Bombardier Aerospace took 114 commercial aircraft orders net of cancellations in its fiscal year ended Jan. 31, down 45.8% from the 238 booked in 2007-08. The 114 commitments comprised 47 CRJs and 67 Q400s. It delivered 110 aircraft during the recently concluded fiscal year (56 CRJs and 54 Q400s), down from 128 the prior year. The Canadian manufacturer said 2009-10 commercial deliveries will rise some 10% year-over-year. It will increase its Q400 production rate, while CRJ rates will remain unchanged.
British Airways was £127 million ($286 million) in the red through the first nine months of its fiscal year, compared to a £642 million surplus in the year-ago period, implying a net loss of £85 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2008. CEO Willie Walsh cited "further economic weakness and the fall in sterling" for the result, while the airline repeated its forecast of a £150 million operating loss for the full year ( ATWOnline, Jan. 27).
Mxi Technologies will provide Pratt & Whitney with its Maintenix aftermarket software to support the OEM's power-by-the-hour contracts. Technology features an engine-centric dashboard, life-limited parts forecasting and utilization tracking.
Kingfisher Airlines deferred delivery of its five A380s by two years to 2014 because it wants to wait for the higher-MTOW A380-900 that can fly nonstop to the US, a spokesperson from Kingfisher parent UB Group told Dow Jones. The airline already has deferred delivery of 32 of 48 A320s it was scheduled to take in late 2008 and 2009.
ARINC reached a deal with Enerjet to provide data link communications including its AviNet Ground Network and GLOBALink for 737-700 charter flights. Work involves configuring avionics and data message flow through ARINC's network to interface with Enerjet's applications and third-party providers.
Claiming that its "situation as this relegation battle begins is stronger than many others," Finnair yesterday reported a €42 million ($54.4 million) loss for 2008 that compared to a €101.6 million profit in 2007.
Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler confirmed to ATWOnline at this week's oneworld anniversary event in Madrid that the carrier has no plans to lay off employees despite the current downturn and repeated profit warnings.
LCAL, the Dubai-based lessor established in 2004 to buy and lease 787s, cut its Dreamliner order from 21 aircraft to five, dealing another blow to Boeing's troubled next-generation aircraft program. The 16 cancellations announced by the manufacturer yesterday, valued at $2.8 billion, marked the second big 787 order cut revealed in the last two weeks. Russia's S7 confirmed last week that it had cancelled its order for 15 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 30).
US House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-Minn.) this week introduced legislation that would require the US Dept. of Transportation to renew airline alliances' antitrust immunity every three years.
STG Aerospace said US FAA amended its STC approval for its Wireless Emergency Primary Power System to include 737-300, -400 and -500 aircraft in addition to 737NGs already certified.
Mexicana parent Grupo Mexicana will launch a Guadalajara-based regional airline designed to "complement the routes currently covered" by the mainline and its Mexicana Click LCC subsidiary. The unnamed carrier will operate 13 leased CRJ200s and fill the gap on routes that are not cost-effective for its partners or that were operated by competing LCCs that have failed or reduced capacity. Initial flights will be to Puerto Vallarta, Torreon, Veracruz, Monterrey, Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez. A timetable was not announced.
Shanghai Airlines suspended trading in its shares yesterday as it anticipated a capital injection from the government. SAL noted in a statement that it is discussing with stakeholders an effort to reduce its debt ratio, which Board Secretary Xu Junming confirmed will occur through a capital injection. Its debt ratio was 91.4% on Sept. 31, 2008.
Copa Airlines CEO Pedro Heilbron said yesterday that Panama City's Tocumen International, home of the carrier's "hub of the Americas," has secured financing for a $50-$70 million expansion that will grow the airport's gates to 34 from 22. Speaking at the Raymond James Airline Growth Conference in New York, he said Copa will benefit long term from the expansion and will continue to grow its traffic in the short term despite the economic downturn, with a 13% capacity boost planned for 2009.
EasyJet announced the following new routes: Daily flights from London Gatwick to Munich, Zurich and Vienna (April 2); thrice-weekly LGW-Bodrum (April 23); four-times-weekly flights from Milan Malpensa to Heraklion (July 26) and Dubrovnik (Aug. 2) and thrice-weekly service to Rhodes (July 25) and Split (Aug. 1); thrice-weekly flights from Paris Orly to Faro (July 11) and Dubrovnik (July 12); twice-weekly Berlin Schoenefeld-Cagliari (April 1); twice-weekly Lyon-Pisa (July 11), and thrice-weekly Manchester-Dalaman (Aug.
Southwest Airlines flew 5.14 billion RPMs in January, down 6.4% year-over-year. Capacity fell 4.4% to 8.17 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 1.4 points to 62.8%. Ryanair transported 4.1 million passengers in January, up 11% from the year-ago month. Load factor held steady at 69%.
Ryanair announced a reduction of its Shannon base owing to a €10 ($12.94) "tourist tax" that the LCC claimed "is devastating forward bookings" at the Irish airport. From March 30 it will reduce its based aircraft to four from six, cut five routes (to 25), 20 weekly flights (to 116) and more than 100 employees (to fewer than 200). "Irish tourism can only succeed if Ireland is a low-cost destination," Ryanair said, adding that the cuts "would be immediately reversed" if the tax is repealed.
A J Walter Aviation said it selected DHL Express to manage its inbound and outbound delivery requirements. Valued at £1.2 million ($1.7 million) per year, the contract guarantees next-day delivery to the US and allows for discounted rate options.
Jeppesen and Continental Airlines are working together to define "a multiyear Required Navigation Performance program" for CO under a recently signed letter of intent. "Jeppesen has provided navigation services for Continental for many years and we look forward to working with them on implementation of this technology," VP-Flight Operations Fred Abbott said. The airline is deploying electronic flight bag services from Jeppesen.
WestJet, Air France and KLM yesterday announced their intention to codeshare by late 2009 or early 2010. An MOU signed by the three airlines also covers the possibility of interline e-ticketing, through check-in and loyalty program cooperation. WestJet said the codeshare would include flights to/from Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. KLM will serve all four when its Amsterdam-Calgary route opens in May, while AF flies to Montreal and Toronto.
Oneworld member carriers will adopt an alliance livery on a portion of their fleets "as a symbol of their renewed commitment to the alliance," Governing Board Chairman and American Airlines Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey announced this week at the alliance's 10th anniversary event in Madrid. Star Alliance runs a similar program ( ATW, February 2008). Around 40 aircraft will bear the new livery, which features the oneworld name and logo on the fuselage against a white or a polished metal background.
JetBlue Airways pilots failed to form a union this week, with only 33.4% of the approximately 1,937 pilots voting in favor of empowering the JetBlue Pilots Assn. A majority vote was required.
LAN Airlines is working on an interim solution to fill the gap until the first of its 26 787s finally arrives, CEO Enrique Cueto told ATWOnline, and now expects the first Dreamliner to come two years late "by the end of 2013."
US Depts. of Energy and Agriculture will release up to $25 million in funding for research and development of biofuels, including aviation biofuels, the Air Transport Assn. announced.
