United Airlines and Continental Airlines pilots yesterday released a joint statement in which they pledged to "align efforts" as the carriers move toward implementing an operating alliance. UA and CO decided against a merger but instead have announced plans "to cooperate extensively, linking their networks and services worldwide" ( ATWOnline, June 20). Both pilot groups are represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn.
TAP Portugal launched a six-month commercial trial of Mobile OnAir, the Airbus/SITA joint venture's inflight mobile phone and broadband service. Passengers on one TAP A319 will be able to use their PDAs and certain mobile phones to send and receive e-mail, SMS and voice calls. TAP crew will be able to adjust the service to prohibit phone calls.
Continental Airlines said it expects to make a July 11 announcement regarding special charges recorded for the recently completed quarter related to the capacity reductions planned for the second half of this year ( ATWOnline, June 13), plus "other special items" recorded during the second quarter related to gains on the sale of its stake in Copa Holdings and other moves. It is scheduled to release second-quarter earnings on July 17. CO flew 8.63 billion consolidated RPMs in June, a 0.1% slip from the year-ago month.
Southwest Airlines flew 6.88 billion RPMs in June, up 0.7% year-over-year, against a 5.7% increase in capacity to 8.8 billion ASMs. Load factor fell 3.9 points to 78.2%.
American Airlines parent AMR Corp. informed the US Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that it will record a noncash impairment charge of $1.1-$1.2 billion in the second quarter related to the capacity reductions announced in May ( ATWOnline, May 22).
Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines is expected to be the first Chinese mainland carrier to operate a charter flight across the Taiwan Strait Friday, with Taiwan's China Airlines following suit later that day from Taipei to Shanghai.
US FAA was guilty of "serious lapses" in its regulatory oversight of Southwest Airlines, allowing airworthiness directive "noncompliance issues within WN's maintenance program to go undetected for years," leading to repeated violations, the US Dept. of Transportation Inspector General alleged in a scathing report released yesterday. DOT IG Calvin Scovel, whose office is reviewing FAA's safety oversight of US airlines, charged that the agency's inspection office overseeing WN "developed an overly collaborative relationship" with the carrier that led to a "breakdown."
Etihad Airways increased passengers during the first half of 2008 by 41% year-over-year to 2.8 million and said it remains on track to carry 6 million for the full year. Load factor averaged 73%, up 9 points. Its Crystal Cargo division transported more than 127,000 shipments in the first half, up 22%.
Jet Airways said it has gained approval from India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation to serve as the Type Rating Training Organization for its Type Rating Training School, which will enable it to "induct pilots in smaller batches at regular intervals in order to optimize the usage of simulator as well as ground school training facilities. . .[leading to] faster, more-efficient induction of pilots into its workforce to fly its growing fleet."
Alitalia is facing its "last chance" for survival and needs a "complete break" from its past, Chairman Aristide Police told shareholders at the ailing flag carrier's annual meeting last week. "We are facing the last chance and we cannot risk missing it," he said. "We will certainly need to follow new paths which will represent a complete break with the past, abandoning quickly what is unjustifiable and inadequate."
Madrid Aerospace Services, the 50/50 joint venture between Iberia and ST Aerospace, was founded officially, Iberia announced. The Madrid-based facility will maintain A320, A330 and A340 landing gear and complement the current Airbus aircraft maintenance services supplied by Iberia's maintenance division and ST Aerospace. The European Commission cleared creation of the JV last month.
Frontier Airlines promoted Senior VP-Finance Edward Christie III to senior VP and CFO. He joined Frontier in 2002. Swissport International appointed John Batten executive VP-cargo.
Bmi is planning to boost services to Saudi Arabia following a new bilateral agreement providing for an increase in weekly flights between the UK and Saudi Arabia to 35. "Bmi intends to take full advantage of the opportunity this provides and will seek to add to its existing services from Heathrow to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam," it said. Porter Airlines yesterday began operating daily flights from Quebec City to both Halifax and Toronto City Centre aboard Q400s.
Qantas Group unveiled an overhauled Qantas Frequent Flyer program, offering its more than 5 million members the option of using points to book any seat on any Qantas or Jetstar Airways flight. Qantas Frequent Flyer CEO Simon Hickey said the enhanced program combines a range of new and expanded benefits with the more traditional fixed points redemption option that has been available for many years.
Servair acquired Abidjan Catering as part of its international development strategy to strengthen its leadership position on the African continent. The French catering and aircraft cleaning services provider has now nine units in Africa.
FlyYeti.com, the low-cost joint venture between Air Arabia and Yeti Airlines operating out of Kathmandu, will suspend operations on July 16 owing to what it called "difficult operating conditions in Nepal and a presently opaque regulatory environment" and political conditions that made it impossible to guarantee the renewal of aircraft operating leases that expire this month.
Lufthansa was hit yesterday morning at airports around Germany by strikes by ground staff and cabin crew who are members of the ver.di union. It canceled 44 European and domestic flights and delayed 30 long-haul flights. Operations at Frankfurt, Nurnberg, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne and Hamburg were affected. An LH spokesperson told ATWOnline that more cancellations could follow for operational reasons and that the airline cannot rule out further actions by ver.di in the coming days. The union said 3,000 employees joined the strike over pay increases.
Alenia Aeronautica said yesterday that it successfully completed destructive testing on the 787's horizontal stabilizer in Naples with Boeing engineers and US FAA and EASA representatives on hand.
Lufthansa, including its Swiss International Air Lines subsidiary, has become continental Europe's biggest North Atlantic carrier despite its reluctance to take quick advantage of open skies, flying 22 nonstop routes between Germany/Switzerland and North America.
British Airways is retreating from its position that BAA should be broken up ( ATWOnline, March 12), according to a letter the carrier sent to the UK Competition Commission that was obtained by The Independent. BA wrote that it now is "concerned that ownership separation may prove counterproductive in so far as it diverts BAA management attention away from expansion of runway capacity or creates uncertainty around the status of government policy, thereby jeopardizing construction of a new runway at Heathrow.
Rockwell Collins reached agreement with Xiamen Airlines to provide a suite of avionics for 12 737NGs with an option for 25 more. Technology includes WXR-2100 MultiScan Hazard Detection System aimed at reducing pilot workload and enhancing safety. Deliveries are scheduled to begin next year and continue through 2013.
Boeing reached a deal with Japan Airlines to equip current and future 777s with Class 3 EFBs following a validation trial that began last year. Two 777s have been operating with the EFBs since June 2007 and JAL expects to take delivery of three EFB-equipped -300ERs this year. Retrofit kit installation will begin in April 2009 and completion is slated for late 2011.
Travelport plans to roll out its new travel agency desktop in early 2009 with a number of "wow factors," including access to the Sabre and, eventually, Amadeus GDSs.
CAE's robust success in securing full-flight simulator deals became ever more apparent recently as it received orders for FFSs and related Simfinity training devices valued at more than C$56 million ($56.6 million) from Aeroflot, Ansett Aviation Training, Skymark Airlines and a JV company that owns 50% of CAE's training center in Bangalore. So far in FY09 CAE has announced 10 FFS sales.
