ATA Holdings released settlement distribution details concerning its late February exit from Chapter 11 protection, which was confirmed orally by a US Bankruptcy Court judge Monday ( ATWOnline, Jan. 31) and was due to receive official approval yesterday. Unsecured creditors will receive distributions of new common stock representing 7% of the outstanding equity in the new holding company in addition to warrants to acquire 2% of the new common stock outstanding upon emergence.
Amadeus said Indian Airlines will implement Amadeus Electronic Ticket Server to fully manage and distribute e-tickets, including interlining. As part of the agreement, IBM will upgrade processes and systems at Indian to IATA e-ticket standards.
Emirates will launch thrice-weekly service to Addis Ababa from March 27 aboard A330-200s, increasing to daily on Dec. 1. The airline also said its 777-200 fleet refurbishment is near completion. The project includes new seats in first and business classes, economy class enhancements, in-seat laptop power and personal entertainment and information systems. Remaining work on two of Emirates' nine 777-200s will be completed by January 2007.
US Export-Import Bank is seeking cash offers for the 737-400 it seized last month from Air Nauru ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22). It was the carrier's only aircraft and is being stored by Qantas at Melbourne International Airport. The bank said neither Air Nauru nor the government of Nauru is in negotiations to purchase the aircraft, which will be sold on an "as-is, where-is" basis.
US Airways followed up on its fare reductions on 21 routes earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Jan. 10) with cuts ranging from 39% to 55% on flights from Charlotte, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York LaGuardia to 14 cities in the Midwest and Southeast, as well as to Seattle from Charlotte.
SAS Ground Services Norway opened Europe's first infrared deicing hangar at Oslo Airport earlier this month. The hangar will work as a supplement to ordinary deicing for the remainder of the winter season, SAS said.
United Airlines said it aims to shave average turn times by 8 min., freeing up "at least 10 aircraft in 2006." It plans to "reduce and reallocate block time" and said it already has achieved "more than a one-minute reduction in taxi-out time."
ATA Airlines received approval yesterday to emerge from bankruptcy. "I don't see any indication we won't be dealing with a solvent entity in April," Judge Basil H. Lorch III said, according to the Associated Press. ATA is expected to announce details of its emergence today.
Air New Zealand, which had been prepared to outsource its widebody heavy airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul activities, said it accepted a counterproposal from union negotiators "that could see [the work] remain in-house through a combination of redundancies and comprehensive labor reform" ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20). ANZ had set a target of achieving $32 million in savings from widebody airframe MRO over five years.
World Airways pilots, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, went on strike over the weekend after rejecting the carrier's final contract offer Saturday. The two sides had been negotiating throughout last week as the National Mediation Board-mandated 30-day cooling-off period came to a close ( ATWOnline, Jan. 27). Pilots are forbidden to abandon flights for the US military, World's largest customer.
Continental Airlines flight attendants, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, ratified the four-year labor agreement reached last month, according to the airline ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12). The union is expected to release the voting results and a statement today.
US National Transportation Safety Board issued an "urgent safety recommendation" to FAA requesting that the agency "prohibit airlines from using credit for the use of thrust reversers when calculating stopping distances on contaminated runways." The recommendation comes out of the Board's continuing investigation into the Dec. 8 Southwest Airlines runway overrun accident at Chicago Midway ( ATWOnline, Dec. 16). According to NTSB, FAA does not allow the use of the reverse thrust credit when determining dispatch landing distances.
Last year will turn out to be "marginally profitable" for Assn. of European Airlines members, Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus told ATWOnline. He forecast that his 30 member carriers will post a profit of €1 billion ($1.22 billion), clearly better than the €400 million recorded in 2004 and the negative financial results reported from 1999 through 2003.
Bankrupt Delta Air Lines announced a deal with Merrill Lynch providing the carrier with a letter of credit giving it access to up to $300 million in cash held in reserve by its Visa/MasterCard processor, which is entitled to hold back $450 million-$850 million under the terms of an agreement lasting through October 2007. "Even with this vote of support from the financial community for our business plan, we expect 2006 to be a very challenging year," Delta Executive VP and CFO Ed Bastian said.
SAS Group on Friday said it "completely rejects" the Swedish Ministry of Finance's proposal to place an environmental tax on air travel ( ATWOnline, Nov. 29).
Macau Asia Express, a new budget carrier formed and funded by Air Macau (51%) and ST-CNAC (49%), a joint venture between China National Aviation Co. (36%) and Shun Tak Holdings (64%), was established last week. Initial funding is $30 million for the airline, which will adopt "a highly competitive cost model" and launch service in the fourth quarter of this year on routes to the Chinese mainland and Asia.
Embraer officials said there will not be any delays in aircraft production after strong winds ripped roofs off two warehouses at its facility in San Jose dos Campos last week. Wind gusts hit the company's headquarters Jan. 24, injuring 17 employees and damaging hangars where parts are manufactured and ERJ-145s are assembled. One employee remained hospitalized Friday.
Assn. of Asia Pacific Airlines members carried 128 million passengers in 2005, an increase of 5% over the previous year. Passenger traffic rose 5.1%, capacity expanded 4.6% and load factor gained 0.4 point to 73.3%. International freight traffic grew 3.3% while capacity rose 4.9%, resulting in a 1-point decline in load factor to 66.4%.
World Airways and its pilots, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, are continuing to negotiate in advance of the Jan. 28 conclusion of the 30-day cooling-off period imposed by the National Mediation Board ( ATWOnline, Jan. 11). At that time, the 430 pilots may go on strike while the airline can impose a new contract. Pilots are barred from interrupting flights carried out on behalf of the US military, World's largest customer, but IBT said it could "make no promises" to other customers.
AirTran Airways announced the promotion of Director-Corporate Finance Arne Haak to VP-finance and treasurer and Director-Engineering Kirk Thornburg to VP-maintenance and engineering. Gulf Air named Rajeev Nambiar GM for India operations.
BAE Systems Regional Aircraft said it had "done well" in 2005 as it secured new business worth more than $320 million despite a highly competitive regional aircraft marketplace. The company concluded lease transactions in its BAe 146/Avro RJ and ATP portfolios for 68 aircraft, business worth just under $230 million. A further 28 aircraft were the subject of other financial transactions. The Jetstream 32 and 41 portfolios resulted in $12 million in business.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Alitalia each began returning to normal operations yesterday following several days of strikes. An SAS spokesperson told ATWOnline that the airline cancelled 500 flights between Monday and Wednesday when 200 pilots from SAS Denmark staged a strike and 80 pilots from SAS Braathens in Norway called in sick. Although the Norway group remained sick on Thursday, SAS was operating most of its schedule; through mid-afternoon it had cancelled 26 flights in Denmark and 47 in Norway.
