Northwest Airlines flight attendants, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA, will not be prevented from striking by the US Bankruptcy Court, which yesterday denied a preliminary injunction request from NWA. The union said it could exercise its right to strike as early as the evening of Aug. 25 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 14). "While we are disappointed with Judge Gropper's ruling and will appeal it, we remain committed to continuing to serve our customers," NWA President and CEO Doug Steenland said.
Norwegian flew 535 million RPKs in July, up 67% on the year-ago month. Capacity rose 70% to 595 million ASKs and load factor fell 1 point to 90%. ExpressJet flew 976.5 million RPMs in July, a 13.3% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 10.6% to 1.21 billion ASMs and load factor improved 1.9 points to 80.6%.
Middle East Airlines operated an Amman-Beirut A321-200 flight carrying 149 passengers yesterday, the first commercial flight to arrive at Rafik Hariri International Airport in 36 days and signaling at least a partial lifting of Israel's air blockade of Lebanon. Royal Jordanian also operated an Amman-Beirut flight yesterday. MEA Chairman Mohammed Hout and Lebanon Transportation Minister Mohammed Safadi said Israel has agreed to allow limited flights from Jordan, according to press reports from Beirut.
Bmibaby announced that its 189 pilots represented by the British Air Line Pilots Assn. voted not to strike, with just 47% voting in favor of a work stoppage. BALPA began balloting pilots earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Aug. 4). "BALPA have requested a meeting with us to attempt to find a way through the dispute and we are reflecting on that proposal," the carrier said.
Consortium TwoOne, led by Vienna International Airport operator Flughafen Wien, said the Slovak government canceled its plans to acquire two-thirds of Bratislava Airport for a reported SKK10.5 billion ($356.5 million) following an announcement by competition authorities that they would delay their expected approval of the deal until October. "We are astonished that the Slovak government didn't act as announced," Flughafen Wien said, explaining that the government was supposed to wait for the competition authorities' ruling.
US Airways Group flew 6.08 billion consolidated RPMs in July, a 6% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 7.8% to 7.27 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.5 points to 83.5%. Domestic RPMs decreased 7.6% to 4.85 billion against a 10% decline in capacity to 5.78 billion ASMs. International traffic rose 0.7% to 1.23 billion RPMs and capacity increased 1.9% to 1.49 billion ASMs. Air Berlin transported 1.6 million passengers in July, up 15.4% over the year-ago month. Load factor rose 1.8 points to 85.7%.
GECAS announced it will lease nine additional new 737-800s to Xiamen Airlines for delivery beginning in mid-2008. The aircraft are part of the lessor's existing order book with Boeing. The Chinese carrier signed an agreement for five of the type in February. It operates a 38-aircraft fleet comprising 737s and 757-200s.
SkyEurope Airlines said it has appointed UBS Investment Bank and CA-IB Corporate Finance to "examine a range of financing options" that may include the flotation of new shares in order to "finance the fleet and continued network expansion." The carrier raised €60 million ($76.4 million) from an initial offering of 12.98 million shares last fall ( ATWOnline, Sept. 23, 2005).
AirTran Airways announced that it reached a tentative five-year labor deal with 40 mechanics and ground service employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Ratification is expected within 10 days.
Indonesian government is throwing state-owned Garuda Indonesia and Merpati Nusantara Airlines a lifeline as both carriers battle soaring fuel prices and newer, more efficient LCCs. According to Bisnis Indonesia, Garuda is to get IDR1 trillion ($110.1 million) and Merpati IDR450 million to assist with restructuring efforts. The Garuda bailout is not linked to its efforts to reschedule $500 million still owed to the European Export Credit Agency. Garuda's total debts top $800 million and its management plans to sell off assets including five DC-10s.
AirAsia secured a $230 million loan to be used to finance the acquisition of six A320s, according to press reports citing Deputy CEO Kamarudin Meranum. The carrier increased its commitment to the type last month with an order for 40 firm and 30 options ( ATWOnline, July 20). The loan was arranged largely by Kuwait Finance House and adheres to Islamic financing principles. AirAsia will lease the aircraft from the lender for 12 years, at which time it will purchase them.
Dragonair flew an all-time record 519,449 passengers in July but said its "bottom line continued to suffer" due to high fuel costs and low yields, which are expected to continue. "The low yields are the result of a more competitive market due to airlines putting on more capacity, both passenger and all-cargo, on China Mainland routes," CEO Stanley Hui said. Dragonair flew 666.6 million RPKs in July, up 14.5% over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 3.7% to 929.5 million ASKs. Iberia flew 4.63 billion RPKs in July, up 0.6% from the year-ago month.
Regional Express Airlines of Australia said it has "fast tracked" merger discussions with Sunshine Express Airlines. Under the proposed transaction, all Sunshine shares will be transferred to Rex "for a nominal consideration." Rex MD Geoff Breust said the deal is in line with its "mission of connecting regional Australia" but cautioned that Sunshine is in a tenuous position and likely won't survive absent the proposed merger.
Jet Airways and Air Sahara planned merger, which collapsed in June ( ATWOnline, June 30), appears to be back on the runway, according to India's Economic Times. The newspaper reported that sources at both airlines maintain the deal is making progress. The carriers have sparred in court over the fate of a INR5 billion ($107.2 million) escrow account tied to Jet's aborted acquisition of its rival.
US Joint Planning and Development Office, the multiagency body charged with developing the Next Generation Air Transportation System, will be headed by Charles Leader, formerly of Hughes Aircraft, the Dept. of Transportation announced.
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, named former VP and Treasurer Kathryn Mikells as VP-financial planning and analysis replacing Amos Kazzaz, who becomes VP-cost management. Mikells will be replaced by Stephen Lieberman, formerly of General Motors.
Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, a joint venture between China Southern Airlines and Hutchinson Whampoa, became the 15th member of the Airbus MRO Network.
ABX Air last week reported second-quarter net income of $6.5 million, down slightly from $6.8 million in the year-ago quarter, on a 13.6% decline in revenues to $303.6 million. The cargo carrier attributed much of the revenue drop to the May 1 transfer of its line-haul truck operations to DHL, the express delivery giant for which ABX provides US air service. DHL still accounts for the vast majority of ABX's business, but non-DHL charter operations did generate $5.4 million in revenues during the quarter, a 69% increase.
Cathay Pacific Airways flew 6.43 billion RPKs in July, a 7.4% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 6.6% to 7.59 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.6 point to 84.6%.
Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways launched interline e-ticketing last week. The airlines already codeshare and have linked loyalty programs and a joint lounge arrangement. Separately, Virgin launched a route-specific inflight magazine called DXB available to passengers on flights between London Heathrow and Dubai.
