Delta Air Lines said yesterday that it and subsidiary Northwest Airlines will stop using about 170 gates at airports throughout the US as the merged carriers consolidate operations. CEO Richard Anderson told employees in a recorded message that DL and NWA facilities at US airports all will bear the Delta name by year end. Branding will become uniform at airports internationally by the middle of next year, he said. He claimed the consolidation of airport facilities "translates into multimillions of dollars of rental savings."
Undeterred by the operating environment that has resulted in steep losses at Chinese carriers, Shenzhen Airlines plans to go ahead with the launch of its Kunming Airlines subsidiary on Feb. 15 as it searches for a foothold in the Yunnan market. The new venture has registered capital of CNY80 million ($11.7 million), with Shenzhen holding an 80% stake. Private investor Wang Qingmin will take the remaining 20% with a CNY16 million investment.
US airlines posted an ontime arrival rate of 76% in 2008, up from 73.4% the year before, the US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported. In December, the 19 reporting carriers were on time at a 65.3% rate, up 1 point year-over-year. Airlines cancelled 3.3% of their domestic scheduled flights, a 0.2-point improvement from December 2007. Hawaiian Airlines' December ontime arrival rate of 79.6% was the best, followed by US Airways at 72.1% and American Airlines at 69.9%. Worst was Comair at 55.1%, followed by Alaska Airlines at 58.4%.
Air Berlin will launch four-times-weekly Hanover-Stockholm Arlanda service and weekly Stuttgart-Nice service on May 1. It also announced increased frequencies from Nuremburg to Dusseldorf and Berlin Tegel. AB's January unit revenue climbed 23% to 4.99 euro cents (6.45 US cents). Passenger numbers fell 4.5% to 1.7 million on a 4.9% drop in capacity to 2.5 million seats. Load factor rose 0.3 point to 69.1%.
Virgin Group President Richard Branson was upbeat at Friday's Seattle delivery ceremony as V Australia took delivery of the first of seven 777-300ERs and, speaking to ATWOnline, dismissed naysayers who warned of starting an airline in difficult times.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is not interested in joining a global alliance even as it copes with the impact of the global downturn ( ATWOnline, Feb. 5).
AerCap Holdings subsidiary AeroTurbine will supply Aveos with engine and airframe components under a five-year lease agreement. Contract calls for acquisition and leasing of certain A320 and 737 rotables as well as additional inventory for Aveos to position at various locations worldwide. Under a separate five-year deal, Aveos will provide AeroTurbine with MRO on CFM56-2s, -3s and -5s.
Cargolux Airlines International announced the launch of Cargolux Italia, a subsidiary that will operate long-haul cargo flights from Milan Malpensa. It plans to start operations as soon as ENAC grants certification, which is expected in April. No further details were announced.
Atlas Air Worldwide, parent of Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo, said it will retire seven of its 14 747-200s and report a largely noncash pre-tax special charge of approximately $85-$95 million associated with retirements. "The current pronounced downturn in global airfreight demand has caused us to accelerate our plans to retire a portion of our older 747-200 assets," President and CEO William Flynn said. AAWW expects to report full-year 2008 pre-tax operating income of $55-$60 million when it releases its earnings on Feb. 24.
Airbus revealed Friday that it had 12 order cancellations in January while booking just four orders, and ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy projected that both Airbus and Boeing will cut production over the next two years by as much as 30%-35%. Airbus currently plans to produce close to 500 aircraft this year, while Boeing's target is 480-485 units. Turkish Airlines ordered four A321s in January, but Airbus reported cancellations during the month for three A318s, two A319s, three A320s and four A321s.
Austrian Airlines Group could become insolvent if a planned takeover by Lufthansa is not approved by European authorities. Speaking to Austrian journalists in Vienna last week, state holding company OIAG CEO Peter Michaelis said the company is "fighting hard to avoid drifting towards insolvency. . .However, I cannot rule out that possibility." OIAG agreed in December to sell its 41.6% share to LH ( ATWOnline, Dec. 8, 2008). Meanwhile AAG management is working on expanding its cost-cutting program.
Aeroflot confirmed its interest in purchasing a stake in CSA Czech Airlines following the Czech government's Feb. 5 tender launch. It intends to sell 91.5% of the national carrier in a two-round tender ( ATWOnline, Jan. 21).
Middle East Airlines and Banque Libano-Francaise entered a $65 million acquisition finance transaction covering the purchase of a new A330-200 to be delivered this month, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reported. The bank also committed to $32 million in financing for an A320-200 to be delivered next year.
IntraPoint, the US and Norway-based provider of Crisis Manager software and services, signed an agreement with Icelandair Group to implement its Crisis Manager Web-based software solution for handling incidents and crises.
Air India's low-cost subsidiary Air India Express added its 21st aircraft last week, a 737-800. It will use the plane on a weekly Srinagar-Dubai flight scheduled to start Feb. 14. IX now operates 176 weekly flights to 16 Indian and 14 international destinations.
Boeing now is making progress in its effort to get the 787 program back on track and into the air, with the second flight test aircraft, destined for ANA, due to have its fastener rework completed over the weekend.
Aerolineas Argentinas signed a purchase agreement for 12 737-700s, Argentine Planning Minister Julio De Vido told reporters, according to Reuters. He said the aircraft will begin arriving in April. Boeing did not confirm the report. Separately, AR's Austral subsidiary took delivery of the second of three MD-88s. It said it acquired the 160-seat aircraft from a Mexican source.
EASA formally approved the 777F Friday following FAA certification on Feb. 3, Boeing announced. Launch customer Air France is scheduled to take first delivery this quarter ( ATWOnline, Nov. 18, 2008).
Malev Hungarian Airlines is late paying January wages to its employees and reportedly was able to distribute just HUF50,000 ($217.68) to each worker last Friday, promising the remainder following this week's extraordinary general meeting concerning the carrier's takeover by Russia's Vneshekonombank ( ATWOnline, Jan. 28).
Japan Airlines parent JAL Group reported a net loss of ¥38.5 billion ($428 million) for its fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 31, reversed from a ¥13.1 billion net profit in the year-ago period, citing a "downward slide" in demand and "volatile" fuel prices.
American Airlines flew 9.64 billion system RPMs in January, down 11.7% from the year-ago month. Capacity dropped 8.3% to 13.07 billion ASMs and load factor fell 2.8 points to 73.8%. American Eagle flew 521.9 million RPMs, down 17.9%, against a 12.4% decline in capacity to 852.6 million ASMs. Load factor was down 4.1 points to 61.2%. Delta Air Lines flew 8.87 billion system RPMs in January, a 2.2% drop year-over-year. Capacity was down 8.5% to 7.34 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 1.5 points to 76.4%.
The UK's so-called "environment czar" last week raised the possibility of rationing air travel, limiting UK citizens to just a few vacation trips abroad by air per year in order to reduce the impact of carbon dioxide emissions.
Air France Industries, KLM Engineering & Maintenance and Aviation Repair Technologies Services formed an engine disassembly joint venture, Turbine Support International. TSI will disassemble, inspect and repair CF6-50, CF6-80 and CFM-56 parts to support engine repair activities on AF's and other third-party airlines and lessors. AFI and KLM E&M will assume a majority stake in TSI, which will be based at ART's Arkansas facility.
MacAir Airlines, an Australian regional carrier that served Queensland with 11 aircraft, shut down Friday. It operated one ATR 42-500, six Saab 340Bs and four Metro 23s and recently had entered voluntary administration.
