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.
IF THERE IS A LESSON TO BE LEARNED IN THE RECENT setbacks for aiRES, it is that in this day and age, time stands still for no airline. That can spell trouble for vendors who try to keep up with carriers that are moving in more directions than up.
ATW'S WINNING AIRLINE STRATEGIES conference held in Washington in late February brought together senior executives from some of the world's leading airlines, technology suppliers, academia and consultancies to talk about developments in reservations, distribution and marketing and customer service as well as aeropolitical issues. As has become a tradition, the conference opened with a keynote address by Avitas Senior VP Adam Pilarski, who rejected two staples of current industry thinking: That consolidation is necessary and that the industry suffers from chronic overcapacity.
The OpenTravel Alliance, the organization that develops XML messaging specifications for electronic travel distribution, is adopting a new identity that reflects a philosophical shift: It is setting standards for the industry.
While the management team at Eons.com, the "MySpace for the 50-plus crowd," was trying to figure out how to incorporate a travel component on the site, a group of members decided to take a trip together and organized all the details, right down to putting out a press release to attract more participants. It was a demonstration of the power of social networking online, Jeff Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of Eons, told an audience at the TravelCom/Res-Expo conference.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. is planning to invest up to $100 million into its Maintenance Services group in an effort to bolster third-party business. It said the funding will be used to update facilities, invest in new technology and increase efficiencies. "In the past three years, we have worked with our [Transport Workers Union] partners to reduce costs, streamline processes and keep the vast majority of our own aircraft maintenance work in-house," said Senior VP-Technical Operations Bob Reding.
Pratt & Whitney wants to grow its presence in the maintenance, repair and overhaul aftermarket beyond powerplants, Global Service Partners Senior VP and GM Jim Keenan told ATWOnline this week in Hartford, Conn.
Bmi has not decided whether it will expand its transatlantic service from London Heathrow when open skies takes effect next year. "Much will depend on aircraft availability, on market possibilities and on partnerships," Commercial Director Adrian Parkes told ATWOnline while in Brussels to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the carrier's Belgian service. "Of course we have the desire to go for it as soon as we are ready." Bmi will be looking to add new long-haul aircraft if it opts to enhance its US operation. It currently has no orders or options for such aircraft.
IATA reported 6.8% industrywide RPK growth in February and a 6.1% year-over-year rise in capacity, which lifted load factor 0.5 point to 73.3%. Highest load factor of 74.4% was in North America, while largest RPK growth was the Middle East's 18%. Next highest was Africa at 9.4%.
47th Paris Air Show June 18-24 will feature as many as 2,000 exhibitors, officials said during a briefing in Washington this week, up from 1,926 in 2005. A total 128,801 sq. m. of static displays, halls and chalets will be occupied at the world's largest aviation exhibition. The 2005 show attracted some 137,000 trade visitors and 257,000 members of the general public, with 238 aircraft displayed. New exhibitors this year include Spirit Aerostructures (formerly Boeing's Wichita division), Dubai Aerospace Enterprise and Cessna.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air introduced bilingual kiosks this month to enable passengers to check in and obtain boarding passes in English or Spanish.
KLM Engineering & Maintenance appointed former Sabena Technics President and CEO Peter de Swert as senior VP-operations. Lufthansa Technik named Head of EASA Approved Design Organization Bernhard Conrad as Chief Technology Officer.
Malev Hungarian Airlines followed Royal Jordanian into oneworld yesterday ( ATWOnline, March 29), becoming the group's 10th member. "It is vital in today's airline industry for a medium-sized airline like Malev to have the best of the best as partners to achieve long-term efficiencies and sustainable profitability," Chairman Boris Abramovich said. Malev adds 10 cities to oneworld's network, which will include Macedonia and Montenegro for the first time.
