US airlines reported an ontime arrival rate of 80% in November, an improvement over the 79.1% achieved in November 2004 but a drop from October's rate of 81.3%, according to the "Air Travel Consumer Report" released yesterday by the US Dept. of Transportation. As usual, Hawaiian Airlines posted the best ontime arrival rate at 95.2%. Frontier Airlines was next at 85.3%. JetBlue Airways ranked last of the 20 reporting carriers at 74.6%, with Northwest Airlines at 74.9%.
Northwest Airlines mechanics voted last week to continue their four-month strike against what their union called a "renegade, union-busting airline" as 56% of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. voting members opted to reject the latest settlement proposal, which would not have brought back any of the more than 4,000 striking mechanics but would have offered severance pay and some unemployment benefits.
Air Canada is taking its simplified fares concept onto the transatlantic this year, beginning with service to London Heathrow and Manchester. The international pricing structure contains just four fare categories: Tourist, Leisure, Latitude Plus and Executive First. Other international destinations will follow "in the near future." AC has been transitioning to a simpler fare structure over the past few years beginning with its domestic network and in 2005 with its transborder services.
Continental Airlines reported a 13.1% rise in December traffic to 7 billion RPMs from 6.19 billion in 2004. Capacity was up 11.4% to 9.01 billion ASMs and load factor grew 1.2 points to 77.7%, a December record. CO said consolidated passenger RASM increased 7%-8% over December 2004 and mainline RASM grew 5.5%-6.5%. Separately, Continental Express posted a record load factor of 75.4%, up 4.6 points. Regional traffic shot up 23.1% to 817.2 million RPMs and capacity rose 15.6% to 1.08 billion ASMs.
Israel Aircraft Industries' Elta Systems Group said it received authorization from Israel's CAA to install its Flight Guard anti-Manpads system on 767 passenger aircraft. According to press reports, El Al will install the system on six 767s.
EADS bought a 10% stake in Russia's Irkut Corp. for $65.3 million last month, the Russian aerospace company announced. The deal coincided with the awarding of a 10-year contract for A320, A330/A340 and A380 component and subassembly production ( ATWOnline, Dec. 22). "It is part of the global strategy of EADS to form partnerships with leading aerospace companies," EADS Russia CEO Vadim Vlasov said. The companies have been working together since 2002.
Caribbean Aircraft Leasing will acquire an additional 50-seat Q300 turboprop for $16.3 million, Bombardier announced. The lessor, parent of Caribbean Star Airlines and Caribbean Sun Airlines, ordered three A300s two months ago.
Aerospace Industries Assn. named Susan Mertes director-aviation infrastructure, a new position focusing on improvements to the civil air transport system. Rockwell Collins appointed Beverly Carmichael VP-staffing and organizational development. She comes from Southwest Airlines.
B/E Aerospace announced that it completed a $45 million deal with Emirates to design and manufacture the international super first class cabins on a portion of its new 777s.
IATA's November international traffic report indicated a 6.1% rise in RPKs over the year-ago month and 2.8% growth in cargo. "Overall the industry is growing, which is good news. But the pace of growth has geared down a notch as a result of weaker demand from some critical sectors, such as IT," DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said. Passenger capacity rose 4.6% and load factor was 73%. The Middle East led with a 16.4% increase in RPKs and a 10.6% rise in capacity. The Asia/Pacific region showed the slowest growth with RPKs up just 3.6%.
UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, said its reorganization plan was accepted by all classes of creditors in voting tabulated and submitted last week to the US Bankruptcy Court. A confirmation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18.
Assn. of European Airlines selected Wolfgang Mayrhuber, CEO and chairman of the executive board of Lufthansa, as chairman for 2006. He takes over from TAP Portugal CEO Fernando Pinto.
Swiss International Air Lines reached agreement with the pilots of its regional fleet, avoiding a possible labor conflict, Reuters reported. Swiss announced plans last fall to spin off its Regional operations into a standalone subsidiary called Swiss European Air Lines with its own management team and operating certificate and aircraft and crew wet-leased from the parent ( ATWOnline, Oct. 11). Whether the purported new agreement nullifies those plans could not be determined.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said through a spokesperson on Dec. 27 that he "strongly urges" other countries to follow France's lead in raising taxes on airline tickets to fund global poverty and healthcare initiatives ( ATWOnline, Dec. 12). "I think we need to explore all creative ways of raising funding for development," Annan said.
Aviation Safety Network recorded 35 fatal accidents last year that resulted in 1,059 airline fatalities and 44 on the ground, according to the Dutch website. The number of accidents was "significantly lower" than the 10-year average of 40 per year while the number of fatalities was "almost equal" to the annual average of 1,095 over the past decade owing to the high number of serious accidents.
Republic Airways Holdings knows it is difficult to serve two masters, even more so three or four. What satisfies one may not work for another. Recognizing this, it has created three subsidiaries to meet the requirements of its four codesharing partnersAmerican Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and US Airwayswhile staying in compliance with the respective scope clauses contained in the pilot labor agreements at each.
Viewed with altered expectations, 2006 will be at or near the top of the current economic cycle and should produce the best financial results the industry has seen since 2000. Passenger traffic, on a steady rise since the 2001-02 period, will ride a still-buoyant global economy to continue its ascent at rates a bit higher than the long-term trend, but this time with some improved yields, especially in the North American domestic market where 2006 capacity should decline.
The worldwide travel management scene is undergoing seismic changes as several companies split up, re-form and acquire others. TUI AG agreed to sell its business travel operations to BCD Holdings N.V., the Dutch parent company of World Travel BTI. The terms of the deal, which is subject to approval by TUI's advisory board and regulatory authorites, were not disclosed. If approved, the sale is expected to close in March. TUI's business travel activities operated within its wholly owned subsidiary, TQ3 Travel Solutions Management Holding GmbH.
Despite signs that the worst may be over for the airline industry, providers of maintenance, repair and overhaul services remain under intense pressure to reduce the cost of engine servicing and improve turnaround times.
At a time when the state-owned airlines of the oil-rich Arab Gulf have embraced aggressive expansion into long-haul international markets, Royal Jordanian is setting a more modest flight path, trimming global ambitions while focusing on liberalizing trends within the region.
AirTran, which dropped out of Worldspan in November because the two companies could not come to terms on the cost of participation, is back in the GDS with a new multiyear, full content agreement, effect Jan. 24. The carrier is distributing inventory, availability and fares through Worldspan at a level of participation called Limited Connect, which is below Worldspan's Full Service level. Worldspan said Limited Connect is designed to meet the distribution needs of carriers that require limited functionality.
Last year's surge in new and conversion freighter programs confirms the confidence felt within the air transport community regarding the intermediate- and long-term outlook for air cargo. In May Boeing launched the 777 Freighter. At the end of October it moved forward with the 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighter and followed this in mid-November with the program launch of the 747-8, which is being offered in both freighter and passenger versions. Significantly, the first orders were for the freighter.
Nothing succeeds like success. Perhaps this is the explanation for Emirates' phenomenal performance over the past two decades, a period in which it has experienced only one annual loss. From a two-airplane, four-city network launched on Oct. 25, 1985, it has grown into the world's ninth-largest international passenger carrier in terms of RPKs, serving 77 cities in 54 countries.
Vietnam Airlines said Thursday that its revenues for the first 11 months of 2005 totaled VND22 trillion ($1.38 billion), according to Vietnamese media reports. It flew 6.8 million passengers during the period.
