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.
WestJet is investing up to $30 million to develop a reservation system and other new technology that will enable it to begin codeshare operations with other carriers as early as 2007, CEO Clive Beddoe said yesterday at the Raymond James Growth Airline Conference in New York. "We see it as a growth opportunity for us," Beddoe told ATWOnline. Air Canada "has abandoned" a large numbers of carriers because of its relationship with Star Alliance, he added. Several airlines, including legacy carriers and LCCs, have expressed interest in a codeshare partnership with WestJet.
Ryanair yesterday said it will begin charging for checked baggage but that a 9% across-the-board fare reduction will offset the new fee for many customers who avail themselves of the ability to check in for their flights online. Although the carrier long has talked about charging passengers to check luggage, FlyBE beat it to the punch last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20).
Cintra SA, Mexico's airline holding company, is changing its name to Consorcio Aeromexico, according to media repots. Cintra sold Mexicana and its Click LCC to hotel company Grupo Posadas last month ( ATWOnline, Dec. 20) but opted to retain AeroMexico.
Alitalia suffered a sixth day of strikes Wednesday as unrest continued over its restructuring and the sale of the majority of ground services arm AZ Services to Fintecna. Union leaders met with government ministers yesterday afternoon and presented a document claiming Alitalia is uncompetitive, does not possess a strategic industrial plan and is under poor management, according to La Stampa.
Three unions representing American Airlines employees--the Allied Pilots Assn., the Assn. of Professional Flight Attendants and the Transport Workers Union--each filed presidential grievances yesterday protesting the cash bonuses that around 1,000 members of management are set to receive in April under the carrier's Performance Unite Plan, which links the payments to stock performance. The unions contend the bonuses are a violation of their collective bargaining agreements and also occurred despite that fact that American parent AMR Corp. lost $861 million last year.
Delta Air Lines is moving forward with previously announced plans to cut its workforce ( ATWOnline, Sept. 23). According to media reports, 800-1,000 MRO jobs at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport will be eliminated. The cuts go into effect April 1 when the airline will close a hangar at Hartsfield.
Garuda Indonesia told a parliamentary commission it lost IDR672 billion ($70.7 million) in 2005, a narrowing of 17.1% from its 2004 losses, according to AFP. The carrier said the slight improvement came as cost cuts were offset by rising fuel prices and continued fallout from the Bali terrorist bombings, which ate into earnings by an estimated $14.7 million, according to an airline spokesperson cited by AFP. Garuda reportedly missed a $55 million debt repayment in December and remains $1.2 billion in the red.
SAS Scandinavian Airlines announced on its website yesterday afternoon the conclusion of the pilots strike and sickout that had grounded hundreds of flights in Copenhagen and at its Braathens division in Norway since Monday ( ATWOnline, Jan. 24). The pilots, who were protesting potential labor issues connected to SAS Group's split into national airline divisions, were expected back at work this morning. SAS estimated the strike cost it approximately DKK30 million ($4.9 million) per day, according to media reports.
Sabre Holdings and Northwest Airlines signed a five-year, full content agreement to make available through the Sabre GDS all Northwest published fares and inventory, including special Web fares. Concurrent with the announcement, the companies said they agreed to settle all current litigation.
