Air Liaison and HWF Sweden Group merged to form a single-source GSA for markets in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and Finland. The companies, based in Manchester and Stockholm, will retain their business identities.
South African Airways insisted that operations were "unaffected" by a strike started Friday by members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, which represents more than 3,500 airline workers. It was unclear how many were on strike. South African media estimated that "hundreds" were not working and the union warned that the number of striking workers could escalate.
787 cancellation reported by Boeing last week was a VIP version ordered by Sky Peace Ltd., which is owned by Hong Kong developer Joseph Lau ( ATWOnline, Feb. 20). Aircraft was ordered in May 2007, according to Bloomberg News.
JAL Group will integrate four subsidiary aircraft maintenance companies on Oct. 1, forming JAL Engineering Co. in a move intended to enhance productivity "and further strengthen the quality of aircraft maintenance services through the consolidation of expertise and technological know-how," according to the airline. The four companies are JAL Narita Aircraft Maintenance Co., JAL Tokyo Aircraft Maintenance Co., JAL Engine Technologies Co., and JAL Aviation Technologies Co.
Clickair board approved the merger with Vueling Airlines Wednesday and said CEO Alex Cruz will hold the same position at the merged carrier that will keep the Vueling name. Current Vueling Chairman Josep Pique will be chairman of the new entity, according to a statement cited by Reuters. The Spanish stock market regulator still must sign off on the tie-up ( ATWOnline, Feb. 16).
CFM International and Saudi Arabian Airlines finalized a $300 million order for CFM56-5Bs to power 22 new A320s with deliveries beginning this year. Order was announced at last year's Farnborough Air Show ( ATWOnline, July 15, 2008). SV also plans to lease an additional 28 CFM56-5B-powered A320s. CFM said that all of Saudi Arabian's CFM56-5B engines are the Tech Insertion configuration.
Airlines suffered 109 accidents in 2008, up from 100 in 2007, while the number of fatal accidents increased from 20 to 23 between the two years, IATA reported. However, fatalities dropped from 692 in 2007 to 502 in 2008. This translated into a 56% improvement in the fatality rate from 0.23 fatalities per million passengers in 2007 to 0.13 per million last year.
Responding to media speculation that pilot error may have played a role in last week's fatal Colgan Air Q400 crash outside Buffalo, the airline said its training programs "meet or exceed the regulatory requirements for all major airlines" and that Capt. Marvin Renslow had 3,379 hr. of flight time, 172 hr. of training on the Q400 and was "fully" qualified to operate the turboprop.
Ryanair announced summer cutbacks at Liverpool owing to unfavorable exchange rates and the UK government's £10 ($14.22) air passenger duty that the LCC said is "devastating" traffic at the airport. It will reduce the number of aircraft based at LPL to six from seven and the number of weekly flights by 14% to 163, resulting in 50 job cuts. It recently has drawn down its service at several other airports for similar reasons ( ATWOnline, Feb.
Embraer announced yesterday that it will cut an estimated 20% of its workforce of 21,362 employees in response to an "unprecedented crisis affecting the global economy." The more than 4,000 cuts will be concentrated in production and administration, with a layer of management structure eliminated. Most of the engineering workforce will remain onboard continuing with new product and technology development. The Brazilian manufacturer forecasts $5.5 billion in revenue this year and expects to deliver 242 commercial and executive aircraft.
Emirates plans to expand 2009 passenger capacity by 14% year-over-year and cargo capacity by 17%, with a focus on adding new flights and larger aircraft to existing routes rather than adding a high number of new destinations. In its next fiscal year starting April 1 it plans to take delivery of seven A380s (bringing its total to 11), 10 777-300ERs, one 777-200LR and one 777 freighter. It will take delivery of a 777F before the end of the current fiscal year.
Delta Air Lines indicated in an internal memo cited by numerous press reports that more than 2,100 employees have asked to take advantage of the carrier's voluntary severance program, slightly more than the 2,000 predicted last month by CEO Richard Anderson ( ATWOnline, Jan. 19). The deadline to accept the buyout was Feb. 11. DL plans a 6%-8% mainline capacity cut this year ( ATWOnline, Jan. 28).
Southwest Airlines will begin serving Boston Logan this fall with a "conservative number of flights and a two-gate operation," according to Chairman, President and CEO Gary Kelly. SWA will continue to serve Providence and Manchester, N.H., and will release additional details regarding its BOS service "in the coming months." Kelly said using the airport "is a smart choice" for the LCC, which traditionally has operated at less congested, cheaper facilities, and that its BOS service "will be made possible by. .
