Lufthansa A320 with 107 passengers onboard collided with a Futura International Airways 737-800 carrying 180 passengers on a Manchester taxiway yesterday, damaging both aircraft but causing no injuries. The A320 was preparing for a takeoff to Frankfurt while the 737 was scheduled to depart for Tenerife. Neither aircraft apparently was traveling at a high speed. A Manchester Airport spokesperson told Agence France Press that "the planes were taxiing towards the runway when the Futura plane touched the wingtip of the Lufthansa plane. .
Southwest Airlines flew 6.89 billion RPMs in July, down 2.3% year-over-year. Capacity rose 4.3% to 9.03 billion ASMs, dropping load factor 5.1 points to 76.3%.
Delta Air Lines notified Mesa Air Group that it is terminating the contract under which MAG subsidiary Freedom Air operates seven CRJ900s, alleging that Freedom has failed to maintain specified operational performance outlined in the contract. The timeline for the cancellation was not disclosed. Mesa believes the decision to cut its flying is part of DL's ongoing effort to reduce capacity. Others suggest the move could be in preparation for its planned merger with Northwest Airlines and a possible consolidation of regional airline operations.
AirAsia X scotched reports that it is contemplating charging passengers based on their weight. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the airline confirmed it would consider using a weigh-in system only to calculate how much additional cargo could be carried onboard, not for the purpose of increasing individual airfares. "The only reason why we would weigh passengers is to help determine the overall weight of the aircraft," Australia GM Darren Wright told the paper.
Los Angeles International defended itself against claims that it will not be ready for the A380 by the time Qantas intends to fly there on Oct. 20. QF Senior Executive VP-Americas and Pacific Wally Mariani told Jane's that the carrier would not tolerate passengers having to exit aircraft at remote gates and would relocate all operations to San Francisco if necessary. In response, an LAX spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald that QF executives visited the airport last week and praised the progress made on the approximately $670 million renovation project.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports, has taken up the cause against slot auctions and yesterday announced its intention to "disallow flight departure or arrival slots that are issued by auction or similar process."
Air Arabia reported an AED82 million ($22.3 million) second-quarter profit, up 14% from the AED71.7 million announced in the year-ago period, a result it said "demonstrate[ed] continued superior performance and ongoing organic growth." Revenue soared 79% to AED487 million.
BAA launched legal action against Ryanair to force it to pay the increase in airport charges at London Stansted that was applied from April 1, The Irish Times reported. The suit is part of a lengthy dispute between the airport operator and the LCC over charges and BAA's expansion plans at STN. In April, Ryanair wrote to BAA saying it would be withholding the 7% charge increase pending a judicial review. EasyJet also threatened to withhold payments to BAA after it raised takeoff and landing fees at Gatwick ( ATWOnline, April 16).
News from Travel Technology Update: Kayak.com stopped displaying American Airlines' fares in search results after the two companies clashed over how Kayak and its subsidiary, SideStep.com, refer consumers to sites for booking American flights. American wanted Kayak to direct consumers only to its own site for booking its flights. Kayak, however, shows results from Priceline, Expedia, Travelocity and other third-party sites, and it refused to suppress those options for American flights.
Menzies Aviation reached a deal with Virgin America to provide ramp handling and cabin cleaning services at Seattle. It already handles VX at Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Malev Hungarian Airlines said it will remove five 737s from its fleet during the winter schedule and lease them to other carriers. It will not remove any European or Middle Eastern destinations from its network, but the fleet rationalization, which includes the previously announced grounding of its two 767s and the suspension of its North American service ( ATWOnline, July 25), will result in the layoff of approximately 250 active employees and a further 150 "in a legal working relationship" with the company, or 21.6% of the workforce.
