Vanuatu government will sell a minority stake in flag carrier Air Vanuatu, with World Bank Group member IFC advising. Air Vanuatu operates to Sydney, Auckland, Brisbane, Nadi and Noumea in addition to a number of domestic destinations, IFC said. According to the Ascend CASE database, the carrier operates one 737-300, one ATR 42 and two Twin Otters. It has a 737-800 and three Y-12s on order.
Air Berlin announced the creation of a new, independent maintenance and engineering company that will combine its own Air Berlin Technik Berlin division, 600 employees working for LTU in Dusseldorf and Munich, AB employees in Dusseldorf and 130 dba-Technik workers in Munich. The new company, Air Berlin Technik, will employ 1,100. The LTU workers and AB's employees in Dusseldorf will comprise Air Berlin Luftfahrttechnik Dusseldorf, a subsidiary of ABT. AB said ABT will service the airline's fleet of 130 aircraft and will look to develop third-party business.
Pinnacle Airlines board authorized a share repurchase program worth up to $30 million in outstanding common stock, two-third of which is contingent upon the "completion of certain financings," the company said. It reacquired more than 1.6 million shares in a similar $30 million repurchase last month.
Qantas announced the Leigh Clifford, the recently retired CEO of UK and Australia-based mining company Rio Tinto, will replace Margaret Jackson as chairman when she retires in November ( ATWOnline, May 22). "I am personally delighted to be passing the mantle of Qantas chairman to someone of Leigh's caliber and look forward to working closely with Leigh to ensure a smooth transition on my retirement," Jackson said. Clifford was at RT for 37 years and became CEO in 2000.
The UK Competition Commission yesterday outlined its investigation into BAA, citing delays and overcrowding at London Heathrow and other UK airports but emphasizing that no conclusions have been reached.
Lufthansa Systems will help Air Dolomiti implement e-ticketing. In a first phase, the Italian carrier will incorporate interline agreements with LH and Austrian Airlines.
After keeping a decidedly low profile during Virgin America's contentious US Dept. of Transportation certification process, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson was front-and-center yesterday for the carrier's launch, calling the US airline industry "abysmal" and promising better service aboard the startup's A319s/A320s than passengers can get on competing domestic flights.
Barco, in cooperation with NCS Communications Engineering, Singapore, received operational acceptance by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore for the arrival management system at Changi. According to Barco, the AMS features "automatic en-route holding advice generation in order to avoid congestion in the approach area. This unique feature, which has never been put into operation before, lowers the operating costs of the airlines by enabling economically optimal high-level holding instead of low-altitude delay absorption methods."
Kale Consultants acquired privately held Zero Octa. According to Kale, UK-based ZO is the world's largest provider of airline revenue assurance, protection and audit services. "The addition of Zero Octa will advance Kale's vision to be the leader in the revenue management space," Kale MD and CEO Vipul Jain said.
SunExpress, a joint venture between Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines that operates bases in Antalya and Izmir, reported a 36% year-over-year increase in passengers to 1.3 million in the first half of 2007. It expects to surpass the 3 million mark this year (compared to 2.3 million in 2006). It operates a fleet of 14 737-800s and 757-200s. JetBlue Airways flew 2.5 billion RPMs in July, up 13.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 9.5% to 2.87 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 3 points to 86.9%.
Air Berlin, Germany's second-biggest carrier, said that the German Federal Cartel Office approved its acquisition of LTU "without any restrictions." AB reached a deal in March to buy LTU for €140 million and assume €200 million of the company's debt ( ATWOnline, March 28). AB CEO Joachim Hunold said it was "regrettable that this process took so long" and that "synergies could not be exploited during this year as planned.
Mesaba Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, will build an $11.8 million maintenance facility at Des Moines International Airport. The complex will handle scheduled MRO for the carrier's CRJ200s/900s and is expected to be completed by the 2008 third quarter. The site was chosen because of its proximity to Mesaba hubs in Memphis and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
Delta Air Lines MRO subsidiary Delta TechOps reached a five-year, $9 million deal with Las Vegas-based Vision Airlines to provide component, APU and landing gear MRO along with inventory support services for Vision's 767-200s.
