Airline Business articles from April 2006

Airline Business archives from April 2006

Northwest cuts late pilots deal.
April 1, 2006... The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) deal with Northwest Airlines to cut wages and increase productivity was hammered out just hours before a bankruptcy-court deadline that would have allowed the airline to tear up its ALPA contract and...

Delta builds critical mass in New York.(Delta Air Lines Inc.)
April 1, 2006... It is also a crucial step in helping the carrier overcome what chief operating officer Jim Whitehurst calls "a $2.5 billion revenue shortfall". Delta, which has been in bankruptcy court reorganisation since September 2005, would have been...

Briefing.(American Airlines Inc. starts new service between Chicago O'Hare and Shanghai, China, US Airways Inc. recalls 400 furloughed flight attendants, Gemini Air Cargo Inc. files Chapter 11 bankruptcy)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... US Airways recalls staff US Airways recalled 400 furloughed flight attendants for its summer schedule as chief executive Doug Parker repeated predictions that the merged America West/US Airways would have a net profit this year. It...

Briefing.(Mesa Air Group Inc. files a countersuit against Hawaiian Airlines Inc., Alaska Airlines Inc.'s plans)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Hawaiian spat escalates Mesa Air Group has filed a countersuit against Hawaiian Airlines, claiming the Honolulu-based carrier is violating antitrust law by trying to prevent the regional carrier from launching inter-island service. In...

US/EU open skies barriers grow.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The ambitious Bush administration plan to open skies between the USA and the European Union (EU) by encouraging foreign investment in US airlines appears sunk, drowned by the same frenzied opposition that overwhelmed a Gulf State ports purchase...

Two tussle for Toronto City.(City Centre Aviation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Start-up Porter Airlines seems to have the upper hand in a tussle with Air Canada's Jazz over access to an inner-city Toronto airport. Jazz has lost its bid for an injunction after City Centre Aviation, Porter's sister company, ended Jazz's...

FAA to review Venezuela status.(Federal Aviation Administration)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... All eyes are on the US FAA as it agrees to review Venezuela's status under its international air safety assessment programme. Every Latin American country that the FAA has downgraded to Category.2 has privately dreamed of doing what Venezuela...

Transfer pointers.
April 1, 2006... The value-destroying characteristics of the airline industry have been well documented, and even if IATA's latest optimistic forecast is right (it expects the industry to report an aggregate net result of $7.2 billion in 2007), the returns are...

Lufthansa.(Deutsche Lufthansa AG changes management team)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Trouble at the top Germany's leading airline has been rocked by the departure of two senior executives, prompting speculation of a rift at boardroom level. The resignations of chief financial officer Dr Karl Ludwig Kley and the chairman of the...

Forum.(appointments at Kulula.com)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... After a prolonged silence about his future, Gordon Bethune, the former chairman of Continental Airlines, has been named as chairman of Cendant's travel distribution business (TDS). He fills a role vacated in December by Samuel Katz. After...

JAL struggles to put its house in order.(Japan Air Lines Company Ltd. restructures management team)
April 1, 2006... Nicholas Ionides Singapore JAL, which is desperately trying to restructure ahead of major change in the Japanese market at the end of this decade, lost Toshiyuki Shinmachi as chief executive at the beginning of March [degrees] just weeks...

Malaysia to bite turnaround bullet.(Malaysia Airline System Bhd. restructures)
April 1, 2006... Idris, a long-serving executive with oil giant Shell, took over as managing director and chief executive of state-owned MAS in December after his predecessor resigned following a negative set of quarterly financial results. In unveiling his...

Outlook bleak for Australian.
April 1, 2006... It is only a question of time, analysts say, before Qantas folds Australian Airlines into its planned new long-haul, low-cost arm Jetstar International. Both target overseas routes where margins are too low for Qantas. The market is taking...

China unveils aviation leap forward.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... China's government has outlined ambitious civil aviation growth plans that it expects will help three of the country's airlines rank among the world's top 10 by 2020. Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) vice-minister Gao Hongfeng said...

Briefing.(Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Singapore Changi Airport opens new terminals)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Low-cost terminals open Both Kuala Lumpur International and Singapore Changi airports opened terminals catering to low-cost carriers in late March. The new Kuala Lumpur terminal's main user will be AirAsia. The terminal will have basic...

