Air France announced a reduction of its fuel surcharge following a 30-day stretch during which oil prices remained below $65 per barrel. Effective on tickets issued from today, the surcharge will drop €7 ($8.90) on long-haul flights, €2 on medium-haul flights and €1 on domestic flights.
Delta Air Lines named Kenneth Khoury executive VP and general counsel. Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings named Adam Kokas VP, general counsel and secretary effective Oct. 9.
Turkish Airlines 737-400 hijacking ( ATWOnline, Oct. 4) came under increased scrutiny yesterday as it became clear the hijacker acted alone and was able to penetrate the flight deck despite possessing no weapons, a striking security breach given the institution of post-9/11 measures such as hardened cockpit doors and the restriction of passenger access to cockpits.
Ryanair Holdings said it hedged its fuel requirements for January-March 2007 at a rate equivalent to $73 per barrel of Brent crude. The LCC hedged most of its requirements to the end of 2006 at $74 a barrel. Separately, Ryanair transported 3.5 million passengers in September, up 14.5% from the year-ago month. Load factor fell 1 point to 86%.
The ExcelAire Legacy 600 pilots in control of the aircraft when it clipped a Gol 737-800 last week ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3) have been ordered to remain in Brazil but have not been arrested while authorities investigate the cause of the accident that killed 155 people, according to press reports.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines said yesterday it avoided a strike by Swedish cabin staff after reaching a deal with the local HTF union, which represents most of the airline's flight attendants. Meantime, Reuters reported that Danish cabin staff have threatened to strike and that negotiations on a new work agreement will continue into next week.
Continental Airlines estimated its consolidated September RASM increased 4%-5% over the year-ago month as it reported a 7.2% year-over-year rise in August unit revenues. It flew 6.9 billion consolidated RPMs in September, up 11.5%. Capacity grew 9.9% to 8.83 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.2 points to 78.2%. Domestic RPMs climbed 10% to 3.3 billion against a 7.1% hike in ASMs to 4.06 billion, lifting load factor 2.1 points to 81.2%. International traffic was up 11.6% to 2.81 billion RPMs, capacity rose 11.2% to 3.72 billion ASMs and load factor increased 0.3 point to 75.7%.
Russia will increase air traffic control fees to foreign carriers next year, the head of the Federal Air Navigation Service told Russian media yesterday. "We would like to establish fair tariffs," Alexander Neradko said, adding that the body has yet to consult with IATA. "We are not expecting the prices for tickets to go up more than RUB60-70 ($2.20-$2.60)," he said, adding that domestic carriers face a 90% increase in charges effective Nov. 1 that also will not have a significant effect on ticket prices. He told reporters that a 747 currently is charged $87 per 100 km.
SES Americom, a satellite communications company, said it received a $70 million payment from Boeing relating to the cancellation of Connexion by Boeing inflight internet service ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18).
Turkish Airlines 737-400 en route from Tirana to Istanbul Ataturk was hijacked yesterday by a lone Turkish national who forced the pilots to land in Brindisi, where he surrendered to authorities and released all 107 passengers and six crew unharmed. The aircraft was undamaged.
VEM, acquired from Varig by a TAP Portugal-led consortium last year ( ATWOnline, Jan. 16), changed its name to VEM Maintenance & Engineering. The change reflects the company's alignment with TAP Maintenance & Engineering.
Mesaba Airlines employees said they have a plan that will save the bankrupt carrier. The Mesaba Labor Coalition, representing pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, is proposing a concessions package it believes will cut labor costs by 15% over the next three years.
Skyway Airlines, the Midwest Airlines subsidiary, plans to upgrade to 328JETs from turboprops on three Midwest Connect routes out of Milwaukee in November. From Nov. 1, midday Milwaukee-Columbus service will be reinstated with a 382JET, making all flights on the route jet except for a Saturday morning flight that will be upgraded to the 32-seat RJ on Nov. 18. From Nov. 16 the carrier will upgrade to 328JETs on service from Milwaukee to both Dayton and Appleton.
Amadeus said that LAN Airlines announced the first phase of deployment of Altea Reservation Desktop for airlines, with full deployment planned for 1,500 LAN points-of-sale worldwide.
Indigo Partners yesterday said it has acquired 49% of Indonesia's Mandala Airlines from PT Cardig International Aviation, which purchased the carrier in April and will retain a 51% holding. "The parties recently received the necessary regulatory approvals and closed the investment," said Phoenix-based private equity firm Indigo in a statement. Indigo, which was founded by former America West Chairman and CEO William Franke, also holds 24% of Tiger Airways. Mandala, established in 1969, operates a fleet of 12 aircraft serving 23 domestic destinations in Indonesia.
Airlines continued flying between the EU and US despite the lack of a new agreement on exchange of PNR data as the European Commission said it hopes to resolve the issue "as soon as possible."
US National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to assist Brazil's Aeronautical Accident Prevention and Investigation Center looking into possible causes of the suspected midair collision between a Gol 737-800 and an ExcelAire Legacy 600 business jet on Sept. 29 that killed all 149 passengers and six crew onboard the Gol aircraft ( ATWOnline, Oct. 2).
Martinair will initiate Comfort Class service on its intra-European flights and those to Egypt from Oct. 29. The Dutch leisure carrier introduced the service, which offers 10% more legroom, a free drink and entertainment choice last November on long-haul services for €49 ($62.3) per sector. The upgrade on its short- and medium-haul flights will be sold for €25 per sector.
Rockwell Collins announced yesterday that Executive VP and COO-Commercial Systems Bob Chiusano will retire at year end and be replaced by VP and GM-Air Transport Systems Kelly Ortberg. VP-Strategy Commercial Systems Jeff Standerski will replace Ortberg. In his new role, Ortberg will be responsible for the company's aviation electronics, communications and cabin systems for the air transport, business aviation and Regional airline markets. He has worked for Rockwell for nearly 20 years while Standerski has 17 years of service.
News from Travel Technology Update: Now that Worldspan has concluded a new full-content agreement with Delta Air Lines, it plans to focus on how best it can help airlines and other suppliers "de-commoditize" their products, according to Ninan Chacko, chief commercial officer. "We're very excited about this," Chacko told TTU. "We plan to focus on developing the right merchandise tools for airlines that want to unbundle or differentiate their products."
American Airlines Cargo said it lowered its fuel surcharge from $0.60/kg. to $0.50/kg. for most US-originating international shipments and from $0.24/lb. to $0.20/lb. for US domestic shipments effective Oct. 16.
SITA said that Northport, a European ground-handling company, will deploy its BagManager baggage reconciliation system under a seven-year agreement that covers deployment at Helsinki Airport by the end of January followed by installation at 14 Finnish domestic airports, Stockholm Arlanda, Oslo Gardermoen and Copenhagen. It is the first time that a ground handler has chosen to employ the system, which traditionally has been marketed to airports.
Alteon Training yesterday began operations at its Singapore Training Center, which will open officially in early 2007. "With this latest addition, Alteon now offers seven training locations in the Asia/Pacific region," President Patrick Gaines said. Located near Changi Airport, the Singapore center will be capable of training more than 6,000 pilots and flight attendants annually.
