Swiss International Air Lines plans to add San Francisco, Abu Dhabi and Beijing to its network as soon as the industry downturn concludes, Director-External Relations & Alliances Ignazio Strano told ATWOnline at last week's Star Alliance board meeting in Chicago. Swiss also is evaluating closer cooperation with fellow Star member Austrian Airlines Group, which will be acquired by Swiss parent Lufthansa.
US National Transportation Safety Board said it is investigating an incident last month in which a Delta Air Lines 777-200ER experienced an "uncommanded engine rollback in the cruise phase of an intercontinental flight." DL Flight 18 was over Montana en route from Shanghai to Atlanta on Nov. 26 at about 12:30 p.m. MST when the incident occurred to the No. 2 engine.
Turkish Airlines said it extended the deadline of its RFP for 25 widebody and 50 single-aisle aircraft plus 10 widebody and 10 narrowbody options by one month until Jan. 19 "at the request of the manufacturing companies." The planned order was announced two months ago and the tender was scheduled for completion on Dec. 17 ( ATWOnline, Oct. 15).
FedEx reported net income of $493 million for its fiscal second quarter ended Nov. 30, up 3% compared to $479 million in the year-ago period, and announced it is initiating "broad cost reduction actions" to contend with a "decline in shipping trends" and "very difficult" economic conditions. The company implemented a hiring freeze, a 7.5%-10% salary reduction for senior executives and a 5% pay cut for salaried personnel exempt from labor contracts. Chairman, President and CEO Frederick Smith said his salary would be lowered by 20%.
ICAO reported yesterday that preliminary traffic figures show that scheduled airline traffic (RPKs) for airlines of the ICAO member states rose just 1.8% in 2008 compared to 2007, a significant slowdown following the 7.1% rise in 2007 over 2006. Passenger enplanements climbed approximately 0.8% to 2.29 billion. ICAO said that the growth "was shared unequally between IATA airline members and other types of carriers, notably Low Cost Carriers. The non-IATA market share increased significantly, reaching 33% of domestic scheduled traffic and around 20% of total scheduled traffic."
Swissport said it concluded an agreement with South African Airways to provide ground handling for SAA at Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, East London and George airports. Agreements run from 2009 to 2014.
Air New Zealand issued a challenge to key New Zealand airports to follow Singapore's decision to cut landing charges by 10% to stem the drop in tourists ( ATWOnline, Dec. 15). ANZ Deputy CEO Norm Thompson said Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch should follow suit and work with airlines to help stimulate travel. "We all need to play our part in stimulating travel. Airports could assist in keeping fares lower by reducing landing fees during this economic downturn," he said.
As expected, merger talks between Qantas and British Airways ended without any agreement just two weeks after the oneworld partners formally confirmed their discussions of a tie-up via a dual-listed company structure. "Despite the potential longer-term benefits for Qantas and BA, the airlines have not been able to come to an agreement over the key terms of the merger at this time," the carriers said in a statement, adding that they will continue to work on their joint business between the UK and Australia.
Sabre Holdings acquired EB2 International, a London-based, supplier of "e-commerce enabling software products, solutions, infrastructure and services to global airlines." Price was not disclosed. Sabre said the acquisition will accelerate its technology plans for its recently launched SabreSonic Customer Sales and Service solution. EB2 and its products will become part of Sabre Airline Solutions.
Lufthansa Technik extended an agreement with the International Bureau of Aviation under which IBA provides LHT with "aircraft transitioning support services" on an as-required basis. Services covered include aircraft transition inspections, technical records audits and aircraft importations.
United Airlines said its fourth-quarter PRASM is expected to rise 3%-4% while CASM excluding fuel will rise 1%-1.5%. CFO Kathryn Mikells told employees in a conference call that "lower fuel prices are clearly good news. . .At United, every dollar per barrel that fuel declines gives us about $60 million in fuel savings per year excluding hedging impacts." UA previously said it expects to record $232 million in cash fuel hedging losses and $138 million in noncash mark-to-market hedging losses in the fourth quarter.