New owners for Thai AirAsia.(Asia Aviation)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Thai AirAsia is to undergo a shareholding change to return to compliance with Thailand's airline ownership laws. The shareholding revamp came as a result of a change in ownership of Thai AirAsia's 50% owner Shin Corp, a Thai...

Australia denies SIA Pacific freedom.
April 1, 2006... The SIA decision announced by Australian transport minister Warren Truss ends months of controversy over Singapore's request for an open skies accord that would allow SIA to fly beyond Australia to the USA. In the end the Australian government...

Qantas and Air New Zealand.(Qantas Airways Ltd., restructures management team)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Qantas and ANZ shuffle senior management posts Australasia's two biggest airlines have rearranged their organisation charts, but in different ways. Qantas is splitting its flying business into two brands [degrees] Qantas and Jetstar. John...

Austrian Airlines.(Alfred Otsch appointed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Siemens man joins Austrian Alfred Otsch has been appointed by Austrian Airlines to succeed Vagn Soerensen as chief executive from May. A native of Wiener Neustadt and educated in Vienna, Otsch, 52, has spent his entire working life...

Tampa Cargo.(Fred Jacobsen resigns)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Jacobsen leaves Tampa Fred Jacobsen is moving on after almost nine years as president and chief executive of Colombia's Tampa Cargo. He leaves on good terms, having decided for "personal and professional reasons" to resign. His...

The value hunt.
April 1, 2006... Just as every thing has its value, every thing and every service has a price. The two are rarely the same, and determining value as opposed to simply demanding a price is an exacting process. In the USA, airlines and the FAA are moving...

IATA World Air Transport Summit and AGMIn next month's issue of Airline Business.
April 1, 2006... april 2006 4-5 IATA Airline Insurance & Risk Management Conference 2006 Bangkok, Thailand Contact Philippe Guertin Tel +1 514 874 0203 x3495 website www.iata.org 4-6 Aircraft Interiors Expo 2006 Hamburg, Germany Contact Julia Robinson Tel +44...

BA vows to hit profit target.(British Airways PLC)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... British Airways has announced a [pounds sterling]450 million ($785 million) cost-cutting plan split across the next two years as it seeks to achieve its long stated goal of operating margins of 10%. Chief executive Willie Walsh told...

BAA rebuffs Spanish takeover bid.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... UK airport operator BAA has rejected a [pounds sterling]8.8 billion ($15.45 billion) take-over approach from a consortium led by Spain's Grupo Ferrovial, worth 810p a share in cash, saying it "does not begin to reflect the true value of BAA's...

German carriers jostle for pole position.
April 1, 2006... German investment firm Intro, architect of a turnaround that saw budget carrier DBA turn a profit for the first time in 2005, is aiming to repeat the trick after taking a controlling stake in struggling German charter carrier LTU. Under...

Ireland moves towards Aer Lingus IPO.
April 1, 2006... Colin Baker Edinburgh Dublin is believed to be looking to reduce its 85% stake in the carrier to 25% through an IPO and the issue of new equity, with the offer raising between [euro]600 million ($730 million) and [euro]800 million and new...

Briefing.(Eurofly Service to acquire Livingston Aviation Group, TAP Portugal 's expansion plans)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Eurofly courts Livingston In a brief statement to the Italian stock exchange in mid-March, leisure airline Eurofly announced that tour operator I Viaggi del Ventaglio has granted it a 20-day exclusive period of negotiations to acquire its...

Briefing.( the propoesd Berlin Brandenburg International airport gets nod from court )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Berlin uncertainty is ended A court in Leipzig has ruled in favour of the proposed new Berlin Brandenburg International airport, finally ending years of setbacks and uncertainty. The new [euro]2 billion ($2.4 billion) single hub for...

Alitalia cleared for Volare acquisition.
April 1, 2006... The decision by industry minister Claudio Scajola was widely expected after the same Roman court that in January blocked the attempted take-over had reversed its decision in mid-March after an appeal by the flag carrier. The ministry has been...

UK report calls for slot flexibility.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have added their voices to the much argued over issue of secondary trading of airport slots. The report, issued in March, entitled Competition Issues Associated with the...

