Kenya Airways said yesterday that the flight data recorder from the 737-800 that crashed after takeoff from Douala on Saturday, killing all 114 on board ( ATWOnline, May 8), was recovered "and appears to be in good condition," adding that "the recovery is still going on under very difficult circumstances" and that the airline is flying victims' relatives to Cameroon while working to "put measures in place to minimize disruptions on our flight schedules."
AerCap Holdings named Willis Lease Finance Senior VP-Worldwide Sales & Marketing Thomas MacAleavey to the new position of chief executive-engine leasing effective June 1.
EasyJet said unit revenues fell in April and it sees "pressure on yields in the summer against high comparatives from last year and due to continued competition." It maintained its projection of 40%-50% in pre-tax profit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. The LCC transported 3.1 million passengers in April, up 10% from the year-ago month. Load factor dropped 3.3 points to 83.1%. US Airways said consolidated passenger RASM fell in April.
The Boyd Group issued a report predicting that "dozens of smaller communities" could face a reduction in or even loss of commercial air service because of evolving airline economics. By May 4, some 75 applications had been filed under the US Dept. of Transportation's Small Community Air Service Development Grant Program, but only about 40 of those have "potential for success," according to the report.
The wreckage of a Kenya Airways 737-800 that was missing for 36 hr. was found in a mangrove swamp approximately 20 km. southeast of Douala in Cameroon, the airline confirmed, and reports suggested that none of the 105 passengers and nine crew survived the accident.
Aviation Partners Australia declared its bid for Qantas dead late yesterday but at the same time said it was leaving the door open for another attempt in four months.
Gulf Air will be fully owned by the government of Bahrain following the withdrawal of Oman, which signed a letter of intent to withdraw from the money-losing carrier, the Arab Air Carriers Organization announced. Oman follows the emirate of Abu Dhabi and Qatar ( ATWOnline, Sept. 14, 2005). AACO said Bahrain and Oman "have agreed to form a joint committee to assess the airline's assets and to appoint auditors and technicians for this purpose, a process expected to be finalized within six months."
JetBlue Airways flew 2.27 billion RPMs in April, up 11.6% from the year-ago month, against a 12.8% rise in capacity to 2.67 billion ASMs that lowered load factor 0.9 point to 84.7%. Gol flew 1.67 billion RPKs in April, up 49.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 63.5% to 2.35 billion ASKs and load factor fell 6.8 points to 70.8%.
News from Travel Technology Update: The European Commission opened a "detailed investigation" under the EU Merger Regulation into Travelport's proposed acquisition of Worldspan, citing concerns over the competitiveness of the deal. The Commission has 90 working days from the investigation's launch to reach a final decision on whether the concentration would significantly impede effective competition within the European Economic Area, which comprises the European Union plus Norway and Iceland, or a significant part of it. The deadline is Sept. 13.
Saudi Arabian Airlines is looking to buy up to 60 new aircraft, the Arab Air Carriers Organization confirmed yesterday ( ATWOnline, Jan. 8), and intends to establish a low-cost subsidiary. SAA also announced a service expansion including an increase in flights to Dubai to 44 weekly from 30 and added frequencies to London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Madrid, Frankfurt, New York JFK and Washington Dulles and new seasonal services to Vienna, Athens and Munich.
SAS reportedly is taking action following last week's three-day wildcat strike by cabin crew ( ATWOnline, April 30), downgrading its Copenhagen operation and using Swedish and Norwegian crews to handle intra-Scandinavian flights, according to press reports. Danish employees may be fired and jobs added in Oslo and Stockholm "because staff there show more commitment to their jobs," CEO Mats Jannson was quoted as saying.
Air France launched a fifth weekly Paris Charles de Gaulle-New York JFK flight aboard an A330. Service will become daily on June 4. Separately, AF KLM flew 17 billion RPKs in April, a 3.1% increase from the year-ago month. Capacity was up 4.1% to 20.67 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 0.8 point to 82.3%.
GE Aviation announced Friday that it completed the $4.8 billion all-cash acquisition of Smiths Aerospace, giving the engine-maker its long-sought role in aviation components and systems ( ATWOnline, Jan. 17). GE's proposed merger with Honeywell was blocked by EU regulators in 2001. Smiths supplies flight management systems, electrical power management, mechanical actuation systems and airborne platform computing systems.
Northwest Airlines flew 6.52 billion consolidated RPMs in April, a 0.1% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.5% to 7.8 billion ASMs and load factor fell 0.5 point to 83.7%. Domestic traffic lifted 0.8%, capacity climbed 0.7% and load factor remained at 84.3%. International traffic grew 0.9%, capacity was up 2.8% and load factor was down 1.6 points to 84.3%. AirTran Airways flew 1.43 billion RPMs in April, up 18.5% on the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 21.5% to 1.86 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 2 points to 76.8%.
The Qantas board announced Sunday that the five-month, A$11.1 billion ($9.11 billion) takeover bid by Airline Partners Australia had failed despite a weekend of frantic appeals by the consortium to Australian regulators.
The European Commission extended its investigation into Ryanair's proposed acquisition of Aer Lingus Group by another 15 working days to July 4 from June 13, itself an extension from the original deadline of May 11 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 23). The extension followed Ryanair's submission of new commitments to address competition concerns raised by the European regulator. An EC spokesperson confirmed that the LCC offered extra remedies.
Malev Hungarian Airlines announced last week that its sale to AirBridge, a consortium led by KrasAir CEO Boris Abramovich, was completed with the transfer of shares from the Hungarian government ( ATWOnline, Feb. 27). The transaction includes AirBridge's assumption of Malev's loans and is part of the consortium's €102 million ($138.6 million) investment in the carrier.
Airbus workers at two French plants temporarily walked off the job last week over the company's proposal for worker bonuses that one union leader called "shocking." Airbus and parent EADS executives, meanwhile, reportedly got a hostile reception during an EADS shareholder meeting Friday, with shareholders shouting at them about Airbus's financial troubles as they made presentations on the manufacturer's restructuring program.
American Airlines pilots, represented by the Allied Pilots Assn., last week presented a proposal to management asking for a 30.5% pay rate increase on the date a new labor agreement is signed retroactive to May 1, 2008, a 15% signing bonus and 5% annual raises in following years. APA President Ralph Hunter said other stakeholders "have already recovered their investment in our airline's turnaround. .
Austria's regional market is getting two new carriers and losing another. Robin Hood Aviation will launch 10-times-weekly Graz-Zurich service May 29 using Saab 340s and said it has two more of the type on order. Another new regional, Salzburg-based Austrojet, said it will take delivery of its first aircraft, a Dash 8-300, this month. Meanwhile, startup Smartline ceased operations after just three weeks. It operated flights between St. Gallen/Altenrhein and Monchengladbach with Beech 1900s.
Australian government ruled out granting transpacific access to Singapore Airlines for "some time." An SIA spokesperson used the latest quarterly figures from IATA showing demand outstripping supply to highlight the need for additional capacity, but a spokesperson for Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Mark Vaile told media that Virgin Blue's recent order for seven 777-300ERs would help alleviate demand from next year ( ATWOnline, March 22).
Airline Partners Australia's five-month race to acquire Qantas will reach the finish line today at 4 p.m. Australian Eastern Time, by which time the consortium must have 50% acceptance ( ATWOnline, May 1). It has gained some ground, announcing yesterday that it has secured 32.96%, up from just 25.94% 24 hr. earlier, while its voting power has risen to 27.78% from 17.63%.