Northwest Airlines' Air Line Pilots Assn. MEC ratified the new work rules agreement reached with management last week as part of the carrier's effort to reduce high levels of flight cancellations it has attributed in part to "pilot absenteeism" ( ATWOnline, Aug. 3). NWA said the agreement is "economically neutral," with the premium pay it has agreed to reinstate for pilots flying more than 80 hr. per month "offset by the value of work rule changes and grievance settlement."
US Federal Labor Relations Authority dismissed the National Air Traffic Controllers Assn.'s charges of unfair labor practices related to FAA's implementation of a new contract last year. The agency imposed the contract after negotiations failed to produce an agreement, leading the union to claim it was unlawful and to file complaints with FLRA. "This decision validates our new contract, which is saving taxpayers $1.9 billion over five years and providing the resources we need to invest in 21st-century air traffic systems," Administrator Marion Blakey said.
US Dept. of Transportation said that the 20 reporting US carriers posted a combined June ontime arrival rate of 68.1%, down from the year-ago month's 72.8%. Cancellations climbed to 2.7% of scheduled flights from 1.7%. Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines predictably were the most punctual, with SkyWest Airlines coming in third at 77.9%. Atlantic Southeast Airlines' 56% was the worst among the 20, followed by American Airlines' 57.9%. Mesa Airlines' 6.4% cancellation rate was the worst, with Hawaiian (0.2%) and Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines (0.4%) the best.
Air Berlin announced the conclusion of its first labor agreements with pilots and cabin staff. The deals, covering members of both the Vereinigung Cockpit and ver.di unions, are effective from Aug. 1 and were agreed to "on the basis of the present actual working conditions at Air Berlin," the airline said. The agreement covering compensation runs until Dec. 31, 2008, with the accord on work rules expiring one year later.
Air Astana, Kazakhstan's flag airline, carried 970,000 passengers in the first half of 2007, up 42% over the year-ago semester. It expects to carry more than 2 million passengers for the full year. First-half capacity increased 44% to 3.1 billion ASKs as the fleet grew to 18 aircraft with the delivery of two 767-300ERs, two A320s and two A321s. The carrier said its fleet will number 34 by 2014. Air France KLM flew 19.75 billion RPKs in July, up 6.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity increased 5.6% to 22.92 billion ASKs and load factor was ahead 1 point to 86.2%.
European low-cost carrier seat capacity grew by 21% or 34 million seats in 2006 compared to 2005 and the sector accounted for around 30% of all intra-European seat capacity last year and 22% of departures, according to rdc's Low Cost Monitor 2007, a copy of which was provided to ATWOnline.
The New York legislature passed and Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed into law last week a "passenger bill of rights" outlining requirements for airlines during extended ground delays, making the state that is home to busy New York JFK and LaGuardia the first in the US to act on passenger complaints of poor customer service.
ARINC signed a marketing and reseller agreement with Abanco LLC to introduce an airborne data and payment system to enable passengers to use credit cards for onboard purchases. Under the agreement, ARINC will license Abanco's MDT In-Flight productivity application, "which is currently in use by many US carriers." The companies said they "plan to market a range of streamlined payment and inventory control solutions for onboard sales by airlines."
KLM became the first airline to offer self-service check-in to passengers at Kuala Lumpur International, using the SITA-installed CUSS kiosks now in operation there. Together with Malaysia Airports, SITA installed 12 CUSS kiosks with 24 more to follow over the next few months. SITA said CUSS check-in applications for both Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific will be placed on the kiosks before year end and the option also will be available to some 40 other carriers using KLIA.
STG Aerospace's Wireless Emergency Primary Power System received an FAA STC for the 737NG family, the first in a prioritized "rollout" program of certification aimed at the entire commercial aircraft market.
