US Airways reported an $80 million loss in the third quarter, narrowed considerably from the year-ago period's $866 million deficit that resulted from heavy fuel hedge losses and other special charges. Excluding special items, US was $110 million in the red, compared to $243 million on a similar basis last year.
Delta Air Lines reported a third-quarter net loss of $161 million, widened from a $50 million deficit in the year-ago period, blaming $212 million in special charges and a "significant revenue decline" driven by global economic weakness. Charges included an $83 million noncash hit associated with the refinancing of subsidiary Northwest Airlines' debt, $78 million in merger-related items and $51 million for employee severance. Absent the charges, DL would have posted net income of $51 million, reversed from a $64 million loss on a similar basis in the 2008 third quarter.
JetBlue Airways posted a third-quarter profit of $15 million, reversed from an $8 million loss in the year-ago period, marking the carrier's third profitable reporting period of the year.
Air France KLM will begin charging economy class passengers for a second checked bag on flights between Europe/North Africa and the US next month. The second piece of luggage will cost €50 ($74.80) on flights from Europe and $50 on flights from the US. Premium loyalty program members will be exempt, and the airline is offering a 20% discount to those checking in and paying online.
Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air parent Alaska Air Group credited capacity cuts, the deployment of aircraft in "promising new markets" and "record operational reliability" for an $87.6 million third-quarter profit that represented a reversal from the $86.5 million loss suffered in the year-ago period. Revenue fell 9.2% year-over-year to $967.4 million against a 31.9% drop in costs to $807.6 million, producing a $159.8 million operating profit. It lost $120 million on an operating level in the 2008 third quarter. A $7.3 million mark-to-market fuel hedge gain also helped the bottom line.
Continuing its expansionist path, Norwegian yesterday announced its commitment to an additional 12 737-800s, lifting its firm order for purchased and leased aircraft to 70 for delivery by 2014, as it reported the highest quarterly operating profit in its history.
JetBlue Airways promoted New York JFK Base Chief Pilot Andres Sandoval to VP-flight operations and named Northwest Airlines Director-System Operations Control and Central Load Control Marc Gross VP-system operations, planning and control.
Tokyo Narita's newly extended runway entered service yesterday, five months ahead of the original schedule, according to Narita International Airport Corp. Runway B was lengthened to 2,500 m. from 2,180 m. Runway A measures 4,000 m. The airport will have 20,000 additional slots available per year starting March 28.
Iberia and Gol signed a codeshare deal under which IB will add its code to Gol flights from Rio de Janeiro Galeao and Sao Paulo Guarulhos to 13 Brazilian destinations. The carriers said they "are also evaluating the possibility" of linking their loyalty programs.
SunExpress, the Antalya-based joint venture between Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa, said revenue through the first nine months of 2009 rose 5.9% year-over-year to €329 million ($492.1 million) on a 29% lift in passenger numbers to 4.1 million. Load factor grew 1 point to 79.4%. It plans to launch service during the winter schedule from Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen to Hamburg, Nurnberg, Dusseldorf, Dortmund, Zurich, Hatay and Mardin. It currently operates 23 737-800 and 757-200 aircraft.
Qantas yesterday promised to be more responsive and innovative as the first "encouraging signs" of a recovery in passenger demand start to appear across its network, although speaking at the annual general meeting in Perth yesterday, Chairman Leigh Clifford warned shareholders that the global economic outlook remains uncertain. "The Qantas Group is well-positioned to withstand this period of downturn with the strengths of its two flying brands, strong management and dedicated people.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. reported a $359 million loss in the third quarter, reversed from a $31 million surplus in the year-ago period, but claimed recent financing announcements and network adjustments "better position it to address near-term challenges and achieve long-term success." The loss included some $94 million in one-time charges related to sold and grounded aircraft, while the year-ago result was boosted by a $432 million gain from the sale of American Beacon Advisors.
