Lufthansa Commercial Holding GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, is selling its 52.6% stake in Loyalty Partner GmbH to British private equity company Palamon Capital Partners. Lufthansa said it will realize a book profit of around €100 million ($121 million) in the just-ended third quarter. After the sale, the carrier will continue "the successful cooperation between Miles & More and the Payback bonus card program operated by Loyalty Partner." Iberia board is expected to approve its 2006-08 Director Plan when it meets Thursday.
Swissport is selling its 49% shareholding in its S. Stuttgart Ground Services joint venture to AHS, citing a desire to focus on its majority-owned operations. Terms were not disclosed. The JV dates back to 2001 when it was established by Swissport Stuttgart and Flughafen Stuttgart. The sale to AHS is being done "in amicable agreement" with Stuttgart Airport. The transaction will be transparent to customers and no redundancies or major organizational changes are planned. Current CEO Klaus Knopfle will remain as head of the company, Swissport said.
AirTran Airways' approximately 300 mechanics and aircraft inspectors, represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, ratified a new 48-month labor contract. The airline said more than 70% of IBT members voted in favor of the agreement. AirTran will introduce service from Richmond to Ft. Myers Feb. 15 with a single daily roundtrip using a 717. It begins nonstop service between Richmond and Orlando on Nov. 8 as previously announced. AirTran also announced a fifth daily nonstop from Richmond to Atlanta effective Nov. 16.
International passenger traffic growth slowed in August from the torrid pace set in the first seven months of the year, IATA reported. August international traffic (RPKs) rose 6.1% compared to August 2004 versus a year-over-year improvement of 8.3% for the first eight months of the year. Cargo traffic increased just 2.8% in the month against an average of 3.6% year-to-date through August. "While we have tracked a softening cargo market since the beginning of the year, this is the first indication of a slower demand for passenger services.
Boeing employees represented by the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ratified their tentative agreement with company in voting Thursday, putting an end to the nearly four-week walkout that began Sept. 2. In a statement, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Alan Mulally said, "We're very pleased with today's contract ratification by our machinists and look forward to their return to work. Our focus now shifts to ensuring a smooth restart of our production system and a return to a steady flow of airplane deliveries to our customers.
There are areas of the world, notably the US and UK, where credit cards are ubiquitous. There are more than half-a-billion credit cards floating around the US; the average household has eight. In the UK there are more cards than people. The widespread use of plastic-as-payment in these countriesalong with the development of the electronic tickethas enabled the migration of airline ticket sales to the Internet with substantial savings to carriers. But in much of the world, credit card usage is still in its infancy.
Consumer electronics advances and airline expansion, particularly overseas, have rekindled an inflight entertainment industry that faded considerably following 9/11.
In what is likely to be a boon to long-distance romances in the U.S., Site59.com has launched "Meet Me In. . .," a tool that assembles discounted last-minute weekend packages from two departure points to a single destination. A traveler departing New York and another departing from Los Angeles can purchase a single package with hotel and flights in Miami, for example.
As legacy airlines struggle to reduce expenses to combat the rising tide of low-cost carriers, the LCCs are arming themselves with the legacies' last weapon in their armory: Frills. New York's JetBlue led the way with free live television programming. Canada's WestJet recently introduced the same product with systems purchased from JetBlue, which owns the company, and Australia's Virgin Blue and Jetstar are adding satellite TV or DVD players.
Even the shocking events of the late summer periodsix fatal accidents over a six-week period resulting in the deaths of more than 500 personshave not diminished the public's appetite for air travel, or even for travel into remote regions of the globe where sophisticated landing aids may be as rare as modern aircraft and airports.
If you want something done right, the saying goes, you'd better do it yourself. It's a maxim that the people at Apple Vacations took to heart when they were examining ways to make the air portion of their packaged holidays more reliable and of higher quality. That was the impetus behind the creation of USA 3000, which began operations with a pair of leased A320s in early 2003 and expects to have up to 15 of the twinjets by year end. The carrier is privately held and is led by CEO John Mullen, whose family owns both companies. It does not release financial results.
Last year, ICAO's Air Navigation Commission tasked its Flight Crew Licensing and Training Panel to investigate whether a new pilot's license could respond to airline demands for pilots better prepared to operate modern aircraft and systems at a lower cost. The new license, referred to as the Multi-Crew Pilot License, also is seen as a basis to introduce competency-based training for other pilot certificates at a later date. The initial push for change came from Germany.
Orbitz filed its lawsuit against Worldspan in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, on Sept. 16, charging the GDS company with violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act. Worldspan responded by filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, on Sept. 19, charging Orbitz with violating the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Both parties are seeking $50 million in damages.
When members of the European Regions Airline Assn. head for Gothenburg, Sweden, this month, they will find a full plate of discussion topics at the annual General Assembly. Judging from the menu, some of these, such as high airport and ATC costs and onerous EU regulations, have generated more than a fair share of heartburn for member carriers over the past year.
Cisco Systems said it is working with Emirates Group to implement a new 10-gigabit ethernet data center network at Emirates' operations headquarters in Dubai.
British Airways named Tim Steeds its new director-safety and security from next month, succeeding Geoff Want, who was promoted to director-ground operations earlier this month. Steeds, a captain with 31 years of flying for BA, has spent the last three years as head of quality and regulations and was the airline's chief technical pilot in 1997-2002. He will retire from flying at the end of 2005.
VT Miltope will supply its Telephony Server and Cabin Access Point products to provide wireless LAN connectivity on the A380. In addition, its Telephony Servers were selected for the Airbus Onboard Mobile Phone System. VT Miltope is a member of the Singapore Technologies Engineering group of companies.
Alitalia denied that it had agreed to acquire a majority stake in Air Alps and planned to relocate the Austrian Regional to the province of Bolzano, Il Sole 24 Ore reported. Alitalia noted that any agreement with Air Alps would be limited to commercial considerations, as it is not permitted to buy shares in other airlines until the end of 2005 under the conditions set by the European Commission in approving a government-guaranteed €400 million ($482 million) bridging loan.
American Airlines is offering passengers the opportunity to confirm a seat on an earlier or later flight on the same day as their originally scheduled departure for $25, subject to a seat being available. The Confirmed Flight Change option can be done through AA reservations, at the airport ticket counter or using a self-service machine. The new flight must be scheduled to depart within 3 hr. of the requested change. For flights less than 1 hr. away, the change must be made at the airport.
Air France will increase its fuel surcharge by €6 ($7.22) to €44 for long-haul flights and by €2 to €12 for mid-range flights from Oct. 4. It also will raise its domestic flight surcharge by €1 to €8.
Declaring that "a European solution is no solution at all," IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani yesterday sharply criticized the European Commission's proposal to include the airline industry in the European Union's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme ( ATWOnline, Sept. 28).
Ryanair joined easyJet in calling on the British government to reject CAA's proposal to increase the tax on tickets for all UK passengers ( ATWOnline, Sept. 26). Last week, CAA published an assessment supporting its case for what it calls "modernizing the financial protection of air travelers and holidaymakers." It recommends that the scope of the current protection system be extended to protect all air travelers flying from the UK on international flights, with tour operator and airline passengers being covered by a single scheme funded by a short-term £1 levy on tickets.
