.
Denis Vercherin joined Snecma Services on Oct. 1, 2007, as chairman and CEO. He recently spoke with Airline Procurement about the company's standing and his strategy for future growth. (Edited for clarity and length.) AP: Can you please describe Snecma Services' MRO business and expertise with CFM56 engines?
Flight Safety Foundation It is impossible to overstate the importance of safety in commercial aviation. Despite becoming a routine part of modern life, air travel is still a highly complicated technical exercise in which mistakes can and do lead to catastrophic accidents. Safety always must be the foremost concern of those employed in and around the industry and aviation regulatory agencies.
Amadeus unveiled a three-year, full-content program in Europe and said 34 airlines have signed up for it. Among them are Air France-KLM, Iberia, Alitalia, TAP Air Portugal, Air Europa and Malev. The new agreement is an extension of the one-year Amadeus Full Content Option introduced in 2005. Similar to the DCA-3 agreements introduced by GDS companies in the U.S. in 2003, the new Amadeus deal provides airlines with lower distribution costs in exchange for the full range of their fares.
When an aircraft gets a major engine overhaul, the disassembly, inspection, testing and other manufacturer-approved services and regulatory mandates typically result in invoices topping seven figures. Engines drive more than 50% of maintenance material spending for aircraft and about 60% of the cost to revamp them is for parts. Given the financial pressures airlines face today, the cost of those parts is becoming a huge issue, pushing many toward sources other than the original equipment manufacturers. Thus we have the PMA proposition.
Scotland's City Star Airlines announced Wednesday that it has ceased operations until further notice. The airline said in a statement that it was forced to ground one of its four Dornier 328s following a November collision with mobile passenger steps. According to press reports, a second aircraft was impounded at Aberdeen Airport Wednesday. "Unfortunately, the [November] incident has had a major knock-on effect and we have simply not been able to recover from this," MD Runar Fossadal Arnason said. City Star served three Norwegian destinations and operated charter services.
Kolej TAFE Seremban signed an MOA with AirAsia to support maintenance engineering training at AirAsia Academy. Program includes EASA Part 66 module 1-17 training for DCA certification. Agreement offers TAFE's workshop facilities for modules 6 and 7.
VLM Airlines carried 745,781 passengers last year, up 9% over 2006. Scheduled passengers rose 6% to 697,781 while the number flying on charter or ACMI flights climbed 62% year-over-year.
International passenger traffic (RPKs) increased 7.4% in 2007, up 1.5 points over 5.9% growth recorded in 2006, according to IATA, which announced full-year traffic figures yesterday. Average load factor was 77% last year, up 1 point from 2006 and an all-time record. "This trend will likely end in 2008 as demand growth is forecast to slow to 5% while capacity rises 5.2%," the organization said.
Midwest Airlines parent Midwest Air Group said yesterday that the US Dept. of Justice has completed its investigation of the company's acquisition by TPG Capital and Northwest Airlines, clearing the way for the sale's closing as early as last night ( ATWOnline, Dec. 10, 2007). Trading of Midwest Air Group stock on the American Stock Exchange concluded as of the close of trading yesterday. "Shareholders of record. .
L'Avion celebrated its first anniversary this month and said it transported more than 34,000 passengers in its first year, with a 79% load factor achieved last month. It will introduce a second 757-200 configured with 90 business class seats on Jan. 20, when it will operate Paris Orly-Newark.
Indian government relaxed certain industrial foreign investment rules and now will allow foreign investors to hold 100% of MRO and training organizations dedicated to civil aviation activities. Foreign direct investment in commercial airlines will continue to be capped at 49%, with nonresident Indians allowed to hold 100% as long as no foreign airlines are participating. FDI in ground handling enterprises will be capped at 74%.
Alaska Air Group is not interested in participating in the consolidation rumored to be facing the US commercial aviation industry. "For us, the best future appears to be to remain independent," AAG Chairman Bill Ayer told The News Tribune.
Norwegian took delivery of the first of 50 737-800s. Aircraft is on lease from Babcock & Brown. Norwegian will lease seven more along with its order for 42 directly from Boeing ( ATWOnline, Aug. 31, 2007). Norwegian flew 430 million RPKs in December, a 45% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 32% to 559 million ASKs and load factor rose 7 points to 77%. Yield fell 15% to NOK0.60 ($0.11).
EADS and Airbus CFO Hans Peter Ring will relinquish his role at the aircraft manufacturer and stay on at the parent company. Airbus Chief Controlling Officer Harald Wilhelm will become CFO on Feb. 1.
GuestLogix will deploy its Mobile Virtual Store onboard solution across the fleet of Sweden's Skyways under a multiyear agreement. Technology features wireless POS devices and application service to streamline onboard sales transactions. Klarago AB assisted in the deal.
Malaysia Airlines flew 3.55 billion RPKs in December, down 0.9% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.3% to 4.8 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 1.1 points to 73.9%. Airberlin transported 1.9 million passengers in December, up 16.6% from the year-ago month. Load factor rose 3.2 points to 71.7% and unit revenue climbed 2.2% to 4.55 euro cents. ATA Airlines flew 397.4 million scheduled RPMs in December, up 8.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.4% to 482.9 million ASMs, lifting load factor 3.2 points to 82.3%.
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes, parent of Gol and Varig, announced a one-year share repurchase program of up to 5 million preferred shares, representing 8.8% of the total outstanding. The shares will be held in treasury and resold or canceled, the company said.
Continental Airlines will join the roster of carriers offering live television and wireless connectivity inflight, announcing yesterday an agreement with JetBlue Airways subsidiary LiveTV to provide 36 channels of DirecTV at "every seat" of CO's 737NGs and 757-300s and inflight Wi-Fi services beginning in January 2009. First class customers will receive the television service free while economy passengers will be charged $6. Wi-Fi service featuring e-mail and instant messaging will be free and is similar to the BetaBlue product debuted by JetBlue last month.
Delta Air Lines flew 9.72 billion system RPMs in December, up 3% over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 3.1% to 12.5 billion ASMs and load factor dipped 0.1 point to 77.7%. Alaska Airlines flew 1.56 billion RPMs in December, up 6.3% from the year-ago month, against a 5.2% increase in capacity to 2.06 billion ASMs. Load factor rose 0.7 point to 75.8%. Spanair flew 587 million RPKs in December, a 1.4% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity was level at 979 million ASKs and load factor rose 0.8 point to 60%.
Lufthansa reached an 18-month deal with the Vereinigung Cockpit union representing approximately 4,400 LH pilots that will include a 2.5% pay increase backdated to Oct. 1, 2007, and an additional 3% raise from Jan. 1. In addition, pilots will receive a one-off payment equal to 25% of monthly salary "in recompense for the onerous workload and additional working hours the cockpit crews were called on to perform in the face of corporate growth," LH said.
Air Transport Assn. said the US airline cost index in the third quarter of 2007 was up 0.2% from the year-ago period. The consumer price index rose 2.4% over the same period, ATA said. Fuel, which accounted for 25.9% of expenses, rose 1.6% to $2.11 per gal. Unit operating cost per ASM was unchanged at 12.49 cents. "The slowing economy and sky-high fuel prices are putting tremendous pressure on US airlines to reduce nonfuel costs.
Singapore announced the conclusion of bilateral open skies agreements with Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The agreements provide for "unlimited hubbing rights" for cargo carriers as well as conventional open skies conditions. Singapore now has open skies arrangements with 13 EU countries.
