Airline Business articles from November 2004

Airline Business archives from November 2004

WestJet flies across border.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... As a sign of the maturing Canadian market, low-cost carrier WestJet has launched scheduled US flights and is negotiating with Cathay Pacific about interlining international passengers. WestJet's cross-border scheduled nonstop services from...

Mexico's sell-off saga resurfaces as carriers flourish.(Mexico Federal competition commission)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... The debate over selling Aeromexico and Mexicana together or separately is reviving as the performance of Mexico's major carriers picks up. Rogelio Gasca Neri, chairman of Cintra, the holding company for Aeromexico, Mexicana and their...

Northwest pilots agree labour deal.
November 1, 2004... Northwest Airlines has negotiated a labour deal with its Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) union that saves it $265 million a year. The deal is connected to its financial restructuring, with the tentative pact going ahead as long as the...

In brief.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Labour relief for USAirways US Airways has won bankruptcy court approval to cut unionised employee pay by 21% up to February. "But the interim relief is not a substitute for permanent relief," says the carrier, as talks with union groups...

Law of diminishing returns.
November 1, 2004... An analysis of the latest data from Europe's major carriers suggests that there was a structural shift downward in yields last year and that the trend is for further falls, writes Chris Tarry of CTAIRA We have warned before that the airline...

SIA drives to outsource.(Singapore Airlines)
November 1, 2004... Citing a need to cut costs further as competition intensifies, the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group is eliminating hundreds of jobs. SIA launched its workforce reduction programme by unveiling plans to eliminate around 70 finance division...

and sells Air New Zealand stake.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Singapore Airlines (SIA) has sold its stake in Air New Zealand (ANZ), putting an end to a four-year equity partnership that SIA came to regret and which cost it millions of dollars. SIA sold its remaining 6.3% stake in its Star Alliance...

Air China IPO ready to run.
November 1, 2004... Air China is expected to launch its long-planned initial public offering (IPO) in the coming months, giving it funds for expansion as the Chinese government allows more competition. The Beijing-headquartered Chinese flag carrier has wanted...

AirAsia sustains fast climb.
November 1, 2004... Malaysia's AirAsia is seeking to cement its status as Asia's dominant low-cost carrier through an initial public offering (IPO) that will give it several hundred million dollars in cash for expansion. The fast-growing airline has been...

Macau in talks on low-cost entrant.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Air Macau and Australian low-cost carrier Virgin Blue are in talks to set up a no-frills airline operating from the former Portuguese enclave of Macau. Industry sources say progress is being made on a deal that could see the launch of a...

In brief.
November 1, 2004... Vietnam leases more 777s Fast-growing Vietnam Airlines is to lease two more Boeing 777-200ERs from International Lease Finance (ILFC) for delivery next year. It already operates four 777s that it purchased from the manufacturer and two...

Pacific Blue reaches out to islands.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Virgin Blue's offshore arm Pacific Blue has launched flights to Fiji and Vanuatu, two South Pacific island nations, with plans to add the Cook Islands to its Pacific network. Its Fiji flights operate three times weekly from Brisbane and...

Union tension as Lufthansa seeks deeper cost cuts.
November 1, 2004... Relations between Lufthansa management and its pilots have taken a turn for the worst after recent comments by the carrier's chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber about the need for deeper cost cuts. Mayrhuber surprised the powerful Vereinigung...

In brief.
November 1, 2004... Greece seeks Olympic aid Greece is seeking permission from Brussels to take on responsibility for the lease payments on four Airbus A340s operated by Olympic Airlines. Greece has had a number of run-ins with Brussels over Olympic in the...

A halt to grandfather rights?
November 1, 2004... Brussels has published its ideas on shaking up slot allocation, including a threat to curtail grandfather rights, but also an acceptance of slot trading A controversial discussion document from the European Commission (EC) has brought...

Fare.(air fares)
November 1, 2004... play Revenue management models need to adapt to the market change brought about by the rise of low-cost competition and new online sales channels Structural shifts are clearly taking place in the air travel market, raising the...

Diverging.(cargo airlines)
November 1, 2004... paths Is the long-predicted strategic split finally taking place in the cargo market, with serious players forced to get more heavily into freighters while others question their future in freight? Ram Menen, senior vice-president cargo...

Lufthansa in Chinese cargo venture.(Lufthansa Cargo AG, Shenzhen Airlines)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Lufthansa Cargo and Shenzhen Airlines agreed at a signing ceremony in Beijing in late October to set up a joint-venture cargo airline to fly on intra-Chinese and intra-Asian routes. Initially, the new carrier is expected to operate two...

Brazil faces new dilemma.
November 1, 2004... The rapid deterioration of VASP has complicated plans by Brazil's government for Varig's rescue. Cabinet members had hoped to unveil a restructuring of Brazil's major airline Varig by the end of the year, but nobody foresaw that VASP, the...

