UPDATEMayrhuber: LH revenue to fall 20% but no deferments plannedLufthansa Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber told ATWOnline beside the IATA annual general meeting in Kuala Lumpur that the group expects around a 10% decline in passenger numbers this year and a drop in revenue of some 20%.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=16864ILFC talking to Bombardier about CSeriesILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy said the lessor is in talks with Bombardier regarding a potential order for the CSeries 110/130-seat family of jets.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=16865Cathay CEO Tyler to lead IATA with focus on environmentCathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler was named chairman of the IATA Board of Governors for 2009-10 at the organization's AGM in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, succeeding Royal Jordanian CEO Samer Majali.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=16866FAA targets regional airline training programsUS FAA will inspect training programs at regional airlines to ensure they are fully compliant with federal regulations, US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, joined by FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt, announced yesterday.
http://www.atwonline.com/news/story.html?storyID=16867Air France's largest pilots union said yesterday that management had informed it that at least two of three pitot tubes on each of the carrier's A330s/A340s will be replaced "within days," while EASA issued a statement declaring that all A330s "are airworthy and safe to operate." AF has said that it began replacing pitot tubes on A330s/A340s in late April, but its pilots expressed concern that the replacements weren't being done quickly enough given the focus on the possible role of pitot tubes in last week's A330-200 crash.
The French BEA has stated that data transmitted by Flight 447 before it was lost indicated "inconsistent" speed readings. The SNPL-ALPA union, representing more than 80% of AF pilots, said yesterday at least two of three pitot tubes would be replaced on all A330s "within days" even it if causes flight delays. "Air France has provided us with an extremely proactive and very accelerated replacement program," it said. The airline did not comment. The Alter union representing about 12% of AF pilots on Monday encouraged members not to fly A330s/A340s until the pitot tube were replaced.
EASA yesterday issued a safety bulletin as a "precautionary measure" to remind operators "of existing procedures to be applied in the event of loss of, or unreliable, speed indication." It added, "With regard to reports [on AF447] about a possible malfunctioning of the airspeed indication system (pitot tubes), the agency is analyzing data with a view to issuing mandatory corrective action, without prejudging the outcome of the accident investigation."
China Southern Airlines and
Air France KLM have postponed the launch of their cargo joint venture indefinitely owing to the rapid slump in the global cargo market, CZ Chairman Si Xianmin told ATWOnline at the IATA AGM in Kuala Lumpur. The original plan targeted a launch in the first quarter, but last month Si said the companies decided to delay "after taking the current market situation into account".
Yesterday he said, "We haven't given up on it, but its launch has to depend on when the cargo market can recover. So far we don't have a specific timetable for it." He predicted that cargo market recovery will be later than passenger recovery. "If the international passenger market can recover next year, then cargo market recovery will be later than that," he said. CZ was set to hold a 75% stake in the joint venture, which was slated to opearate 10 747s and A330s within two years. It is the only one of China's big three that does not operate a cargo subsidiary, although China Eastern Airlines' China Cargo Airlines and Air China's Air China Cargo each have suffered large losses.
CA remains interested in a cargo joint venture with Cathay Pacific Airways based in Shanghai, and Cathay CEO Tony Tolder told this website that negotiations are continuing. "I'm not sure whether it can be launched this year or not," he said.
Air Canada said it reached tentative agreements on a "21-month pension funding moratorium and collective agreement extension" with three of its five unions representing more than 60% of its unionized workers that stand to gain an "equity stake" in the airline. Around 16,500 employees represented by the Canadian Auto Workers, the International Assn. of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the Canadian Airlines Dispatchers Assn. would be covered by the tentative deal aimed at providing relief that AC insists it urgently needs.
President and CEO Calin Rovinescu has said the carrier will have difficulty meeting its C$2.9 billion ($2.6 billion) pension funding solvency deficit, but the airline's unions had rejected management's request for a funding "moratorium." Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty last week appointed a mediator to try to resolve the pension funding dispute.
The tentative deal does not include the Air Canada Pilots Assn. representing AC's 3,000 pilots or the Canadian Union of Public Employees representing 7,000 flight attendants. The Air Canada Pionairs, which serves but has no binding influence over 15,000 AC retirees, also signed the tentative agreement.
Midwest Airlines said it obtained $12 million in additional debt financing, divided evenly between TPG Capital, the majority owner of the Milwaukee-based carrier, and Republic Airways. Midwest also announced an agreement with Republic to operate 12 37- and 50-seat ERJs, which will be phased into service from July through January 2010. Republic struck a deal with Midwest last September to operate 12 E-170s. As it expands its partnership with Republic (ATWOnline, Sept. 5, 2008), Midwest also announced it would end its agreement with SkyWest Airlines, which had been operating 12 50-seat CRJs on its behalf.
UPS Airlines said it averted a pilot furlough by reaching agreement with the Independent Pilots Assn. on "a variety of voluntary steps" to cut $90 million in costs. "UPS and the union have agreed there will be no furloughs through April 1, 2010, and that the IPA will continue to work this year to produce additional savings," the company said in a statement, adding that the cost cuts "have been produced through voluntary programs such as pilots taking short- and long-term leaves of absence; military leaves; job sharing; reductions in flight pay guarantees; early retirement, and sick bank contributions." UPS said it is targeting another $41 million in savings over the next three years and is "confident" it can "achieve the total savings goal." It has stated that it currently has 300 more pilots than necessary (ATWOnline, June 4).
Boeing announced the completion of the intermediate gauntlet phase of testing on the first 787, during which pilots and engineers "simulated multiple scenarios using all airplane systems as if the aircraft were in flight, including power, avionics and flight controls." Testing was equivalent to around one week of operations.
RIO, an all-cargo startup airline in Brazil, said it received certification from the country's National Civil Aviation Agency and will begin operations this month. RIO said it will focus on airport-to-airport flying and "leave the distribution (logistics) to the specialized companies." It initially will operate one 727-200 freighter with a second of the type to be purchased and put into service in the second half of 2009. A route network was not revealed, but it said it will operate both domestic and international flights based out of Curitiba.
Aer Lingus said it will launch service from London Gatwick to Bucharest, Eindhoven, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Warsaw and Vilnius and suspend flights to Nice for the winter schedule. Vilnius service will begin Sept. 10, with the remaining five routes starting Oct. 25.
Ukraine International Airlines launched twice-weekly Kiev Boryspil-Nice service on a 737.
Ideology: The mistaken belief that your beliefs are neither beliefs nor mistaken.
