Lufthansa will take over Brussels Airlines, the carriers announced yesterday, in a deal that potentially values the Belgian carrier at €250 million ($355.6 million) and could pave the way for its entry into Star Alliance.
Pratt & Whitney and Aviall Services will work together to distribute JT9D spare parts under a recent deal. The contract calls for Aviall to supply Pratt OEM spares to JT9D operators, which number more than 1,200 globally.
Aircell struck deals with Air Canada and Delta Air Lines recently to provide its Gogo Internet service, which allows passengers to use Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops, smartphones and PDAs throughout flights. In September, Air Canada signed an agreement with Aircell to roll out its Gogo system on select flights next spring. The carrier plans to begin installing the system on A319s flying to the US and eventually on aircraft covering its North American and international markets.
In July, Menzies Aviation signed agreements with Air France, Virgin America and six Star Alliance member carriers. MA won a four-year extension on its contract with Air France to provide ramp handling and cabin grooming services at George Bush Intercontinental. AF operates two flights daily between Paris and Houston using 777s and A330s. MA also provides passenger services and aircraft maintenance support to AF at IAH.
STS Holdings recently acquired the assets and business of Tradewinds Aircraft Services, a component supply and OEM distributor based in Pompano Beach, Fla. STS Holdings, based in Jensen Beach, Fla., owns various aviation companies and over the last decade has expanded its offerings to include engineering services and staffing, line maintenance services and, as a result of this acquisition, inventory management and component services.
Heroux-Devtek won a $27-million repayable contribution from Industry Canada for research and development of its landing gear technologies. Funds are part of a $77 million project to improve performance and reliability and reduce environmental impact. Investment will span six years with repayments taking effect one year after project completion.
Mark Logic, an XML content platform provider, said JetBlue Airways selected its information and delivery solution to power the carrier's corporate publications application, which houses a variety of cross-departmental intellectual property including regulatory compliance procedures, policies and educational materials. "The technology is very straightforward and the training burden is low," JetBlue Learning Technologies Director Murry Christensen pointed out to Airline Procurement. "We don't have to invest in fancy workflow engines or build special content repositories."
Virgin Atlantic Airways Chairman Richard Branson said Friday that he will fight the American Airlines/British Airways/Iberia transatlantic antitrust immunity application ( ATWOnline, Sept. 1) "tooth and nail," adding, "it's a bit like allowing Coke and Pepsi to merge." AA fired back, accusing Virgin of resorting "to baseless arguments and hypocritical scare tactics," adding, "Virgin is intentionally trying to mislead regulators and the general public."
An Aeroflot Nord 737-500 en route from Moscow Sheremetyevo to Perm lost radio contact at 3,600 ft. on approach and crashed yesterday, killing all 82 passengers and six crew. Russian officials cited engine failure as the most likely cause. Crash debris was scattered over 10,000 sq. m. Aeroflot, which owns a 51% stake in the regional carrier that operates domestic services, said, "Wreckage of the plane has been found within the boundaries of the city of Perm. The plane was totally destroyed and had caught fire."
The group of Italian investors including Air One that reportedly had been willing to invest up to €1 billion ($1.4 billion) in an Alitalia restart withdrew from negotiations with the carrier's labor unions Friday, leaving the troubled airline on the verge of collapse.
Alenia Aeronautica last week inaugurated a new Ground Test Centre in Turin-Caselle dedicated to testing and qualification of commercial and military aircraft.
TIMCO Aerosystems, an aircraft interior provider based in Greensboro, said it will offer its FeatherWeight Galley Refresh System for 767s. Designed to reduce weight and optimize available space, the system features customized lighting and composite countertops.
Alaska Airlines said its winter schedule starting Nov. 9 will see an 8% year-over-year capacity cut, leading to a 9%-10%, or 1,000-employee, workforce reduction. It will cancel low-demand flights on Saturdays and holidays, reduce frequencies in some markets and shift some flying from its 737s to regional subsidiary Horizon Air's Q400s or CRJ700s. Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer explained that the cuts are driven by "the one-two punch of record oil prices and a softening economy on top of increased competition."
