Hawaiian Airlines decided against acquiring a 767 to which it committed in an April letter of intent, citing "a delay in the date that the aircraft was to be in service and an uncertain economic environment." Converting the aircraft to HA's operating certificate would have delayed its introduction until the fourth quarter. The current owner of the aircraft was not revealed. HA still plans to acquire four additional 717-200s this fall.
ARINC will renew and upgrade its GLOBALink data link communications contract with Spirit Airlines for five more years. Integrated flight applications are expected to streamline operations.
TAM took delivery of two 174-seat A320s, bringing its fleet to 108 aircraft (15 A319s, 73 A320s, three A321s, 12 A330s, two A340s and three MD-11s). It plans to operate 123 aircraft at year end, adding two A330s, four 777-300ERs and two 767-300ERs ( ATWOnline, June 25).
Claiming it has a "much different story to tell today than our competitors," Southwest Airlines yesterday unveiled a schedule adjustment that will see it add a net nine roundtrip flights to its network.
Lufthansa Group airlines flew 13.61 billion RPKs in May, up 27.1% year-over-over. Capacity increased at the same rate to 17.33 billion ASKs, leaving load factor level at 78.6%.
US Dept. of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics Office of Airline Information yesterday rejected a request by Virgin America for confidential treatment of financial, traffic and O&D survey data filed with BTS. The airline, which commenced service last August, had withheld filing financial and traffic information for the fourth quarter of 2007 and first quarter of 2008 pending the decision. It has 10 days to appeal.
Boeing reached agreement with Caribbean Airlines to manage spare parts and components inventory under its Component Services Program. Contract guarantees replacements for failed parts within 24 hr. and is expected to reduce inventory, repair and administrative costs.
Flow International signed a multimillion-dollar contract with Airbus to manufacture and install multiple Composite Machining Center abrasive waterjet and routing machine tool systems for A350s. CMC systems will be used to cut wings, fuselage, wing spars, keel beam and other parts.
Air China said it will purchase 20 A330s valued at $3.82 billion, according to a statement obtained by several news services that the carrier issued yesterday to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Airbus did not confirm the order. CA said the aircraft will boost its capacity by 16.5% and allow it to increase flight frequencies from Beijing, according to Bloomberg. The airline will use cash, bank loans and debt instruments to pay for the aircraft. Delivery dates were not disclosed.
Qantas said it is experiencing strong forward bookings from the US for its Melbourne-Los Angeles A380 service set to launch on Oct. 20. It has configured its A380 for just 450 passengers with 14 seats in first class, 72 in business, 32 in premium economy and 332 in economy. A Qantas spokesperson told the Australian Associated Press that US sales, which began June 16, are progressing. "Our forward bookings are positive for the US market on both our 747s and the A380," the spokesperson said.
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes received permission to complete its acquisition of VRG (formerly Varig) "with no restrictions" from the Brazilian Administrative Board for Economic Defense, the final agency from which it needed to gain approval for the transaction. It appears that the two carriers will continue to operate separately, but Gol President and CEO Constantino de Oliveira Jr. said the ruling "will allow us to consolidate our investments and improve synergies between the airlines' operations. . .
The US and Brazil yesterday announced an enhanced air services agreement that will provide for a nearly 50% increase in passenger flights between the countries while eliminating restrictions on the number of airlines that can fly the routes. "This agreement will help air carriers meet the growing demand for passenger and cargo services between the US and Brazil," US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said. "Now more than ever, it is crucial that we give US carriers every possible opportunity to compete and succeed wherever passengers want to fly."
Air France KLM, Cathay Pacific Airways, Martinair and SAS Group all reached agreement with the US Dept. of Justice to plead guilty in US court and pay criminal fines "for participating in a multiyear conspiracy to fix prices for air cargo rates," DOJ said yesterday.
