The US and EU made "substantial progress" during week-long open skies negotiations in Brussels, according to a joint statement released Friday. "The delegations reached full agreement on cooperation with respect to competition issues in the air transport industry based on a continuous and structured dialogue and with respect to government subsidies and support," negotiators said.
Just days after Air New Zealand said it likely will outsource a major share of its heavy maintenance requirement ( ATWOnline, Oct. 20), Qantas confirmed that it is considering a substantial restructure of its engineering and maintenance operation as well, with a decision expected within 3-4 months. MRO operations "are changing rapidly throughout the world, with a big push towards scale and lower cost locations," CEO Geoff Dixon said in a statement. "The competition between MROs is becoming as competitive as the rest of the industry."
Russian domestic airlines are not keeping up with their foreign competition, an Aeroflot official told parliament Friday, according to the Russian News and Information Agency. The number of passengers on foreign carriers operating in Russia is expected to grow 12% year-over-year compared to 2% on domestic carriers. "Under these conditions, it is ultimately impossible to make cost-effective flights; for example, the Tu-154M uses 4.8 tons of fuel per hour, whereas its foreign counterpart Airbus A320 uses only 2.3 tons," Aeroflot GD Valery Okulov said.
Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn. leaders last Thursday rescinded their decision to allow striking members to vote on whether to accept Northwest Airlines' latest contract offer. According to a statement on the AMFA Local 33 website, the proposed contract contained language that would "violate AMFA's Constitution." The disputed language deals with the union's ability to take action against members who crossed picket lines to work at the airline during the strike.
Swiss International Air Lines is selling its 57.2% stake in Loyalty Gate Ltd., a leading provider of services for frequent-flier programs, to London-based International Customer Loyalty Programs. Loyalty Gate Ltd. has managed the Swiss TravelClub program. Following Swiss's decision to transfer Swiss Travel Club to Miles & More as of April 1, 2006, the airline and the minority Loyalty Gate Ltd. shareholders agreed to the sale to ICLP.
Goodrich Hella Aerospace Lighting Systems of Germany and Florida has changed its name to Goodrich Lighting Systems. The company also is seeking a replacement for President Uwe Bloecker, who resigned in September.
JetBlue Chairman and CEO David Neeleman won the 2005 Tony Jannus Award for "outstanding contributions within the commercial aviation industry." The award will be presented Oct. 27 in Tampa.
Lufthansa Technik will provide Total Engine Support to Corsair under a 10-year agreement covering a minimum of 24 PW4000s powering the French airline's 747-400 fleet. The agreement includes provision of spare engines, engine condition monitoring services and AOG support. LHT signed Blue Panorama Airlines SpA to a five-year Total Component Support contract for its 767-300ER and 757-200 fleets and extended an existing TCS contract for its 737-400s. Also NEOS SpA added two 767-300s to its TCS contract covering its 737-800 fleet.
Boeing's Alteon Training received Level D certification from Mexican aviation authorities on its 737-800 full-flight simulator at the Centro de Capacitacion Alas de America in Mexico City.
Pratt & Whitney is reorganizing its commercial airline engine MRO operation into Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners. The new organization is responsible for MRO, replacement parts, material logistics and technical services
Sabre Airline Solutions said Turkish Airlines signed up for more than $1 million of decision-support technology from Sabre's AirMax Revenue Management product group.
Scientific Monitoring Inc. of Arizona was selected by Boeing Commercial Aviation Services to provide analytical tools and software to enhance its Airplane Health Management team. AHM is designed to reduce delays, cancellations and diversions through the use of existing aircraft data.
AeroMexico announced that it received the IATA Operational Safety Audit certificate last month, becoming the first Mexican airline so certified. The carrier's audit was conducted June 13-17. AeBal (Aerolíneas de Baleares) also fulfilled the requirements of the IOSA program. AeBal is a subsidiary of SAS Group and operates on behalf of Spanair in Spain using 717s.
IndiGo, the Indian startup partly owned by former US Airways CEO Rakesh Gangwal, selected V2500s to power its 100 A320s on order, giving International Aero Engines not only its biggest order at $1.7 billion but also launching the company's new V2500Select service product. The aircraft order, announced during this year's Paris Air Show, starts delivery from July 2006, IAE said. IndiGo is the creation of InterGlobe Enterprises Ltd., an Indian travel conglomerate.
Talks between Icelandair owner FL Group and Sterling owner Fons Eignarhalsfelag over a possible merger or acquisition ( ATWOnline, Sept. 27) may be close to fruition. According to Danish media, FL Group will acquire Sterling, which itself is being merged with Maersk Air of Denmark. FL Group also owns 13.01% of easyJet.
American Airlines announced Tuesday that it received antitrust immunity from the US Dept. of Transportation for its partnership with LAN Peru, permitting a three-way alliance including LAN Airlines. AA was granted immunity with the latter in 1999. It also has applied to DOT for broad codeshare authority with LAN Peru.
Continental Airlines priced a public offering of 18 million shares of Class B common stock at $11.35 per share, which would raise gross proceeds of $204.3 million if all shares are taken up. The offering includes an overallotment option of 2.7 million shares. UBS Investment Bank is acting as the sole underwriter. On Tuesday, CO reported a third-quarter profit of $61 million, surpassing Wall Street's expectations ( ATWOnline, Oct. 18). Northwest Airlines may return leased aircraft with a five-day notice, a bankruptcy court judge in New York ruled yesterday.
Delta Air Lines expects to post a loss of $2.16 billion for the full year, excluding special items. The information was contained in a presentation to the carrier's pilots that also was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Through the first half of 2005, Delta lost $988 million excluding special items, or $1.45 billion if such items are included. In the presentation, Delta said it aims to reduce its stage-length-adjusted unit labor cost by 21% from 3.26 cents per ASM in the second quarter of 2005 to 2.59 cents through its Chapter 11 restructuring.
Air New Zealand, citing an inability to attract sufficient third-party work and a lack of internal scale, is proposing to outsource heavy maintenance and engine overhauls for its long-haul fleet of 747s and 767s as well as its new 777s that begin arriving at the end of October. The work currently is done by Air New Zealand Engineering Services. Under the proposal, some 600 jobs would be eliminated out of an ANZES staff of 2,100, with work transferred to "a specialist large scale maintenance center in Asia or Europe." ANZ estimated it will save NZ$100 million over five years.
Virgin Blue delivered a more upbeat earnings forecast for the recently completed financial year as it prepares to introduce a fresh strategy aimed at attracting more business-oriented premium traffic. In a brief statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, the budget airline said it is expecting a net profit of A$105 million ($78.5 million) for the year to last Sept. 30. While that is still A$54 million short of the previous year, it is considerably better than the August forecast of a fuel-based decline of A$90-A$100 million.
Ryanair lost a key battle in its campaign to remain nonunion after the Irish High Court ruled that the Labor Court should be permitted to hear complaints by pilots about the airline under the Industrial Relations Act.
Italian air traffic controllers are set to walk off their jobs for 4 hr. today in a strike called to campaign for improved training and more staffing, the Associated Press reported. Alitalia said it expected to cancel 62 domestic and 40 international flights.
Indian LCC Go Air will launch its online booking service Friday with the biggest giveaway of seats the region has witnessed. The airline initially will distribute 10,000 free seats and will give away another 10,000 in November and December. MD Jeh Wadia said he wants the carrier to be India's cheapest and plans to have 36 A320s in service within three years. Leases already have been signed for six, with the first service set for Nov. 12 from Mumbai to Goha. Normal fares start at $42 and range up to $120.