AirTran Airways reported a $10.4 million third-quarter profit, reversed from a $94.6 million loss in the year-ago period, as falling fuel costs and the LCC's commitment to "maintaining our industry-leading low-cost structure" paid dividends, according to CFO Arne Haak. Operating revenue fell 11.3% year-over-year to $597.4 million but expenses dropped 22.2% to $560.4 million, resulting in a $37 million operating profit that AirTran said was the second-best third-quarter result in its history. It lost $47.4 million on an operating basis in the 2008 third quarter.
UK airports operator BAA concluded an agreement to sell its 100% interest in London Gatwick to a group controlled by Global Infrastructure Partners for £1.51 billion ($2.48 billion), of which £55 million is conditional on future traffic performance and the buyer's future capital structure.
Southwest Airlines yesterday announced it will launch service at the new Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport next May, operating at least two daily flights to four undisclosed destinations. The airport, slated to open May 18, is being built on land donated by St. Joe Co., Florida's second-largest landowner and a major developer in northern Florida. Under a "strategic alliance" between the companies, St. Joe agreed to reimburse SWA on a quarterly basis if the airline incurs losses during the first three years.
Boeing's ongoing problems with the 787 and 747-8 hit home yesterday as previously announced charges totaling $3.5 billion resulted in a $1.56 billion third-quarter loss despite a 9% year-over-year lift in revenue to $16.69 billion.
Assn. of European Airlines said Polish air navigation services provider PANSA will raise fees next year by 62% for operations to/from Polish airports and by 32% for flights through national airspace "to compensate for the loss in traffic due to the economic crisis."
Continental Airlines reported a third-quarter net loss of $18 million, much improved over a loss of $230 million in the year-ago period, and earned $2 million excluding special charges, which Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner described as "basically breakeven."
Southwest Airlines yesterday placed into revenue service a "green plane"--a retrofitted 737-700 with a new interior featuring lighter, "eco-friendly" seat and carpet materials--for a six-month trial and projected that the aircraft could yield 10,000 gal. in fuel savings per year. Speaking in Dallas during the airline's annual media day, Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly said the four-year-old aircraft now is 519 lb. lighter than a standard SWA -700 and offers 5 lb. of savings per seat.
US National Transportation Board is investigating an incident in which a Delta Air Lines 767-300ER inbound from Rio de Janeiro Galeao landed on a taxiway at Atlanta Monday at approximately 6:05 a.m. local time. There were no injuries. The aircraft had declared a medical emergency earlier in the flight after a check airman onboard was taken ill. The decision was made to continue to ATL.
Sudan Airways 707-300 freighter on lease from Azza Transport crashed yesterday after taking off from Sharjah, killing all six aboard. The flight was scheduled to land in Khartoum.
Royal Jordanian announced that it will adopt the full suite of Amadeus Altea Customer Management and e-commerce solutions including reservations, inventory and departure control as part of a 10-year partnership with Amadeus. Braathens IT Solutions will provide its Ticketless Travel Platform to SAS Group. The product will be integrated with the Amadeus Altea suite and become part of SAS's new distribution platform scheduled for implementation in 2012.
Arik Air appointed Jason Holt as its new MD. Holt had been working in London for Arik International, which provides logistical business support and management consultancy services to the carrier, and formerly was director-flight operations for Virgin Nigeria and BMED.
IATA said it won "a major court victory" in its ongoing dispute with Travelport over its PaxIS airline intelligence product that IATA collects through its billing and settlement plans, some of which is stored in GDS databases. On Oct. 1, the Amsterdam District Court denied an injunction sought by Travelport to block IATA's use of data stored in Travelport databases for PaxIS. "IATA has won an important legal battle to preserve competition for airline data transaction products.
ILFC received a $2 billion loan from parent American International Group to pay off debt due last week, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission cited in numerous press reports, further tying the lessor to the now majority government-owned insurance conglomerate ( ATWOnline, Sept. 4). AIG already had pumped $1.7 billion of government money into ILFC in the spring. ILFC reportedly put up aircraft as collateral for the loans.
