Canada and Singapore announced an open skies agreement allowing any carrier from either country to operate passenger and cargo flights to any city at any frequency, as well as to codeshare.
Delta Air Lines maintenance arm Delta TechOps signed a 10-year, $1 billion-plus deal with Chromalloy Gas Turbine Corp. that represents "the largest and most significant [PMA] agreement in the airline industry," adds the CFM56-5 to DTO's portfolio and will result in 250 additional engine overhauls, DL announced yesterday.
US FAA announced a new rule "designed to mitigate conditions that put airliners at risk for wire failures, smoke and fire," enhancing safety requirements for design, installation and maintenance and adding new certification standards to address wire degradation and "inadequate" design or maintenance. Manufacturers will have to complete approved instructions for wiring-related maintenance and inspection within two years of the effective date for existing aircraft, with airlines operating those aircraft instructed to complete programs based on those instructions within 39 months.
Big Sky Airlines parent MAIR Holdings reported a $2.5 million loss in the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, unchanged from the year-ago period. Revenue climbed 46.4% to $9.05 million while expenses rose 29.9% to $12.5 million, resulting in a flat operating loss of $3.4 million. Big Sky, which serves 26 cities with 13 Beech 1900Ds as a Delta Connection partner and in codeshare with Northwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Horizon Air and US Air, flew 14.8 million RPMs during the quarter, up 63.5%. Capacity rose 28.8% to 28.5 million ASMs, lifting load factor 11 points to 52%.
The EU intends to launch a PNR system similar to the collection procedure applied by the US. Under the plan unveiled yesterday as part of a broader counterterrorism package, the 27 member states would be required to collect 19 fields of data from passengers flying to or from the EU. Data would include the e-mail address and phone number of the passenger, ticket and travel agent information and payment details and would be provided 24 hr. before departure.
Northwest Airlines flew 6.47 billion consolidated RPMs in October, down 0.2% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 1.3% to 7.73 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1 point to 83.8%. Air Canada and Jazz flew 4.06 billion RPMs in October, a 2.7% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 2.4% to 5.16 billion ASMs and load factor was up 0.2 point to 78.6%. JetBlue Airways flew 1.99 billion RPMs in October, up 7% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 11.1% to 2.52 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 2.9 points to 75.9%.
Airports Council International elected Aeroports de Montreal President and CEO James Cherry chairman for a two-year term. He replaces Ghanem Al Hajri, who held the role on an interim basis following the August retirement of Niels Boserup.
Lufthansa, which is set to take delivery this week of the first of 60 A320 family aircraft to be used on European flights, will feature a new cabin design with increased "usable. . .width which will especially benefit passengers in window seats, giving them more room at shoulder height," the airline said. Also included will be new window surrounds that "make the windows appear larger" and enlarged overhead bins, LH added.
Jordan Airline Training and Simulation signed an agreement with S7 Airlines under which the Russian carrier will send 20 pilots to train on JATS' two A320-200 full flight simulators with JATS instructors ( ATWOnline, Sept. 6). The pilots also will receive safety and emergency training, while one will take a simulator instructor course. S7 ordered 25 A320s at last summer's Paris Air Show ( ATWOnline, June 19).
News from Travel Technology Update: EasyJet will participate in Amadeus and Galileo, becoming the first major European low-fare carrier to sign deals with GDS companies. The carrier said the move is designed to tap into the $90 billion corporate travel market in Europe. EasyJet said it will add a point-of-sale fee to fares booked through the GDSs, ensuring that its Web site "remains our primary distribution channel and fares will always be cheapest when booking direct online."
Finnair Group ground handling subsidiary Northport Oy signed an agreement to sell the entire share capital of its Swedish and Norwegian subsidiaries, Finnhandling AB and Northport Norway AS, to Menzies Aviation. The sale will create a slightly more than €5 million one-time boost to Finnair's fourth-quarter results.
Mesa Air Group appointed VP-Finance William Hoke as interim CFO. He replaces former CFO Peter Murnane, who was terminated after it was revealed that he deleted confidential records related to the carrier's recent legal problems with Hawaiian Airlines ( ATWOnline, Sept 28).
