AirAsia said it will buy an additional 20 A320s, raising its previously announced commitment to 100. The latest aircraft are earmarked to handle expansion of Thai AirAsia to China. According to AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes, the airline has secured regulatory approval from China's regulatory authorities to serve five destinations, including Chengdu, Kunming and Xiamen from Bangkok from May. Fernandes told media in Kuala Lumpor that AirAsia also is looking at flying from Kota Kinabalu to southern China.-- Geoffrey Thomas
Former Boeing CFO Mike Sears was sentenced to four months in prison and fined $250,000 for his role in Boeing's controversial $21 billion proposal to lease 767 tanker aircraft to the US military. Sears was fired in Nov. 2003 for violating company policies by communicating about future employment for Darleen Druyun at Boeing while she was involved in the tanker deal at the US Air Force and subsequently trying to conceal their misconduct. Druyun, who also was fired after the scandal, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in April 2004 ( ATWOnline , April 21).
Bombardier Aerospace reported 329 total deliveries for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, a 1.5% increase over deliveries of 324 aircraft in the prior financial year. Deliveries in the regional aircraft segment totaled 200, comprising 178 CRJs and 22 Q Series aircraft. Last year, the company delivered 232 regional aircraft.
Iberia and Mexicana have broadened their codeshare agreement. As of Feb. 26, Iberia will place its code on Mexicana's flights from Mexico City to Oaxaca and Merida while Mexicana will begin codesharing on Iberia's flights between Madrid and both Malaga and Santiago de Compostela.
Indian Airlines appears certain to order 12 A330s to handle its expanding international routes. The airline's board approved the purchase of 12 widebody aircraft, which expands a decision last Sept. to lease six widebodies to replace existing A300B4s. Indian Airlines is drafting an RFP to Airbus and Boeing and also may look at used options. Insiders suggest the A330 or A340 is favored.-- GT
Most of the discussions regarding new GDS alternatives have centered on the suppliers' point of view. The debate has almost always focused on whether the segment fees that airlines pay the GDSs are too high. But G2 SwitchWorks is working the other side of the street: It is banking on the notion that after 30 years of working with traditional GDSs, travel agents are ready for some new technology.
In an agreement that apparently stops short of a full merger, DBA is to take over the aircraft and routes of Germania Express under financial terms that were not disclosed (ATWOnline, Feb. 18). Beginning March 28, DBA will wet-lease 12 F100s from Gexx and begin flying that carrier's 15 routes, boosting its operational fleet to 27 aircraft. Including the former Gexx routes, DBA will offer a total of 15 domestic and 17 international routes. New destinations will be Athens, Salonika, Florence, Rome, Stockholm, Tiflis and Moscow. Daily flights will grow from 125 to 180.
Hawaiian Airlines' 376 mechanics and related workers, represented by the International Assn. of Machinists, ratified a new three-year contract. Four of the carrier's six unions now have ratified agreements. Last week, members of the Assn. of Flight Attendants rejected a tentative agreement with the bankrupt carrier. In addition, Hawaiian continues to negotiate with the Air Line Pilots Assn.
Qatar Airways is increasing the number of daily flights between Bahrain and Doha to five starting Feb. 22. The fifth flight was needed to accommodate the increased traffic generated by Qatar's recent launch of service to London Gatwick, Seychelles, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Yangoon.
Denmark's Sterling Airlines had a pre-tax loss of DKK199.3 million ($35 million) in 2004, including a deficit of DKK69.8 million in the fourth quarter. It noted that passenger numbers rose 36.4% to 1,825,206 while earned revenues totaled DKK1.61 billion. MD Harald Andresen attributed the red ink to a number of factors: "Competition is very tough at the moment, and there is a great deal of overcapacity...which is forcing the prices of our product right down.
Boeing believes the composite structure and electric systems on its new 787 will lead to significantly lower maintenance costs versus comparable aircraft in use today. In fact, according to 787 Deputy Chief Mechanic Justin Hale, the company is guaranteeing mature maintenance cost savings of 32% against the A330 at year 12 of operation.
Finnair named Antero Lahtinen MD-Finnair Cargo Oy, responsible for Finnair Cargo. He takes up his new post on May 1 and also will become a senior VP on the Finnair Group Board of Management.
