Correction: ATWOnline incorrectly stated that ANA was suspending the operations of Air Hokkaido International Airlines. The airline being shuttered is Air Hokkaido. ANA maintains a small stake in Air Hokkaido International Airlines and codeshares with the new entrant, but it is not part of the ANA group of carriers. It operates to Tokyo Haneda from four cities on Hokkaido. The item subsequently was corrected on the website. ATWOnline thanks our sharp-eyed readers who caught the error.
TAM released more details about last week's global IPO in New York and Sao Paulo that netted the Brazilian carrier close to R$1.5 billion ($706.3 million), which will be used "entirely to finance its activities," the company said. Fleet renewal and expansion, through purchase and lease, will consume 80% of the proceeds. TAM currently operates 59 A319s/A320s, eight A330s and 18 Fokker RJs. It has 29 additional A320s under firm order and expects to take delivery of 11 through 2009. The remaining 20% of equity funding will be used for working capital.
Northwest Airlines yesterday urged Congress to enact pension reform legislation that will permit it to maintain its existing pension commitments rather than terminating the plans during its bankruptcy reorganization, the path chosen by United Airlines and US Airways. Delta Air Lines has all but confirmed that it likely will terminate its plans during its reorganization as well.
EasyJet said yesterday it was "forced" this week to cancel plans to operate daily Paris Orly-Ajaccio service from July ( ATWOnline, March 8) after being informed that French authorities "had granted a monopoly to Air France/CCM under a Public Service Obligation," according to the London-based LCC. Most PSO routes are operated by only one carrier, but EasyJet claims the route can support two airlines. "There is a huge demand for flights from Paris to Corsica, as we have seen over the past few weeks, and there is no justification for a monopoly.
EgyptAir signed an agreement with Amadeus to implement its Altea Customer Management Solution to handle inventory management, multichannel sales and reservations, e-ticket management and distribution and departure control.
Air France signed a 2006-07 wage agreement with ground staff and cabin crews represented by six unions, comprising the majority of its staff. Several unions did not sign the deal and are calling for a work stoppage on March 24. Employees will receive a €500 bonus next month and an average overall pay increase of 3.3% over two years.
Swiss International Air Lines and Lufthansa, continuing the integration of their schedules, will create minihubs in Sao Paulo and Bangkok from the start of the summer season on March 26, permitting passengers to transfer between the airlines for onward travel. For example, Swiss will extend its five weekly Zurich-Sao Paolo services to Santiago while Lufthansa will have a daily flight from Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires.
World Airways Holdings, parent of World Airways and North American Airlines, notified the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it will delay the filing of its year-end financial results. The report was due yesterday. It did not file its second- and third-quarter results until Feb. 21 owing to delays caused by the acquisition of NAA in April 2005. World said preliminary unaudited results indicate it will post a 2005 operating profit of $59-$63 million, an increase of approximately 50% over the $40.3 million earned in 2004.
Passenger fatalities more than tripled in 2005 as ICAO's preliminary analysis of aviation safety and security data revealed that 18 fatal accidents on scheduled flights involving aircraft with an MTOW greater than 2,250 kg. killed 713 passengers last year. Nine accidents in 2004 caused 203 passenger fatalities. The rate of fatalities per 100 million passenger km. doubled from 0.01 to 0.02. There also were 18 fatal accidents involving nonscheduled operations that resulted in 278 deaths. The same number of accidents in 2004 killed 207 passengers.
Air India and Indian Airlines are on course to merge within the year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Indian media. The state-owned carriers will combine into an airline operating 125-130 aircraft by the end of the state fiscal year in April 2007. "It is an absolutely logical proposal to consolidate and optimize the use of the assets of the two public sector airlines," Patel was quoted as saying. At the same time, the government reportedly intends to sell off 20%-25% of each carrier to fund fleet renewal.