President-elect Barack Obama will nominate Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) as the next US Secretary of Transportation, according to multiple news reports. LaHood, 63, is retiring from Congress at year end after serving in the House of Representatives since 1995. The appointment of the Republican lawmaker by Democrat Obama is reminiscent of Republican President George Bush's naming Democrat Norman Mineta transportation secretary following the 2000 election. If confirmed, LaHood will oversee the Dept. of Transportation, which includes FAA.
US Air Transport Assn. announced the release of Spec 2000 Chapter 16, Electronic Product and Part Regulatory Documentation, which describes the electronic exchange of FAA's Authorized Release Certificate and has been approved as the method for exchanging From 8130-3 in electronic format.
Turkish Airlines confirmed the addition of five widebodies in the coming months to support the growth of its long-haul operations. Additions comprise three 777-300ERs on wet lease from Jet Airways and two A330-200s that are part of an order placed in 2004. THY currently operates nine A340-500s and five A330-200s. The first two 777-300ERs are scheduled to join the fleet on Dec. 24 and 25 while the A330s are scheduled for February and April delivery. With the addition of the 777s, THY also will start offering first class.
European Court of First Instance annulled the European Commission's ruling in the longstanding Ryanair/Charleroi state-aid case because it is "vitiated by an error in law," thus opening the door for other secondary airports to offer incentives to prospective airline tenants.
ATR said it started ground tests of the ATR 42/72 series 600 "pre-series aircraft," beginning with the electrical systems and the "New Generation Avionics Suite" supplied by Thales Aerospace.
Uzbekistan Airways ordered four more A320s, bringing its total commitment to 10. It signed up for six last summer ( ATWOnline, June 29, 2007). Its Airbus fleet currently comprises three A310s.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline recently that acquisition of Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines is a "logical step" toward creating a pan-European network. Speaking at Star Alliance's annual board meeting in Chicago, Mayrhuber said LH is targeting further consolidation. "From the LH management perspective, we can do more," he told this website. "What we have already done is no surprise."
The UK Competition Commission yesterday "confirmed" that it will require BAA to sell both London Gatwick and Stansted, setting the stage for a breakup of the airport operator's control of London's airports for which UK airlines long have pushed.
KLM finally will become the sole owner of Martinair after the European Commission approved the Dutch flag carrier's proposal to acquire the 50% stake owned by A.P. Moller-Maersk Group.
V Australia, the international long-haul arm of Virgin Blue, confirmed a launch date of Feb. 27 for its first 777-300ER service, a thrice-weekly Sydney-Los Angeles flight that will go to daily on March 20. Originally scheduled to begin flying this week, V Australia postponed launch due to the Boeing machinists strike ( ATWOnline, Oct. 3). It will take delivery of its first aircraft on Australia Day (Jan. 26), with arrival in Sydney scheduled for Feb. 9 after a special cabin fit-out.
Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority named Cathay Pacific Airways Senior Training Capt. John McCormick as director-aviation safety and CEO effective March 1. He formerly was with Qantas and the Royal Australian Air Force.
TAP Portugal will launch five-times-weekly flights from Lisbon to Warsaw, Helsinki and Moscow Domodedovo in June. LIS-WAW will operate daily July 22-Sept. 6. EasyJet will launch flights from London Gatwick to Larnaca (four-times-weekly from March 31), Naples (daily from May 1), Dubrovnik (four-times-weekly from May 1) and Santorini (thrice-weekly from May 3).
US Air Transport Assn. said American carriers will transport 9% fewer passengers during the Dec. 18-Jan. 7 holiday period than in the prior year, although a 9% year-over-year decline in seats will mean "full or near-full flights throughout the holiday." ATA is forecasting some 2 million passengers per day during the period and 90% loads on the busiest days (Dec. 19 and Dec. 27).
Aer Arann said that up to 30 positions, "primarily" flight and cabin crew, that were scheduled to be cut now will be retained with the creation of an Isle of Man base. RE will launch a twice-weekly London City-IOM service on Jan. 19. The carrier still plans to eliminate 70 jobs ( ATWOnline, Oct. 21). The IOM base, which will include one ATR 72-500, will focus on RE's contract lease business. It also announced the Jan.
