Goodrich reached a deal with Shanghai Airlines to supply wheels and electrically actuated brakes for its nine 787s, which it will put into service starting next year.
Triad International Maintenance Corp. is working to diversify its operations while expanding into new parts of the world since being taken private in a financial transaction completed last December, according to Executive VP and CMO R. Gene House, who joined the company last July after more than four decades with United Airlines. House's boss, President and COO Ron Utecht, is also a United alumnus with 39 years with the airline.
Menzies Aviation parent John Menzies plc yesterday announced the resignation of CEO Patrick Macdonald while reporting a 9% year-over-year drop in its full-year profit to £35.8 million ($69.6 million). Menzies Aviation was the company's best-performing unit, posting a 25% rise in profit to £16.6 million. It did not announce a successor.
US Dept. of Transportation yesterday tentatively approved Virgin America's plan to "reconfigure its ownership and management structure" and said the carrier could earn its operating certificate if it meets certain conditions, including replacing CEO Fred Reid, who has overseen the certification process since he left Delta Air Lines in April 2004.
SAS Group airlines flew 2.6 billion RPKs in February, down 0.1% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.9% to 3.97 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 0.6 point to 65.5%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines flew 1.79 billion RPKs, down 6.3%, against a 5.1% fall in ASKs to 2.63 billion, dropping load factor 0.8 point to 68%.
There is a potential capacity crunch looming for landing gear MRO, according to Lufthansa Technik Director-Business Unit, Landing Gear Hamburg Michael Kirstein.
American Airlines said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that first-quarter mainline passenger RASM will increase 3.5%-4.5% year-over-year and consolidated unit revenue will rise 2.7%-3.7% from last year's 10.26 cents. Consolidated unit cost, which was 11.46 cents in January and 11.84 cents in February, is expected to come in at 11.52 cents for the quarter and 11.51 cents for the year, up from 10.90 cents in 2006. Consolidated CASM excluding fuel is forecast at 8.42 cents for the first quarter and 8.19 cents for the year, up from 7.82 cents in 2006.
Alitalia flew 2.67 billion RPKs in February, up 4.8% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.4% to 3.91 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 2.9 points to 68.3%.
Jazeera Airways yesterday announced the submission of its application for listing on the Kuwait Stock Exchange ( ATWOnline, Oct. 13, 2006). Jazeera Chairman and CEO Marwan Boodai said the KSE has the second-highest capitalization in the Middle East and that the application process is expected to take 6-8 weeks. J9 claims to be the only airline in the region not owned or subsidized by any government.
Gulf Air named former British Airways employee and private consultant Jeffrey Solomon as acting VP-technical. Swiss International Air Lines said that MD and Head of Sales and Marketing-Intercontinental Markets Marcel Biedermann will head the carrier's North and South American management operations.
Japan Airlines was anticipating a one-day strike by approximately 2,000 "cockpit crew and other staff" today but promised all flights will operate normally and that there will be no cancellations. JAL said three unions--JAL Cockpit Crew Union, JAL Labor Union and JAL Domestic Labor Union--voted yesterday to strike. JAL Cabin Crew Union declined to join in the work action.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber said last week in Washington that the tentative open skies accord reached by the US and EU is "just a first step" and that the industry must strive for more freedom both in the transatlantic market and globally. EU-US open skies "should be a blueprint" for the global industry and a long-term accord should significantly expand the business flexibility of carriers, he said.
The tentative EU-US open skies agreement continued to elicit a variety of responses last week, including unexpectedly strong support from Airports Council International-Europe and ACI-North America, which issued a statement jointly urging the signing of the accord at the forthcoming EU/US Summit on April 30.
Southwest Airlines authorized a new share repurchase program to buy back $300 million worth of common stock, or an estimated 20.2 million shares. CEO Gary Kelly said WN has repurchased 62.1 million shares worth $1 billion since the beginning of 2006. Separately, Southwest named Senior Chief Pilot Chuck Magill VP-flight operations.
