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Tuesday December 1, 2009

El Al reported a $12.3 million third-quarter profit, down 60.3% from the $31 million earned in the year-ago period, on an 18% fall in revenue to $496.1 million caused largely by lower yields and the rising US dollar. CEO Haim Romano said the net result is "indicative of [El Al's] ability to weather the global financial crisis." Operating expenses declined 15% to $400.7 million as fuel prices fell, and operating profit slipped 53.4% to $23.8 million from $51.1 million in the 2008 third quarter. Passenger numbers climbed 7% year-over-year. "We are continuing to carefully manage out seat availability levels and we are taking active measures, including adjusting capacity, using a flexible price policy and matching supply and demand very closely," Romano said. "These actions have borne fruit and we now have a high load factor of 85% in our aircraft."

Bombardier last week said it will lay off 715 Montreal-based employees during the first seven months of 2010 as it slows the CRJ production rate, citing the "economic and airline industry environments [that] continue to make it difficult to gain new aircraft orders." It did not provide further insight into the current or future production rate for the CRJ family. Its operating profit, revenue, deliveries and order book all fell in its fiscal second quarter ended July 31 (ATWOnline, Sept. 3). Third-quarter results are due Thursday.

The manufacturer said the job cuts include a "small number" involved in Bombardier 415 production and are in addition to the previously announced 4,360 layoffs affecting Bombardier Aerospace this year (ATWOnline, April 3). Severance costs related to the layoffs announced last week will reach approximately $10 million. President and COO Guy Hachey confirmed the company "continue[s] to invest in current and in future products" including the CRJ1000 and CSeries.

Air India and pilots represented by the Indian Commercial Pilots' Assn. reached an agreement Sunday that allowed the carrier to avoid a strike scheduled to begin today (ATWOnline, Nov. 18). "The agreement involves some financial payout by the airline," an AI official told The Hindu. ICPA General Secretary R.S. Otaal said AI "accepted all our demands," according to Mint. Pilots were protesting several pay and management issues, including a halt and/or reduction in incentive payments that can constitute a majority of their salary. Some 40% of AI's INR31 billion ($665.5 million) annual wage bill comprises incentive payments, the Business Standard reported.

US FAA will allow more than 130 Trent 800-powered 777s to continue operating through early 2011 with parts that are suspected of having played a role in the January 2008 British Airways -200ER crash landing at London Heathrow and a loss of thrust on a Delta Air Lines -200ER one year ago (ATWOnline, March 6). According to The Wall Street Journal, the limited availability of replacement parts designed to reduce the effect of ice on fuel flow was a key factor in the agency's decision and interim safety measures already in place will be adequate until January 2011.

US National Transportation Safety Board will dispatch a team to assist China's investigation into Saturday's crash of an MD-11F owned by Avient Aviation. The aircraft crashed on takeoff at Shanghai Pudong, killing three crewmembers and injuring four others. Indications are that it may have lifted off before the tail struck the runway. It was built in 1990 and subsequently converted. It was delivered recently to Avient and was en route to Bishkek.

EasyJet called for introduction of mandatory environmental standards covering the next generation of aircraft that will ensure a 40% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. "Step-change technology is in the pipeline, and we need tough legislation on emission standards for it to be delivered sooner," CEO Andy Harrison said last week. "Wartime has led to the biggest leaps in aviation technology. Governments must ensure that the war on climate change delivers the next big leap in technology." He argued that because most aircraft are manufactured in Europe and the US, "tough emissions standards at the manufacturing source will deliver the global environmental benefits as these aircraft are exported to the fast-growing markets of China and India."

Under easyJet's proposal, new standards would be introduced in three phases starting with current narrowbody families. By 2015, every new aircraft type would have to meet the standard. By 2024, airlines could not add any aircraft that did not meet the standard and by 2030, airlines could not operate aircraft that did not meet the standard. The LCC suggested that ICAO draw up guidelines to ensure global reach and consensus and that it should establish standards and timescales for other aircraft types that would apply to all developed countries. The proposals advanced next week's climate summit in Copenhagen, where inclusion of aviation in a global post-Kyoto agreement is on the agenda.

