SunExpress, the Lufthansa-Turkish Airlines JV, said it will buy three additional 737-800s and lease five -800s to bring its fleet to 25 of the type by the end of next year, by which time it will phase out three 757-200s.
Delta Air Lines said it has installed Wi-Fi on 139 of the more than 300 domestic mainline aircraft it operates including its entire MD-88 fleet. The aircraft are equipped with Gogo Inflight Internet. It added that all of its MD-90s will be equipped by the end of May with the remainder of the domestic fleet scheduled for completion by September. The cost of Wi-Fi on a DL flight ranges from $7.95 to $12.95. In June it will begin offering "month-long, unlimited use passes."
Mesa Air Group reported a net loss of $36.7 million for its fiscal second quarter ended March 31, reversed from net income of $9.4 million in the year-ago period, as revenue plummeted 27.3% to $233 million.
Norwegian continues to report rising traffic, load factors and yield despite the downturn and is committed to continuing to challenge SAS for market share. Fresh off an improved first quarter ( ATWOnline, April 27), the carrier transported 861,530 passengers in April, an 18% increase year-over-year. Load factor rose 3 points to 79% and yield was up 6% to NOK0.63 (9.69 cents). It took delivery of its 44rh aircraft, a 737-800, last month.
American Airlines said it deployed a 757 on New York JFK-Brussels service last week, the first of 18 757s it is reconfiguring with 166 economy/16 business-class seats for international flying. The aircraft feature "new seats, new cabin interiors and updated [IFE]," AA said. The 18 757s (out of the 124 it operates) will be reconfigured by year end and will serve select transatlantic and Latin American routes.
Mechtronix World Corp. is expanding research and development capabilities in anticipation of what officials see as a growing need for additional pilot training programs. The company, which unveiled its new facility last week in Montreal, obtained C$39 million ($33.4 million) in funding from Richardson Capital of Calgary and C$7 million from Business Development Bank of Canada.
Etihad Airways unveiled a new first class cabin containing 12 individual suites with sliding doors, changing room/wash basin and a lie-flat, 80.5-in. seat with built-in massager. It invested $70 million in the upgrade. "Competition for premium customers remains intense and during the last 12 months a number of airlines have unveiled significant enhancements to their first class cabins, with others deciding to remove the cabin completely from their aircraft," CEO James Hogan said.
International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said Friday that it has launched a campaign to replace the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in representing United Airlines' 9,000 mechanics. IAM, which currently represents 17,000 UA employees including ramp workers, claimed it has been asked by a "diverse group" of UA mechanics to step in. It said its focus would be on securing a pension plan for the mechanics.
Air China launched a mobile check-in service Friday, becoming the second Chinese carrier after China Southern Airlines to offer the option ( ATWOnline, April 9). CA started trialing the service on April 30 and said it received positive feedback from passengers. It will be available on all domestic routes from Beijing save Tibet, while CZ offers it only on Guangzhou-Zhengzhou flights.
Air Canada reported a first-quarter net loss of C$400 million ($342 million), widened 38.9% from a C$288 million loss in the year ago period, and new President and CEO Calin Rovinescu said the carrier is urgently seeking relief from its pension funding obligations.
Oxford Aviation Academy said it received UK CAA "agreement" for its first Multi-Crew Pilot License course to be launched in partnership with Flybe. According to OAA, it "will be the first MPL to be delivered using instructors, aircraft and simulators based in the UK." Students selected to launch the program will benefit from a joint sponsorship under which Flybe and OAA will prove £20,000 ($30,100) per student in funding.
Japan Airlines subsidiary JALways closed its Oahu office and terminated the assignments of 130 contract pilots that operated 747s from Hawaii to Japan and Asia, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported. Wages will be paid through June. Japan-based JAL pilots now are crewing the five daily flights formerly operated by JALways, the paper said.
American Airlines flew 10.28 billion system RPMs in April, a 4.7% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 6.1% to 12.64 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.2 points to 81.3%. American Eagle's RPMs fell 5.5% to 644.4 million against a 7.8% drop in capacity to 887.7 million ASMs. Load factor rose 1.8 points to 72.6%. Continental Airlines said April consolidated RASM fell an estimated 12.5%-13.5% year-over-year while mainline RASM dropped an estimated 10.5%-11.5%.
