THERE ARE SOME PLACESLOTS OF PLACES ACTUALLYWHERE PURCHASING IS NOT A PREROGATIVE. AIRTRAN AIRWAYS IS ONE OF THEM. AT THE ORLANDO-BASED LCC, PURCHASING MANAGER JEFF LONG "HAS TO GO OUT AND SELL OUR SERVICES TO OUR INTERNAL CUSTOMERS." THERE'S NO MANDATE THAT DEPARTMENTS FUNNEL THEIR BUYING THROUGH LONG'S SHOP; "IT'S LIKE I'M A CONSULTANT HERE." AND ONE OF THE MOST POTENT TOOLS IN ANY CONSULTANT'S KIT IS PERSUASION.
While e-procurement has been around for roughly a decade in the airline industry and has become somewhat "second nature" to many participants, there are still a lot of opportunities for expansion and resulting efficiency improvements and cost savings, according to experts in the field.
THE 47TH PARIS AIR SHOW (JUNE 18-24) arrives with the airline industry in better shape than at any time since the summer of 2001 and the commercial aerospace industry enjoying a third consecutive year of strong aircraft orders. Add to this the fact that the US government and military will be making their largest appearance at the biennial event since the US and France fell apart over the Iraq war and the result is that attitudes at Le Bourget should be upbeat.
"Content is king." Or is it? The driver of the last two rounds of airline-GDS negotiations was the perceived need for subscribers, particularly travel management companies, to have access to full airline content. But the No. 2 executive at Amadeus believes the drive for full content may have shifted the balance of power between airlines and travel agencies, to the detriment of those who sought it.
US Airways' aggressive attempt to acquire Delta Air Lines, which fizzled earlier this year when DL's creditors refused to endorse the takeover, might have sparked a consolidation frenzy that could have reshaped the world's largest air transport market. If the merger actually had gone through, it's unlikely the US's other four legacy carriersUnited Airlines, American Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlinescould have afforded to stand pat.
Austrian Airlines announced it is moving to the Star Alliance Common IT Platform for its inventory and check-in systems. The CITP is hosted by Amadeus for participating Star member carriers and is based on the Altea customer solutions suite. Austrian joins Lufthansa and United and regional member carriers Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines in choosing to migrate to the new platform, expected to occur by mid-2009.
US Airways said the 600 new self-service kiosks it promised to install in the wake of first-quarter operational difficulties ( ATWOnline, April 27) will come from Kinetics and will be deployed at the 107 airports US serves domestically and in the Caribbean. The agreement with Kinetics includes a three-year maintenance provision. The replacement kiosks will be installed from mid-June through September.
WestJet announced that Executive VP-Culture and co-Founder Don Bell will retire effective July 2. Bell has been chairman of the Air Transport Assn. of Canada since November 2005.
Aviareps and its Airline Centre subsidiary will take over all future sales and marketing activity for Air Italy in Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain and the UK.
A J Walter Aviation signed a new power-by-the-hour parts and MRO agreement with Air Moldova for its A320 fleet. Contract runs for in excess of three years.
Lufthansa Technik Shenzhen now is a member of the Airbus Spares repair station network, offering structure and composite repairs for Airbus proprietary parts in Asia.
Brussels Airlines is talking with Mauritius about establishing a local airline, the carrier confirmed Monday. The project is part of the carrier's strategy to expand its African network, which includes adding new destinations, increasing direct flights and frequencies and participating in local airlines ( ATWOnline, May 24).
GE Aviation Materials, a joint venture between GE Aviation and Snecma that provides used serviceable aircraft engine and related spare parts, will open distribution centers and sales offices in Singapore and Amsterdam, complementing its Dallas facility. The 30,000-sq.-ft. Singapore center is scheduled to open in July while the 50,000-sq.-ft. Amsterdam center will open in August
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon yesterday released a statement saying that the airline "believed" the level of foreign ownership did not exceed the 49% permitted under Australian law, but QF admitted that "reconciliation of its shareholding, despite extensive monitoring, [has been] extremely difficult" in the wake of Airline Partners Australia's failed takeover bid ( ATWOnline, May 18).
Component Control said AeroTurbine, a subsidiary of AerCap, selected its Quantum Control ERP software to manage its aircraft and engine aftermarket parts sales, maintenance, repair and overhaul operations.
Singapore Airlines' and Temasek's acquisition of a 25%, $930 million equity stake in China Eastern Airlines is close to being finalized, with regulatory approval from Beijing expected within a week ( ATWOnline, May 24). Final structure of the deal still may be altered somewhat owing to regulatory concerns within the Chinese government, sources in Singapore said.
Midwest Airlines will reconfigure and add seats to its fleet of MD-80s and 717s in an $8 million project it estimates will generate up to $35 million in annual incremental revenue. Passengers will have the choice between Signature service featuring a 2-2 layout previously available only on the 717 and Saver, a 2-3 layout previously offered only on the MD-80. The MD-80s will have 12 Signature and 132 Saver seats while the 717s will move to a mix of 40 Signatures and 59 Savers.
Qantas unveiled an expansion of its international network that likely will include an order for 20 additional 787s, CEO Geoff Dixon said. New frequencies/routes announced this week are: A fifth weekly Sydney-Shanghai Pudong flight starting in August; a new twice-weekly Melbourne-PVG service aboard A330s, two additional Brisbane-Los Angeles flights on 747-400s (increasing the service to daily) and one additional Sydney-LAX flight, all in March 2008; a new 747-400 service to Santiago and an additional weekly SYD-Johannesburg flight beginning in November 2008.
Air Canada named Executive VP and CCO Sean Menke executive VP-commercial strategy, focusing on long-term strategy and the implementation of AC's new Polaris reservation system. Air Canada Vacations President and CEO Benjamin Smith was named executive VP-commercial, succeeding Menke.
SAS Sverige planned to operate its full schedule today after the Swedish Salaried Employees Union, which represents approximately 800 SAS cabin staff, reached a labor agreement with the airline late Monday. The deal will apply March 1, 2007-April 30, 2010, and "is in line with the level applicable in the Swedish labor market, that is, 10.3% over 38 months," SAS said.
Thales was selected by Sichuan Airlines to supply and support two Level D full flight simulators to be installed in a soon-to-be-built Sichuan Airlines training center in Chengdu. Also ordered was an A320 Thales Formation Systems Trainer. Thales valued the contract at in excess of $20 million.
Air Line Pilots Assn. will contribute $2 million to support the efforts of Pinnacle Airlines pilots who have been in contract negotiations with the carrier since February 2005. A mediator from the National Mediation Board has guided talks since last August.
