Air Canada said it will begin charging coach passengers C$25 ($25.60) to check a second bag on transborder flights to/from the US for tickets purchased from May 15 for travel on or after July 15, citing "record high and unrelenting fuel costs" as necessitating the policy change.
Air New Zealand said it will miss its full-year earnings target owing to "continued increases in the price of jet fuel." It said in February when releasing its half-year earnings that it expected to improve on its full-fiscal-year earnings before taxation and unusual items, but now it "will not achieve this outcome." Based on projected fuel costs and "the current demand environment," it is targeting NZ$200-NZ$220 million ($158.4-$174.2 million) in normalized earnings for the year ending June 30. March passenger numbers rose 4.5% year-over-year and yield fell 0.5%.
Atlas Air, without admitting or denying any violation, agreed to pay $95,000 to settle an FAA complaint that it failed to perform maintenance properly on a 747-200 freighter in May 2006.
Travelport reached agreement with Rossiya to provide its Discover GUI-based schedule modeling solution. Technology employs data points such as SSIM files, global traffic demand estimates and equipment capacities.
Republic Airways Holdings reported first-quarter net income of $20.2 million, up 4.5% from $19.3 million earned in the year-ago period. Revenue grew 25.3% to $363.9 million while operating expenses rose 26.5% to $298 million. Operating income incrased 20% to $65.8 million from $54.8 million. "The big news happened after the quarter closed," CEO Bryan Bedford said, referring to Frontier Airlines' cancellation of its air service agreement ( ATWOnline, April 24).
Northwest Airlines announced the addition of a carbon emissions calculator to its website that enables travelers to view the estimated carbon emissions associated with the air travel portion of their trip. They may make donations to the Nature Conservancy to help to offset the impact. Finnair also added an emissions calculator to its website.
Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson and Northwest Airlines President and CEO Doug Steenland promoted the carriers' merger before Congress yesterday, insisting that the combination wouldn't affect competition and is necessary to allow the US industry to compete against large European and Asian airlines.
Panasonic Avionics reached a deal with Boeing for provision of its Cabin Services System on 747-8s featuring advanced integration and communication technology.
Wizz Air will open at a base at Kiev Boryspil and launch service to seven destinations on July 11. A320 service will be to L'viv (four-times-weekly), Kharkov (four-times-weekly), Odessa (daily), Zaporyzhzhia (thrice-weekly) and Simferopol (10-times-weekly). It also will operate from Simferopol to Kharkov (thrice-weekly) and L'viv (four-times-weekly).
Frontier Airlines flew 942.4 million mainline RPMs in March, up 14.7% from the year-ago month, against a 4.5% rise in ASMs to 1.12 billion. Load factor climbed 7.6 points to 84.8%. Yield increased 0.7% to 11.81 cents and unit revenue was up 10.5% to 9.96 cents. Allegiant Air flew 427.7 million system RPMs in March, a 36.6% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity climbed 32.7% to 492.6 million ASMs and load factor rose 2.5 points to 86.8%.
FAA removed two senior Dallas-area ATC managers from their positions yesterday following revelations in a government report that Dallas-Fort Worth Terminal Approach Control management "routinely and intentionally" misclassified ATC operational errors and deviations as pilot errors or nonevents.
Deccan Aviation, which is in the process of merging its Deccan subsidiary with Kingfisher Airlines, reported a pre-tax loss of INR1.98 billion ($49.6 million) in the third fiscal quarter ended March 31, improved slightly from a INR2.12 billion deficit in the year-ago period. It credited a 36% rise in yield to INR3,274 for the result. Deccan said the combined network will be rationalized beginning with the summer schedule ( ATWOnline, March 31). In addition, it said that Chairman N.S.
British Airways is increasing operations of its London City-based BA CityFlyer subsidiary with a new thrice-daily to Dublin beginning June 1, a second daily to Nice and additional frequencies to Edinburgh in September. Expansion will be supported by the addition of two RJ85s, bringing its fleet to 12 and its schedule to/from LCY to more than 400 weekly flights. Hawaiian Airlines will launch daily Honolulu-Oakland on May 1 aboard a 264-seat 767. Clickair will launch thrice-weekly Vigo-London Gatwick on June 21 aboard an A320.
Alaska Air Group, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, reported a $35.9 million first-quarter loss that deepened from a $10.3 million deficit in the year-ago period. Excluding the effect of mark-to-market fuel hedge accounting, AAG lost $36.3 million compared to $15.8 million last year. Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer said the company "is in a good position relative to the rest of the industry," but that "high fuel prices are eroding our profits and revenues are not increasing enough to offset them."
Lufthansa Systems will provide Swiss International Air Lines with its Lido eRouteManual electronic navigation charts under a five-year deal announced yesterday. Layout, colors and symbols are identical to the paper-based charts LX has used since 2004.
US Airways reported a first-quarter net loss of $236 million, reversed from a profit of $66 million in the year-ago period, and said it increasingly will implement an "a la carte" pricing structure to counter rising fuel costs.
Norwegian posted a consolidated net loss of NOK210.8 million ($42.4 million) in the first quarter, a sharp deterioration from the NOK14.9 million loss suffered in the year-ago period, owing to increased seasonality, introduction of new aircraft, the integration and expansion of the old FlyNordic and the launch of 13 routes from its new base at Rygge. First-quarter revenue rose 47.5% year-over-year to NOK1.09 billion while operating costs (excluding leasing, depreciation and writedowns) soared 77.3% to NOK1.23 billion.
Menzies Aviation announced a deal with JetBlue Airways to provide ground handling services at Austin beginning May 1. Separately, MA said it won a three-year contract extension with Thai Airways for cargo handling at London Heathrow, which Thai serves twice-daily.
Lufthansa continues to soar despite the difficult environment, posting a €57 million ($90.9 million) first-quarter profit that compared quite favorably to the €55 million it reported in the year-ago quarter minus a €449 million book gain on the sale of its stake in Thomas Cook.
Air Line Pilots Assn. released a statement saying that the chairmen of the Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines pilot groups have "jointly discussed. . .the importance of commencing negotiations with Delta management in the very near future" on a single labor agreement "that will include immediate parity in rates of pay" upon the closing of the announced merger. The union said, however, that such a negotiation does not "constitute an endorsement" of the merger by the Northwest Master Executive Council.
Iberia and Consorci Zona Franca of Barcelona launched construction of a 12,100 sq.-m. widebody hangar at El Prat. The facility will accommodate two A340s or four A320s and is expected to increase airport capacity for dispatching and receiving long-haul flights. Specializing in C checks, it will offer MRO to nearly 80 airlines using BCN. Investment is put at €24 million ($38.2 million), with IB positioned to control 75% of the new company.
Delta Air Lines reported a $6.39 billion first-quarter net loss, dramatically widened from a $130 million loss in the year-ago period, owing mainly to a noncash goodwill impairment charge reflecting a decline in its market capitalization related to the sharp increase in fuel prices and the pending merger with Northwest Airlines.
Alitalia scheduled a board meeting for late today following the decision by the outgoing government to grant the ailing carrier a €300 million ($477.9 million) emergency bridge loan to continue operations ( ATWOnline, April 23). AZ's management is scheduled to meet with its unions this morning.
CAE won Level D certification from US FAA and EASA for its A380 FFS, the industry's first. Airbus will use the simulator to offer initial training to A380 customers.
