NEWSBoeing Gets Seven Plane Air Astana OrderBoeing said on Thursday that Kazakhstan's Air Astana has ordered three 787 Dreamliners and four extended-range 767s in a deal valued at USD$1.3 billion at current list prices.
LinkAMR Pilot Group Says Union Ousted Its MembersA group of American Airlines pilots said its members were abruptly ousted without reason from official positions in its union, the Allied Pilots Association.
LinkArgentina Wants Aerolineas To Fly To FalklandsArgentina's president said on Thursday she wants her country's flag carrier, Aerolineas Argentinas, to fly to the disputed Falkland Islands and she will seek to renegotiate an accord with Britain that allows flights from Chile.
LinkBombardier Sees Dip In Plane DeliveriesBombardier said aircraft deliveries will dip in 2012 and the world's third biggest commercial plane maker forecast lower than expected profit margins for its key aerospace unit.
LinkHong Kong Air May Cancel A380s Over ETSHong Kong Airlines has threatened to cancel an aircraft order with Airbus due to growing tensions between China and the European Union over the bloc's emissions trading scheme, a local newspaper reported on Thursday.
LinkSouthwest, AirTran given single operating certificate
FAA has granted Southwest Airlines (SWA) and AirTran Airways a single operating certificate, formally combining the world's largest low-cost carrier (LCC) with the third largest LCC in North America.
Dallas-based SWA acquired Orlando-based AirTran last year in a deal valued at around $1 billion in aggregate (below the $1.4 billion originally estimated), or approximately $7.57 per share of AirTran common stock. Including SWA's assumption of AirTran's debt, the transaction was valued at $3.2 billion. SWA estimates net annual synergies will exceed $400 million by 2013.
LinkBombardier's 2011 profit up 8% despite lackluster aerospace performanceBombardier posted net income of $837 million for 2011, up 8% over a $775 million net profit in 2010. Bombardier Aerospace, however, saw full-year EBIT fall 9.4% to $502 million as revenue slid 2.3% to $8.6 billion.
The unit's results are partially skewed by the fact that it last year moved to a Dec. 31 year end from Jan. 31 previously.
LinkAir France KLM sells half of Amadeus shareholding for €467 million
Air France KLM Group (AF KLM) has sold about half of its 15.22% shareholding in Amadeus IT Holding, netting €467 million ($627.5 million).
The sale of 7.5% of its ownership in the travel technology and distribution company is surely part of its efforts to restore profitability. The Franco-Dutch group in January launched a three-year “transformation plan” to bring the company back to profitability by immediately cutting costs by €1 billion and rapidly reducing debt by €2 billion to €4.5 billion by the end of 2014
LinkJade Cargo, China’s UniTop strike restructuring deal
Jade Cargo International, a Lufthansa Cargo (LHC)/Shenzhen Airlines (ZH) joint venture that temporarily suspended operations earlier this month, has signed a letter of intent with China’s UniTop Group to restructure the troubled carrier.
UniTop is a Chinese logistics enterprise founded in 1998 with a registered capital of CNY31 million ($4.9 million). It is expected the restructuring process will take two months to complete. In the meantime, the carrier is preparing to resume operations with its fleet of six Boeing 747-400Fs.
LinkAmerican loses $234 million in January 
Operating under Chapter 11 status has not stopped the steady flow of red ink at American Airlines (AA) parent AMR Corp.
The bankrupt company, which incurred a $2 billion net loss in 2011, reported a $234 million net loss for the month of January, according to a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
Revenue generated during the month totaled $2.03 billion while costs were $2.04 billion, producing a $5 million operating loss. Net profit was affected by $170 million in reorganization charges and more than $60 million in interest expenses incurred in January.
LinkBoeing picks up awards for record-breaking 787 flight
Boeing has been presented with twin official records for the 787's December 2011 attempt to break the longest flight for an aircraft in its weight class and establishing an around-the-world speed record.
The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) on 28 February presented Boeing with two certificates confirming its record flights.
ZA006, Boeing's sixth 787 flight test aircraft, fitted with General Electric GEnx-1B engines, departed Boeing Field, Seattle, US, on 6 December 2011 en route for Dhaka, Bangladesh, weighing 212t (467,375lb), including 103t of fuel, the volumetric shut-off limit for the aircraft.
LinkAir New Zealand picks up discarded services
Air New Zealand (NZ) has announced a capacity increase between Auckland and several North American destinations, after Qantas decided to withdraw its Auckland-Los Angeles route in May.
This move closely follows the mid-February collapse of Australian regional Air Australia (formerly Strategic Airlines), which grounded its fleet Feb. 17, after it said there were “no funds available to meet operational expenses.”
LinkTurkish Technic eyes global MRO joint ventures
Turkish Technic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkish Airlines (TK), is looking beyond its borders for MRO joint ventures as its new state-of-the-art MRO facility in Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen nears opening this summer
LinkIATA: Premium traffic up 3.7% in DecemberIATA reported that international premium traffic for December was up 3.7% compared to the year-ago month, and a 1.7% growth in November.
“Although premium travel strengthened at the end of 2011, the trend for the previous eight months had been flat at best,” said IATA in its latest premium traffic monitor. “Over the past two months, premium travel has expanded further than economy, improving the mix for airlines and ending the deterioration seen since early 2011,” IATA said.
LinkFrontier increases seat count on A320 fleet
Republic Airways Holdings subsidiary Frontier Airlines is adding six seats to its Airbus A320 fleet.
Frontier senior vice president of commercial Daniel Shurz outlined the additions during a 1 March earnings call with analysts.
Seating capacity on Frontier's 15 A320s will increase from 162 to 168 seats, which should reduce unit costs on the fleet by 3%, said Shurz. The company's fleet projections show Frontier will operate 16 A320s by year-end.
Shurz described the A320 seat expansion as a "highly cost efficient project that will have a quick payback as we continue to see record load factors on Frontier and because our A320s generate the highest load factors of any fleet we operate".
LinkF-22 redesign considered as oxygen system concerns lingerUS Air Force leaders are considering a redesign of the Lockheed Martin F-22 but still have no answers for the oxygen system breakdowns responsible for another operational disruption. F-22s based in Alaska were grounded for one day in mid-February after three separate pilots reported hypoxia symptoms, the Air Combat Command confirmed.
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