United Airlines Chairman, President and CEO Glenn Tilton called upon regulators to press ahead with liberalization, warning that "this is hardly the time for further protectionism in our industry." Speaking last week to the European Aviation Club in Brussels, Tilton stressed that airlines are doing their part to move beyond the current recession, "but we need governments to work with us, to partner with us, across the globe to put policies in place, and the infrastructure in place, to allow us to meet the demands that will be placed on us."
Ukrainian government intends to sell its 62% stake in Ukraine International Airlines, according to a government statement cited by Reuters. Existing shareholders Austrian Airlines (22.5%) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (10%) will have rights of first refusal.
Airports Council International-Europe said it "regrets" the European Parliament's adoption of the proposal suspending the use-it-or-lose-it rule for airport slots for the summer 2009 season, while the EC confirmed that it has no plan in place to maintain the suspension during the winter.
Alitalia Chairman Roberto Colaninno told La Repubblica that load factors have climbed to 65%-66% from 43% in January, according to Reuters. He said breakeven load factor is 67%-68% and that AZ's market share in Italy has risen from January's 54% to 61%-62%. Delta Air Lines flew 15.41 billion system RPMs in April, a 7.7% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 7.1% to 18.94 billion ASMs and load factor fell 0.5 point to 81.4%.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. parent of Pinnacle Airlines and Colgan Air, reported a first-quarter profit of $18.8 million compared to $1.2 million in the year-ago period, thanks largely to a one-time gain of $16.5 million relating to an income tax settlement and other nonrecurring items. Excluding those gains, its profit was $2.7 million. It also took a $600,000 charge related to the loss of the Colgan Q400 that crashed near Buffalo in February ( ATWOnline, March 26).
Gategroup, the onboard services company that is the parent of Gate Gourmet, will list its shares and begin trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange on May 12. No new shares will be issued and there is no public offering of the company's 19.7 million shares from any existing owners. Gategroup posted a CHF93 million ($82 million) net profit in 2008.
Source close to the Sukhoi Superjet program questioned an RIA Novosti report that Russia's United Aircraft Corp. plans to reduce its Superjet 100 production to 74 aircraft from the 230 it planned to build by 2012. It still plans to deliver the first SSJ this year to launch customer Aeroflot. The source told ATWOnline that he had received no official word regarding any SSJ production cut, but the Moscow-based news agency said UAC planned to build only 196 commercial aircraft in 2009-12 rather than the 405 approved for production two years ago.
Copa Airlines and Aero Republica parent Copa Holdings reported a $71.6 million profit in the first quarter, up an impressive 81.3% from the $39.5 million earned in the year-ago period. Operating revenue climbed 4.3% year-over-year to $308.8 million but unit cost fell 16% to 9.9 cents and 11% to 6.8 cents excluding fuel. Operating income of $68.9 million was a 33.3% improvement over the $51.7 million reported last year. Copa said it recorded both a $16.2 million noncash gain and a $19.9 million loss on its fuel hedges during the quarter.
Air Berlin will keep its order for 25 787s, a spokesperson told ATWOnline, and now expects the first aircraft in 2013. Its long-haul plans remain in flux. AB management is talking with employees at its LTU subsidiary about a possible integration of its long-haul operation into AB and the spokesperson said the future of both carriers' long-haul operations "depends on the results of these talks." Discussions with the Vereinigung Cockpit union are scheduled later this month.
TAM reported first-quarter net income of BRL56.9 million ($26.7 million), up 21.8% from BRL46.7 million in the year-ago period, citing increased revenue generated by new long-haul flying and lower fuel costs. First-quarter revenue lifted 17.1% to BRL2.74 billion including a 29.9% hike in gross international passenger revenue to BRL796.9 million. Expenses heightened 13.1% to BRL2.45 billion owing to higher maintenance costs and real depreciation. It said operating profit more than doubled to BRL187.8 million from BRL83.4 million last year.
Korean Air posted a first-quarter net loss of KRW526 billion ($413 million), widened 61% from a net loss of KRW326 billion in the year-ago period, marking its sixth consecutive quarter in the red. Chairman and CEO Yang Ho Cho said the "deepening global economic crisis [in addition to] the weakening Korean won [and] sliding travel and cargo demand" had a "direct impact" on KE's bottom line.
