Airline Business articles from October 2004

Airline Business archives from October 2004

Hubs rejig will open door for rivals.
October 1, 2004... The restructuring at Delta Air Lines has major implications for the size and shape of US hub airports. When it dismantles its Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) hub in February, retreating from competition with dominant American Airlines, Delta will...

Is fleet growth affordable?
October 1, 2004... Optimism is already starting to return in aircraft markets as traffic continues to rise, but whether carriers can actually afford to add new capacity is another matter, writes Chris Tarry of CTAIRA A consensus appears to be emerging among...

Going for broke.
October 1, 2004... Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection has been portrayed as a useful restructuring tool for high-cost UScarriers, but as USAirways files for a second time, its survival is far from certain. And even if it were to fail, that may be little cheer for...

SN and Virgin firm merger plans.
October 1, 2004... Belgian carriers SN Brussels and Virgin Express have reached an agreement that will merge the two carriers under a holding company majority-owned by SN's parent, SN Airholding II. The deal follows a year of intensive talks between the two...

Low-cost lobby targets Brussels.
October 1, 2004... A study by the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA), targetted at winning political support in Brussels, claims that the low-cost sector is saving passengers g12 billion ($14 billion) a year on intra-European travel. The lobby group...

In brief.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... SAS maintenance spin off SAS Group is to spin off its maintenance division SAS Technical Services. The move will encompass the maintenance divisions of the mainline carrier SAS, the group's Norwegian operator Braathens, regional carrier...

Ryanair offers onboard video.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Ryanair is reversing its policy of stripping onboard services to the bare minimum by offering in-flight entertainment (IFE). From November the airline will be conducting a trial of a portable video system developed by Seattle-based IFEdeveloper...

BA to relinquish its share in Qantas...(British Airways, Qantas Airways)
October 1, 2004... The decision by British Airways to sell its 18.25% stake in Australia's Qantas Airways represents a shift in strategic priorities for BA and allows both airlines to address other concerns. Eleven years ago BA outbid Singapore Airlines (SIA)...

In brief.
October 1, 2004... Star adds more regionals The Star Alliance has extended its regional partner concept with the addition of Balkan carriers Croatia Airlines and Adria Airways. Star says the two carriers will extend the alliance's reach in south-east Europe....

SkyTeam plays by numbers.(airlines industry)
October 1, 2004... SkyTeam firmly established itself as the fastest-growing alliance with the formal accession of Continental and Northwest Airlines and KLM at an event where the addition of two more prospective members, Aeroflot and China Southern Airlines, was...

New UK-India bilateral deal set to double services.
October 1, 2004... The UK and India have reached agreement on a bilateral deal that will double the number of permitted services between the two countries, as well as adding new destinations. The agreement adds 21 weekly services for the carriers of each...

...as court kills ANZ-Qantas merger.(Air New Zealand)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... In another watershed event for Qantas alliances, a New Zealand court has ruled against the Australian carrier and Air New Zealand (ANZ) on appeal from denial of their proposed merger. This follows Canberra's recent decision allowing British...

Oil.(prices and rates)
October 1, 2004... pressure The uncomfortable answer to high oil prices is for airlines to focus even more closely on costs and fuel efficiency It is not hard to guess what weighed most on the minds of airline chief executives over the summer months -...

Net.
October 1, 2004... profits Online travel sellers are locked in bitter battle with traditional travel management companies for the high-end business traveller As online agencies square up to the long-standing players in corporate travel, the carriers...

Service.(maintenance and repair)
October 1, 2004... challenge Carriers such as easyJet are gunning for a more creative and smarter approach from maintenance providers in a sector that has been slow to react to the low-cost world Of all the major airline cost centres, maintenance and...

ANZ on the offensive.(Air New Zealand)
October 1, 2004... A more assertive Air New Zealand (ANZ) is defending its home turf in a series of moves that Pacific Blue claims are designed to scare off rivals. No love has been lost between the two airlines since Pacific Blue, the offshore arm of...

Alitalia wins last gasp labour deal.(Alitalia Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A.)
October 1, 2004... Alitalia has lived to fight another day, after management and labour unions agreed an eleventh hour deal that will open the door to a g400 million ($485 million) bridging loan from the Italian Government. The deal agreed with the labour...

Revamped Air Canada checks in at last.
October 1, 2004... Eighteen months after entering a court-supervised creditor arrangement, Air Canada is set to emerge as a reborn airline. This complex restructuring took half as long again as expected, and involved many showdowns between creditors, unions,...

BA cuts winter programme.(British Airways PLC)
October 1, 2004... British Airways will cancel nearly 1,000 flights from its winter schedule out of London Heathrow as it strives to cope with staff shortages and maintenance problems. Although the cuts amount to just half a percentage point of the annual...

