ALAFCO announced the sale of five new A320-200s to Aref Logistics for $325 million. Aircraft will be operated by charter subsidiaries in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.
Brussels Airlines CEO and MD Philippe Vander Putten resigned "due to divergences of view concerning the repartition of roles at the top of the company," the carrier announced yesterday. All parties were "in full agreement," SN said. CFO Michel Meyfroidt (operations, finance, administration and human resources) and consultant Bernard Gustin (strategic, commercial, network, communications and IT) were appointed MDs and will head the management committee running the airline effective June 11. Meyfroidt will chair the committee.
The new union representing US Airways pilots filed suit against a group of fellow pilots originally with America West Airlines charging that they have engaged in harassment, extortion, racketeering and other illegal activities.
Spirit Airlines employees were notified that the low-fare carrier could be headed for hundreds of layoffs in the next two months as it struggles with soaring fuel costs, according to a report in The Miami Herald. Letters went out Saturday to union leaders indicating that up to 60% of flight attendants (448) and 45% of pilots (242) could be out of work by Aug. 1 as the airline closes its New York LaGuardia and San Juan bases and scales back its operation in Fort Lauderdale.
Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali took over as IATA chairman yesterday succeeding TAP Portugal CEO Fernando Pinto. He will serve one year and said the agenda "has extraordinary challenges. Change must be even more aggressive." IATA's board of governors announced that Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler will succeed Majali in June 2009, when the AGM will take place in Kuala Lumpur. Midwest Airlines COO Joseph Kolshak resigned after four months on the job, according to widespread press reports.
Clickair and Vueling Airlines shareholders likely will produce an MOU in the coming weeks that will trigger the merger of the two Barcelona-based LCCs, Iberia Chairman and CEO Fernando Conte told ATWOnline during the IATA AGM in Istanbul.
Shanghai Airlines expects a turnaround this year "as long as the rising oil price doesn't get out of control," VP Chen Zhuofu told ATWOnline yesterday at the IATA AGM in Istanbul. "Our cargo subsidiary will narrow its loss by a big margin this year, which definitely will relieve our operating pressure," Chen explained. Shanghai Airlines Cargo International, launched in July 2006, was cited as one of main drivers of SAL's CNY497.6 million ($71.7 million) loss in 2007 ( ATWOnline, April 29).
Sunwing Airlines will operate twice-weekly Los Angeles-Vancouver from Nov. 15 through April 2009. Japan Airlines yesterday began placing its code on twice-daily British Airways flights between London Heathrow and Manchester and from Aug. 14 will place its code on Vietnam Airlines' four-times-weekly Hanoi-Nagoya service.
ExpressJet Holdings, which rejected a takeover offer from SkyWest Inc. in April ( ATWOnline, April 28), said it will return to the bargaining table to seek a new capacity purchase agreement with Continental Airlines. The renegotiation is part of a "full range of strategic" alternatives ExpressJet said it would consider when it rejected the SkyWest approach. It also will seek stockholder approval to issue additional common stock. The company announced last month that it will cut capacity by an estimated 30% until Nov.
Aeromexico reached a labor agreement with ASSA, which represents nearly 1,500 cabin staff, including a 4.5% salary increase and concessions allowing the airline "to have access to greater crew availability," it said. The union had threatened to strike and the deal was reached "after several days of intense negotiations," AM said last weekend.
Sun Country Airlines will lease an additional 737-700 for use "during its busy summer travel season" and said it will recall pilots impacted by its April furloughs ( ATWOnline, April 15). Lessor was unidentified.
IBS Software reached agreement with Oman Air to provide its AvientCrew and AvientFleet technology to streamline crew rostering, tracking and fleet management processes. Technology features decision support, cost optimization and advanced scheduling capabilities.
Air France KLM Chairman and CEO Jean-Cyril Spinetta said the company remains very keen on participating in European consolidation, but he denied rumors the group is looking at acquiring Austrian Airlines.
Delta Air Lines will slash at least 3,000 people from its payroll following a larger-than-anticipated response to the voluntary severance offers it announced in March, when it said it was targeting 1,300 front-line and 700 administrative job cuts ( ATWOnline, March 19). "We'll be working through plans to ensure our operations are covered and there could be future hiring for operational needs, depending on capacity needed," DL told the Associated Press.
Kenya Airways reported a net profit for its fiscal year ended March 31 of KES3.87 billion ($60.7 million), down 5.6% from KES4.1 billion earned in the prior year, a drop it attributed to political violence in the country during the final quarter following a disputed election in late December.
The world's airlines are facing an "extraordinary crisis" brought on by soaring fuel prices and slowing traffic growth that has the potential to transcend aviation and impact the global economy, IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani told the almost 900 delegates and media at the organization's 64th Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Istanbul.
Airbus selected Diehl Stiftung & Co. and Thales as the preferred bidder for its Laupheim site ( ATWOnline, May 15). Airbus and Diehl/Thales will enter into negotiations toward arriving at a final sales agreement. Thales and Diehl already are partnered in Diehl Aerospace, an aircraft component and systems supplier formed in 2000. Diehl holds 51% of that venture and Thales 49%. The selection "also includes A350 XWB cabin work-packages for Laupheim," according to Airbus.
China Southern Airlines signed a framework agreement with Air France KLM to launch a cargo joint venture, CZ President Liu Shaoyong told ATWOnline yesterday at the IATA AGM in Istanbul.
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is in talks to order an additional 50 aircraft worth approximately $2.5 billion in the next 18 months, DAE Capital CEO Bob Genise told Reuters. "Despite the rise in jet fuel prices, there are pockets of strong performance," he said. The lessor committed to 200 aircraft at last year's Dubai Air Show ( ATWOnline, Nov. 13, 2007).
SR Technics and Japan Airlines signed a 10-year deal for component services including exchange, maintenance, repair and logistics on 40 737NGs. Contract covers management of components from consignment stock held in Japan. Deal is valued at $25 million and takes effect July 1.
Aloha Airlines, which shut down in March after declaring bankruptcy ( ATWOnline, April 1), is trying to sell off a legal claim filed in 2006 against Mesa Air Group, according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Aloha said it will file a motion with the court next week, anticipating an auction the following week. "A lawsuit is no different than a propeller," said James Wagner, an attorney for Aloha Chapter 7 trustee Dane Field.
Air One is expected to announce a widebody aircraft order with Airbus Wednesday, ATWOnline learned in Istanbul. The privately held Italian carrier recently took delivery of its first two A330-200s, which it will use on its first long-haul routes from Milan Malpensa to Boston and Chicago O'Hare starting later this month.
Italian government authorized Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti to organize the sale of its 49.9% stake in Alitalia, with Intesa Sanpaolo serving as adviser.