South Pacific lures rivals.(Air Tahiti Nui Inc.)
November 1, 2004... Air Tahiti Nui's plan for one-stop Los Angeles-Sydney flights is the latest by potential competitors to claim some of the trans-South Pacific market dominated by Qantas and Air New Zealand (ANZ). When Air Tahiti Nui starts Airbus A340...

FAA sounds congestion warning.(Federal Aviation Administration)
November 1, 2004... US airports are being urged to focus on a looming congestion crisis even as they continue their not-always successful fight for federal funding for state security mandates. FAA chief operating officer Russell Chew told an Airports Council...

ERA sets out master plan for Europe.
November 1, 2004... The addition of 10 new members to the European Union and the imminent arrival of 25 newly appointed European commissioners has spurred the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) to publish its own blueprint for the development and...

Fuel surcharges meet mixed fortunes.
November 1, 2004... Airlines have had mixed fortunes in their attempts to recover some of the losses from the surge in kerosene prices by adding a fuel surcharge to tickets. European carriers have been at the forefront of the move, with British Airways and...

Aer Lingus privatisation starts to slip.(Aer Lingus Group PLC)
November 1, 2004... The momentum behind the planned privatisation of Aer Lingus appears to be slipping, with some analysts predicting a decision may have to wait until 2007. Against a background of union opposition to the planned privatisation, coupled with a...

US majors push overseas.
November 1, 2004... US majors such as Continental and United Airlines are increasingly looking overseas for growth as low-fare competitors limit their domestic opportunities. United, for one, is pinning its post-bankruptcy expansion on international flying,...

Cendant strengthens with Orbitz buy.(Cendant Travel Distribution Services)
November 1, 2004... Orbitz, the pioneering online ticket site created by a group of five major US airlines as a direct link to consumers, is about to be consumed by travel distribution giant Cendant, parent of the Galileo global distribution system (GDS). The...

Alitalia strives for a privatised future.(Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A.)
November 1, 2004... With money from a bridging loan starting to arrive, a new labour deal in place and a new commercial structure being created, Alitalia is turning its attention to becoming a private carrier by March or April next year. The privatisation...

AEA issues action plan.
November 1, 2004... Europe's mainline airlines are calling on Brussels to hold a high-level conference of transport officials and national ministers to discuss priorities and requirements for the 2005 legislative programme of the European Union (EU). The...

Team.(SkyTeam Cargo)
November 1, 2004... work At least one of the airline cargo alliances seems to be making good progress, but major freight forwarding customers want to see deeper integration A familiar event at the last three Air Cargo Forums - the biannual get-together...

Entertainment.(airlines offer new services)
November 1, 2004... value New technology abounded at the 25th annual conference and exhibition of the World Airline Entertainment Association, but the burning questions were what can the airlines afford and what will their passengers pay for? Long gone...

Special report.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2004... Analysts have long warned that carriers will eventually face the choice of getting serious about cargo or else easing out of the game. As market pressures grow, such cautions finally look like coming to the fore. Plus a look at global...

Delayed.
November 1, 2004... take-off Nearly everyone broadly agrees what air cargo should be doing against terrorism. But despite this, the industry is still waiting for the USA to show the way forward Three years after 9/11, the air cargo industry is still...

Rebuilding.(network planning event)
November 1, 2004... networks The latest Routes network planning event in Madrid highlighted a sharp upturn in capacity expansion, with special emphasis on developments in China and among low-cost carriers Two of the airline industry's fastest growing and...

Unlocking.(management training)
November 1, 2004... potential Management training and recruitment are back on the agenda as the industry recovers, but new types of talent and skills are needed for the challenges ahead Management training is something of a bellwether for the state of...

A mainline.(America West Airlines Inc.)
November 1, 2004... role model Doug Parker has led America West's transformation into a low-cost network carrier, but the fuel crisis and tough competition still pose serious threats To judge by the office wall lined with testimonials to his success in...

Executive appointments.(airlines)
November 1, 2004... Virgin Blue Pichler at Virgin Blue Almost a year since leaving the chief executive's office at the Thomas Cook group, Stefan Pichler, 46, has become the number two at Australian low-fare player Virgin Blue, reporting to chief executive...

Feedback.(aviation industry's route development funds)
November 1, 2004... Route partnerships in action Innovative public sector partnerships with the aviation industry can help to secure new international services for Europe's regions, says Seamus Kealey, director at AviaSolutions, a consultancy that advised on...

Going into orbit.
November 1, 2004... The purchase of online travel site Orbitz by Cendant is the biggest play to date in the rapidly evolving distribution world. But the deal raises as many questions as it finds answers, especially for the strategic direction of the global...