Qantas engineers at the airline's Tamworth heavy maintenance facility are threatening strike action this week, Fairfax Digital reported. The engineers reportedly are in dispute with the airline over a failure to renegotiate a workplace agreement dating back to 2005. The Tamworth engineers, responsible for QF's fleet of 11 717s, operate under a different labor agreement than other QF engineers.
SAS Group said it "is in the process of evaluating various structural possibilities" in a statement issued Friday in response to widespread speculation in European media that Lufthansa is considering a takeover bid. SAS has been enduring heavy losses ( ATWOnline, Aug. 15) and considering its future "structure" throughout this year ( ATWOnline, April 2008).
Ryanair said that owing to delayed deliveries caused by the Boeing machinists' strike, it will defer the opening of its Reus base by five weeks to Nov. 5 and postpone the basing of its seventh aircraft at Bergamo by four weeks to Oct. 29. The LCC already had confirmed it was postponing the opening of its Edinburgh base by six weeks to Nov. 5 owing to the strike. Ryanair was scheduled to base two new 737-800s at EDI and two at REU, but these aircraft "are now indefinitely delayed due to a strike by Boeing employees," Deputy CEO Michael Cawley said.
XL Airways UK grounded all flights Friday after its parent company, XL Leisure Group, the UK's third-largest tour operator, was put into administration, leaving an estimated 85,000 passengers stranded abroad. The shutdown was caused by "volatile fuel prices, the economic downturn and [an inability] to obtain further funding," a statement of the joint administrators said on the xl.com website. The administrators added they were not able "to continue trading the business and therefore all flights. . . have been immediately cancelled and the aircraft grounded."
Panasonic Avionics reached agreement with Air France to provide its eX2 IFE 10 777-300ERs, the first of which is slated to enter service in March 2010.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, campaigning ahead of Oct. 14 national elections, said he would favor raising the limit for foreign investment in Canadian airlines to 49% from 25%.
Emirates, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Panasonic Avionics Corp. said they have introduced DVD-quality MPEG-4 digital audio and video media on the Panasonic eX2 IFE system. Panasonic said past IFE systems have used either the higher-compression, lower-quality MPEG-1 or the low-compression, DVD-quality MPEG-2 standards, forcing airlines to choose between larger libraries of lower-quality media or smaller libraries with higher quality.
"It's one small step for mankind," said air traffic services provider Airways New Zealand CEO Ashley Smout following the arrival of Air New Zealand Flight 8, the first "gate-to-gate optimized flight," at San Francisco International Friday. The 777-200ER flight, dubbed ASPIRE 1 (Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions), started in Auckland and consumed 4,600 litres less fuel than normal using a host of strategies to minimize fuel usage. That translated into 12 tons fewer CO2 emissions. ASPIRE is a joint initiative among US FAA, Airways NZ and Airservices Australia.
Alitalia labor unions yesterday continued negotiations on whether to accept a restructuring plan and associated layoffs and new working conditions with the Italian government, AZ Administrator Augusto Fantozzi and representatives from CAI, the group of Italian investors including Air One that reportedly is willing to invest up to €1 billion ($1.4 billion) in an AZ restart.
Thomas Cook Group, TUI Travel and Lufthansa talks regarding a merger of their German carriers Condor, TUIfly and Germanwings are still ongoing and a decision could come soon, according to Thomas Cook Chief Executive Manny Fontenla-Novoa. "Pretty soon we will have to give the Condor staff some certainty," he told Reuters. He said he expects that antitrust authorities will approve the merger, which would create a carrier with 142 aircraft carrying 30 million passengers annually. "The advice that we are getting from lawyers involved is that we will probably get approval," he said.
SkyWorks Leasing arranged the sale of two Frontier Airlines A319s to a special-purpose company affiliated with VTB Leasing, Moscow, for onward lease to Rossiya Airlines.
