Japan Airlines Group announced a significant earnings turnaround to a net profit of ¥16.9 billion ($162.1 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31 from a loss of ¥16.2 billion the prior year on the back of premium strategies on its international operation and route restructuring on its domestic network. The profit was achieved on a 3% drop in sales to ¥2.23 trillion as JAL disposed of a number of consolidated subsidiaries. In terms of air transportation, JAL Group's core business, revenue increased 1.4% to ¥1.82 trillion.
ACE Aviation Holdings, as it reported a first-quarter net loss of C$182 million ($180 million), reiterated plans to close down the business but cited difficulty in disposing of its 75% stake in Air Canada and 20.1% stake in Jazz. This year's loss represented a 152.8% increase over a loss of C$72 million in the year-ago period.
Pinnacle Airlines Corp. suffered a plunge in first-quarter profit to $2.7 million from $9.4 million in the year-ago quarter as rising fuel costs produced a $5 million operating loss at its Colgan Air subsidiary and severe weather and an increase in maintenance events resulted in its Pinnacle subsidiary failing to meet incentive levels contained in its Airline Services Agreement with Northwest Airlines.
British Airways will begin shifting long-haul flights to London Heathrow's Terminal 5 next month, it said in a joint statement with airports operator BAA. The move will be phased, in contrast to the short-haul transfer that coincided with an operationally disastrous opening of its £4.3 billion ($8.4 billion) new home in March. "We will move our Terminal 4 long-haul program into Terminal 5 in phases," BA CEO Willie Walsh said, noting that the carrier took this decision "in the interests of customers." He added: "Terminal 5 is now working well."
Unisys won a two-year contract with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to supply, implement and oversee an identification management system using fingerprint and iris biometric technology for employee verification at 29 airports. COTS-based technology will replace applications in the RAIC system and allow CATSA to update the security status of 100,000 airport workers. Contract includes two additional two-year option periods.
Boeing has estimated a 15-month delay in 787 deliveries ( ATWOnline, April 10) but some customers are facing delays of two years or more, The Seattle Times reported. Launch customer ANA is scheduled to receive its first aircraft in the third quarter of 2009 instead of this month, but the manufacturer's ambitious ramp-up plans also have slipped and full production of 10 planes per month will not be reached until 2012, two years later than planned.
EuroManx, based on the Isle of Man, ceased operations and cancelled all services Friday. "Over the last six months a number of factors, including rising fuel prices and reduced passenger numbers, have proved to be insurmountable obstacles to the airline being able to continue to operate," it said on its website. Established in 2002, EuroManx flew turboprops to Liverpool, Manchester, Belfast City and London City. Manx2 and Flybe stepped in to rescue stranded passengers.
Finnair will launch flights from Helsinki to Incheon (five-times-weekly from June 2 aboard A340-300s) and Yekaterinburg (thrice-weekly from early September aboard A319s). Swiss International Air Lines launched daily Zurich-Shanghai Pudong. Air France will suspend London City-Belfast City service operated by its CityJet subsidiary on May 24.
Austrian Airlines Group CEO Alfred Oetsch, under significant pressure following a steep first-quarter loss and the potential loss of a critical new investor ( ATWOnline, May 7), told Austria's ORF radio last week that a shift from the airline's "standalone" strategy has become a possibility and that it now will consider partnering with a foreign carrier. "If no signs of improvement in the financial situation are on the horizon, a solution could be to bring in a strategic partner carrier," he said.
Asiana Airlines signed a contract for two 777-200ERs worth $438 million at list prices, Boeing announced. OZ has an option to upgrade to the -300ER and currently operates nine 777s. Delivery date was not announced.
Shanghai-based Spring Airlines plans to order 30 A320s and expand its fleet to 100 aircraft by 2015, according to Chairman Wang Zhenghua. Wang said the company is awaiting regulatory approval for the order. The LCC currently operates eight A320s on a network spanning more than 30 Chinese cities. It expects its fleet to number 30 by 2010 and increase to 100 by 2015, at which point half the fleet will be leased and half owned.
US Dept. of Transportation announced extension of the Air Carrier Access Act, which bars discrimination against passengers with disabilities, to foreign carriers operating a flight originating or ending in the US. Rule becomes effective in one year and includes greater accommodation for hearing-impaired passengers and a supplemental NPRM on whether airlines should be required to provide medical oxygen to passengers upon request and enhance accessibility to websites, kiosks and IFE.
