Air Transport World articles from May 2006

Air Transport World archives from May 2006

What comes next?(LARGE TRANSPORTS)(aircraft companies plan replacement of product lines)
May 1, 2006... IN 1960 ON THE OCCASION OF the 25th anniversary of the DC-3, a British aviation magazine showed a cartoon of two executives overlooking a production line of DC-3s with the caption "It's a DC-3 replacement." It can be argued on economic...

Rising in the East.(COMPETITION)(Cover story)
May 1, 2006... FORECASTS FOR AIRLINE traffic among the nations of Central and Eastern Europe are good. Actually, they are very good, with Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania featuring in IATA's worldwide list of the top 10 countries with the highest...

Air mail.(Letter to the editor)
May 1, 2006... Editor: Your "Avitas Market Commentary-CRJ200ER, ERJ-145ER, 328Jet, RJ85 and RJ100" (ATW, 3/06, p. 49) grossly misrepresents the market success of the Avro RJ to date. Data used in the article itself notes that more than 98% of the current RJ85...

Coming events.
May 1, 2006... May 4-5 Ford & Harrison's Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference, Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Orlando, FL. Contact Lynne Donaghy at +1 404-888-3858; website www.fordharrison.com. May 8-10 SpeedNews 4th Annual Aerospace &...

Air Malta.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Air Malta elevated COO Joe Cappello to CEO.

Air Transport Assn.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Air Transport Assn. welcomed Sharon Pinkerton as VP-government affairs.

Alaska Airlines.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Alaska Airlines elected Benjamin Forrest VP-flight operations and chose Jay Schaefer staff VP-finance & treasurer.

Amadeus.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Amadeus named Mary Keagul VP-product strategy & operations-North America.

AMR Corp.(Thomas W. Horton, Craig S. Kreeger, C. David Cush appointed)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... AMR Corp. appointed Thomas W. Horton Executive VP-finance & planning & CFO, Craig S. Kreeger senior VP-international, C. David Cush senior VP-global sales, Douglas G. Herring president-American Beacon Advisors, Isabella Goren senior VP-customer...

ATA Airlines.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... ATA Airlines tapped Josef Loew as senior VP-scheduled service.

Aviation Partners Boeing.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Aviation Partners Boeing welcomed John Reimers as CEO.

Delta Air Lines.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Delta Air Lines announced the departure of marketing chief Paul Matsen.

Deutsche Lufthansa.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Deutsche Lufthansa selected Stephan Gemkow as CFO to succeed Karl-Ludwig Kley and Roland Busch as head-finance human resources div.-Lufthansa Cargo.

FAA.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... FAA introduced Michael O'Malley as chief of staff.

Frontier Airlines.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Frontier Airlines hired Roger Morenc as senior dir.-revenue & market management.

Gulf Air.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Gulf Air promoted Des Vertannes to head of cargo.

Hawaiian Airlines.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Hawaiian Airlines elevated Kirk Smith to VP-marketing & sales.

JetBlue Airways.(Tom Anderson, Holly Nelson, Todd Thompson appointed)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... JetBlue Airways named Tom Anderson senior VP-supply chain & LiveTV, Holly Nelson senior VP & controller, Todd Thompson senior VP & CIO, Tim Hickey VP-IT operations, Jim Hnat senior VP-& general counsel, Joanna Geraghty VP & associate general...

JFK Terminal 4.(John DeFelice, James Fazio, Craig Hexter promoted)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... JFK Terminal 4 promoted John DeFelice to VP-safety & security, James Fazio to COO, Craig Hexter to dir.-operations, Janice Holden to VP-marketing & business development, Daryl Jameson to dir.-facilities & ICT, Shawn Makinen to VPfacilities &...

KLM.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... KLM appointed Michel Coumans MD-KLM cityhopper & CEO-KLM cityhopper UK.

LOT Polish Airlines.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... LOT Polish Airlines chose Krzystof Kapis as president & CEO.

Messier-Dowty.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Messier-Dowty elevated Remy Maitam to VP-customer services.

Nordam.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Nordam promoted Tory Baker to VP & treasurer.

Rockwell-Collins.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Rockwell-Collins named Jeff Moore senior VP-operations.

SITA.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... SITA tapped Francesco Violante as CEO effective July 1.

Thales.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2006... Thales appointed Allan Cameron chairman & CEO, Thales-US.

