ATR announced the launch of its Door-2-Door support service, a program under which it will take "full responsibility for the management of the airlines' requests for spares and technical documentation, up to and including the completed handover delivery process." Customers will have one point of contact for all parts and services while the manufacturer will "deliver spare parts on the very doorstep of where they are needed," it said.
Cargolux reported a net loss of $61 million in 2008 owing to markdowns in its interest rate and fuel derivative portfolio and a $119 million fine owed to the US Dept. of Justice for its role in fixing cargo rates ( ATWOnline, April 10). It lost $47.1 million in 2007. The airline improved on an operating level, however, posting an operating profit before financing costs of $13.8 million, reversed from a loss of $33 million the prior year.
Drops in both business travel and economy class yields dragged Continental Airlines to a $136 million first-quarter loss, widened 65.9% from an $82 million deficit in the year-ago period. "It was a very tough quarter, no matter how you look at it," Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner said yesterday in a conference call with analysts and reporters. But the carrier sees some light on the horizon as it firms its plans to join Star Alliance by Oct. 25 and "the rate of decline in RASM appears to be decelerating compared to the first quarter," according to President and CFO Jeff Smisek.
International Brotherhood of Teamsters President James Hoffa placed Union Local 747, the bargaining agent for pilots at several US regional and smaller cargo and charter airlines, into an "emergency trusteeship," alleging financial impropriety by some senior union officials at the unit and failure to properly represent affiliated pilots.
Boeing incurred four more aircraft cancellations than orders booked and customers deferred delivery of 60 aircraft in the first quarter, for which it reported net income of $610 million, down 49.6% from $1.21 billion in the year-ago period.
United Airlines promoted VP-Pacific Mark Schwab to senior VP-alliances, international and regulatory affairs and named James Mueller, leader of the customer solutions team, to succeed him. Schwab succeeds Mike Whitaker, who is leaving the company.
Vietnam Airlines posted a first-quarter pre-tax profit of VND24 billion ($1.3 million), according to a statement cited by Dow Jones that provided no year-ago comparisons. VN's 2008 pre-tax profit was $14 million ( ATWOnline, Jan. 9). First-quarter 2009 revenue was VND6.12 trillion on a 5% fall in passenger numbers to 2.3 million. Load factor rose 11 points to 88%.
US FAA said yesterday it is withdrawing its proposal to keep information on bird strikes private and will "make its entire bird strike database available on a public website" Friday. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who oversees FAA, said yesterday that he disagreed with the proposal to keep the information private. He told The Washington Post, "I think all of this information ought to be made public and. .
China Eastern Airlines, which reported a company-record loss of CNY13.93 billion ($2.04 billion) in 2008, is committed to engineering a turnaround through cost control, targeted expansion and SkyTeam membership despite the threat of insolvency.
AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings posted record first-quarter net income of $28.7 million, reversed from a $35.4 million loss in the year-ago period, signaling "the first steps in a long recovery for our company and our industry," Chairman, President and CEO Bob Fornaro said.
EADS and Airbus signed a contract with Russian Technologies State Corp.'s VSMPO-Avisma Corp. for the supply of titanium to Airbus and other EADS divisions until 2020. Deal covers die forging parts for all existing Airbus aircraft plus the A350 and finalizes an agreement reached last summer ( ATWOnline, July 16, 2008).
Pratt & Whitney signed a five-year Engine Management Program agreement with Vietnam Airlines covering on-wing performance monitoring services for 58 PW4000 and V2500 engines.
Messier Services will overhaul landing gear on LAN Airlines' fleet of 68 A320 family aircraft under an exclusive agreement with the Chilean carrier. Work will commence immediately at Messier's Queretaro facility. A second deal with LAN covers exchange and overhaul of landing gear for its A340s beginning in 2010. Work will take place in Mosheim.
TIMCO Aviation Services and Hindustan Aeronautics signed a joint venture agreement to provide MRO in India and the "neighboring region," focusing on scheduled C checks and heavy maintenance services for operators of Airbus and Boeing narrowbodies. They plan to operate out of a facility at HAL's Bangalore complex and said they are "assessing groundbreaking schedule alternatives with a focus on the shifting growth outlook for the Indian and regional fleets."
Mxi Technologies announced that its software supporting the first three A380s within the Qantas fleet has gone live. Implementation of the Maintenix software "provides Qantas with such features as Field Loadable Software configuration management and Civil Aviation Safety Authority-approved electronic certification and recordkeeping," Mxi said.
Aeroflot said the Czech government's decision to pass on its bid for CSA Czech Airlines "objectively corresponds with the interests of Aeroflot's management" because SU "detected considerable risks in the bid, which would have entailed serious financial obligations at a time of a global financial crisis." The Russian airline said it came to that conclusion "following a thorough examination of CSA's financial and operational situation." Air France KLM and the Unimex/Travel Service consortium were chosen to advance to the second round of bidding for a 91.5% stake in CSA
Emirates will increase service from Dubai to Kuala Lumpur from 12-times-weekly to 14-times-weekly and to Jakarta from daily to 10-times-weekly on May 1. Allegiant Air will launch twice-weekly Oakland-Eugene service on June 8. SpiceJet launched daily Ahmedabad-Bangalore, Pune-Kolkata, and Mumbai-Coimbatore flights. Its summer schedule will comprise 119 daily flights aboard 19 737-800s/-900ERs.
SR Technics announced that Mubadala Development Co., the investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, "acquired sole control" of the company and increased its shareholding to 70% by acquiring the 30% held by Istithmar. Dubai Aerospace Enterprise holds the remaining 30%. SRT said it will continue to operate as an independent brand. The three UAE-based companies acquired it in 2006 from 3i (56%) and Star Capital (20%), other institutional investors (12.7%) and SRT management ( ATWOnline, Nov.
Nordam Repair Group of Tulsa announced a three-year contract with Boeing to provide MRO on 737NG CFM56-7 thrust reversers. A service bulletin calls for inspection of the thrust reverser inner walls and insulation blankets and correction of any heat-related issues.
Delta Air Lines yesterday announced the imposition of a $50 fee for a second checked bag on international flights and the grounding of its 14 747-200 freighters, as well as 36 additional aircraft by year end, in response to a $794 million first-quarter loss, narrowed from a $6.39 billion deficit in the year-ago period when heavy goodwill impairment charges dragged on the bottom line.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. reported a first-quarter net loss of $382 million, narrowed from a deficit of $549 million in the year-ago period, but conceded that its net loss for the three months ended March 31 would have been $579 million absent noncash mark-to-market fuel hedge gains and accounting changes.
Japan Airlines applied for a ¥200 billion ($2.03 billion) loan from the Development Bank of Japan, a spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg News, which said the carrier has ¥35 billion in bonds maturing over the next four months. JAL forecast a ¥34 billion net loss for the fiscal year ended March 31 ( ATWOnline, Feb. 9).
Alaska Airlines said it became the first airline approved by US FAA to conduct its own Required Navigation Performance flight validation, which could lead to faster RNP procedure approvals.
