Connexion by Boeing will add four channels of live television to its high-speed inflight Internet service beginning Jan. 23. The channels are CNBC/MSNBC, BBC World, EuroNews and EuroSportnews. Scandinavian Airlines said yesterday that beginning on Jan. 23, passengers on SAS flights between the US and Scandinavia will be able to view live programs on their laptop computers through SAS Net Access, the carrier's high-speed wireless Internet service provided by Connexion.
Monarch Airlines said it posted a "record-breaking" 2005, flying more than 2.6 million passengers compared with 1.9 million in 2004. The low-cost/charter carrier opened a new base in Birmingham last year and introduced a host of new routes--London Gatwick to Lisbon and Granada, Manchester to Almeria, Birmingham to Alicante, Faro, Malaga and Tenerife, and to Malaga from Blackpool, Aberdeen and Newquay. It acquired four new aircraft--three A320s and a 767. Traffic for December was up 18.15% to 148,968 passengers.
United Airlines' cabin staff, represented by the Assn. of Flight Attendants, have filed an objection with the US Bankruptcy Court to the carrier's Management Equity Incentive Program under which 11% of the reorganized company's stock would be set aside for 400 management employees after the airline leaves bankruptcy. A hearing to confirm the reorganization plan will take place Jan. 18. AFA also objected to a provision in the plan that would permit United to reject the flight attendants' labor contract after it exits bankruptcy.
Pemco Aviation Group said it received its first Southwest Airlines 737 at its MRO facility in Dothan, Ala., under an agreement signed last November ( ATWOnline, Nov. 16).
Northwest Airlines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., threatened a walkout if the company moves forward with proposed plans to launch a separate carrier dubbed NewCo to operate 70/100-seat RJs ( ATWOnline, Jan. 6). The union's MEC called the initiative "absolutely unacceptable" and warned that if Northwest receives bankruptcy court approval to reject the current pilot agreement and impose terms including the establishment of NewCo, it "should expect a strike by the Northwest pilot group."
Lufthansa carried 51.3 million passengers last year, up 0.7% compared to 2004. It flew 108.2 billion RPKs, up 4%. ASKs rose 2.5% to 144.2 million, resulting in a 1-point gain in load factor to 75%. Lufthansa Cargo carried 1.7 million tonnes of freight, down 1%, on a 1.3% increase in capacity owing to additional belly space on the group's passenger aircraft, causing cargo load factor to fall 2 points to 65%. Cathay Pacific reported December traffic of 6.05 billion RPKs, a 12.7% increase over the same month in 2004.
LOT Polish Airlines started the sale of Etix e-tickets for flights to New York, Paris and Prague. E-tickets will be introduced for flights to Scandinavia, Budapest and Zurich later this year.
Boeing and Air India finally put pen to paper on the carrier's 68-aircraft order in Mumbai yesterday, bringing to a close more than eight months of bureaucratic wrangling and controversy and ending a sales campaign that dates back more than a decade.
Eurocontrol said 2005 was a record year for European aviation with more than 9.2 million flights and more than 700 million passengers. The number of flights rose by 4.5% from 2004. Growth was notable particularly in Eastern Europe, with Croatia, Slovakia and Poland seeing respective increases of 18%, 17% and 16%. Eurocontrol forecasts an average growth across Europe of 3% this year. Average delay caused by air traffic management was 1.9 min. per flight despite the higher number of flights, and early indications are that rate will be maintained this year, Eurocontrol noted.
As expected, the European Court of Justice followed last September's opinion of the advocate general and upheld the European Commission's regulation concerning common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding, long delay or flight cancellation.
Number of passengers killed in accidents involving revenue passenger flights rose substantially to 913 last year from 347 in 2004, according to Airclaims. There were eight fatal accidents involving Western-built jets in 2005, which accounted for 718 passenger deaths. This was up from three fatal accidents in which 211 passengers were killed the previous year. Airclaims noted that "despite these gloomy statistics and the spate of accidents last summer, the number of fatal accidents in 2005 matches the exact number forecast by long-term trends. .
Cyprus Airways is closing in on full union approval for its restructuring plan, with four out of five unions having already given their go-ahead for a scheme aimed at trimming C£21 million ($44.3 million) from its cost base. It awaits the pilots' support. It expects the cuts to be finalized in the next few weeks and for everything to be in place by around March 1. It also will begin to implement new working practices among the remaining staff in the hope that the measures will gain EC approval for a state-guaranteed loan.