Breaking the 'capacity wall'. (ATM).(air traffic management)
May 1, 2006... WITH DELAYS CREEPING BACK up again and Europe edging ever closer to what Eurocontrol DG Victor Aguado describes as a "capacity wall," the approaching summer peak is expected to put pressure on the region's increasingly congested airport...

Avitas market commentary--737-300, 737-700, A319-100.(FACTS & FIGURES)(Statistical data)
May 1, 2006... The market for the 737-300 has shown considerable improvement over the last year, with a strengthening in lease rates and prospects further enhanced by the emergence from bankruptcy of United Airlines and US Airways. During the recession, the...

Ireland approves Aer Lingus privatization.(Aer Lingus Group PLC)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... The Irish government last month said it decided to sell up to 74.9% of Aer Lingus through an IPO. Timetable for the sale was not announced. The transaction is taking place in order to give Aer Lingus both the commercial flexibility and the...

IATA calls for airport regulation.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Large European airports are out-of-control monopolies and need to be regulated by newly created national authorities with teeth," IATA DG and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said last month at a meeting between the European Commission and 11 aviation...

A350 may get redo.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert held out the possibility that Airbus may make additional changes to the A350 after unusual public criticism of the aircraft from some of the manufacturer's key customers in this spring. "We are listening to the...

Africa bears brunt of EU blacklist.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... The EU's list of 92 companies barred from operating in European airspace released in late March includes 80 carriers from African nations, the majority of them from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Several Asian airlines are listed, including...

Airline fatalities rise in 2005.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... World airline 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...

BAE systems.(Airbus S.A.S., EADS N.V., acquisition deal)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * BAE Systems, citing a desire to concentrate on its "core transatlantic defense and aerospace strategy," confirmed last month that it "entered into discussions with European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. regarding the sale of its 20%...

Lufthansa Group.(EUROPE Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Lufthansa Group overcame the effect of soaring fuel prices that added 843 million [euro] to expenses, along with tough competition from European low-fare airlines, as it reported net earnings for 2005 of 453 million [euro] ($547 million), up...

A380 slides through test.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... The A380 passed its crucial evacuation test March 26 in Hamburg as 853 volunteers serving as "passengers," two cockpit crewmembers and 18 cabin crew from Lufthansa evacuated the test aircraft in under 90 sec. with half of the 16 exits disabled....

Air France.(wage agreement with the workers)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Air France signed a 2006-wage agreement with ground staff and cabin crews represented by six unions, comprising the majority of its staff. Workers received a 500 [euro] bonus and an average overall pay hike of 3.3% over two years.

British Airways.(plans to raise retirement age for the workers)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * British Airways said it wants to raise the retirement age for staff as one of a series of measures aimed at easing its pension obligations. Other proposals include capping annual pension increases for retirees at 2.5%, a slower accrual rate...

TAP Portugal.(earnings)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * TAP Portugal parent Grupo TAP reported a net loss of 9.9 million [euro] ($12 million) in 2005, reversing a profit of 8.6 million [euro] in 2004, which was fueled by a 30 million [euro] extraordinary gain from the partial sale of ground...

Bmi Group.(earnings)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Bmi Group reported a pre-tax profit of 10 million [pounds sterling] ($17.3 million) in 2005, a near-fourfold rise compared with 2.6 million [pounds sterling] earned in 2004. Turnover rose 4.7% to 869 million [pounds sterling]. Operating...

SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express.(Virgin Express Holdings PLC, merger deal)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express will be merged into a single carrier with a new name and two distinct products, a basic service for price-sensitive passengers and an upgraded service for time-sensitive customers seeking greater...

Air Berlin.(earnings and no. of passengers)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Air Berlin lost 115.9 million [euro] ($140.3 million) in 2005, widened from a 2.9 million [euro] deficit in 2004, largely owing to 100 million [euro] in one-time charges stemming from debt revaluation and deferred taxes, according to Reuters....

Italian government.(approval of Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A.and Volare Airlines merger)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Italian government in late March conditionally approved Alitalia's 38 million [euro] ($45.9 million) takeover of struggling Volare Airlines. Alitalia's bid has been challenged in court by domestic competitor Air One.

LOT Polish Airlines.(Krzysztof Kapis appointed)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * LOT Polish Airlines supervisory board named Polish Civil Aviation Office President Krzysztof Kapis the carrier's new president and CEO. He worked at LOT from 1975 to 2001, holding a variety of positions including commercial director and...