Air France-KLM flew 17.44 billion RPKs in April, up 2.6% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.4% to 21.79 billion ASKs, dropping load factor 2.3 points to 80%. Northwest Airlines flew 6.59 consolidated RPMs in April, up 1% from the year-ago month, against a 2.1% increase in capacity to 7.96 billion ASMs. Load factor dipped 0.9 point to 82.8%. US Airways Group flew 5.33 billion consolidated RPMs in April, a 2.4% decrease from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.8% to 6.45 billion ASMs and load factor rose 0.4 point to 82.6%.
Austrian LCC Niki took delivery of a new 212-seat A321 Wednesday. It now operates nine A320 family aircraft including an A320 leased from Vueling Airlines. President Niki Lauda told ATWOnline in Stockholm that the carrier expects to transport 2.2 million passengers this year, up 29.4% from 2007 ( ATWOnline, Jan. 14), and operate 20 A320s by 2019. He said the new aircraft will be financed over a 12-year period, with 80% coming from banks and the remainder from the carrier's own cash.
Gate Gourmet will purchase catering units in five cities from Air Berlin and SCK Sky Catering Kitchen under a deal announced this week. Serving some 18,000 flights per year, the sites are located at Dusseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Munster/Osnabruck, Leipzig/Halle and Paderborn.
European Commission's interim report on its investigation into misleading advertising and unfair practices on websites selling airline tickets revealed "serious and persistent consumer problems" throughout the industry. The EC's first sweep of 386 websites in 16 countries last September showed that 35% had confirmed irregularities and many breached consumer protection law on several fronts.
Bombardier is projecting 12,900 deliveries of new aircraft in the 20/149- seat range over the next 20 years, up from its previous forecast of 11,200. The market now is valued at $528 billion. "Fuel is a major driver in our revised forecast," VP-Commercial Aircraft Marketing and Communications Trung Ngo said at this week's Regional Airline Assn. meeting in Indianapolis. The numbers represent a "significant increase in fleet size" as airlines seek replacements for aging aircraft or move to expand their fleets, he said.
Air Canada reported a first-quarter net loss of C$288 million ($287 million), a substantial increase over a C$34 million loss in the year-ago period, blaming high fuel costs and charges associated with ongoing inquiries into potential antitrust violations in its cargo division.
Atlas Air and Polar Air Cargo parent Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings reported a first-quarter net loss of $5.3 million, reversed from a profit of $6.2 million in the year-ago period, but insisted the result reflects high fuel costs from which it largely will be insulated when Polar's blocked-space agreement with DHL begins later this year. "Our business fundamentals are solid and our performance is on track. . .apart from the impact of fuel prices," President and CEO William Flynn said.
United Airlines will launch daily service from Washington Dulles to Moscow Domodedovo (aboard a 767) and Dubai (777) on Oct. 26, pending government approval. UA flew 9.27 billion system RPMs last month, down 6.3% from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 2.1% to 11.51 billion ASMs and load factor slipped 3.6 points to 80.5%.
United Airlines announced the appointment of COO Pete McDonald to the new role of chief administrative officer and the promotion of Chief Revenue Officer John Tague to COO, effective immediately. McDonald's role "combines a number of corporate functions to enable successful execution of. . .[UA's] five-year plan," including customer experience, human resources, labor relations, safety and security, information systems and "industry, environmental, corporate and governmental affairs," UA said.
TAP Portugal yesterday announced the launch of new fare and product offerings that it claimed will be better tailored to customer needs while strengthening "transparency in communicating with the traveling public." From June, TAP will offer five new products, each of which will come with a specific level of service both in flight and on the ground: Tap/executive and tap/plus are designed for business travelers or customers "looking for a higher quality service," while tap/classic ("convenience and flexibility"), tap/basic ("very good value") and tap/discount ("very low price") round out
Healthy loads and yields helped Copa Airlines and AeroRepublica parent Copa Holdings mitigate the impact of rising fuel costs in the first quarter, when it suffered a relatively mild 18.7% decline in net income to $39.5 million from $48.6 million in the year-ago period. Results the company characterized as "strong" were boosted by a 21.9% year-over-year increase in operating revenue to $295.9 million. Operating income slipped 14.9% to $51.7 million from $60.8 million as fuel costs climbed $21.7 million.
Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines executives continued to push the merits of their proposed merger this week, assuring both federal and state legislators that no "frontline" workers will be cut, while the two carriers' pilot groups plan to meet next week.
