UPS won a three-year contract from the US Postal Service to provide domestic air transport of mail to and from 98 cities, greatly expanding an arrangement under which it furnishes airmail services for 16 cities. The agreement, which covers mostly first-class and priority mail, takes effect July 1 and includes a two-year option.
SriLankan Airlines Group is recovering gradually from the December 2004 tsunami, reporting a net profit of LKR2.04 billion ($19.6 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31 that marks a 48.3% improvement from the prior year's profit of LKR1.38 billion but still falls far short of the LKR5.64 billion it earned in FY04.
Alaska Airlines yesterday introduced the first of five 737-400 converted freighters to its cargo fleet. The conversion was performed by Pemco World Air Services and is the first for the type, Alaska said. The aircraft replaces a 737-200F. Remaining aircraft, which will be converted into combis, will enter service by the end of 2007 as part of a $100 million expansion and modernization of its cargo operation. It will retire seven dash 200Fs. The dash 400 fleet will increase freight capacity by 20%.
Embattled EADS Co-CEO Noel Forgeard insisted Wednesday that he will not resign despite the recent disclosure of major new delays in the A380 program and growing questions about his March sale of €2.5 million ($3.2 million) in stock options three months prior to EADS' stock sinking 26% on news of the setbacks ( ATWOnline, June 19).
SkyTeam took another step toward adding China Southern Airlines yesterday, signing a Global Airline Alliance Adherence Agreement in Guangzhou that outlines the carrier's "commitment to meet the stringent set of standards to be officially recognized as a member of SkyTeam." It is expected to join in 2007.
SkyEurope Airlines yesterday announced the conversion of five 737-700 purchase rights into firm orders, bringing its commitment to the 737 to 21. The five aircraft, which the airline said have an estimated value of $295 million, will be equipped with winglets and are scheduled for delivery in 2008. SkyEurope currently operates five dash 700s and still holds 11 purchase rights for aircraft to be delivered through 2010.
Virgin Atlantic Airways said its entire fleet will be equipped by 2009 with Tempus, a telemedicine device that uses satellite technology to transmit information regarding ill or injured passengers to medical professionals at the MedAire Center in Phoenix so diagnosis can be made and expert advice given to flight crews.
Embraer President and CEO Mauricio Botelho said he is pleased with the success of the company's new Phenom very light jet program to date and expects to capture one-third of the market and produce up to 1,000 VLJs. Speaking at the Aero Club of Washington yesterday, Botelho said, "We believe the VLJ will play an important role in the transportation market," citing its "exceptional performance and lower operating costs." The first Phenom delivery is expected in 2008. Botelho also said Embraer expects to deliver its 100th ERJ-145 later this year.
JetBlue Airways is joining Northwest Airlines in opposing the deal struck by Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth that repeals the Wright Amendment by 2014 and effectively reduces the number of gates at Love Field from 32 to 20 ( ATWOnline, June 16). The 20 gates would be used by Southwest (16), American (2) and Continental Airlines (2).
Finnair announced the conclusion to statutory negotiations with employees covering the 670 technical and administrative jobs it wants to eliminate ( ATWOnline, May 8). It said it still is talking with its subsidiaries and flight staff. It plans to implement the cuts largely through early retirements and will announce the number of layoffs required this fall. The cuts will result in a €10 million hit on its second-quarter profit-and-loss account in pension and "other personnel arrangement fees."
Northwest Airlines said it will accelerate the retirement of its 12 remaining DC-10s, all GE CF6-50-powered dash 30s, over the next seven months. It is the last Major US passenger airline to operate the type. The DC-10s will be replaced with newly arriving A330s on transatlantic services and three parked 747-400s that are being returned to service on transpacific routes, NWA said. Currently, DC-10s operate on seven routes. After Oct. 31, the only remaining DC-10 service will be the carrier's daily Minneapolis/St. Paul-Honolulu trip. The final flight will take place Jan.
Air France appointed Florence Parly director-strategy and investments. Parly was formerly president of the Paris-Ile-de-France regional development agency and was budget secretary in the Jospin government from 2000 to 2002. EasyJet selected Tim Newing as IT director effective Aug. 21.
