Comair's request to cancel its labor contract with 1,100 flight attendants was rejected Wednesday by the US Bankruptcy Court, which ordered the carrier to resume negotiations with cabin staff represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The Cincinnati-based Regional, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, is seeking $8.9 million in annual concessions.
Struggling to contend with fast-rising fuel costs, AirTran Airways posted a $4.6 million net loss for the first quarter but continued its expansion push by converting options into firm orders for 14 737-700s. "We continue to be challenged by the high cost of fuel impacting our bottom line," said CFO Stan Gadek. Orlando-based AirTran has posted annual profits for seven consecutive years, but last year's net was only $1.7 million and its first-quarter fuel costs jumped 63% year-over-year to $129.3 million.
Republic Airways Holdings posted first-quarter net income of $16.9 million, a 14% increase over the $14.8 million earned in the year-ago quarter. Revenues increased 22.7% to $257.3 million while operating expenses rose 20.9% to $209.4 million. RPMs jumped 42.9% to 1.37 billion on a 36.5% increase in ASMs to 1.97 billion, sending load factor up 3.1 points to 69.9%. The parent of US Regionals Chautauqua Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America took delivery of two new Embraer 170s during the quarter, placing them into fixed-fee service for Delta Air Lines.
Aer Arann quietly abandoned plans to start operating from Liege to London Luton, Birmingham and Lorient. The Irish Regional announced in February that it would launch the services May 15. Hainan Airlines confirmed that it intends to offer four weekly 767-300 services from Shanghai and Beijing to Brussels from the end of July in cooperation with SN Brussels Airlines. Brussels will be the Chinese carrier's first international destination, yet Hainan Airlines Group VP Zhao Zhongyin admitted the launch needs some fine-tuning.
Calgary-based WestJet reported its best-ever first-quarter earnings, posting net income of C$12.9 million ($11.4 million), a reversal of a net loss of C$9.6 million in the year-ago quarter. "With the Canadian airline industry returning to a more rational pricing environment, we returned to first-quarter profitability," President and CEO Clive Beddoe said
A one-time pre-tax gain of $40.3 million related to an adjustment in its maintenance accounting policy helped boost LAN Airlines' first-quarter bottom line, which showed a profit of $79.7 million, a 71.9% increase over year-ago net earnings of $46.3 million. Performance was flat excluding special gains. Higher yields and unit revenues helped lift turnover 19.8% to $728.2 million as a 34% hike in fuel costs sent operating expenses up at a similar 19.7% rate to $659.5 million. Operating income rose 21.4% to $68.7 million.
Airbus secured ETOPS approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency for A330-243 and A330-343 aircraft fitted with Trent 772Cs. Airbus said the new engines will improve aircraft performance in high altitudes and hotter temperatures. The first A330 fitted with Trent 772Cs is slated for delivery to Air China in late May.
Gol received authorization from Brazil's National Agency of Civil Aviation to operate 21 weekly flights to Santiago. The Brazilian LCC said it is beginning preparations for 737-800 flights to the Chilean capital, which would become its seventh international destination.
Rising commercial aircraft sales helped propel Boeing to a 29% increase in first-quarter net income to $692 million compared to a $535 million profit in the first quarter of 2005. Momentum from the manufacturer's record year for aircraft orders in 2005 carried into this year's first quarter as airlines booked 176 net orders in the three-month period. "Strong overall performance, combined with a significant increase in commercial airplane deliveries, drove this quarter's results," said Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney.
Emirates Group had expansion on its mind as it announced a record net profit of AED2.8 billion ($762.2 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31. The performance represents a 5% improvement over the previous year's earnings of AED2.7 billion and was fueled by a strong year from Emirates Airline, which contributed net earnings of AED2.5 billion, a 4.2% increase over year-ago profits of AED2.4 billion.
Aer Arann announced it will launch twice-daily Dublin-Cardiff service May 1, the same day Ryanair will cancel the route because Cardiff International Airport reportedly is increasing its passenger charges by 350% ( ATWOnline, April 26). Aer Arann previously announced it will begin serving Cork and Lorient from Cardiff this summer. It also will launch a daily Dublin-Knock service from May 28 aboard a 50-seat ATR 42.
China Eastern Airlines reported a loss of CNY955.1 million ($119.1 million) in the first quarter, according to press reports. The total was more than double its full-year 2005 loss of CNY467.3 million ( ATWOnline, April 11). Revenue climbed 55.8% to CNY7.48 billion. The carrier said it expects to incur losses in the current quarter as well.