Air France is to conduct a six-month in-service trial of OnAir's GSM equipment on an A318, enabling passengers to use their own GSM mobile phones and GPRS-enabled devices.(EUROPE Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Air France is to conduct a six-month in-service trial of OnAir's GSM equipment on an A318, enabling passengers to use their own GSM mobile phones and GPRS-enabled devices. AF will survey passengers before deciding whether to extend the...

Air Malta.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * Air Malta announced that COO Joe Cappello replaced Ernst Funk as CEO. Cappello joined the airline in 1976 and became COO in 2002.

SunExpress.(SunExpress Europe, earnings)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * SunExpress, jointly owned by Turkish Airlines and Thomas Cook Airlines, increased its turnover in 2005 by 30.5% to 197.2 million [euro] ($238.1 million). Passengers grew 30.1% to 1.76 million.

European Airline Traffic March 2006.(FACT FILE)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
May 1, 2006... European Airline Traffic March 2006 % RPKs change ASKs Airline billions) 2005 (billions) AF-KLM 15.94 6.6 20.06 AUA Group 1.76 ...

AirBaltic.(earnings)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * AirBaltic reported a net loss of 1.9 million [euro] ($2.3 million) for 2005 owing to a 4 million [euro] charge related to the return of RJ70s. Excluding the charge, airBaltic said it would have earned 2.07 million [euro] compared with a loss...

European Commission.(finance to Olympic Airlines)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * European Commission warned the Greek government that it must adhere to a May 2005 European Court of Justice ruling and recover 161 million [euro] ($194.6 million) in state aid given to Olympic Airways, now Olympic Airlines, between 1998 and...

ATW adds senior editor.(Aaron Karp appointed)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... ATW is pleased to announce that Aaron Karp has joined as a senior editor in its Silver Spring, Md., head office. Aaron comes to ATW from Air Cargo World Magazine, where he served as managing editor beginning in November 2003. Prior to that, he...

Quoted briefly.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... Quoted "This blacklist will keep dubious airlines out of Europe. It will also make sure that all airlines operating in Europe's sky meet the highest safety standards." --EC VP Jacques Barrot

Swiss prosecutors.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * Swiss prosecutors filed charges last month against 19 top Swissair executives and former board in connection with the carrier's financial collapse 4.5 years ago.

UK and Russian governments.(EUROPE Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * UK and Russian governments signed a new aviation agreement that will lead to "a significant expansion" in air services between the countries including permitting bmi to operate alongside British Airways on the principal London-Moscow route.

Aeroflot.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * Aeroflot became the 10th member of SkyTeam last month.

FL Group.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * FL Group sold its 16.9% stake in easyJet for approximately 325 million [euro] ($395.9 million), earning Icelandair's parent company some 140 million [euro] in profit.

Lufthansa.(Worldspan International PLC)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Lufthansa signed a full-content distribution agreement with Worldspan that will result in lower distribution costs. "Worldspan also will provide technology tools to help lower our overall IT expenditure," LH said.

A340-600HGW.(EUROPE Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * A340-600HGW received certification from EASA. The dash 600HGW has a range of 7,900 nm. (14,600 km.), an improvement of 250 nm. over the base A340-600 in a typical three-class arrangement seating 380. Qatar Airways will take the first aircraft...

SITA.(Francesco Violante appointed)(Sky Airline of Chile, Hong Kong Express Airways, Moscow Domodedovo Airport)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * SITA named MD Francesco Violante CEO effective July 1. SITA announced that Sky Airline of Chile and Hong Kong Express Airways will implement its Horizon portfolio including Airfare Price and SITA Reservations. SITA also announced...

Sabre Travel Network.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * Sabre Travel Network signed multiyear full-content access agreements with KLM and SN Brussels Airlines.

Sabre Airline solutions.(Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. contracts)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Sabre Airline Solutions signed deals worth $2.5 million with Alitalia to provide it with revenue integrity products and consulting services. Carrier also extended and upgraded use of the Sabre AirMax revenue management system

SR Technics.(SkyEurope Airlines a.s. contracts)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * SR Technics will assume full component management and MRO for SkyEurope's current and future fleet of 737-700s under an 11-year agreement valued at approximately 45 million [euro] ($54.2 million).

KLM uk Engineering.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * KLM uk Engineering signed an exclusive five-year, 15 million [euro] contract extension with TNT Airways for heavy maintenance of TNT's 21 BAe 146s.

