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Thursday November 12, 2009

American Airlines Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey reiterated this week that he sees no need to relinquish slots at London Heathrow in order to address possible competition concerns over AA's planned transatlantic joint venture with British Airways and Iberia. The European Commission reportedly sent a confidential statement to the participating oneworld airlines last month outlining its concerns about competition on routes from LHR to New York, Dallas, Boston, Miami and Chicago O'Hare as well as from Madrid to both Miami and ORD (ATWOnline, Oct. 27). "Based on facts, I do not think any remedy [to gain clearance from EU authorities] is necessary. The slot holding of BA and AA at LHR is less than the other guys at Frankfurt [Star Alliance carriers] or Paris [SkyTeam carriers]," Arpey said at oneworld ceremony in Mexico City, where the alliance welcomed Mexicana. "All carriers have access to LHR and have been able to buy slots. The London-US market is currently the most contested market in the world."

He noted that the trio has been working "hard" to secure required approvals on both sides of the Atlantic. "We hope and expect those approvals will be forthcoming in the near future. . .All we are seeking is a level playing field." They are more concerned about the fate of their antitrust immunity application with the US Dept. of Transportation than with earning EC clearance, an insider told ATWOnline, pointing out that the EC also is reviewing the Star and SkyTeam alliances (ATWOnline, April 21). DOT was expected to decide on the oneworld application on Oct. 31. It already has granted immunity to the Atlantic Plus Plus joint venture among Air Canada, Lufthansa, United Airlines and Continental Airlines and to the tie-up between Air France KLM and Delta Air Lines.

by Cathy Buyck

Finnair named Nokia Siemens Networks COO Mika Vehvilainen as its new president and CEO effective Feb. 1. He will succeed Jukka Hienonen, who is leaving the airline at the end of January (ATWOnline, April 10). Vehvilainen, 48, will join Finnair on Jan. 5 and "has strong experience of sales and marketing and of strategic management and business development in Asia, North America and Europe," the airline said.

US major passenger airlines posted a cumulative third-quarter net loss of $578 million, narrowed from a $2.52 billion loss in the year-ago period, ATWOnline calculated. The nine carriers' combined revenue dropped 18% to $28.25 billion while expenses decreased 23.1% to $27.8 billion, producing an operating profit of $450 million, reversed from an operating loss of $1.97 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2008. The quarter's top performer among the majors was Alaska Airlines parent Alaska Air Group with net income of $88 million. JetBlue Airways with net income of $15 million and AirTran Airways parent AirTran Holdings with net income of $10 million joined Alaska in the black, while the remaining six carriers suffered losses. The worst performer was American Airlines parent AMR Corp., which posted a net loss of $359 million.

Collective traffic lowered 2.7% to 188.11 billion RPMs on a 5.3% cut in capacity to 222.91 billion ASMs. Average load factor rose 2.1 points to 83.9%. Average yield fell 20.3% to 11.08 cents as RASM dipped 12% to 10.59 cents and CASM decreased 20.2% to 10.68 cents. CASM excluding fuel grew 4.2% to 7.48 cents.

Emirates Chairman Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum told reporters in Dubai yesterday that some of the six A380s it expects to receive next year will be delayed "a bit," but added that EK is "considering" adding to its 58 firm orders. The largest A380 customer's 2010 delivery delays will be for "a short period," he said, according to press reports. "Some aircraft will be delivered within a month or two of the original date. We are not happy about it because we want the aircraft to be delivered on time." He noted that the economic situation looks "very positive" for the airline for the next several years, potentially driving a need for more A380s (ATWOnline, Nov. 6).

United Airlines pilot Erwin Washington was arrested Tuesday at London Heathrow and charged with "being aviation staff performing aviation function whilst exceeding the proscribed alcohol limit," according to a Scotland Yard statement. Washington was scheduled for UA Flight 949, a 767 with 124 passengers and 11 crew, to Chicago O'Hare. In a communication to employees, UA President John Tague said, "We are gathering the facts, doing our own investigation and will most assuredly take appropriate action based on the outcome," adding, "The other crew members on this flight demonstrated the absolute right course of action, consistent with their training, by raising their concerns and taking steps that resulted in the appropriate action being taken." Washington was suspended pending an investigation and is due to appear before London magistrates on Nov. 20, Reuters reported.

US Senate approved an Airline Flight Crew Family and Medical Leave Act, which modifies language from the original Family and Medical Leave Act that defined a "fulltime" schedule as a traditional 40-hr. work week, ignoring the nontraditional schedules of flight attendants and flight crews and often rendering them ineligible for coverage. The House already approved the measure, which now requires President Barack Obama's signature to become law. "We are happy to announce to our over 50,000 members that no flight attendant will be left behind when it comes to FMLA coverage anymore," Assn. of Flight Attendants-CWA International President Patricia Friend said.

US FAA said it has begun transitioning NOTAMs to a digital system, which it said "should reduce human error, allow more timely and accurate distribution of information, standardize content, policy and procedures and balance diverse customer needs." Digital distribution tests to six ATC facilities will begin in January.

JetBlue Airways and Lufthansa launched codeshare operations yesterday at New York JFK and Boston. Passengers originating in 13 JetBlue destinations currently have access to transatlantic flights on LH out of JFK and BOS, with more cities set to come online next year, the airlines said.

Alaska Airlines launched service from Oakland to Kahului (four-times-weekly) and Kona (thrice-weekly) aboard a 737-800.

US Airways will resume thrice-daily Melbourne, Fla.-Charlotte service on Feb. 11 after a 12-year hiatus. Flights will be aboard PSA Airlines CRJ700s.

United Airlines will launch service from Chicago O'Hare to Eau Claire (20-times-weekly on March 1), Hancock, Mich. (twice-daily on March 1), Muskegon, Mich. (14-times-weekly on Feb. 11) and Paducah, Ky. (twice-daily on Feb. 11), aboard SkyWest Airlines CRJ200s.

Panasonic Avionics Corp. will provide ANA with its eX2 IFE system on the airline's 767-300ERs and 777-300ERs.

Dunlop Aircraft Tyres was selected by Bombardier as an alternate tire source to support aftermarket needs for the CRJ1000NG. Dunlop will manufacture and retread tires at its Birmingham, UK, facility.

TAP Maintenance and Engineering Brazil delivered one A330 to Air Transat following a C check, its first on the aircraft type since receiving TCCA, FAA and EASA certification for MRO on A330s/A340s.