Briefing.(BAA PLC reaches an agreement with Oneworld alliance members on Heathrow airport)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Oneworld to consolidate Oneworld alliance members have reached an agreement with UK airport operator BAA, which will see them consolidate their operations at London Heathrow in just two terminals, rather than the four presently used. A...

Service message.
April 1, 2006... The best message an airport can hear at a route planning session is that a carrier is going to start service. And that was exactly what the marketing team at San Antonio International airport, the hosts of Airline Business-organised Network...

SpiritLifting the.(Spirit Airlines Inc. appoints Ben Baldanza )
April 1, 2006... If enthusiasm alone were enough to make a plan succeed, Ben Baldanza would have it in the bag. But more than enthusiasm will be needed for the assignment the 44-year-old airline veteran has taken on as president and chief operating officer at...

Forum.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... I would like to respond to some points Kevin Mitchell made in his article on the deregulation of Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) in Europe ("Don't break the code", February issue page 74). I spoke at the Business Travel Coalition conference...

GDSs: a question of size.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... We read with interest your features on GDSs in last month's issue (March, page 44 and 51) and wholeheartedly endorse most of the points you made. We do, however, dispute the global bookings share percentages you published. The global bookings...

Bilateral analysis.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... While not challenging the conclusions of the ComMark study (February page 61), we were struck by the suggestion of removing international barriers based on the example of domestic travel within South Africa. A review of the study shows the...

The complete picture.(International Air Carrier Association )
April 1, 2006... The aviation industry has significantly restructured over the past decade. Gone are the days of monopolies and protected markets. The evolution is particularly evident in the competitive leisure market segment, where airlines have embraced...

American hits out at Amadeus/Sabre pact.
April 1, 2006... American Airlines is the first to challenge their pact, which threatens its commercial leverage in the distribution field. The two GDSs say they have signed an agreement "to complete bookings on an airline in the unlikely event of that airline...

Briefing.(OzJet suspends its scheduled operations)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Jets for Royal Jordanian Jordan's flag carrier has placed a long-telegraphed order for regional jets, which is part of Royal Jordanian's plan to join oneworld and develop the capital Amman as a regional hub for the global alliance. The...

Cargo probe focuses on surcharges.
April 1, 2006... As it happened, many of the executives were gathered at the time for an IATA Committee meeting and an unrelated air cargo conference in Shanghai, and there was universal agreement among them that there was no case to answer. "This kind of...

A single SITA.(Company overview)
April 1, 2006... SITA SITA One of the toughest definitions in this industry is to come up with a succinct explanation of what SITA is and does. Is it an IT supplier; a communications company; a solutions provider? The organisation, founded in 1949 by...

Boeing'sbroadsmile.
April 1, 2006... Only a year ago, prospects looked worrying for Boeing on the freighter front. Orders for the production of the 747-400F seemed to be dwindling and former customers for the aircraft [degrees] such as Cathay Pacific Airways, Korean Air and...

Dreamstart.
April 1, 2006... In 2003, when Boeing had a web contest to name its new aircraft, voters overwhelmingly favoured "Dreamliner" over "Global Cruiser", "E-Liner", and "Strato-Cruiser". Lucky for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the name evokes what the 787 has...

Steadyclimb.(aircraft industry forecasts)
April 1, 2006... Those that held on to aircraft during the dark years of 2001-3 can breathe a sigh of relief. Aircraft values are continuing to stage a recovery, based on strong traffic growth, vastly improved lease rates and a shortage of aircraft. ...

Squaring up.
April 1, 2006... In the game of peddling airliners, a year's sales figures represent a chapter of the book, but are rarely the full story. Airbus is dearly hoping this year and next will not turn into a tale of woe as it formulates a strategy to revive A340...

Going live.(JetBlue Airways Corp. launches onboard live television service)
April 1, 2006... Had you been travelling on JetBlue Airways' flight 292 on 21 September last year you could have watched via a seatback screen news footage of your aircraft coming in for an emergency landing following a problem with the landing gear. News crews...

Taxingtimes.
April 1, 2006... There can be few industries that have had to cope with as much trauma as the airline sector over the past four years. On top of the normal business cycles, to which the sector is heavily exposed, there has been 9/11, a dramatic rise in fuel...