AerCap Holdings said it closed a $1 billion aircraft securitization through Aircraft Lease Securitisation II Ltd. The deal will provide "long-term nonrecourse funding" for 30 new A320 family aircraft, according to the company. The jets are part of a 70-aircraft order placed by AerVenture Ltd., AerCap's joint venture with two Kuwait-based partners, LoadAir and Al Fawares.
Frontier Airlines is bracing for another round of cuts, with plans to reduce capacity 17% from September to March 2009, the Associated Press reported. The carrier, which declared bankruptcy in April, will cut seven more Airbus narrowbodies from its fleet on top of the four A318s/A319s it agreed to sell in the spring ( ATWOnline, March 24). Prior to the sale of those aircraft, it operated a fleet of 60 A318s/A319s. Its regional subsidiary Lynx operates 10 Q400s.
Embraer launched a new Internet portal, www.flyembraer.com, where customers will be able to access technical and engineering documents, retrieve information on parts and track orders.
China's new turboprop aircraft, the MA600 (an enhanced version of the MA60), is scheduled to roll out in Xi'an on Sunday. The MA600 was designed to optimize the MA60's structure and avionics system as well as improve its cabin interior. To date, the 50/60-seat MA60 has received 122 orders from Asia, Latin America and Africa, with seven aircraft delivered since 2005.
Lufthansa yesterday said it still expects its 2008 operating profit to match the €1.38 billion ($2.15 billion) reported in 2007 despite an economic environment that "represent[s] a considerable challenge for the airline industry." It expects fuel costs to reach approximately €5.6 billion this year but is confident "that the demand for mobility will continue to increase and that despite fluctuations air traffic will carry on growing." It said "efficiency gains" and cost cuts, along with surcharges, will soften the fuel impact and that increasing partnerships with other carrie
United Airlines flew 9.8 billion RPMs in May, down 4.1% year-over-year, against a 1.7% decline in capacity to 11.87 billion ASMs. Load factor slipped 2 points to 82.6%. US Airways Group consolidated passenger RASM rose 2%-4% in May compared to the year-ago month. Consolidated traffic grew 0.3% to 5.58 billion against a 0.1% fall in ASMs to 6.83 billion. Load factor was up 0.3 point to 81.8%.
The European Commission yesterday adopted the second package of legislation for a Single European Sky, which it said would eliminate up to 16 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions (a 10% improvement per flight) and save airlines approximately €2.4 million per year.
Smiths Detection announced the launch of a handheld vapor detector "for volatile chemicals commonly used in homemade bombs." According to Smiths, the Sabre EXV uses ion mobility spectrometry to "detect and identify explosive substances including peroxide-based chemicals" similar to those used by attempted shoe bomber Richard Reid "in as little as 10 seconds."
IATA yesterday identified 11 additional countries as "ready for e-freight," signaling a potential major expansion of trials that aim to demonstrate the feasibility of "paperless" air cargo. New nations are US, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, UAE (Dubai), Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark and Norway. Current e-freight trials, in which a portion of airfreight on key trade lanes travels without much of the paper documentation usually accompanying cargo, are taking place at airports in Canada, Sweden, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Netherlands.
ALAFCO reached a deal with Saudi Arabian Airlines for the sale and lease of 17 aircraft for delivery from 2009 through 2015, the Arab Air Carriers Org. reported. Agreement comprises the sale of eight 787-9s worth $1.6 billion, the 12-year lease of an additional four -9s and eight-year leases on five A320-200s. Separately, Saudi Arabian and Singapore Airlines signed a marketing and cooperation MOU under which they will explore codesharing, schedule coordination, loyalty program linkups and cargo and marketing coordination.
Air Berlin is reconsidering its acquisition of Condor Airlines from Thomas Cook, CEO Joachim Hunold said at AB's annual shareholder meeting this week, according to Reuters. The deal was announced last fall. "Because of the significant delays in the approval process and the changing economic circumstances, we are currently examining whether the Condor transaction is still sensible," Hunold said. AB was scheduled to acquire 75.1% of Condor next February and the remaining share in February 2010.
