CAE said yesterday that it sold two 7000 Series 787 full-flight simulators to Japan Airlines valued at C$36 million ($31.2 million). The first will be delivered to JAL's Tokyo Haneda training center in 2008.
American Airlines flew 11.93 billion system RPMs in March, down 1.4% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.9% to 14.48 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.3 points to 82.4% United Airlines flew 10.32 billion system RPMs in March, up 1.6% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.5% to 12.14 billion ASMs and load factor improved 1 point to 85%.
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, reached a settlement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission regarding accusations of inaccurate financial reporting from 2000 to 2002, agreeing to make no future misleading financial statements while paying no penalty for alleged transgressions that took place under previous management. SEC said AAWW failed to "report accurately its financial results, maintain requisite accounting records and implement adequate internal accounting controls" in fiscal years 2000, 2001 and the first half of FY02.
Gulf Air said former Crossair and Swiss International Air Lines CEO Andre Dose officially took over as CEO this week ( ATWOnline, Feb. 2). It added that Dose will be "unveiling a new long-term business plan" in a few weeks after spending time studying the airline and its operations.
ANA applied for permission to wet-lease two 767-200SFs from ABX Air, each with a 40-tonne payload, for use on an expanded summer freighter schedule. It plans to increase flights to China from Osaka Kansai by 90% and ATKs by 72% compared to summer 2006. New services will include a four-times-weekly KIX-Beijing flight. Separately, ANA signed a general terms agreement with Thai Airways under which Thai will perform heavy MRO on 11 ANA 747-400s at its new maintenance center at Suvarnabhumi. Work will be completed by next year.
Etihad Airways will add three A330-200s and two A340-600s to its fleet through the summer and increase its flying program 18%. New services are from Abu Dhabi to Sydney (now thrice-weekly aboard A340-500s, becoming daily June 29), Dublin (four-times-weekly from Aug. 3) and Milan Malpensa (thrice-weekly from Sept. 1), while 40 weekly flights will be added to existing routes on its network. An increase in its London Heathrow service to twice-daily has resulted in suspension of its Gatwick operation.
Japan Airlines completed oneworld's spring expansion Sunday, joining Malev Hungarian Airlines and Royal Jordanian as members of the alliance ( ATWOnline, March 30). JAL subsidiaries JALways, Japan Asia Airways, JAL Express, J-AIR and Japan Transocean Air are new oneworld affiliate members. JAL was the largest airline in the world outside one of the three major alliances, oneworld said. It adds nearly 50 airports to the grouping's network and one new country, Guam.
Aer Lingus will charge passengers who wish to pre-book a specific seat on short-haul flights starting April 4. Customers will pay €3 ($4) to choose their seat online. From the end of May, passengers also will have the option to reserve a seat in the first five rows for €10 and in an exit row for €15. Seat selection at check-in will remain free of charge.
Brazil's air traffic control system will transfer from military to civilian control following a one-day walkout late last week by top-level ATC officials that forced the temporary closure of airports throughout the country and again highlighted the nation's ongoing ATC woes, which Brazilian airlines claim have cost them more than $48 million since September.
Lufthansa Systems signed a five-year deal with China Southern Airlines to provide its NetLine network management tool. Implementation is scheduled for late this year.
United Airlines signed a contract with the US Postal Service to carry domestic mail from April 28 through Sept. 30, 2011. The deal is worth up to $400 million, UA said.
EU's first written submission in its WTO challenge to US government subsidies to Boeing details "massive, long-standing and WTO-inconsistent" federal, state and local government support totaling $23 billion, the EU announced. It cited NASA and Dept. of Defense research and development support and tax beaks and infrastructure support from the states of Kansas and Washington as examples. A nonconfidential version will be released in "due course," the EU said. The US is scheduled to present its written defense on June 14 with the first panel hearing set for July 11.
Delta Air Lines plans to make cash and stock payments valued at $480 million to its 39,000 noncontract employees--those not covered by a collective bargaining agreement or a management compensation program--upon emergence from bankruptcy. It will distribute 3.5% of common stock, initially valued at $350 million, and lump sum cash payments totaling $130 million to the workers following its planned May exit.
Sabre Holdings said Friday that its acquisition by Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group was completed ( ATWOnline, Dec. 13, 2006) following a vote for approval Thursday night by stockholders, who are entitled to receive $32.75 per share in cash in a transaction valued at $5 billion including the assumption of $550 million in net debt. The company intends to deregister and delist Sabre Holdings common stock today.
Delta Air Lines Friday unveiled a new board of directors, including the appointment of former Eastman Kodak CEO Daniel Carp as chairman, that will begin sitting upon the company's emergence from bankruptcy, expected during the second quarter. CEO Gerald Grinstein will be the lone current DL executive on the 11-person board.
US and Argentina reached an expanded air services agreement last week that will raise the number of possible weekly passenger flights between the countries from 56 to 77 immediately and to 112 by March 2009. Airlines from both countries also will have access to more follow-on international destinations.
Lufthansa Technik and Cathay Pacific Airways signed a 10-year Total Engine Support contract last week under which LHT will serve 15 CX PW4056-3 powered 747-400s, including six spares. The companies said they are in "final preparations" for another deal covering PW4062s on six new 747-400ERFs set to arrive in May 2008.
LIKE NEARLY ALL OTHER ASPECTS of commercial aviation, designing and developing cabin interior products has become a fast-moving business aimed at giving airlines a passenger service edge over rivals. Gone are the days when international carriers were content to maintain the same first and business class configurations and amenities for eight years or longer. Airlines barely are done retrofitting their fleets with one premium class design before unveiling a newer, better one, shortening the lifecycle of those interiors to 5-7 years, say experts.
AS AIR FRANCE BEGINS PREPARING to deploy the A380 as the first European airline to fulfill its strategy to be a dominant long-haul player, regional operations seem almost trivial. Nonetheless, it does cherish its little ones.
Buried deep within the filing cabinets in some airline analyst and CEO offices around Asia are reports that confidently predicted low-cost carriers never would succeed in the region. The rationale was simple and, to most, convincing: Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines had similar unit costs to Ryanair and easyJet so how could a budget airline work in Asia? Fortunately for 30 million passengers (through February 2007) who enjoy the world's lowest airfares every day, AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes never saw those reports.
AFTER ALMOST A DECADE OF LOBBYING, COMPLAINING AND pleading to the European Commission about the need to balance the industry value chain and address the confrontation between a fully deregulated sector and its monopolistic providers, Europe's airlines, more specifically its network and leisure carriers, got their wish granted earlier this yearat least partially.
HE AIRLINE INDUSTRY HAS MADE LARGE STRIDES in improving the efficiency of its maintenance, repair and overhaul materials supply chain but much work remains to be done, say experts, particularly in comparison to performance of other industries. Progress can be measured by the fact that the MRO spares inventory has not increased over the past decade despite the growth in the fleet.
AS WITH PROFITABILITY AND AIRCRAFT orders, cabin makeovers appear to occur in cycles. Based on the number of announcements over the past 12-18 months, it is clear that a new one is well underway. The focus continues to be on the front of the aircraft, where carriers believe they can extract a disproportionate payback for their investment, although some, such as perennial archrivals Cathay Pacific Airways and Singapore Airlines, are not overlooking the economy section.