The European Commission appears to be fed up with the Greek government's attitude toward its flag carrier and a European Court of Justice ruling regarding the recovery of illegal state aid to Olympic Airways.
Mesa Air Group reported net earnings of $5.3 million for the second fiscal quarter ended March 31, a more than 51% drop from a profit of $10.8 million earned in the same period a year ago. The company attributed the fall to a debt equity charge of $7.5 million and some $3.6 million in costs associated with its Hawaii startup carrier go! ( ATWOnline, March 24). Operating revenues were up 18.3% to $312.1 million due primarily to an increase in the regional jet fleet; Mesa now operates 144 RJs compared to 136 at the end of the year-ago quarter.
A380 will visit London Heathrow on May 18 to conduct airport and ground handling compatibility checks. LHR likely will be the aircraft's first European destination, according to Airbus. It will park at the airport's new 280-m.-long, three-story Pier 6 at Terminal 3. The pier is designed to accommodate up to four A380s simultaneously and seat 2,200 passengers at four gates. Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways and Virgin Atlantic plan to operate the A380 at LHR.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is set to purchase six A330s and four 777s, according to Director-Marketing and Sales Mahmoodur Rahman, who was quoted in Gulf News. The Bangladesh Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism reportedly recommended a combination of Boeing and Airbus aircraft to augment an aging fleet comprising five DC-10-30s, four A310-300s and four F28s.
Air Pacific placed an order for five 787-9s with three additional purchase rights. The first will be delivered to the Fijian flag carrier in 2011. The Dreamliners will replace two 747-400s and one 767-300ER. The airline plans to use them to fly from Nadi to Australia, New Zealand, North America and Japan. Retiring Chairman Gerald Barrack said the decision was reached after "many months of detailed study and negotiation," adding he was satisfied with the sale price the carrier negotiated but declining to release the figure. No list prices are available for the 787-9 model.
SAS Cargo signed an outsource agreement with Total Airport Services for the handling of its cargo and mail at Newark. TAS said it foresees using SAS's 62,000-sq.-ft. facility at EWR to handle as much as 56,000 tons of SAS cargo annually, up from the 26,000 tons currently handled by the facility.
Boeing announced last week that its Phantom Works Advanced Air Traffic Management unit signed a two-year, €615,000 ($762,000) contract with Air Traffic Alliance--the European consortium that includes Eurocontrol, EADS, Airbus and Thales--to assist in development of the Single European Sky ATM Research program.
Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert told reporters in Dresden that the airframer will decide whether to make changes to the A350 by mid-year. "We are talking intensively with our customers and looking very closely at the matter. We have an A350 that is good. If we can improve it, we will do that with profitability and the market in mind," Humbert said, according to Reuters. Several important customers, including Singapore Airlines and ILFC, have criticized the A350 as derivative in recent weeks ( ATWOnline, April 11).
ATA Airlines appointed John Kelly as VP-maintenance and engineering. He most recently was MD-line maintenance operations at Northwest Airlines' Detroit hub. US Airways named Andrea Rader director-corporate communications. Rader, who comes from Wal-Mart, worked for American Airlines for 14 years.
Delta Air Lines is expanding its self-service check-in kiosks to international services, equipping more than 1,000 kiosks at US airports with passport readers. The carrier said all US kiosks will be upgraded by year end to handle international check-ins. Self-service check-ins for domestic Delta flights rose 10% last year, with 28 million passengers using the machines to obtain boarding passes.
Iberia is investing €30 million ($37.12 million) to remodel passenger cabins on all of its A319s, A320s and A321s. It plans to complete the refurbishment of nearly 90 aircraft by the end of 2007.
Lufthansa joined the host of airlines raising their fuel surcharges, announcing yesterday that surcharges on long-haul flights will increase to €62 ($76.70) from €52 effective May 5. Surcharge on German and intra-European routes will remain at €12 per segment.
JetBlue Airways, which had posted profits steadily since its 2000 launch even as most US carriers suffered huge losses, reported a first-quarter net loss of $32 million yesterday and said it will defer delivery of 12 aircraft as part of an effort to regain profitability. The LCC's second consecutive quarterly loss compares to a $6 million profit in the year-ago quarter. It had not suffered a quarterly loss until the final quarter of 2005, when it lost $42.4 million.