Lufthansa Technik.(Wizz Air contracts)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Lufthansa Technik signed five-year contract to provide its Total Component Support package for Wizz Air's A320 fleet, which will number 24 aircraft by the end of the contract.

GE Commercial Aviation Training and Siberia Airlines.(EUROPE Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * GE Commercial Aviation Training and Siberia Airlines agreed to cooperate in the development of a new training center in Moscow to be built near Domodedovo and open in 2007.

Lufthansa systems and NavAero.(Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. contracts)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Lufthansa Systems and NavAero signed a contract with Virgin Atlantic to equip the carrier's entire fleet with a Class electronic flight bag solution. NavAero will provide its tBagC22 EFB computer and display hardware and LHS will supply its...

BAA.(acquisition deal with Consortia)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * BAA came under increasing takeover pressure this spring as the UK-base airports operator confirmed it received and rejected a "preliminary highly conditional and confidential approach" in March from a consortium led by Goldman Sachs...

Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport.(airport construction)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Berlin-Brandenburg International Airport construction can move forward after German court overruled environmentalists and local residents who objected to plans to replace Berlin Schoenefeld with the new facility. It is scheduled to open in...

Amadeus.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * Amadeus changed the name of its Airline Automation subsidiary to Amadeus Revenue Integrity.

Mercator.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * Mercator was contracted by Cyprus Airways to handle its passenger revenue accounting operation.

Bmi.(EUROPE Report)
May 1, 2006... * Bmi selected Discover the World Marketing to handle sales and marketing through its Russian office for Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Aviareps.(Air Madrid, contract)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Aviareps was selected by Air Madrid to be its general sales agent in France. FlyMe appointed Aviareps as its general sales agent in France, Italy and the Czech Republic.

Delta Air Lines.(Air Line Pilots Association contracts)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Delta Air Lines and its pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Assn., reached a tentative agreement on a new contract on April 14, a day before an arbitration panel was scheduled to rule on the airline's request to be permitted to impose...

Fuel hedge.
May 1, 2006... A320 equipped with one of two types of winglets Airbus is evaulating for improved performance and reduced fuel burn.

US majors traffic March 2006 *.(FACT FILE)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... US Majors Traffic March 2006 * RPMs % chg. ASMs Airline (bil.) 27-Jun (bil.) AirTran 1.21 23.6 1.55 Alaska 1.53 4.2 1.95...

Dreamliner taxi.
May 1, 2006... 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter to transport large 787 components takes shape.

Northwest.(earnings of Northwest Airlines Corp.)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Northwest in its monthly report to the bankruptcy court said it lost $496 million in February, including $431 million in Chapter 11 reorganization- related expenses. Monthly operating revenues totaled $889 million while expenses reached $919...

American Airlines parent AMR.(NORTH AMERICA Report)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * American Airlines parent AMR Corp. announced changes to management compensation program in response to union complaints over the hefty bonuses some executives will receive in spite of AMR's $861 million loss last year because the payouts are...

United Airlines.(NORTH AMERICA Report)
May 1, 2006... * United Airlines signed a five-year, full-content distribution agreement with Galileo.

Continental Airlines.(NORTH AMERICA Report)
May 1, 2006... * Continental Airlines signed a five-year comprehensive content distribution agreement with Worldspan to participate at the highest level of connectivity.

Southwest Airlines.(new service)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Southwest Airlines, which added Denver International Airport to its network last January, launches service at Washington Dulles this fall. Like Denver, Dulles is a United Airlines hub. Southwest will announce its Dulles routes this summer.

Hawaiian Holdings.(earnings)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Hawaiian Holdings, parent of Hawaiian Airlines, reported a 2005 full-year net loss of $12.4 million owing to a fourth-quarter loss of $19.5 million. It noted that quarterly and annual results were impacted negatively "by an unusually high...

US Airways.(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * US Airways began recalling approximately 400 furloughed flight attendants. Some 1,200 flight attendants remain on furlough from the former US Airways. The airline recalled 55 of its 1,574 furloughed pilots in February.

Alaska Airlines.(Association of Flight Attendants labor agreement)(Brief article)
May 1, 2006... * Alaska Airlines and the Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA reached a tentative four-year labor agreement covering 2,480 cabin staff. Terms were not supplied. A ratification vote was expected to be completed by the end of April.