Lufthansa flew 9.74 billion RPKs in May, a 2.2% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 1.4% to 13.06 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 0.6 point to 74.5%. Iberia flew 4.33 billion RPKs in May, an 8.1% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 6% to 5.68 billion ASKs and load factor increased 1.5 points to 76.2%. Copa Airlines flew 309.5 million RPMs in May, a 31.3% rise over the year-ago month. Capacity increased 22.6% to 418.4 million ASMs and load factor jumped 4.9 points to 74%.
Goodrich Corp. was selected by Hawaiian Airlines to perform heavy maintenance checks, interior standardizations, painting and ETOPS modifications and other work on four 767-300s prior to their entry into service later this year.
Airbus has made 10 flights totaling 30 hr. with an A320 equipped with winglets and plans additional flights in July with an A320 equipped with a second winglet design. Senior VP-A320 Mario Heinen said no decisions have been made. "This is a research program still," he said. "We are collecting data." He added that customers such as JetBlue Airways, which provided one of its A320s for the test flights ( ATWOnline, Feb.
Embraer consolidated its offices in France into a single location near Paris Charles de Gaulle. The new office provides customer support, administration, information technology and spare parts sales for Embraer operators in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Only one day after SAS Braathens CEO Petter Jansen resigned ( ATWOnline, June 13), the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Okokrim) said it filed charges against the airline for illegal computer access and misuse of business secrets.
Aerosim Technologies said UPS extended a contract for Web-based FMS training for MD-11 pilots. The extension covers a two-year term following an initial term of three years.
Sabre Airline Solutions said Mexico's Aviacsa selected its AirMax Revenue Manager including Low-Fares Manager modules. The revenue management technology will be delivered via Sabre eMergo Web access, an ASP delivery method.
Northwest Airlines and the Professional Flight Attendants Assn. agreed to resume contract negotiations Wednesday after union members last week voted overwhelmingly to reject a tentative agreement between the airline and union negotiators ( ATWOnline, June 7).
News from Travel Technology Update: The recent flap over Air Canada's withdrawal of its Tango fares from the GDSs is unlikely to dampen airlines' enthusiasm for the kind of "product differentiation" that Tango represents. And far from being opposed to the concept, some of the GDS companies are making strides in their attempts to accommodate the airlines' desires. Amadeus plans to be aggressive in this new arena, Stephane Pingaud, senior manager of airline marketing and sales, said, and plans to roll out new merchandising features beginning next year.
AirTran Airways said its 50 stock clerks based in Orlando and Atlanta, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, ratified the five-year agreement reached last week ( ATWOnline, June 6) by a three-to-one margin.
CAE won orders for four full flight simulators from Flight Simulation Co. and Flight Training Finance. With a list price value of C$52 million ($46.6 million), the contracts bring the number of FFS sales CAE has announced in FY07 to seven. It will provide two 737-800 FFSs and one A320 FFS to Flight Simulation Co.'s training facility at Amsterdam Schiphol. All three will feature electromechanical motion systems and Tropos II Enhanced visual systems. Flight Training Finance ordered an Embraer 170/190 FFS that also features the Tropos visual system.
The recent flap over Air Canada's withdrawal of its Tango fares from the GDSs is unlikely to dampen airlines' enthusiasm for the kind of "product differentiation" that Tango represents. And far from being opposed to the concept, some of the GDS companies are making strides in their attempts to accommodate the airlines' desires. Amadeus plans to be aggressive in this new arena, Stephane Pingaud, senior manager of airline marketing and sales, said, and plans to roll out new merchandising features beginning next year.
Brazilian bankruptcy court postponed its Friday decision on whether to allow a group of Varig employees, NV Participacoes, to buy the bankrupt airline for a bid that came in at about half the $860 million minimum at last week's auction ( ATWOnline, June 9). The judge opted to delay his ruling until today in order to learn more about the bid, according to a court statement cited by press reports.
Alaska Airlines flew 1.5 billion RPMs in May, a 7.9% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 6.9% to 1.93 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.7 point to 77.5%.
Lufthansa Flight Training placed its second CAE-built A320 simulator at its training center at Berlin Schoenefeld. The Level D device is equipped with an EP-1000CT visual system from Evans & Sutherland and will be used mainly by Air Berlin. It is the first simulator installed in LFT's new simulator building. Total investment in the simulator and expansion of the facility amounts to more than €18 million ($22.9 million). LFT now operates 32 full-flight simulators, seven of them at its Berlin base.
United Services, United Airlines' maintenance and engineering division, signed a contract with France's Eagle Aviation to provide overhaul and ring-case modifications on PW4060 engines that power three former UA 747-400s that the charter and wet-lease operator is acquiring from a third party. United Services also recently signed a contract with Azteca Airlines for services that include the overhaul of a 737 landing gear set.
Delta Air Lines announced it will recall 60-70 furloughed pilots this summer "to improve revenue and better meet customers' domestic and international travel needs." The carrier has been expanding its route network dramatically in the past few months; it added 50 new international routes in the past year and last week launched 23 new North American services in one day ( ATWOnline, June 9). The pilots will begin training later this month and return to line flying toward the end of the summer.
Northwest Airlines equipment service and stock clerk employees, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists, ratified their new labor contract Friday, with 62% of those voting approving the five-year deal reached last month ( ATWOnline, May 24). The group had rejected an earlier deal. "It was a choice between bad and worse," IAM District 143 President Bobby DePace said, referring to the possibility that the US Bankruptcy Court might impose terms if a second agreement was rejected.
ANAC Advanced Coatings is the new name of Akzo Nobel Aerospace Coatings, which decided to bring its complete product range and a number of brands and businesses under one name and logo.
Sabre said 80% of all tickets issued worldwide through the Sabre GDS are now electronic and 122 airlines offer e-ticketing for Sabre Connected travel agencies. Meanwhile, 57 carriers are using the SabreSonic Ticket Interline Electronic Ticketing Hub to facilitate e-ticketing with partners.
Dba purchased the remaining 40% stake in LTU German Airlines held by Rewe Group through the Intro Verwaultungs investment concern belonging to Hans Rudolf Woehrl, dba's largest shareholder. Intro now owns 100% of LTU, having acquired a 60% share of the struggling charter carrier in a deal announced in February ( ATWOnline, Feb. 20). Woehrl will face difficulties attempting to implement a €45 million ($57.3 million) cost-cutting program at LTU.
Ethiopian Airlines will wet-lease one A330-200 from June 17 and one MD-11 from July 1 to handle expected growth. It cancelled plans to lease two 747-400s because the aircraft would not deliver on time ( ATWOnline, May 2). "The lease is for six months, then we want to have two 777-200s or more 767-300ERs. It depends what is available on the market," CEO Girma Wake told ATWOnline at last week's IATA AGM in Paris.
