Thai Airways board approved the acquisition of 20 A321-200s and said it has made "progress" in negotiations with Airbus. The purchase now requires government approval. The 179-seat aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2012-17.
Boeing 'eating margin' on revised 787 schedule, cites brake system complications Active Airbus agrees to sell 23 A320s to Aviation Capital Group, firms previous MOUs Bombardier partners with AVIC I for CSeries fuselage GE, Safran to create nacelle joint venture IAE books more than $1.7 billion in engine sales Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. targets 2011 for MRJ first flight
Etihad Airways orders 100 aircraft from Boeing, Airbus worth combined $21 billion Startup LCC FlyDubai orders 50 737-800s, plans mid-2009 launch Saudi Arabian Airlines orders eight A330-300s Boeing's Carson remains confident despite fuel cost crisis Russia's United Aircraft Corp. seeks to become player in civil aircraft sector Boeing 'delighted' at new engine activity for 737 successor Austria's Niki orders five E-190s
United Airlines and the International Assn. of Machinists reached agreement on a voluntary separation program that will be available for up to 400 customer service and ramp employees aged at least 45 and with 15 years of service. UA last month announced plans to cut 1,400-1,600 jobs through 2009 ( ATWOnline, June 5).
Midwest Airlines and its Skyway subsidiary will reduce the workforce by 40%, equal to approximately 1,200 employees, as a result of its decision to remove its MD-80s from service this fall and in anticipation of "other schedule adjustments to be announced," it said yesterday.
US FAA said it will award a contract this fall to install Runway Safety Lights at 20 additional airports across the country over the next three years. RSLs, which warn pilots when it is unsafe to cross or enter a runway, are being tested at Dallas/Fort Worth and San Diego and will be installed at Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, DFW, Denver, Detroit, Washington Dulles, Fort Lauderdale, Houston Intercontinental, New York JFK, New York LaGuardia, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St.
Virgin Blue shares climbed yesterday after majority shareholder Toll Holdings, an Australian logistics company, announced its long-awaited disposal of its 62.7% majority stake in Virgin Blue Holdings. Toll will distribute 98.3% of its stake in Blue to Toll shareholders by way of a special dividend, while Blue shareholders will benefit from the significantly increased liquidity in Virgin Blue shares.
Air Berlin said it received permission from German authorities to carry out test flights using its satellite-supported Ground Based Augmentation System installed on 737NGs delivered since June 2007. GBAS approaches will be used alongside standard ILS in Berlin and Malaga. AB said it is the only European airline using GBAS.
Boeing said it realized considerable reductions in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions with its Tailored Arrivals ATM concept, which is based on continuous descent approaches. It said TA approaches can reduce 777 fuel consumption by 34% (1,303 lb.) per approach and by 39% (2,292 lb.) for 747s, according to findings from flights evaluated at San Francisco from Dec. 4, 2007, to March 23, 2008.
ANA will install Airline Partners Boeing blended winglets on its 16 767-300ERs beginning April 1, 2009, as part of a three-year plan to cut CO2 emissions. ANA expects to increase efficiency 5% and save 2,100 tonnes of CO2 per year per aircraft.
Goodrich extended its landing gear overhaul agreement with Continental Airlines to cover 737NG, 767 and 777 aircraft in addition to the 757-200s and 737s already under contract. Addendum is expected to generate $49 million in revenue over five years. Work will take place in Opa-Locka, Fla.
Continental Airlines said it will report a $22 million special gain when it announces its second-quarter results Thursday. The gain is the result of a variety of special items. CO took a $58 million charge representing impairment charges recorded for owned aircraft and related spare parts, including a $51 million writedown in the value of its 737-300/-500 aircraft and related assets ( ATWOnline, June 6).
Air Macau has become another victim of surging oil prices and is clinging to survival as it awaits help from parent Air China Group. According to China Business News, the Macau carrier posted a net loss in excess of MOP200 million ($24.6 million) in the first six months of this year, more than half of its registered capital of MOP400 million.
Republic Airways Holdings will cut 10% of its employees, or 500, "in response to changing market conditions and expected reductions in its small jet contract flying," it said Friday. It said cuts will take place over the next several months and that "a portion will occur through normal attrition." Chairman, President and CEO Bryan Bedford said the reductions "reflect our response to the actions our network partners are taking to reduce the size of their domestic hub operations in light of sustained, high fuel prices.
Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline at last week's Star Alliance meeting in Cairo that "we face heavy headwinds and will have a very close look at capacity for the coming winter schedule," with several options for reductions already available should demand weaken. "Thanks to our writeoff policy [after 12 years aircraft are written off the balance sheet], we can ground in a worst-case scenario up to 80 aircraft without suffering cash losses in terms of leasing contracts," Mayrhuber said. LH owns 80% of its fleet.
CAAC reported that Chinese carriers transported 14.2 million passengers in June, down 3.8% from the year-ago month, while cargo traffic declined 0.8% to 321,000 tonnes.
Lufthansa Systems said Air Berlin and LTU recently standardized flight planning for short- and long-haul fleets with its Lido Operations Center solution. Technology features flight planning and optimization capabilities expected to reduce fuel burn.
Bombardier launches CSeries with 'letter of interest' from Lufthansa for 30 plus 30 options CFM launches LEAP-X engine program for 37/A320 successor Qatar, Etihad considered most likely to place major orders this week GE, Safran extend CFM partnership until 2040 Embraer braced for new opportunity as industry grapples with fuel costs Additional Stories
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. announced Friday that its second-quarter financial result, expected to be revealed July 22, will be impacted by $2.6-$2.7 billion in noncash accounting charges. Up to $2.2-$2.3 billion is related to impairment of goodwill. "Following an evaluation of the carrying value of the company's goodwill pursuant to FAS 142, the company has concluded that the entire value of goodwill on its books has to be written off," UAL said.
Aerolineas Argentinas' future ownership structure, agreed to earlier this year, has been cast in doubt and Argentina's government reportedly is considering a full nationalization of the carrier. Spanish tourism and transport giant Grupo Marsans announced in May that it had agreed to lower its holding in AR from 95% to 35% so the government could raise its stake from 5% to 20%, airline employees could take 10% and Argentine private investors could hold the rest.
VEM Maintenance & Engineering reached agreement with TAM for maintenance of 767-300 components across its fleet. Contract includes provisioning of exchange and repair components including APUs, landing gears, avionics, pneumatics and hydromechanical systems.
Cathay Pacific Airways said the "first stage of its redeployment of services driven by the continuing rise in fuel prices" will comprise four new weekly Hong Kong-Dubai-Bahrain frequencies and a new four-times-weekly HKG-Riyadh beginning Oct. 1. On Sept. 16 it will reduce HKG-Vancouver to 17 weekly flights from 21 and discontinue its thrice-weekly HKG-Anchorage-Toronto, replacing it with daily HKG-YYZ. With the start of the winter schedule, flights to Auckland will increase to 14-times-weekly from 10.
Dublin Airport was operating at 80% capacity Friday following days of disruptions owing to a fault in the radar system. "The cause of the problem with the ATC system has been identified and a comprehensive system evaluation process by the suppliers, Thales ATM, is ongoing," the Irish Aviation Authority said in a statement.
