Investigators examining the decompression explosion onboard a Qantas 747-400 last Friday found that a part from the suspect and missing oxygen bottle No. 4 burst into the aircraft's cabin and moved an exit door handle ( ATWOnline, July 29)."There was never any danger of the door opening," Australian Transport Safety Bureau Director Julian Walsh told media. ATSB investigators have focused on the oxygen bottles in the aircraft's forward cargo compartment as the culprit in the explosion, which tore a 1-sq.-m.
Airbus parent EADS reported first-half net income of €403 million ($632.7 million), a better-than-fivefold increase over a €71 million profit in the year-ago period, but said that owing to the declining value of the US dollar it will unveil a revamped restructuring plan later this year called Power8Plus.
Aircraft Leasing & Management was contracted by Air Mauritius to remarket two A319-112s powered by CFM56-5B6/Ps. Aircraft will be offered for lease for up to three years.
Aeroflot will not bid for Austrian Airlines, the Russian carrier said yesterday. "The risks outweigh the reward," an SU spokesperson told Reuters. The OS board this week approved the privatization of the carrier and is waiting on a decision from the government, which controls holding company OIAG ( ATWOnline, July 30).
Frontier Airlines entered into a letter of intent to sell six of its 47 A319s to VTB Leasing, which will place the aircraft with Rossiya. The parties previously had agreed to the transfer of two A319s and two A318s ( ATWOnline, March 24). The revised agreement calls for VTB to purchase the six A319s next month. Frontier said it also has reached an agreement "on other sale/leaseback transactions that further supplement its liquidity positions." The transactions are worth approximately $80 million to the airline, it said.
Menzies Aviation has been selected by six Star Alliance carriers as their new ground handling company at London Heathrow. The deal, reached through a joint tender, was prompted by Star's Move Under One Roof initiative at LHR's Terminal 1. Star said it expects combined annual savings of at least €1 million. Deal enters effect Oct. 1 and covers Austrian, Croatia Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and TAP Portugal. Menzies will handle check-in, ticketing, special services and select ramp provisioning.
Lufthansa Group yesterday released details of its second-quarter performance, confirming both the €345 million ($541.6 million) profit that fell 21.2% year-to-year and the significant contributions of its Swiss International Air Lines subsidiary. Group revenue rose 20% to €6.47 billion and operating profit slipped 6.2% to €530 million from €565 million in the second quarter of 2007.
Philippine Airlines posted a profit of $30.6 million in its fiscal year ended March 31, down 76.6% from the $130.5 million earned in the previous 12 month period. Still, PAL called it a "noteworthy result in the escalating-fuel-price environment that has battered the aviation industry since last year." It is the restructured carrier's fourth consecutive full-year profit. Operating revenue rose 15% to $1.46 billion and expenses were up 14.9% to $1.37 billion. Operating profit increased 19.9% to $84.3 million from $70.3 million. The 2006-07 net result was boosted by special gains.
Surging revenue and relatively successful efforts to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices helped boost LAN Airlines to a $47.2 million profit in the second quarter, up 10.7% from the $42.6 million reported in the year-ago period. It said its "strong first-half performance provides a solid base for long-term growth and profitability. As a consequence, LAN is in a position to plan for capacity expansion in response to growth opportunities, while leveraging opportunities to improve its cost performance."
WestJet reported second-quarter net income of C$30.2 million ($29.5 million), up 161.4% from an C$11.5 million profit in the year-ago period, on a 23.6% lift in revenue to C$616 million. The Calgary-based LCC conceded that last year's quarterly results were affected by one-time costs associated with scrapping installation of the aiRES reservation system; excluding those charges, second-quarter 2007 income was C$33.7 million. This year's result represented a 10.4% earnings decrease excluding special charges.
United Airlines yesterday filed a federal lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against the Air Line Pilots Assn., which the carrier claimed has engaged "in deliberate, organized and unlawful job actions" that have resulted in "hundreds" of flight cancellations. UA claimed the union and four specific pilots participated in "organized sick leave abuse in opposition to the company's plan to reduce its fleet size and furlough pilots" and to pressure the company to reopen collective bargaining negotiations.