Fares tumble in Singapore.(low-cost airlines emerge in Singapore)
October 1, 2004... An anticipated price war has broken out in Singapore as new low-cost airlines start fighting for share in a market that many believe is too small to support so many of them. The fare war began with the end-August marketing launch of Tiger...

Grinstein cuts into Delta.(Gerald Grinstein)(Delta Air Lines Inc.)
October 1, 2004... Gerald Grinstein, the retired railway executive who took over Delta Air Lines in January, has presented the fruits of his first nine months of labour in the shape of a sweeping cost-cutting plan. In one of his first open meetings with Delta...

Recovery kicks in for Europe and Asia.(airline industry sales and revenue)
October 1, 2004... Despite the surge in fuel prices, European and Asian carriers reported a big improvement in their second-quarter financial results. European and Asian airlines continued to put the traumas of 2003 behind them as they posted big improvements...

Secret talks open up Chinese market.
October 1, 2004... China and Hong Kong have negotiated a new air services accord that opens up the market to new players and expands capacity for passenger and cargo services. The deal ended months of secret talks to which airlines were not invited....

Parts.(aircraft parts)
October 1, 2004... paradise A host of major carriers are turning to non-OEM spare parts to help cut their maintenance bills If you go to the Google internet search engine and type in "PMA parts" in less than a second it finds 76,100 entries. Does this...

First steps.(SkyTeam partners with China Southern Airways)
October 1, 2004... With SkyTeam signing China Southern as a future member, the prospect of China's big three carriers joining global alliances seems to have come closer SkyTeam has become the first global alliance to sign a Chinese airline as a future member...

Special report.
October 1, 2004... Maintenance Traditional models are changing as the low-cost influence finally permeates the maintenance world. The emphasis is on best value and cost cutting with outsourcing, particularly in North America, and the use of cheaper parts, on...

Gol's wildfire is spreading.(Gol Transportes Aereos)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Latin America's first low-cost carrier is about to introduce Argentina to the flair and cheap fares that have made it such a sensation in Brazil, and hopes to gain routes to other South American countries. Gol plans to launch daily flights...

Latins consider renationalisation.(Latin America)
October 1, 2004... Latin America is ambivalent about the benefits of privately owned airlines. Bolivia and Brazil are debating whether to renationalise their flag carriers and Venezuela is starting its own. Twelve years ago nearly all Latin carriers were...

Micronesian startup takes off.(Palau Micronesia Air)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Palau Micronesia has made a successful launch and now operates an island-hopping network that changes travel patterns in the central Pacific. Based in the Republic of Palau, the new airline operates its single Boeing 737-300 from Palau to...

MAS rekindles alliance interest.(Malaysia Airlines)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Three-and-a-half years after a government renationalisation sparked a successful restructuring at Malaysia Airlines (MAS), the flag carrier has begun searching for a multilateral alliance to take it in. Commeting on the airline's renewed...

Narita offers cut price fees.(Narita International Airport)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Tokyo's Narita International Airport is attempting to convince Japanese operators to add more domestic services with a new concessions scheme. Operator Narita International Airport Corp (NAA), which is often criticised for having the...

BA-Qantas extend link.(British Airways PLC partners with Qantas Airways Ltd.)
October 1, 2004... Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has approved an extension of the 1995 joint services agreement between Qantas and British Airways. Its decision assures a future for the alliance between these oneworld partners and...

Executive appointments.(airlines industry - appointments)
October 1, 2004... IATA Chidambaram joins IATA The former managing director of Air Mauritius, Vinod Chidambaram, has been recruited by IATA to strengthen the association's presence and activities in Africa. He has been appointed as regional...

Opting.(management of airlines industry)
October 1, 2004... out The complexion of the maintenance market in North America is changing rapidly as outsourcing takes a firmer hold among major carriers as well as low-fare players Not many years ago, a listing of the top maintenance, repair and...

Cost.(low-fare airlines)(European Low Fares Airline Association)
October 1, 2004... conscious Hapag-Lloyd Express chief executive and European Low Fares Airline Association president Wolfgang Kurth is at the forefront of Europe's low-cost revolution If the traditional airline industry still needed reminding that...

Survival.(LOT Polish Airlines to start its own budget airline)
October 1, 2004... INTRO: of the fittest Polish flag carrier LOT is preparing to fend off a rush of low-cost carriers targeting the country by starting up its own budget airline Each hour in Krakow's main square, a trumpeter plays from the top...

Feedback.(human resources of airlines industry)
October 1, 2004... Legal eagles soar again Why are so may top airline posts filled by lawyers? Michael Bell, co-leader of the global aviation practice at executive search firm Spencer Stuart, suggests that it is often a natural fit. For some reason,...

USAirways break-up in sight.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Just over two years since it first filed for Chapter 11, USAirways has been forced to return to the protection of the bankruptcy courts. The return of US Airways to bankruptcy protection has focused attention on its assets, although few see...