Assn. of Flight Attendants lost a bid to break its concessionary agreement with United Airlines. In April AFA told the carrier it would revoke the contract because management failed to document annual cost savings of $112 million from the salaried and management work group. An arbitrator ruled against the union in the matter. World Airways' 400-plus pilots, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, were released from mediation by the US National Mediation Board Monday.
JAL Group had mixed results during the Japanese New Year vacation period from Dec. 28 to Jan. 9. Total number of passengers traveling on international routes was down 5.1% while domestic passenger numbers rose 1%. Internationally, JAL recorded strong increases on transpacific and Korean routes, up 4.2% and 4.3% respectively. Despite soft traffic to Indonesia, Southeast Asian routes showed signs of recovery with passenger numbers rising 1.6%. Load factor on transpacific routes was particularly high at 91.2%.
Copa Airlines CEO Pedro Heilbron is the new president of the Latin American Airline Assn.'s executive committee. He replaces Juan Emilio Posada, who left the position after four years.
Germanwings said turnover rose 60% in 2005 to around €400 million ($480 million). It transported 5.5 million passsengers, up 57%. Load factor reached 83%. The number of employees grew from 459 to 704. For 2006 the carrier expects a 36% increase in passengers to more then 7.5 million. Turnover is expected to exceed €570 million.
Emphasis Media of Hong Kong and Publicitas Promotion Network named Moritz Wuttke CEO of Emphasis Media and CEO-Asia/Pacific of PPN. US FAA named David Bowen chief information officer and assistant administrator for information services. He replaces Daniel Mehan, who retired in September.
EasyJet said it flew 2.4 million passengers in December, an 11.1% increase over the year-ago month. Load factor dipped 0.2 point to 80.5%. For the year, the carrier reported 17.8% passenger growth to 30.3 million and a 0.3-point rise in load factor to 84.9%. It also said unaudited annual revenue jumped 20.5% to £1.38 billion ($2.44 billion) from £1.15 billion. Separately, EasyJet announced that Group Finance Director Jeff Carr was appointed company secretary, replacing Deborah Abrehart, who resigned.
US Airways is cutting fares on 21 routes between markets in the eastern and midwestern US and its hubs in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Charlotte. Sample fares provided by the airline show reductions of between 42% (Charlotte-Indianapolis, Philadelphia-Akron) and 61% (Pittsburgh-Syracuse).
Air France-KLM Group reported an 11.9% increase in December traffic to 15.6 billion RPKs. Capacity climbed 9% to 19.54 billion ASKs and load factor rose 2.1 points to 79.8%. Passengers enplaned increased 8% over the year-ago month to 5.6 million. Cargo RTKs grew 7.5% to 985 million against a 9% lift in ATKs to 1.4 billion and cargo load factor declined 1 point to 70.4%. Northwest Airlines reported systemwide December traffic of 5.82 billion RPMs, a decline of 5.7% from December 2004. ASMs dropped 8.6% to 7.21 billion and load factor was up 2.5 points to 80.7%.
US FAA last week proposed to fine Alaska Airlines $500,000 for flying a 737 without required cabin floor lighting on 478 revenue flights between July 12 and Dec. 2, 2004. The agency said Goodrich Aviation Technical Services performed "extensive" MRO on the aircraft but did not reinstall the floor proximity lighting system's emergency exit identifier lights. Following 40 additional inspections, Alaska discovered the problem and installed the identifier lights on Feb. 2, 2005.
Australia's business-only airline OzJet is showing further signs of stress after only two months, announcing a two-for-one fare deal designed to overcome slow business during the domestic holiday season. The giveaway offer comes as the fledgling carrier struggles with threadbare loads on the three 737-200s it operates on the busy business route between Sydney and Melbourne. Launched Nov. 29, Ozjet also has halved its schedule to four return flights per day but plans to return to full service at the end of January.
Alitalia won the bidding for Volareweb.com, the LCC subsidiary of Volare Airlines. It reportedly offered €38 million ($46.2 million), some €10 million more than Air One, for the carrier, which has been in extraordinary administration since Nov. 30, 2004, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Air One is considering suing Alitalia, questioning its right to participate in the auction, Corriere della Sera said. Official results of the sale are due to be announced Jan 15.