Austrian Airlines Group board members Andreas Bierwirth and Peter Malanik told journalists in Vienna last night that the company lost at least €131.5 million ($165.5 million) in 2008 and January 2009, or half of the total value of its shares. It now expects to release full-year financial results on March 13.
Boeing received a cancellation of an order for one 787 during the week ended Feb. 17, according to the manufacturer's Orders and Deliveries website. It did not identify the customer, the third this year to cancel a commitment for the delayed twin-aisle aircraft after Dubai-based lessor LCAL and S7 Airlines canceled orders for a combined 31 787s ( ATWOnline, Feb. 6). Combined with deals for 19 737s, including one from Alaska Airlines last week, Boeing now has -13 net orders in 2009.
Copa Airlines and Aero Republica parent Copa Holdings posted a $152.2 million profit in 2008, down 6% from the $161.1 million reported in 2007 as a result of a $20.2 million write-down in the value of its fuel hedges. Nearly all metrics improved on the operational front. The Panamanian company enjoyed a 25.5% year-over-year surge in revenue to $1.29 billion and a 13.4% rise in operating income to $224 million from $197.5 million in 2007.
AirTran Airways flew 1.27 billion RPMs in January, up 4.5% on the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 3.8% to 1.74 billion ASMs and load factor rose 5.8 points to 73.2%. Frontier Airlines flew 632.9 million RPMs in January, down 16% year-over-year. Capacity dropped 13.3% to 901.4 million ASMs and load factor fell 2.3 points to 70.2%. Passenger yield climbed 1.6% to 10.44 cents and RASM was down 1.7% to 7.33 cents.
Ryanair yesterday launched OnAir's inflight mobile phone service onboard 20 Dublin-based aircraft. Technology enables passengers to use mobile phones and PDAs to make and receive calls at international roaming rates as well as SMS and e-mail. Service will be available initially to customers of O2 and some 50 other mobile operators across Europe before being installed across the carrier's fleet of more than 170 aircraft. Prices depend on individual billing plans.
Airbus said yesterday it is taking the "precautionary measure" of lowering A320 family production from 36 to 34 aircraft monthly starting in October and will maintain A330/A340 production at the current level of 8.5 per month rather than increasing the rate to 10 as previously planned.
Hawaiian Airlines parent Hawaiian Holdings befitted form the "unpredicted fortune" of the collapse of its two chief competitors in the first half of 2008 to post net income of $28.6 million for the year, more than four times its 2007 net profit of $7.1 million and a notable result given the substantial annual losses reported by most US carriers.
Virgin Blue watered down speculation that 400 employees will lose their jobs but announced a capacity cut flagging an end to some of the heavily discounted airfares being seen in the region. The airline plans to reduce capacity by 8% over the next 12 months by withdrawing five of its 76 aircraft from service. A spokesperson told ATWOnline that "some of the 400 staff affected" will be transferred to its new long-haul airline V Australia. Like many carriers, Blue also is looking at options such as job sharing, part-time work and leave without pay to minimize the job losses.
Pratt & Whitney's Columbus Engine Center retrofitted an IAE V2500-A5 owned by US Airways to a V2500 SelectOne. The V2500-A5 has been in service since Feb. 16, 1998, and has more than 38,000 hr. on wing with nearly 15,000 cycles. Pratt said it is "the first" to do this and, according to VP-Global Engine Centers Tom Mayes, "it is important because it shows airlines that it is possible to get even greater performance from one of their existing assets."
Republic Airways Holdings may take control of Mokulele Airlines after the Hawaiian carrier defaulted on an $8 million loan issued by the Indianapolis-based regional operator.
Allegiant Air, a leisure carrier that touts its service "to/from America's favorite small cities," will open its sixth base on May 1, when it launches operations at Los Angeles with flights to 12 destinations. The LCC will base two 150-seat MD-80s at LAX and fly to Bellingham (from May 2), Billings (May 22), Des Moines (May 24), Fargo (May 23), Grand Junction, Colo. (May 1), McAllen, Tex. (May 24), Medford, Ore. (May 1), Missoula (May 2), Monterey (May 3), Sioux Falls (May 23), Springfield, Mo. (May 3), and Wichita (May 23).