Air One selected GE's CF6-80E1 to power its new 12 firm and eight option A330s ( ATWOnline, June 5). The firm engine order is valued at more than $480 million at list prices. Deliveries will begin in 2010. The Italian carrier also signed a 15-year OnPoint Solution agreement for maintenance and overhaul of the new CF6-80E1s as well as its leased CF6-80E1-powered A330s. The OnPoint agreement is valued at more than $250 million over the life of the contract. AP launched flights from Milan-Malpensa to Chicago O'Hare and Boston in June.
TRAX USA said Azul Brazilian Airlines will implement its MRO solution EVO featuring advanced production, materials and technical records functionalities.
Frontier Airlines said a group of three unsecured creditors comprising Republic Airways Holdings, Credit Suisse Securities and AQR Capital has offered to invest up to $75 million in an effort to shore up the bankrupt carrier's finances. Frontier President and CEO Sean Menke described the debtor-in-possession financing offer as a "tremendous vote of confidence in our company and our business plan.
British Airways said last week that it has ordered six new 777-300ERs for delivery beginning in 2010. Boeing issued a statement Friday saying it is "pleased that [BA] has reinforced its longstanding relationship with Boeing by agreeing to purchase Boeing 777-300ERs for its long-haul fleet" and that it "looks forward to finalizing the contractual details of [BA's] selection."
Asiana Airlines suffered a KRW19.2 billion ($18.9 million) loss in the second quarter, reversed from a KRW38 billion profit in the year-ago period as rising fuel costs proved decisive. Gross revenue rose 20.8% year-over-year to KRW1.04 trillion but operating expenses climbed 30.2% to KRW919.8 billion. Operating income fell to a KRW17.9 billion loss from a KRW20.6 billion profit in the second quarter of 2007.
In an unprecedented move, Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority launched a two-week special audit of Qantas, which said it welcomed the move, hoping to put an end to the publicity that has resulted from incidents it labeled as largely normal, everyday airline events.
Royal Jordanian reported a net loss of "around" JOD3.1 million ($4.4 million) in the first half of 2008, widened from a deficit of JOD1.9 million in the year-ago semester. It said the result was "much better than the losses estimated in the budget. . .despite the soaring jet fuel prices that the company had to pay for this year." Operating revenue rose 33% year-on-year to JOD315 million on a 21% increase in passengers to 1.2 million. RJ credited its "efforts to market sales, improve product and offer distinguished onboard services" for the increase.
JetBlue Airways yesterday began offering a take-home pillow and blanket kit for $7 each on flights longer than 2 hr. Kit includes a $5 retail coupon and features an "eco-friendly" plush pillow and fleece blanket created by CleanBrands of Rhode Island.
Lufthansa and the ver.di union, which conducted strike actions throughout Germany last week, reached a deal on a pay raise for some 34,000 ground employees.
S7 Airlines will launch daily flights from Ekaterinburg to Sochi (weekly from Aug. 5 aboard a Tu-154) and Moscow Domodedovo (daily from Sept. 2 aboard an A319). S7 said it is planning to serve Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg from Ekaterinburg as well. It also will place its code on Belavia Belarusian Airlines' twice-daily Minsk-DME.
The most aggressive expansion program in airline history was launched when the first of Emirates' 58 A380s flew from Dubai to New York JFK as EK3801, the first of a series of commercial flight trials. Pushback came about two years and 2 min. late at 11:02 a.m., but passengers still appeared plenty excited by the images on their seatback video screens that showed the giant jet lifting effortlessly into the sky from the vantage point of a camera mounted atop the tail.
TAM took delivery of two A319s and two A320s last week, along with an additional A320 on lease and two leased 767-300s. Its fleet now comprises 116 aircraft (17 A319s, 76 A320s, three A321s, 12 A330s, two A340s, two 767-300s, three MD-11s and one F100). It intends to operate 123 aircraft at year end. It will take two more A330s and four 777-300ERs that will replace its MD-11s.
Gategroup, parent company of Gate Gourmet and 10 other subsidiaries, promoted President Guy Dubois to CEO effective Sept. 1. He succeeds David Siegel, who will remain chairman.