New details emerged regarding the failed merger of Jet Airways and Air Sahara ( ATWOnline, June 23) as the legal fight between the carriers escalated and may be headed for India's Supreme Court. In an extensive interview with India's Financial Express, Air Sahara President Alok Sharma claimed Jet wanted to cut its $500 million acquisition price by 10%-20%, which Air Sahara "summarily rejected," effectively killing the deal.
Dragonair flew 450,509 passengers in May, a 7.7% increase over the year-ago month. It said passenger numbers were bolstered by higher traffic from secondary Chinese cities such as Changsha, Chengdu, Nanjing and Xian.
Teledyne Controls announced that Jade Cargo International, a joint venture among Shenzhen Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo and DEG, ordered its integrated Data Management Unit for aircraft condition monitoring and data recording on its new 747-400ERF fleet.
VarigLog, the former freight and logistics arm of Varig, has until Wednesday to finalize its offer for the beleaguered airline, a Rio de Janeiro bankruptcy court said yesterday, according to press reports.
Bellview Airlines of Nigeria will launch a total fleet renewal by adding the first of six new A320s to its fleet by the fourth quarter, phasing out its 737 Classics. The fleet change should be complete by September 2007. Bellview also is undergoing IATA's Operational Safety Audit program. There are no changes planned to its long-haul fleet of two 767-200ERs.
Iberia Maintenance won a five-year contract from British Airways for maintenance of 29 RB211-535E4s used on the carrier's 757 fleet. The agreement calls for Iberia to perform all repairs, modifications, maintenance and inspection of engines, subassemblies, components and spare parts. Iberia Maintenance also signed a contract with Swiftair under which it will act as sole provider of maintenance services for components on the carrier's fleet of MD-80s/-83s. The contract remains in force until the end of 2009.
Comair asked the US Bankruptcy Court again to void its labor contract with 1,100 flight attendants following a breakdown in negotiations over a new agreement. The Cincinnati-based Regional, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, is seeking $8.9 million in annual concessions from the flight attendants and sought court permission in April to cancel the contract.
Northwest Airlines will offer dedicated boarding lanes for its premium customers starting next week at its Detroit hub and airports in Bismarck and Fargo, N.D., Phoenix and Portland, Ore. The lanes will be introduced at all Northwest loading bridge-equipped gates at US airports within the next two months.
Edmonton International, the beneficiary of a 21st century gusher, has become Canada's fastest-growing airport and expects to handle 5-5.5 million passengers this year, a number it did not expect to reach until 2015, according to VP-Marketing Peter McCart. The airport, located about 20 mi. south of Alberta's capital city, handled 4.5 million passengers in 2005, up 10.5% over 2004, and averaged 15% growth through the first five months of this year. Driving the boom is the development of Alberta's oilsands.
Dutch legislators, after more than a decade of debate, decided that Schiphol Group can be privatizad. The Upper House of Dutch Parliament yesterday ratified an Aviation Act amendment regarding the operation of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, allowing the state to sell 49% of its holding in the group, which operates AMS. "Schiphol Group's Supervisory Board, Board of Management and Central Works Council are pleased that parliamentary discussions regarding legislation that is required to be passed to privatize the company have been finalized," the group said in a statement.
Boeing named Jim Schlueter VP-communications for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, reporting to BCA President and CEO Alan Mulally and Tom Downey, Boeing Co. VP-corporate communications. For the past two years Schlueter led Commercial Airplanes media relations and international and sales communications efforts. Prior to that he was director-international communications for Boeing's corporate offices. He has spent more than 19 years with the company.
Aeroflot is increasing its St. Petersburg operation. It intends to boost its summer service to Moscow to nine daily flights, including night flights. It also will introduce A320s onto routes to Europe and plans to restore long-haul flights to destinations in North America and Japan. Separately, the Aeroflot board elected Viktor Ivanov as chairman.
A380 achieved another step on its path toward certification by year end when all 16 emergency slides were deployed simultaneously using only the aircraft's battery power. The test was conducted as part of the overall EASA and FAA certification program. According to Airbus, this is the largest number of evacuation slides ever inflated at the same time in any passenger aircraft.