LTU brand will disappear after more than 50 years in the aviation industry. Founded in 1955, the Dusseldorf-based carrier was acquired by Air Berlin last year ( ATWOnline, Aug. 9, 2007). "It is easier to concentrate on a single brand, Air Berlin," CEO Joachim Hunold told German magazine Wirtschaftswoche. The change will not be immediate as some bilateral agreements, like those with Mexico and Thailand, still require aircraft to wear the LTU livery.
OpenSkies will change the configuration of its 757s operating from Paris Orly and Amsterdam to New York JFK into a two-class cabin ( ATWOnline, July 29) with 40 seats in its Prem+ class and 24 in Biz. The 30 economy seats will be removed to enable expansion of Prem+ from 28 seats. Biz offers 180-deg. lie-flat beds and 73 in. of legroom whereas Prem+ seats feature a 140-deg. recline and 52-in. pitch. Following reconfiguration, scheduled to be introduced Oct.
American Airlines and El Al announced an expanded codeshare agreement effective Sept. 2 that will connect passengers from an additional 25 North American cities with the Israeli carrier's network. El Al currently serves New York JFK, Newark, Los Angeles and Toronto with 22 weekly flights. It said it is "the most comprehensive and far reaching agreement" it has with any foreign carrier. US Airways launched daily Charlotte-Montreal aboard a Republic Airlines E-175.
Michael Levine, a former executive with multiple carriers who is considered a principal architect of US airline deregulation, strongly rejected calls for "re-regulation" during a speech before the International Aviation Club in Washington yesterday, arguing that the industry "will need the kind of innovation and flexibility that government regulation would impede" in order to survive the fuel cost crisis.
Oneworld partners British Airways and Iberia yesterday confirmed that the boards of both carriers "unanimously" support negotiations "with a view to an all-share merger between the two companies."
Serbian government yesterday announced a tender for 51% of Jat Airways, the Associated Press reported. Buyers must be registered in Serbia or the EU and have until July 31 to submit a bid for the stake, which may rise to 75% following negotiations with the winner. Jat's assets are valued at €162.6 million ($255.7 million) and its debt is €247.4 million, according to the tender ( ATWOnline, July 21).
AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings reported a net loss of $13.5 million for the second quarter, reversed from a profit of $42.1 million in the year-ago period, saying the "loss is primarily attributable to the effects of record high fuel costs."
Republic Airways reached agreement with Delta Air Lines for the removal of its final 11 37-seat ERJ-135s from service effective Sept. 30. Aircraft originally were scheduled to be removed at a rate of two per month between November 2008 and April 2009. Revised agreement provides for three aircraft to be removed tomorrow and four on both Aug. 31 and Sept. 30. Republic will operate two additional E-170s for DL during the spring and summer of 2009. The 11 ERJ-135s will be sold by October 2009, the regional said.
Lufthansa Group yesterday reported a €402 million ($632.1 million) first-half net profit, implying a robust €345 million second-quarter return that represented a 21.2% decline from the €438 million earned in the year-ago quarter. The company earned €992 million in the first half of 2007, a figure that was fueled by large nonoperating gains related to the sale of its Thomas Cook stake.
Delta Air Lines yesterday doubled its fee for checking a second bag for domestic flights to $50 for tickets purchased from tomorrow for travel on or after Aug. 5. "As fuel costs remain at record levels, Delta believes revising the fee structure for excess bags and specialty items is essential," the carrier stated.
Austrian Airlines Group, which yesterday reported an €11.7 million ($18.4 million) second-quarter profit that represented a 51.9% increase from the €7.7 million earned in the year-ago period, asked the government to grant quick approval for divestment of state holding company OIAG's 42.75% stake in the flag carrier, freeing it to pursue a strategic equity partnership.
Jet Airways reported a INR1.43 billion ($33.7 million) profit in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30, more than four times the INR309 million earned in the year-ago period. Revenue rose 46.2% to INR28.99 billion as passenger numbers climbed 18% to 3.2 million. The Indian carrier's domestic operation posted a INR5.02 billion pre-tax profit, nearly four times greater than the INR1.31 billion reported last year, while internationally the company suffered a pre-tax loss of INR2.83 billion, widened from an INR817 million deficit in the June 2007 quarter.
