Northwest Airlines is taking further steps to reduce its ongoing spate of cancellations, including dropping its second Detroit-Frankfurt 757 frequency to free up pilots, retraining furloughed pilots to return them to active duty and planning a 3% domestic mainline capacity reduction beginning next month.
Airfoil Services, the Malaysia-based joint venture between MTU Aero Engines and Lufthansa Technik, moved to a new larger production facility at Kota Damansara near Kuala Lumpur. It said more than 250 jobs have been created so far through the expansion.
European Commission confirmed Friday that it did not renew the so-called "block exemption" for IATA passenger tariff conferences for routes between the EU and non-EU countries. The antitrust exemption expired on June 30 for routes between the EU and the US or Australia and will end on Oct. 31 for routes to other countries. It ended on Jan. 1 for intra-EU routes as stipulated in the revised Block Exemption for IATA passenger tariff conferences that the EC adopted in October. The new regulation, which also ended the block exemption for IATA slot and scheduling conferences from Dec.
Former Alaska Airlines Chairman and CEO Bruce Kennedy, 68, was killed last Thursday in the crash of a Cessna 182 he was piloting in central Washington State. His death was confirmed Friday by Quest Aircraft Co., where he served as chairman until the accident. He became a director at Alaska in 1972 and served as chairman, CEO and/or president from 1978 to 1991. He oversaw the acquisition of Horizon Air and Jet America and remained chairman emeritus. "Bruce's legacy extends far beyond his storied leadership of this airline," Alaska Air Group Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer said.
Sabre Travel Network is on the verge of rolling out a new product that will enable it to house a "mirror image" of a carrier's inventory within its system to provide a more accurate picture of the airline's availability. Kyle Moore, vice president of product marketing, said the growth of air fare shopping options has led many airlines to introduce caching of their air fares to minimize the volume of messages that hit their inventory systems.
The Star Alliance's Alternative Content Access Platform initiative, launched two years ago with the aims of harnessing modern technology and reducing distribution costs for alliance members, is dormant. The Star Alliance signed letters of intent with G2 Switchworks, ITA Software and Lufthansa Systems to develop the ACAP project.
Seven European rail companies and their high-speed subsidiaries plan to link their reservations system and create a new "seamless" network that will compete with air and road travel over international borders. The rail companies are seizing what they see as their moment: Both sentiment and the regulatory climate in Europe favor the reduction of greenhouse gases, an area in which the airline industry -- fairly or unfairly -- is coming under increased scrutiny and criticism.
THE EMERGENCE OF DELTA AIR LINES AND Northwest Airlines from US Chapter 11 restructuring this spring means that not one of the world's 10 largest airlines is in bankruptcy for the first time since December 2002. This is a major milestone for an industry that lost more than $42 billion between 2001 and 2005.
American Airlines yesterday announced it will accelerate deliveries of six 737-800s into the first half of 2009 in order to speed up replacement of its MD-80s. Three months ago it said it would bring forward the delivery of 47 -800s including three scheduled for 2016 delivery to 2009 ( ATWOnline, March 29). It now plans to take nine aircraft in 2009 under its existing purchase agreement with Boeing. Separately, parent AMR Corp.
SkyTeam members Air France, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM and Northwest Airlines yesterday filed an application with the US Dept. of Transportation seeking antitrust immunity on transatlantic routings. The carriers withdrew their previous application in January 2006 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 12, 2006) after DOT issued a tentative decision denying the request.
RAK Airways, based at Ras Al Khaimah, operated its first flight on June 23, becoming the United Arab Emirates' fourth commercial airline. It currently has one 757 and is in the process of acquiring two or three 737-800s, according to the Arab Air Carriers Organization. First flight was to Turkey, with services to India, Pakistan, Egypt and Lebanon planned from Oct. 1.
Tiger Airways fired the first shots in what is expected to be one of the toughest domestic fare wars yet seen in Australia ( ATWOnline, May 4). Its opening fare of A$80 ($67.29) between Darwin, one of its two current entry points, and its domestic base of Melbourne is one-third the typical fare. The cities are 3,151 km. apart. Jetstar Airways responded immediately with a A$79 offering.
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines' 17 member carriers transported 11.4 million passengers on international routes last month, up 4% year-over-year. RPKs rose 3.2% over May 2006, capacity grew less than 1% and load factor gained 1.7 points to 72.2%. International FTKs increased 4.6% after two months of stagnant growth and capacity was up 3.9%, lifting cargo load factor 0.4 point to 65.9%. Through the year's first five months, passenger numbers were ahead 4.2% to 58.3 million.
EgyptAir subsidiary EgyptAir Express this week launched regional services from Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada using three E-170s. The new regional carrier plans to expand its network to Luxor, Borg El Arab and Marsa Matrouh beginning next month. Three additional E-170s are expected to arrive by September and Express is looking at moving into regional markets such as Jeddah, Amman and Beirut.
Northwest Airlines said yesterday it is "informally meeting" with its pilots union in an effort to resolve a "staffing issue" that has led to numerous flight cancellations ( ATWOnline, June 26).
A TAAG Angola Airlines 737-200 carrying 71 passengers and seven crew crashed yesterday at M'Banza Congo Airport on arrival from Luanda, killing four passengers and one crewmember, according to Flight Safety Foundation's Aviation Safety Network. According to press reports, the aircraft broke apart after hitting the runway and skidded into a house or building. TAAG reportedly was added to the EU's airline blacklist to be published next week, along with all Indonesian carriers and several from Eastern Europe.
Airbus yesterday formally signed a contract establishing its joint-venture A320 family Final Assembly Line in Tianjin and finalized purchase agreements for the sale of 86 A320s to Chinese companies.
LOT Polish Airlines and Boeing will open a training center for pilots and cabin crew in Warsaw, the carrier announced. The facility will be equipped with at least four flight simulators and a cabin simulator. No further details were provided, but LOT did say it would be "the largest and most state-of-the-art facility of this kind in Eastern and Central Europe." It said the agreement resulted from meetings with representatives of Boeing subsidiary Alteon Training at last week's Paris Air Show.
Qantas's announcement Wednesday that it "remained comfortable with its previous guidance that its 2006/07 profit before tax was in line with the average market expectations" ( ATWOnline, June 28) has emerged as a de facto profit upgrade, the fourth this financial year. In March the airline forecast a A$940 million ($790.7 million) pre-tax profit but robust traffic figures have had analysts preparing more bullish earnings.
DHL said it officially completed the previously announced transaction to form a strategic partnership with Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings subsidiary Polar Air Cargo ( ATWOnline, Oct. 17, 2006). DHL is investing $150 million for a 49% stake and 25% of voting rights in Polar.
LAN Airlines announced that its rights offering closed June 17 netted $320 million on the Chilean and US markets ( ATWOnline, March 8). The company placed 19.9 million shares, representing a 6.2% increase of its share count. An additional 2.2 million common shares have not been placed and are reserved for a stock option plan for employees, LAN said.
All 22 passengers and crew aboard the PMTair An-24 that was lost Monday on its way from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville ( ATWOnline, June 26) were confirmed killed, according to press reports from Cambodia, where officials are targeting stormy weather as the likely cause. Wreckage was discovered on a mountain in southern Cambodia after a two-day search.
In what clearly can be called an unprecedented decision, the European Commission yesterday moved to prohibit the proposed takeover by Ryanair of smaller rival Aer Lingus.
