Bankrupt Delta Air Lines' reorganization efforts seemingly were boosted when the carrier reached a tentative agreement with its pilots last month on $280 million in annual concessions ( ATWOnline, April 25) , but the US government's pension insurer said the deal violates US bankruptcy law and should be rejected.
SN Brussels Airlines this week unveiled new inflight amenities on A330-300s that operate from Brussels to 13 African destinations. The first of three aircraft to be retrofitted at a cost of more than €10 million ($12.8 million) is already completed and the remaining two retrofits will be finished by the end of June. SN said the biggest enhancement is new business class seats that are equipped with massage tools and can be transformed into flat beds. Also upgraded for both classes are audio and video equipment.
South Korea and Thailand agreed this week to liberalize passenger services between the two countries. Cargo operations already are liberalized under a 2004 accord. The new agreement comes as the limit of 42 weekly flights previously allowed by each nation's airlines is under strain, with load factors reported at 88%.
Spanair is extending its "punctuality guarantee" for all domestic flights to Dec. 31. Under the program, business class passengers receive a free ticket and economy class passengers a 25% discount on their next ticket if the aircraft pulls back from the gate more than 15 min. after the scheduled departure for reasons attributed to the airline.
Delta Air Lines announced a winter schedule in which it will start service to Telluride and Steamboat Springs and expand existing service to other "ski destinations" in the western US and Canada beginning Dec. 23. SkyWest Airlines will operate daily Salt Lake City-Telluride flights aboard CRJs and Delta will operate Saturday Atlanta-Telluride flights aboard an MD-88. Delta will start daily Atlanta-Steamboat Springs flights and expand service between SLC and Aspen and between Atlanta and Bozeman, Jackson Hole and Calgary.
Etihad Airways CEO Robert Strodel has stepped down, a spokesperson confirmed. According to the spokesperson, Strodel resigned almost two weeks ago but the airline made no public announcement. He had been CEO for less than a year, taking over on July 5, 2005. A search for a new CEO is underway, the spokesperson said. Separately, Etihad took delivery of its fifth and final 777-300ER this week. The aircraft will be used on flights to Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and London Gatwick. Etihad will add Casablanca in June and Khartoum in July to its network.
Farelogix signed a distribution agreement to provide a direct connection to American Airlines content via the Farelogix FLX Platform. As part of the agreement, American also will be implementing the Farelogix Distribution Manager. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Amadeus said that travel agencies connected to the GDS now have access to all Copa Airlines fares, including Web fares.
Frontier Airlines unveiled a new website this week that it intends to be the "primary driver" of ticket sales. "Our goal with the new site is to increase our Web bookings by over 40% in the next year, which would reflect a significant savings for us in terms of distribution costs," President and CEO Jeff Potter said.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is sending a team to Bangalore to assist in the investigation of a reported left wing fuel tank explosion on a Transmile Airlines 727-200. According to NTSB, the incident occurred on May 4 and involved a Malaysia-registered aircraft during a ground repositioning. There were no passengers onboard and no injuries were reported.
Spirit Airlines promoted President and COO Ben Baldanza to CEO replacing Jacob Schorr, who left the chief executive post but will remain as chairman. Baldanza has been with the LCC since January 2005. Separately, South African Airways appointed Spirit VP-Sales and Distribution Marc Cavaliere executive VP-North America based at SAA's US headquarters in Ft. Lauderdale.
Emirates and Japan Airlines agreed to expand their existing codeshare agreement effective June 1 to allow JAL to place its code on new Dubai-Nagoya Emirates flights and Emirates to place its code on JAL domestic flights from Nagoya to Fukuoka and Sapporo. Separately, JAL said it will resume daily service from Tokyo Narita to both Bali and Jakarta on July 1 and from Osaka Kansai to Denpasar on July 13. It cut back on Japan-Indonesia services in October 2005 due to reduced demand that it attributed to the Oct. 1 terrorist bombing in Bali.
Aeroports de Paris' IPO should take place before summer, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton confirmed yesterday. "The company is ready. It is opportune to give it the necessary means to support its expansion. It needs a capital increase to pursue its development," Breton told France 2 television. A decree authorizing the government to privatize a minority stake in the airport operator was published in the Tuesday edition of France's official journal.
Menzies Aviation completed its acquisition of Aeroground Inc., a San Francisco-based air cargo service provider. Menzies will create new operations at New York JFK, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Vancouver and Calgary while expanding services at Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Ore., and SFO.
Lufthansa Technik signed an agreement with Bombardier to provide a Total Support Program for operators of 50/90-seat CRJs. LHT will offer support packages for APUs, landing gears, wheels, tires, brakes and rotables. Operators also have the option for a repair and overhaul program on CF34 engines from Lufthansa Technik Aero Alzey.
Although the Italian government reduced its stake in Alitalia below 50% in its recent recapitalization ( ATWOnline, Nov. 14, 2005), new Transport Minister Alessandro Bianchi felt justified in calling for a change in management at the struggling flag carrier, which reported a widened €156.6 million ($200 million) first-quarter loss last week that it attributed largely to the impact of protests by Alitalia Servizi workers.
Northwest Airlines' 5,600 ramp service employees and stock clerks will see their hourly base wage rates reduced by 11.5% if they ratify a tentative five-year agreement reached between the airline and negotiators for the International Assn. of Machinists last week ( ATWOnline, May 22).
Aviation Refinancing Transaction awarded GA Telesis a five-year servicing contract to manage and remarket more than 50 Boeing aircraft and approximately 70 spare engines.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary will stand naked "in Warsaw's busiest street" if LOT Polish Airlines abolishes its fuel surcharge this month, the Irish carrier announced yesterday. A LOT spokesperson told Polish television last week that Ryanair would be willing to "walk naked down the street in front of TV cameras" in order to draw attention to the Polish airline's surcharges, Ryanair said. "We have no problem placing this wager with LOT because everyone knows that there is no chance whatsoever of LOT ever removing its fuel surcharges," Head of Communications Peter Sherrard said.
Indian Airlines signed an MOU with India's ICICI Bank for funding of the pre-delivery payments required for aircraft acquisition. Indian finalized a $2 billion deal for 43 A320 family aircraft in February ( ATWOnline, Feb. 22). Funding will come from a syndicated external commercial borrowing of $152 million spread from June 2006 to January 2010.
Air Transport Assn. warned of big crowds at US airports as the country observes Memorial Day Monday. ATA said US airlines will transport 21 million passengers from May 22 through May 31, or 2.1 million per day. It added that the passenger numbers are up 1.9% from the same week last year and advised travelers to arrive at airports 90 min. prior to departure for domestic flights and 120 min. prior to international departures and to be prepared for heavy traffic at security checkpoints.