United Airlines parent UAL Corp said the US Bankruptcy Court approved amendments to its debtor-in-possession financing facility that provide "a significant reduction" in the interest it must pay under the loan. The agreement with DIP lenders JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, CIT and GE Capital also extends the maturity date of the loan to Sept. 30 from June 30, waives the Jan. 2005 EBITDAR covenant and adjusts the minimum monthly EBITDAR targets for UAL going forward.
American Airlines will add a second nonstop flight between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Sao Paulo June 9. The new flight will be operated five days a week during peak season and thrice-weekly between Sept. 7 and Nov. 22. The route will be served with a 767-300.
World Airways parent World Air Holdings said it earned $8.1 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 and $25.6 million for the full year, up from $0.9 million and $15.3 million respectively in the equivalent 2003 periods. Fourth-quarter operating revenues rose 6.4% to $130.1 million while operating profit climbed 20% to $8.1 million. Full-year revenues were ahead 6.1% to $503.9 million and operating income jumped 41.7% to $40.3 million. "Our strong quarterly results closed an outstanding year," stated President and CEO Randy Martinez.
Evergreen Aviation Technologies Corp., a Taiwan-based joint venture between EVA Airways and GE, will carry out the conversion of three 747-400 passenger jets into 747 Large Cargo Freighters that will be used to transport major assemblies for the 787, Boeing said. Modification of the first will begin about mid-year with certification expected during 2006. Separately, Boeing said it selected Gamesa Aeronautica of Vitoria, Spain, as a partner in designing the structure of the 747LCF.
Aloha Airlines said its 30 dispatchers and schedulers, represented by the Transport Workers Union, ratified a new 52-month contract through April 30, 2009. However, the 250 mechanics and inspectors represented by IAM voted down a tentative agreement.
Air Dolomiti, 100% owned by Lufthansa, will add four former Aer Lingus BAe 146-300s to its fleet by May and phase out its five CRJs. It will introduce the higher capacity on routes from northern Italy to Munich.
Skyways Aviation arranged the sale of three F50s by Luxair to Largus Aviation of Sweden. The aircraft will be placed with Amapola, an F50 freight carrier operating for the Swedish post office, but will be leased by Skyways until they are required.
ITA Software will charge airlines 40 cents per segment booked through its new "alternative" GDS, chief executive officer Jeremy Wertheimer said. That's about 10% of what the traditional GDSs charge. And unlike other alternative booking methods, some of which involve direct connections between airlines and major travel agencies, ITA plans to develop a full-service GDS, with hotel, cruise and car rental participation.
This year's winner of ATW's Market Leadership Award deserves credit for launching a travel revolution not simply in one country but across an entire region. In just three years, AirAsia has shown that the Asia/Pacific is ripe for low-fare exploitation, defying conventional wisdom that the LCC model would not work in an area characterized by tightly managed bilateral arrangements. It has made air travel affordable to hundreds of thousands of people and has spawned a number of imitators that will spread the revolution even farther.
This year's Regional Airline of the Year is a company that has completed a successful business restructuring during one of the most difficult periods in the history of commercial aviation. After losing $59 million in the 2001 and 2002 fiscal years, Mesa Air Group recovered to post profits totaling $51 million over the next two years, including $26 million in the year to last Sept. 30. Revenues, meanwhile, rose more than 70% from $523 million to $896.8 million and passenger enplanements more than doubled to 10.2 million.
A new epoch in the air traffic management technologies and capabilities often associated with the term Free Flight finally is arriving. ATC providers around the world will be moving with increasing speed to operational use of a satellite-based system that sets aircraft free from the limiting tyranny of locally positioned short-range, line-of-sight navigation aids and radars in favor of a ubiquitous "god-to-ground" technology for surveillance, navigation, precision approach and aircraft separation.
ABX Air selected Quint Turner as CFO. ACE Aviation Holdings appointed Montie R. Brewer president & CEO-Air Canada, Jon Turner VP-maintenance-Air Canada, Duncan Dee senior VP-corporate affairs & CAO-ACE, Bradley Moore president & CEO-Air Canada Ground Handling Services and Claude Morin president & CEO-Air Canada Cargo. Alaska Airlines welcomed Caroline Boren as MD-corporate & strategic communications.
