NewsEngine issues see Korean Air push back first CS300 deliveryKorean Air is pushing back delivery of its first Bombardier CS300 to ensure that issues with its Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines are resolved. The SkyTeam carrier had planned to take delivery of its first CSeries jet this week, but president and chief operating officer Walter Cho now expects that to occur before the end of the year, with others to follow in early 2018.
LinkQantas lifts first half outlook on stronger Q1 revenueQantas expects its underlying pre-tax profit for the six months to December 2017 to come in between A$900 million ($693 million) and A$950 million, aided by stronger unit revenues during the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year. The forecast, which was part of a trading update released by the Oneworld carrier, compares favourably with an underlying profit before tax of A$852 million during the same period the year prior.
LinkEngine issues see Korean Air push back first CS300 deliveryKorean Air is pushing back delivery of its first Bombardier CS300 to ensure that issues with its Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines are resolved. The SkyTeam carrier had planned to take delivery of its first CSeries jet this week, but president and chief operating officer Walter Cho now expects that to occur before the end of the year, with others to follow in early 2018.
LinkA330-900 finally embarks on flight-test programAirbus's maiden flight of the A330neo is something of an improbable achievement, considering that the airframer originally scrapped its strategy of re-engining the A330 after it failed to gain traction as a Boeing 787 rival.
LinkSIA to launch updated cabin on new A380sSingapore Airlines has revealed that it will introduce new cabin products across its various seat segments on the remaining five Airbus A380s it has on order. SIA says the new seats in economy, premium-economy, business and first-class-suites segments will be launched on the Singapore-Sydney route on 18 December.
LinkAmerican’s $624 million 3Q profit shows $75 million hurricane impactAmerican Airlines said it lost an estimated $75 million in pre-tax earnings from the three hurricanes that struck the Caribbean and US mainland in August and September; the company’s $624 million net profit for the 2017 third quarter was a 15.3% drop from 3Q 2016. The airline group’s pre-tax income totaled $1 billion, down 15.6% year-over-year (YOY), producing a 9.2% pre-tax margin, which met American’s post-Hurricane Irma revised guidance issued Sept. 12. American’s 1.1% third-quarter TRASM growth exceeded its guidance forecast by 0.1 point.
LinkAirberlin in last-minute negotiations with easyJet, CondorTwo days before the insolvent airberlin ceases operations, last-minute negotiations with both German leisure carrier Condor and UK LCC easyJet about the transfer of assets continue, but many airberlin aircraft are expected to be grounded at least temporarily.
LinkSouthwest 3Q net profit up 29.6% despite hurricanesSouthwest Airlines weathered hurricanes and a competitive fare environment to post a 29.6% year-over-year (YOY) net profit gain in the third quarter, and the Dallas-based carrier is confident about its prospects for 2018. Citing multiple hurricanes that affected key Southwest markets—costing the Dallas-based carrier $100 million in lost revenue—as well as the mass shooting in Las Vegas and wild fires on the US west coast, chairman and CEO Gary Kelly said, “I don’t know that we’ve ever had a 60-day period in our history when we had to deal with so many external events … Despite all these challenges, it was a very good quarter and the fourth quarter looks better.”
LinkDOT to establish pilot program to shape local UAV regulationsThe airline industry has broadly welcomed US President Donald Trump’s decision to launch a pilot program engaging state and local governments in the development of federal regulations for unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) operations, which seeks to balance local and national concerns.
LinkThai Airways to decide on major aircraft orders soonThai Airways is in the final stages of assessing its options for major new aircraft orders, even while it is still receiving more widebodies from existing orders.
LinkStrong traffic growth propels Air Canada to $763 million 3Q net profitPassenger revenue and strong yield performance on Air Canada’s Atlantic routes helped to propel record 2017 third-quarter results, as the airline reported C$950 million ($763 million) in adjusted net income, up 15.7% from $821 million in adjusted net income for 3Q 2016. The company posted a C$1.8 billion non-adjusted net profit for the quarter, more than doubling its C$768 million net income in 3Q 2016. The figure, however, includes a net income tax recovery of C$793 million, representing deferred income taxes the company recorded in its 3Q results. The airline’s 3Q EBITDAR was C$1.4 billion, a C$140 million increase over the 2016 September quarter.
LinkNorwegian posts improved profits as Argentina OKs route requestsLCC Norwegian has reported a 2017 third-quarter net profit of just over NOK1 billion ($122 million, up 4% year-over-year (YOY), on strong international passenger growth and increasingly high load factors. The LCC achieved the result on revenues that jumped 21% YOY, to fractionally over NOK10 billion, compared to NOK8.3 billion a year ago.
LinkUK eyes Heathrow expansion vote in 1H 2018UK Parliament could vote on the expansion of London’s Heathrow Airport during the first half of 2018.
LinkEmirates to create an industry innovation labDubai-based Emirates Airline has announced plans to create an “Aviation X-Lab,” with the aim of rethinking the transportation industry. “The Aviation Experimental (X) Lab is a historic effort to host airlines, manufacturers, ground logistics, regulators, engineers, academics, and startups under a single roof in order to envision a new transportation paradigm and seek solutions that no single organization or program has had the resources to deliver on their own,” Emirates said.
LinkVanilla UAV completes record-breaking five-day flightA Virginia-based start-up has demonstrated that a sub-500kg unmanned air vehicle (UAV) can fly more than five days without refueling with a conventional diesel motor. Vanilla Aircraft’s VA001 landed at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on 23 October after flying 121h and 24min — or five days — carrying a small payload, the company announced on 26 October.
LinkAfghan air force adds six more Super Tucanos to fleetThe US Air Force has ordered six more Embraer A-29s for the Afghan air force, bringing the total fleet size to 26 Super Tucanos. Sierra Nevada Corporation and Embraer will start production of the six new jets immediately at Embraer’s production facility in Jacksonville, Florida. The recent order is separate from another Embraer sale earlier this month, which announced an undisclosed buyer purchased six new Super Tucanos for tactical training, light attack and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. That contract did not involve SNC, a company spokeswoman tells FlightGlobal.
LinkNew $329 million charge deepens Boeing's KC-46 lossesBoeing reported a $329 million reach-forward loss on the KC-46 tanker programme to cover the costs of incorporating multiple design changes into the first lot of production aircraft. The latest charge deepens Boeing’s losses on the fixed-price development and production contracts for the KC-46. Since 2016, Boeing has reported a total of $1.6 billion in reach-forward losses on the engineering manufacturing and development (EMD) and low-rate initial production (LRIP) aircraft.
LinkSupplier delays first G500 delivery to early 2018A delayed supplier has forced Gulfstream to backtrack on a promise to deliver the first G500 ahead of schedule by the end of this year, says parent company General Dynamics’ chief financial officer. But the super-large cabin business jet will enter service in the “early part of 2018”, which aligns with Gulfstream’s original development schedule outlined in 2014, says General Dynamics senior vice-president and chief financial officer Jason Aiken, speaking on a third quarter earnings call on 25 October.
LinkST Aero to smooth VIP work at San AntonioST Aerospace expects the recent incorporation of its San Antonio VIP completions business will improve efficiency. In early October the company announced that the San Antonio unit would be incorporated as a subsidiary, Aeria Luxury Interiors, by ST Aero's VT San Antonio Aerospace unit.
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