Separately, the carrier launched an online check-in facility for passengers with checked baggage. The new bag drop option is available at 94 of U2's 112 airports. The remaining 18 are scheduled to follow.

Aer Lingus scheduled an extraordinary board meeting for today to determine an "alternative" plan to achieve its targeted €97 million ($145.4 million) in cost cuts in case ongoing negotiations with labor unions do not result in an agreement (ATWOnline, Nov. 19). CEO Christoph Mueller confirmed that EI will "proceed with alternative means of delivering the savings within the same timeframe as the plan in the absence of agreement."

Ryanair will base a third and fourth 737-800 at Trapani from March and launch new service to Billund, Bratislava, Cagliari, Eindhoven, Genoa, Gothenburg, Ibiza, Baden-Baden, Krakow, Maastricht, Memmingen, Trieste and Valencia. It will increase flights to Brussels South Charleroi, Frankfurt Hahn and Dusseldorf Weeze and plans to operate to 34 destinations from TPS next summer. The LCC also plans to add a third -800 at Bologna and March, supporting a new thrice-weekly service to Malaga and additional frequencies to London Stansted and Ibiza.

Finnair announced the transfer of some 490 Northport ground handling employees at Helsinki Vantaa to Barona Group, a staffing agency, and some 130 Cargo Terminal Operations warehouse employees to Suomen Transval, effective today. "By creating solutions based on strategic partnerships, we can change our fixed costs into variable costs and focus on Finnair's core business," Deputy CEO Lasse Heinonen said. Around 200 Northport employees went on strike yesterday to protest the decision and AY said that "delays and individual cancellations are possible" as a result. The Finnish Aviation Union was scheduled to reassess the work action this morning, Agence France Presse reported.

Lufthansa will charge economy passengers €40/$50 for a second piece of checked luggage on flights between Europe and North America beginning Jan. 1, a spokesperson was quoted as saying in German press reports. The first bag weighing up to 23 kg. and ski transport will remain free. Premium loyalty program members and passengers whose North Atlantic itineraries do not originate in Europe will be exempt.

Continental Airlines is adopting a cashless cabin for onboard purchases (except duty free) from today utilizing hand-held credit card readers on all mainline flights except to/from China. CO said it is working with China on accepting The China Union Pay card. It expects to go cashless on Continental Express, Continental Connection and Continental Micronesia flights in the 2010 first quarter.

AirBridgeCargo Airlines added a fourth 747-400ERF to its fleet, which also includes one 747-300 and two 747-200 freighters. Through the first 10 months of 2009, ABC transported 124,835 tonnes of cargo, a 14% increase over the year-ago period.

BAE Systems concluded the sale of one 98-seat BAe 146-200 to Indonesian charter operator PT Aviastar Mandiri, which will operate the aircraft on behalf of Transnusa Air Services out of Denpasar. BAE also is remarketing a CF6-80C2B7F-powered 767-300ER operated by an unidentified Middle East carrier.

ALAFCO, the Kuwaiti lessor, earned a KWD10.2 million ($35.8 million) net profit in its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, "slightly more" than the previous year, it said.

V Australia launched twice-weekly Melbourne-Los Angeles service on Sunday and will begin weekly MEL-Phuket on Dec. 3 aboard a 777-300.

American Airlines brought forward the start of its daily Chicago O'Hare-Beijing 777 service to April 26 from May 1.

Blue1 will operate a seasonal weekly Kittila-Dusseldorf flight Jan. 14 - March 25.

Travelport reached a deal with Gol to provide its Interline E-ticket Interchange technology, including the ETDBase e-ticket database. The LCC codeshares with Air France KLM, American Airlines, Iberia, AeroMexico and Copa Airlines and has interline agreements with 60 carriers.

Edward Stimpson, who retired as chairman of the Flight Safety Foundation on Nov. 1, died Nov. 25 of cancer. He was 75. Before joining FSF he served as US ambassador to the ICAO Council for five years. Prior to his 1999 nomination to the Council, he spent 25 years as president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn. and is associated closely with the 1994 passage of the General Aviation Revitalization Act, widely seen as helping to revive that segment of the industry. In 2008, Stimpson served as chairman of the Managing Risks in Civil Aviation Independent Review Team at the request of US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters.