While EU and US officials will continue negotiating this week as the Sept. 30 deadline to reach a new agreement on sharing of PNR data nears, tension between the European Parliament and European Commission appears to be rising once again.
Airbus operated its fourth A380 passenger test flight Friday, completing a week in which a total of 1,900 company employees acting as passengers tested cabin features and systems ( ATWOnline, Sept. 6). The final flight lasted 15 hr. "The flights have gone very well," Senior VP-Flight Division Claude Lelaie said. "Despite the cabins being almost totally full, what was most striking was the impression of spaciousness." The test aircraft were configured for three classes.
American Airlines reached agreement with the Transport Workers Union to work toward a "breakthrough goal" of achieving $95 million in "annual value creation" at its 10 line maintenance bases by the end of 2008. AA said the target will be reached "through cost reductions, additional third-party work, improved dependability by reducing delays and reducing the amount of spare aircraft for maintenance needs."
WestJet Executive VP-Guest Services and EVP-IT Russ Hall resigned on Sept. 8. Hall's departure came a day after the company promoted Executive VP-Sales and Marketing and Airports Sean Durfy to president, succeeding airline co-founder Clive Beddoe ( ATWOnline, Sept. 8).
EasyJet said it lost approximately £4 million ($7.6 million) as the result of last month's security alert as it canceled 469 flights Aug. 10-14. "In spite of this, easyJet maintains its current guidance for pre-tax profit growth for the full year ending Sept. 30 to be in the region of 40%-50%," it said. The LCC transported 3.1 million passengers in August, an 8.4% increase over the year-ago month. Load factor was up 0.9 point to 89.2%.
China Cargo Airlines executives have been detained and are under investigation by Shanghai prosecutors for allegedly taking more than CNY10 million ($1.3 million) in bribes. Chinese media reported that four officials of the China Eastern Airlines/China Ocean Shipping Group joint venture are suspected of receiving illegal payoffs to allocate cargo space on aircraft for "low" prices. Neither the airline nor the government is commenting officially.
JetBlue Airways achieved an estimated 15% increase in passenger RASM in August, a figure that was "not as strong as anticipated," according to CEO David Neeleman. He said the security alert, Tropical Storm Ernesto and "lower-than-expected demand toward the end of the month" contributed to the result. JetBlue flew 2.22 billion RPMs in August, an 11.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity surged 20.1% to 2.65 billion ASMs and load factor fell 6.4 points to 83.7%.
Indian government is moving ahead rapidly with the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. Indian media is reporting that consultant Accenture India, which has the brief to compile a feasibility report, is required to submit preliminary recommendations for the merger by Oct. 15. According to insiders at Indian, the tie-up should be complete by March 2008. The new company then would be the subject of an IPO.
AerVenture, a joint venture between AerCap and Kuwaiti cargo startup LoadAir ( ATWOnline, Feb. 3), placed an order valued at $360 million for CFM56-5Bs to power the 30 A319s/A320s ordered late last year.
WestJet announced the promotion of Executive VP-Sales and Marketing and Airports Sean Durfy to president succeeding airline co-founder Clive Beddoe, 60, who will remain chairman and CEO of the Calgary-based LCC. Durfy, 40, joined WestJet in late 2004 from Enmax Energy Corp., where he was president and COO of the Calgary power utility. "Over the past two years I have progressively passed many of my duties over to our executive team as a natural progression of the growth of our company," Beddoe said in a statement.
A consortium of United Arab Emirates-based investors is to acquire 90% of SR Technics from its current owners in a transaction valued at CHF1.6 billion ($1.3 billion). The consortium is led by Mubadala Development, the investment vehicle of the Abu Dhabi government, which will own 40% of the Zurich-based maintenance, repair and overhaul company after the purchase is completed in about two months.
UK NATS reported a 3.1% year-over-year increase in the number of flights handled in August despite the uncovering of a terrorist plot Aug. 10 and subsequent security alert. The ATM provider handled 220,408 flights. Overflights showed the greatest increases, with transatlantic flights up 7.1% and nontransatlantic up 18.3% with routes between Ireland and Italy, France, Spain and Germany showing the largest increases. The domestic market improved 0.3%. Traffic at the 15 airports where NATS operates grew 1.2%. The picture was mixed owing to the security alert.
US FAA approved the AmSafe Child Aviation Restraint System safety device for use on commercial flights. The device features an additional belt and shoulder harness that wraps around the seat and attaches to the lap belt and is designed for children weighing 22-44 lb.
Air Berlin said that competition authorities approved its takeover of dba without restrictions ( ATWOnline, Aug. 18). AB CEO Joachim Hunold now will chair dba's board. Starting this week, dba flights can be booked through AB's website and call center.
Jet Airways opened its $15 million hangar at Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport. It can handle C checks and major MRO on 737 family and ATR aircraft, accommodating two of the former and one of the latter at once. "This significant improvement in the maintenance infrastructure of Jet Airways will form a solid basis for the further expansion of the airline," CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said. Separately, Jet this week unveiled its Sky Screen on-demand IFE system available in both classes aboard its 737-800s.
Oneworld redesigned its website that now features an interactive route map, more accessible schedules, country and language specific sites, itinerary planning aids and other enhancements.
AeroRepublica of Colombia is adopting the logo and livery of Copa Airlines. Both carriers are subsidiaries of Copa Holdings. "Our new image combines the best of both companies," said AeroRepublica CEO Robert Junguito. It is Colombia's second-largest domestic airline, offering service to 12 cities plus Copa's Panama City hub.
United Airlines flew 10.6 billion system RPMs in August, a 1.5% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 3.2% to 12.69 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 1.3 points to 83.5%. Gol flew 1.34 billion RPKs in August, a 72.4% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 47% to 1.75 billion ASKs and load factor was up 11.3 points to 76.9%.
Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, which will launch 747-400 service to London Gatwick on Oct. 25, unveiled its fare structure, inflight product and other details this week in Hong Kong. Oasis has acquired two 747-400s from Singapore Airlines configured for 278 in economy class and 81 in business class. Service will operate four-times-weekly through Nov. 24, when it will become daily.
ABX Air won a new four-year contract to manage US Postal Service terminal handling services in Indianapolis in a deal expected to generate $17.7 million in revenues through October 2010. ABX, whose main US client is DHL, has managed the USPS Indianapolis sort facility since 2004. It has similar handling contracts with USPS in Dallas and Memphis.
CanJet Airlines, a Halifax-based LCC that launched operations in 2000, announced yesterday that it will discontinue scheduled services on Sept. 10 due to "rising business risks" and turn its focus to increasing its charter business. The subsidiary of IMP Group currently operates nine 737-500s and one dash 300 to 13 destinations in Canada, New York and Florida and runs charter services to the Caribbean.
Siemens yesterday was awarded a $19.1 million contract to develop an inline baggage handling system at Detroit Metro's North Terminal, which is in the midst of a $418 million upgrade. Siemens will design, build and install a system that will include 9,577 ft. of conveyors routing checked baggage through inline EDSs.
