Singapore Airlines flew 7.06 billion RPKs in April, an 11% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 4.1% to 9.26 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 4.8 points to 76.3%. SAS Group reported a 6.4% year-on-year increase in April system traffic to 3.23 billion RPKs. Capacity slipped 2.7% to 4.4 billion ASKs, lifting load factor 6.3 points to 73.4%. SAS Scandinavian Airlines traffic fell 1.3% to 2.31 billion RPKs against a 9% decrease in capacity to 3.04 billion ASKs, sending load factor up 6 points to 76.1%.
Northwest Airlines flight attendants union expressed anger this week over a May 12 letter from Suzanne Boda, the airline's VP-inflight services, that promised the carrier was through bargaining and warned of potential ramifications if Professional Flight Attendants Assn. members reject the tentative labor agreement reached in March that provides $195 million in annual savings to NWA ( ATWOnline, March 2).
AirBaltic will launch twice-weekly Riga-Tel Aviv service aboard 737-500s from June 5, becoming the only carrier in the Baltics or Scandinavia to offer direct service to Tel Aviv. AirBaltic carried 113,723 passengers in April, 44% more than in the year-ago month. Load factor rose 12 points to 62%.
Airbus has chosen Russia as its initial partner in the eventual passenger-to-freighter conversion of its A320 family aircraft, announcing yesterday at the ILA Airshow in Berlin the execution of a preliminary cooperation agreement with EADS EFW, MiG and Irkut. Conversion activities for A320s and A321s will include design, kit production, conversion and maintenance and are scheduled to begin in Russia in 2011. This is the first announcement of any A320 passenger-to-freighter conversion program.
Jet Airways named Dale Moss COO. He most recently was director-worldwide sales and marketing-worldwide cargo for British Airways. Southwest Airlines named Jeff Lamb VP-people and leadership development. He joined Southwest in 2004.
Air Canada reported a 6.4% rise in consolidated traffic in April to 3.77 billion RPMs. Capacity increased 4.7% to 4.63 billion ASMs and load factor gained 1.2 points to 81.2%. Domestic RPMs grew 3.1% to 1.16 billion, capacity lifted 6.9% to 1.48 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 2.9 points to 78%. International RPMs rose 4.4% to 1.91 billion against a 1.5% increase in capacity to 2.27 billion ASMs, boosting load factor 2.3 points to 84.1%. Hawaiian Airlines flew 552.3 million RPMs in April, a 5.3% increase over the year-ago month.
Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways signed an 18-month maintenance agreement covering a range of maintenance checks and work on Jazeera's A320 fleet. Separately, Jazeera launched flights from Kuwait to Alexandria and Luxor, its seventh and eighth destinations.
Aerolineas Argentinas announced last week that it will grant a 19% salary increase to approximately 7,000 employees represented by five unions in an effort to achieve long-sought labor peace. The raise will go into effect once "social peace" is reached with the mechanics and pilots unions, the carrier said.
Alitalia's first-quarter pre-tax loss widened to €156.6 million ($201.6 million) from €141.2 million in the year-ago quarter as January's labor unrest ( ATWOnline, Jan. 27) aggravated the low-season effect that marks the March quarter. Revenues decreased 3.1% to €965 million, mainly owing to the deconsolidation of the Alitalia Servizi services unit and the drop in passenger income caused by the strikes. Passenger revenues slid 1.6% to €764 million, with yield falling 3.4%.
EU and US aviation officials concluded aviation negotiations in Brussels last week with predictable results: The pushing back of the deadline to reach agreement on the transatlantic Open Aviation Area. The stumbling block remains limits on foreign ownership in US carriers and the recently revised Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued by the US Dept. of Transportation ( ATWOnline, May 4).
EADS confirmed Friday that it will push forward with the restructuring of its heavily loss-making MRO provider EADS Sogerma Services and close down its main site at Merignac near Bordeaux. EADS Sogerma Services posted losses of €237 million and had debts of €339 million in 2005, a deterioration resulting from a growing domination of the civil MRO market by countries with lower labor costs, the loss of French military maintenance markets and the failure of various diversification operations, EADS said.
Airbus conducted A318 airport compatibility tests at London City on May 13 and said the type offers twice the range of aircraft currently serving LCY. The A318 was granted steep approach certification in March, paving the way for Saturday's compatibility tests.
Aero Maintenance Group was chosen by Delta Air Lines to manage exclusively the repair of more than 1,400 unique components on the carrier's aircraft. AMG said it will provide Delta "with a single point of contact for communications, invoicing and performance measurements for nearly 15,000 repair orders annually on a volume of approximately 80,000 individual units."
Continental Airlines signed five-year, full-content agreements with Sabre Travel Network and its Travelocity online travel site, as well as with Expedia.
Singapore Airlines increased its fuel surcharge to $60 per ticket from $50 on most flights and to $20 from $15 on select regional operations, effective yesterday.
Northwest Airlines and Farelogix signed a distribution agreement under which users of the Farelogix FLX Platform will gain direct access to NWA's full content. "Our strategy is to offer travel agents and corporate accounts access to our products through the most economical channels, using a variety of distribution technologies," NWA VP-Distribution and E-commerce Al Lenza said.
US National Transportation Safety Board will hold a two-day public hearing into the Southwest Airlines runway overrun accident at Chicago Midway last December ( ATWOnline, Jan. 30) beginning June 20 in Washington.
News from Travel Technology Update: The latest skirmish in the distribution wars turns the spotlight on whether traditional GDSs can accommodate new types of airline product differentiation. On May 4, Air Canada withdrew its Tango fare for travel within Canada and between Canada and Florida from the GDSs and from its own dedicated travel agency Web site, aircanada.com/agents.
WestJet flew 763.8 million RPMs in April, a 30.4% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 14.4% to 973.4 million ASMs, lifting load factor 9.7 points to 78.5%. Mesaba Aviation flew 129.8 million RPMs in April, a 19.5% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 28.1% to 182.3 million ASMs and load factor rose 7.6 points to 71.2%. Finnair reported a 5.3% increase in April traffic to 1.35 billion RPKs against a 5.2% decline in capacity to 1.8 billion ASKs. Load factor climbed 7.6 points to an April record 75.3%.
Ryanair said it will appeal the decision of the regional administrative court of Lazio banning the Irish LCC and its competitor easyJet from operating flights from the Italian mainland to Sardinia. The case went before the court after the Italian Transport Ministry and Civil Aviation Authority placed the route under PSO protection ( ATWOnline, April 7). Ryanair operated Rome-Alghero service while easyJet flew between Milan Malpensa and Olbia. Air One and Meridiana also operate to Sardinia.
Worldspan and Northwest Airlines signed a five-year, full-content distribution agreement designating the GDS as a "preferred distribution channel." The companies said that "in conjunction with the agreement, Worldspan has developed two new optional products to introduce into the marketplace" but did not define the products.
When Boeing begins delivering 787s to airlines in 2008, it expects to deliver something else as well: A total maintenance and supply chain solution that will permit operators to focus entirely on flying the airplane. GoldCare, the name of the product, will provide carriers with comprehensive line and base maintenance support, as well as supply chain management, on a cost-per-flight-hr. basis.
Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise reported a profit of $34.7 million for the financial year ended March 31, "a sixfold increase from the previous year" when it earned $5.2 million. Revenues rose 29% to $255.1 million.