Iberia reached a labor agreement with its 4,200 flight attendants that will include the conversion of 260 temporary contracts into permanent positions, pay raises linked to company performance, a lump payment of more than €7 million ($9.3 million) and "a number of employee benefits," according to IB. The deal is effective through Dec. 31. Separately, Iberia will add a third weekly Madrid-Algiers flight starting April 11.
Delta Air Lines said last week that it filed its election to obtain the benefit of the pension funding relief provided in the Pension Protection Act for the defined benefit retirement plan covering ground employees and flight attendants and that it made a voluntary $50 million contribution to the plan. It expects to contribute an additional $50 million this year as part of the funding schedule mandated by the new federal law.
US airlines' capacity is expected to grow 2.8% and traffic 3.4% in 2007, FAA forecasts. Mainline domestic capacity is expected to increase 2.1% in 2007 and 3.6% in 2008. Latin American Air Transport Assn.'s 33 member airlines flew 11.15 billion RPKs in January, down 7.6% from the year-ago month, a decline the organization attributed to cutbacks at Varig. Capacity fell 4.9% to 15.89 billion ASKs and load factor dropped 2.1 points to 70.2%.
ANA's North American customer relations and service office near Los Angeles was raided last Thursday by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Associated Press reported. The FBI declined to comment on the nature of the warrant, but ANA said there was "no suspicion of terrorism and the ANA flights are operating normally," AP said.
US airlines will have to invest $20-$25 billion through 2025 to equip aircraft for FAA's planned satellite-based NextGen system, according to ATA President and CEO James May, who spoke yesterday at the agency's annual Aviation Forecast Conference in Washington.
British Airways lost its appeal at the European Court of Justice against a €6.8 million ($9 million) fine imposed by the EC in July 1999 for "abuse of a dominant position" in the UK market. As in most cases, the ECJ followed the advice of its advocate general, who said in February that the appeal should be dismissed in its entirety. Following a complaint by Virgin Atlantic Airways, the EC ruled in 1999 that performance reward schemes implemented by BA in order to calculate travel agent commissions constituted an abuse.
Lufthansa Technik launched a dedicated Web suite allowing aircraft operators to monitor and manage all aspects of their fleets' technical operations via the Internet. Dubbed manage/m, the toolbox of Web-based modules is designed to "give the operator total control over the MRO requirements and operations of his fleet, anytime and everywhere," LHT VP-Customer Services-Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Alexander Heilmann told ATWOnline in Frankfurt. Manage/m comprises 15 modules covering every aspect of MRO management.
VLM Airlines is not talking with British Airways about a possible sale of the regional carrier that is currently the largest operator at London City, owner Jaap Rosen Jacobson told ATWOnline, putting to rest speculation that arose following BA's launch of CityFlyer ( ATWOnline, March 15). VLM accounts for about one-third of all aircraft movements at LCY. "There has been no negotiation with BA on this subject," Jacobson said. "I'm not saying a sale of VLM might not happen. One never knows.
LTU will launch service from Dusseldorf to Los Angeles (five-times-weekly from May 3) and Las Vegas (twice-weekly from May 3). It also will unveil a new livery when it takes delivery of its 12th A330, a -200, in May. Design will remain red and white, with a touch of silver added, and feature a larger logo on the tail. The new look "stands for the transformation of the former vacation carrier into an airline with standard routes and extremely attractive price-to-performance ratios for vacationers and business travelers."
India Ministry of Civil Aviation granted approval to Alliance Air, Jet Airways, Deccan Aviation, Sahara Airlines, Kingfisher Airlines, Paramount Airways and Indus Airways to acquire and operate foreign manufactured aircraft with fewer than 80 seats. Airlines in India are exempt from landing fees for planes with fewer than 80 seats. Separately, the ministry announced that the new Bangalore International Airport will open April 2.