Chinese carriers responded to climbing oil prices by raising fuel surcharges on domestic services 20%-25% from yesterday. The levy on flights of fewer than 800 km. increased to CNY60 ($8.04) from CNY50 per ticket while the fee on flights of 800 km. or more went from CNY80 to CNY100. China raised the domestic price of jet fuel by CNY500 per ton starting Nov. 1, a move that industry insiders said was the catalyst for the surcharge hike. The fourth quarter is considered the domestic low season.
Seven cargo airlines working in conjunction with IATA and freight forwarders initiated e-freight pilot programs on a number of selected trade routes yesterday. The airlines are Air Canada, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, KLM, Martinair, SAS and Singapore Airlines. Cargo on key trade routes connecting the countries represented by the carriers will be processed electronically. "The paper-free era for airfreight begins today," IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said.
American Airlines flew 11.53 billion system RPMs in October, up 3.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.2% to 14.31 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 3 points to 80.6%. Continental Airlines flew 7.69 billion system RPMs in October, a 6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.7% to 9.68 billion ASMs and load factor improved 0.2 point to 79.5%. Consolidated unit revenue was up an estimated 6%-7% year-over-year.
Owens Group International of Atlanta will provide its NetTracer Web-based baggage tracing and claims management system to AirTran Airways under a deal announced yesterday. AirTran said the application is the "industry's first. . .built from the ground up using Web-based technologies" and employs a search mechanism similar to that found on Google or Yahoo.
Australia's Rex said it is suspending its recently announced Brisbane-Maryborough service because of its ongoing pilot shortage. "This suspension is the result of a network review to identify the routes that have the lowest load factors so as to inconvenience the least number of regional travelers and follows similar initiatives that we have undertaken on the Cooma and Wagga Wagga services in New South Wales," MD Geoff Breust said.
Emirates appears to be evaluating an IPO on the Dubai bourse, according to comments from Chairman Ahmed Bin Said al-Maktoum and CEO Tim Clark. According to London's The Times, al-Maktoum suggested that an IPO is in EK's immediate future and that 25% of the carrier initially will be offered to the market, reducing its dependence on the country's oil income. He said the airline has no interest in using the proceeds to fund a merger and instead will be focused on its own growth.
Air Transport Assn. said the composite Airline Cost Index through the second quarter rose to 185.7, up 5.6% year-over-year. In comparison, the Consumer Price Index climbed 2.4% year-over-year. Fuel accounted for 25.4% as average cost rose 2.2% to $2.02 per gal. while labor accounted for 23.6% even as the average cost of a full-time equivalent employee dropped 2%. Overall unit operating cost per ASM declined 1.1% to 12.46 cents. "Soaring fuel prices, among other pressures, leave little room for error in maintaining today's modest profit margins," ATA Chief Economist John Heimlich said.
JetWorks Leasing on behalf of a group of institutional investors arranged the sale of a 767-300 to Ryan 767, a company affiliated with Illinois-based Ryan International Airlines.
Singapore Technologies Aerospace has begun work on the first A320 C check on behalf of ANA at its China Eastern Airlines joint venture facility, Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Co. Work on the aircraft, the first of 30 ANA A320s to undergo C checks and modifications at STARCO under an LOI with the airline, began after the Hongqiao-based facility gained certification from the Japanese Civil Aviation Bureau. Aircraft will be redelivered this month.
Frontier Airlines will build a new heavy maintenance base at Colorado Springs and plans to launch the $25 million construction project in late spring 2008. When completed in 12-18 months, the facility will employ around 225 and feature approximately 30,000 sq. ft. of hangar space, 45,000 sq. ft. of offices and support shops and 25,000 sq. ft. of warehouse and tool room space. Frontier, which currently leases space at Denver International, said it spent more than a year researching the site and that Colorado Springs "has proven. .
Air China will issue up to 400 million new A shares to finance the acquisition of 54 aircraft and provide a CNY1.5 billion ($200.8 million) supplement to its working capital, according to widespread press reports from China. The carrier has 15 787s, 24 A320 family aircraft and 15 737s on order. The plan is subject to regulatory approval. Shares, which will not be available to most foreign investors, will amount to 5.1% of CA's existing A-share capital, Reuters reported.
Jeppesen named Senior VP-Training and Alteon COO Brad Thomann senior VP and COO, effective Jan. 1, and Senior VP-Rail, Logistics and Terminals Greg Bowlin senior VP-business and general aviation, effective immediately.