US Airways announced Tuesday the recall of approximately 400 furloughed flight attendants. Recall notices will be prioritized by seniority and will begin in April, putting the returning cabin staff in place for the carrier's summer schedule. Some 1,200 flight attendants remain on furlough from the former US Airways. "We continue to make great progress in building the new US Airways and today's announcement furthers that momentum," President and CEO Doug Parker said. The airline recalled 55 of its 1,574 furloughed pilots last month ( ATWOnline, Feb. 14).
AeroRepublica, the Colombian subsidiary of Copa Holdings, announced a firm order for five GE CF34-powered Embraer 190s worth a combined $175 million at list prices. The order includes 20 options. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in November. The aircraft will seat 108 in a single-class configuration.
British Airways is looking to strengthen its network to Eastern Europe, Area Commercial Manager-Central and Eastern Europe David Rousham told ATWOnline. New points will include Tirana and Varna, while flights to Izmir and Ankara will be operated by franchise partner GB Airways. Rostov and Gdansk also are to receive service. With Malev Hungarian Airlines set to join oneworld this year, Budapest could play a role as a hub to the Balkans. BA also is looking at additional destinations in the Ukraine beyond Kiev, Rousham said.
Airfoil Services Sdn. Bhd., an MTU Aero Engines and Lufthansa Technik affiliate, celebrated the groundbreaking for its global integrated Center of Excellence for airfoil overhaul. The facility in Kota Damansara, Malaysia, is expected to start operations by early 2007.
European Commission announced yesterday that its Aviation Safety Committee finished drawing up the list of carriers that will be banned from entering the European Union for safety or security reasons but did not make the blacklist public pending ratification by the Commission. "We have just taken a decisive step," EC VP Jacques Barrot said. "I am now in a position to ask the Commission to quickly adopt the blacklist and to publish it, so that we can make sure that the companies identified in it will not have the possibility to enter Europe before they have resolved their problems."
ANA said yesterday that it will dissolve Air Hokkaido, a wholly-owned Regional subsidiary of Air Nippon, in July following a cessation of operations scheduled for March 31. It operated two daily roundtrip flights between Hakodate and Okushiri on Hokkaido island with a 19-seat Twin Otter. Separately, ANA said it concluded a cargo codeshare agreement with Star Alliance partner Asiana to take effect April 1. It covers 18 weekly flights--10 operated by ANA, eight by Asiana--between Japan and Korea and is the first such accord between the two countries.
Boeing and Japan Airlines signed an Integrated Material Management agreement giving the airframer responsibility for purchasing, inventory and logistics for JAL's expendable aircraft parts. Boeing and other suppliers own the parts, which are stored at a location convenient to the customer. JAL will pay for parts on an as-needed basis.
British Airways announced the proposed closure of its Travel Shops business and its Belfast call center, moves that would shave approximately 400 jobs from the cost-cutting carrier's payroll. BA's 17 UK Travel Shops, which are "forecast to make ever-increasing losses in the years ahead," will be shuttered by the end of August. The airline also will cut jobs at the London Heathrow-based Worldlink travel agency and its back office support area.
Alaska Airlines and the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA announced a tentative four-year labor agreement yesterday covering the carrier's 2,480 cabin staff. Details were withheld pending a union ratification vote, scheduled to be completed by the end of April.
TAP Portugal took delivery of its first A330-200 earlier this week, the next step in its long-haul fleet renewal plan launched at the Dubai Air Show with an order for seven dash 200s and 10 A350s ( ATWOnline, Nov. 22, 2005). Delivery of the dash 200s originally was scheduled to begin next year. The new aircraft will replace an A310 and be used on routes to the US, Brazil and Africa. TAP will take two additional dash 200s at the end of this month and in April.
United Airlines is outsourcing around 100 jobs from its Sydney and Melbourne ground handling and reservations units, according to Australian press reports citing UA Australasian GM Stephen Pearce.
Emirates upgraded its onboard healthcare capabilities with the Tempus monitoring system, which records data such as blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature before sending it through the inflight communication system to specialists at the MedLink Response Center in Arizona. Manufactured by Remote Diagnostic Technologies of the UK, Tempus is installed on Emirates A340-500s operating services to New York, Osaka, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Christchurch. It will be added to the A380s and 777s on order.
