Cash-strapped Delta Air Lines reached a revised agreement with its existing Visa/MasterCard processor to extend the terms of its contract to Oct. 31 and reduce the amount of cash "holdback" required by the processor. The contract had been set to expire Aug. 31. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission late last week, Delta said that under the amended agreement, it estimates that the holdback will reach $625 million by the new expiration date, down from $750 million it previously expected to have tied up as collateral by the end of October ( ATWOnline, Aug.
Following France's example, Belgian and Swiss authorities announced plans to publish a list of airlines and aircraft that are banned from serving their airports ( ATWOnline, Aug. 26). The Belgian blacklist is expected to be on the website of the Ministry of Transport. The ministry also is considering the publication of other data, including a list of aircraft that have had technical problems.
Air Baltic will start a four-times-weekly F50 service from Riga to Liepaja on Sept. 5. This will be its first domestic route and the first in Latvia in 20 years.
In a move opposed by IATA ( ATWOnline, Aug. 25), the French DGAC on Monday will publish a blacklist of airlines deemed unsafe, Transport Minister Dominique Perben announced yesterday. The website lists will include carriers banned from landing in France, scheduled and charter airlines whose aircraft have permission to fly from France and the names of carriers likely to be chartered by authorized airlines.
Northwest Airlines "is prepared to operate the airline with our new maintenance organization indefinitely," the carrier said in a statement. NWA's mechanics and aircraft cleaners have been on strike since Saturday. The airline has experienced a small increase in the number of cancellations, part of which has been attributed to an alleged work slowdown by the mechanics prior to the walkout.
Goodrich Corp. was selected by China Cargo Airlines to supply the main deck and lower lobe cargo handling systems for its two new 747-400ERFs. The Goodrich cargo system includes the mechanical system, power drive units, electrical control system and floor panels. The aircraft will be delivered to China Cargo in July 2006 and August 2007.
Malaysian government ministers are talking openly of the need to restructure Malaysia Airlines' unprofitable domestic services. Yesterday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy told a press conference, "We are mindful of the urgency." Earlier this week, Malaysia Airlines MD Ahmad Fuaad Dahlan announced his retirement after a 32-year career with the carrier as it reported a loss of MYR280.7 million ($74.5 million) for the three months ended June 30. He was named MD in April 2004 ( ATWOnline, Aug. 23).
Shandong Airlines' application to operate flights to Hong Kong and Macau was approved by CAAC. Shandong operates a fleet of 737-300s and CRJ200s/700s and has 737-700/-800s on order. It serves 43 domestic destinations and Singapore.
As part of the integration of Swiss International Air Lines into the Lufthansa system, the carriers announced they will operate all services between Switzerland and Germany, a total of 563 weekly flights, as codeshare flights with introduction of the 2005-06 winter schedules from Oct. 30.
Rockwell Collins said its Airshow 4200 moving map system received a "technical offerability recommendation" from Boeing and can be offered on all models of the 737, 747, 767 and 777. Deliveries of Airshow 4200-equipped aircraft will begin in October.
TAP Portugal and Swiss International Airlines concluded a commercial cooperation agreement including joint marketing and codesharing on all flights between Portugal and Switzerland beginning Sept. 1. In the first stage, the Star Alliance partners will codeshare on all flights from Lisbon to Zurich and from Lisbon and Oporto to Geneva. In the next phase, they intend to extend their codeshare operations to destinations beyond Zurich and Lisbon.
Swiss Technical Services concluded a comprehensive long-term maintenance agreement with Blue1 covering five Saab 2000s. Swiss Technical Services also will perform heavy maintenance checks on Lufthansa CityLine's RJ85s. In view of the anticipated work volumes, the Basel-based unit will add up to 50 employees.
AirTran Airways will retrofit Aviation Partners Boeing blended winglets on 15 737-700s leased from GE Commercial Aviation Services, with options to add winglets to future deliveries of new 737s. Installation will begin in September and continue into early 2006. In a recent interview with ATWOnline, AirTran Senior VP-Operations Stephen Kolski explained the decision to add the devices beginning with a small number of aircraft.
