SAS Ground Services announced that Britannia Airways AB is renewing its contract for ground handling services for three years. The deal covers more than 2,000 departures annually and will include automatic check-in for Britannia customers at Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen. Meanwhile, SAS Ground Services Norway AS will be the first ground handler in Europe to test infrared deicing. A hangar currently is being set up at Oslo and testing is expected to begin early next year.
Thanks in no small part to a €635.1 million ($742.6 million) net capital gain earned through the sale of its 18% stake in Amadeus ( ATWOnline, April 15), Iberia Group reported yesterday a net profit of €372.5 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, a fourfold increase over the €87.8 million profit achieved in the 2004 third quarter.
United Airlines received more than 7,500 applications to fill 2,000 flight attendant positions on the first day its recruitment website went live Nov. 13, more than seven times the expected number, according to Senior VP-Onboard Service Jane Allen. The carrier said it already has identified more than 2,600 people who meet its criteria. It is conducting screening interviews and will begin final interviews Nov. 21 in Chicago. United announced last week its intent to hire attendants for the first time since 2001 ( ATWOnline, Nov. 14).
Air Horizons, formerly Euralair, has filed for bankruptcy, La Tribune reported. The French leisure airline operated flights for several French tour operators and posted revenue of approximately €100 million ($116.9 million) in 2004. Its losses amounted to more than €10 million. It has eight aircraft in its fleet, comprising five 737s and three 757s, and employs 267 staff.
The European Commission yesterday adopted "a major proposal" to extend the tasks of the European Aviation Safety Agency "to rulemaking and control in the field of air operations, qualifications and licenses of pilots, and oversight of third country airlines" operating in the EU.
Northwest pilots yesterday ratified the concessions agreement reached earlier this month ( ATWOnline, Nov. 7), approving a 23.9% reduction in pay valued at approximately $214 million annually. The interim contract will give the parties more time to reach a final deal. According to an MEC hotline statement, the measure passed 2,563 (63.6%) to 1,465 (36.4%).
Pelesys Learning Systems, a supplier of Web-based computer training solutions, was selected by United Airlines to produce and deliver the CBT portion of its Eclipse 500 training program.
ATA Holdings filed a motion in bankruptcy court last week seeking approval of an agreement with private equity fund MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners II for debtor-in-possession financing of $30 million and an additional $70 million in equity upon ATA's emergence from Chapter 11. The carrier also is reviewing its codeshare agreements with Southwest Airlines.
ABX Air reported net earnings of $7.4 million in the quarter ended Sept. 30, an improvement of 4.1% from $7.1 million in the year-ago period. The Ohio-based cargo airline, whose biggest customer is DHL, saw revenue increase 27.6% to $369.9 million and expenses climb 28.4% to $360.5 million. Year-to-date profit was $21.2 million, up from $18.9 million last year.
Bmi Group may eliminate up to 185 positions at Nottingham East Midlands as part of a plan to restructure its maintenance and engineering functions and create three fleet-specific MRO bases to serve its three operating units. From March, bmi will consolidate its Airbus MRO at its main operating base at London Heathrow. Bmibaby will handle its 16-plane Boeing fleet at NEMA and bmi regional will continue to conduct all maintenance and engineering on its Embraer fleet at its Aberdeen base.
Lufthansa notified EU competition authorities of its agreement to acquire controlling voting interest in Eurowings, the carrier that includes LCC Germanwings. LH holds 49% of Eurowings and Albrecht Knauf, the airline's chairman, owns 51%. Under the agreement, an additional 1% plus one share would vote with Lufthansa.
OzJet, Australia's fourth domestic carrier, has begun selling tickets ahead of its Nov. 29 launch. The startup plans to operate an all-premium product using three 737-200s configured with only 60 seats with 40-in. pitch and fares lower than its rivals' economy rate. The launch price of A$325 ($238) each way undercuts Qantas's fully flexible economy rate by 10%-15% but it is higher than that of Virgin Blue. Flights from other cities, including Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth, will be added as OzJet builds its fleet to 10 aircraft.
Irish and US governments reached agreement on a revised framework for air services between the countries that will see a phase-in of an open skies policy by April 2008, subject to the ongoing negotiations between the US and EU on transatlantic open skies. Irish airlines will be allowed to fly to three additional US gateway cities (the limit currently is five) as well as to increase frequency on Dublin nonstop services from November 2006. Aer Lingus will be the obvious beneficiary.
News from Travel Technology Update: Two issues must be resolved before China can experience explosive growth in online travel, and neither is insurmountable, according to participants at TravelSky Technology Ltd.'s China Travel Distribution Future Forum 2005 in Beijing. The first is widespread implementation of electronic ticketing in what is expected to become the world's largest travel market. The second issue may prove more challenging: facilitating online payment for online purchases in a country in which credit cards are relatively scarce.
US FAA yesterday issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to require operators "of more than 3,200 existing and certain new large passenger jets" to reduce flammability levels of fuel tank vapors "on the ground and in the air to remove the likelihood of a potential explosion from an ignition source," such as the one believed to have destroyed TWA Flight 800 in 1996.
SpiceJet intends to go in for an $80 million foreign currency convertible bond issue in the coming days as it aims to raise funds to finance fleet expansion plans, Business Standard reported.
World Airways said the International Brotherhood of Teamsters negotiating team representing the carrier's pilots rejected its final contract proposal. Negotiations have been ongoing since the current contract became amendable in June 2003. The charter airline has asked the National Mediation Board to release the parties so arbitration may be offered.
Timco Aviation Services selected Pittsburgh as the site for its new CFM56 engine maintenance center. The 75,000-sq.-ft. center is scheduled to commence operations in early 2006. It will offer off-wing MRO services on CFM56-3 series engines as well as on-wing support services for all CFM56 series.
Malaysia Airlines is in a difficult financial situation and will be cutting costs further, according to a staff memo sent by Chairman Munior Majid last week. "Our financial performance is precarious and has increasingly become a source for concern," Majid wrote, according to Reuters. "There is now a need to extend the scope of the cost reduction focus and put in place more aggressive measures." Senior managers will take a voluntary pay cut of 15%-30% beginning Dec. 1. In addition, MAS raised its fuel surcharge on long-haul routes by 38.9% to $50 one way effective today.
Three of JetBlue's four Embraer 190s are in service after a halting start last week, operating eight daily flights between Boston and New York. Initial service was provided by an A320 on Nov. 8 when certain parts were not where they needed to be, according to the carrier. By Nov. 10, service was provided exclusively by the 190s. "It wasn't a mechanical issue but having the right parts in the right places," said spokesperson Jenny Dervin. "It's a brand new aircraft. This is the very first time it was going into revenue service.
Delta Air Lines pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., offered concessions valued at an average of $90.7 million per year over four years, "considerably more than Delta needs to reach its goal of a 0.82 cents pilot CASM," according to the union. The proposal encompasses among other things a reduction in pilot pay by 9% commencing Dec.1 for seven months and then by 7% for six months and 5% thereafter, as well as changes to work rules and benefits.
United Airlines will hire new flight attendants for the first time since 2001, the carrier said last week. It began accepting applications Sunday for 2,000 positions to be based in Chicago and Washington and will begin training in January. The openings are a result of a decision not to return by approximately half of the 5,500 voluntarily furloughed flight attendants. All of those who chose to return were back as of Oct. 31, a United spokesperson told ATWOnline.