Mesa Air Group and AAR Corp. said they finalized an agreement under which AAR will purchase, manage and repair some $50 million in existing and future regional jet rotable spare parts to support the airline's fleet of more than 145 RJs. AAR will be responsible for handling all aspects of the parts supply chain under the 10-year deal. The companies valued the repair portion of the agreement at around $200 million.
American Eagle said it reached a tentative agreement with the Assn. of Flight Attendants, representing its 1,751 cabin attendants. It has been in contract mediation with AFA for nearly two years.
Tiger Airways CEO Tony Davis told Channel NewsAsia that it will take up to three years for the low-cost carrier to post a profit. It previously forecast a profit in its first year. Davis, the airline's second CEO, told Channel NewsAsia that he hopes Tiger will be able to launch flights to China and India shortly. The LCC is owned by a consortium of Singapore Airlines (49%), Irelandia Investments (16%), Indigo Partners (24%) and Temasek Holdings (11%).
Sabre said Japan Airlines Group selected its AirMax Revenue Manager solution for managing revenues from international operations. Sabre said AirMax "is expected to generate additional revenue from a sophisticated and proven solution set of revenue management functions and business process services."
United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said it achieved an operating profit of $113 million in July, more than double the $51 million earned in July 2004, in spite of a 46% rise in fuel price between the periods that added $127 million to operating expenses. Mainline unit cost rose 5% on a 5% decline in ASMs, but actually fell 5% if fuel expense is excluded. Passenger unit revenue jumped 9%.
US FAA, after years of study and debate, announced yesterday that it will not mandate the use of child safety seats on airplanes and instead will continue to permit children under the age of two to travel on the laps of adult passengers "because of the increased safety risk to families." Analyses by FAA showed that if forced to purchase an extra airline ticket to accommodate a child and a safety seat, families might choose to drive, "a statistically more dangerous way to travel." The decision was supported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which cited FAA and NHTSA
Volga-Dnepr Airlines said it will acquire five new An-124-100M-150 freighters from Aviastar-SP. The freighter is an improved version of the An-124 outsize and heavyweight cargo aircraft and has a capacity of up to 150 tonnes. Deliveries are set to begin in 2008. The announcement came a day after Volga-Dnepr Group reached agreement with Russia's Vnesheconombank regarding financing arrangements for the resumption of An-124-100 production and the IL-76 freighter modernization program ( ATWOnline, Aug. 23).
Estonian Air will raise its fuel surcharge from €8 to €12 from Sept. 1. The carrier said it has been able to keep the surcharge at the April 2004 level until now despite a price hike of 68% during the period.
Qantas again raised its ticket surcharge for international and domestic passengers as it faces a A$1.25 billion increase in fuel costs this year. From Sept. 2, the domestic one-way fuel surcharge will lift from A$20 ($15) to A$26, international from A$60 to A$75 and transtasman from A$40 to A$46. Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said the decision was made "reluctantly" and noted that "the volatility of current and future oil and jet fuel prices is a serious issue for all airlines." Qantas is 90% hedged at about $49 a barrel until December.
Air Europa and representatives of pilots union Sepla reached a preliminary agreement to prevent a strike called by the pilots on Aug. 5 for later this year, Expansion reported. The agreement is subject to ratification by a pilots' meeting called for Aug. 30-31.
Embraer installed Europe's first flight simulator dedicated to training crews of the 170/190. The CAE simulator is based at Swiss Aviation Training in Zurich.
American Airlines applied to the US Dept. of Transportation to offer nonstop service from St. Louis to Puerto Vallarta from Feb. 4 to April 1. The winter season flights will operate on Saturdays using a 136-seat MD-80. AA already offers seasonal service from St. Louis to Cancun on both Saturday and Sunday using 188-seat 757s and the Cancun flights will resume Oct. 30. The carrier also offers daily connecting service to both destinations through its DFW hub. Ukraine International Airlines will start a five-times-weekly Kiev-Milan service Oct 31.
