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Week ending August 18, 2002
+++ Eurowings starts budget carrier +++ US Airways goes for Chapter 11 +++ American und United cut back to avoid Chapter 11 +++ Portugal cancels EC 635 order +++ USAF orders more Boeing C-17s +++ News in brief +++
Eurowings starts budget carrier
Neue Billigflugline ab Köln/Bonn
Eurowings, partly owned by Lufthansa, will launch a new low-cost carrier named „germanwings“. Home airport will be Cologne/Bonn. Official start will be on 27 October with 13 destinations served: Rome, Mailand, Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Paris, Nizza, London, Manchester, Zürich, Istanbul, Ankara and Thessaloniki. Mere are to come in 2003. Bookings will be possible via internet and through call centers, at prices yet to be decided.Productivity will be the key to success, to keep operating costs down, the managament has said. The fleet will consist of five Airbus A319s which were used on charter operations so far, but now seem superfluous to requirements in that role.
Cologne/Bonn airport declared itself happy to have attracted another no-frills carrier after the announcement of Easy Jet to expand there as well. The airport is struggling to regain passengers after the September 11 slump, which led to concentration on rival Dusseldorf. Germanwings may bring in another million passengers next year, it is hoped, generating 1000 new jobs.
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US Airways goes for Chapter 11
Erste Insolvenz bei großer US-Fluggesellschaft
On August 11, US Airways Group, Inc. announced that, in order to facilitate the prompt completion of its restructuring initiatives, the Company and certain of its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The airline said today's action will allow the company to effect cost savings from aircraft lessors and financiers and other key stakeholders as a means of ensuring the Company's return to profitability. "Ultimately, this effort is about our customers, employees, and the communities we serve, as we seek to fix the airline's finances and return to profitability. US Airways will continue to operate while we complete our financial restructuring, and our customers should be confident that we will continue service to the more than 200 communities in our network," said US Airways President and Chief Executive Officer David Siegel. "Our Dividend Miles program will continue to offer millions of fliers significant award benefits throughout the restructuring process and beyond, and the co-branded US Airways/Bank of America credit card and similar programs will be unaffected. Our employees, whose hard work and dedication are essential to the success of our restructuring, will continue to be paid on their regular payroll schedule and benefit programs will continue. Vendors will be paid in the ordinary course for goods and services provided going forward."
The Company filed its petitions on Sunday evening in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The Company's petitions listed assets of approximately $7.81 billion and liabilities of approximately $7.83 billion. The Court has scheduled a hearing on the Company's first day motions for 10:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, Aug. 12, 2002, before the Honorable Robert G. Mayer in Courtroom No. 3 at the Martin Bostetter Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Alexandria.
US Airways has secured commitments for $500 million in debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from a group of institutions led by Credit Suisse First Boston and Bank of America Corp., with participation from Texas Pacific Group, among others. In a move to strengthen its balance sheet, US Airways announced that Texas Pacific Group has entered into a memorandum of understanding to provide a $200 million investment in the new equity of the airline upon its emergence from Chapter 11 protection, which the Company anticipates will be coupled with the $1 billion collateralized loan backed by the federal guarantee that has been conditionally approved by the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB). The Company expects that its court-supervised restructuring will be accomplished on a "fast-track" basis and has targeted emergence from Chapter 11 in the first quarter of 2003.
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American und United cut back to avoid Chapter 11
Notmaßnahmen bei American und United
American Airlines unveiled the latest in a series of short- and long-term initiatives intended to further position American for long-term competitiveness and profitability. "We grasped the need for fundamental change in the airline industry some time ago, and have undertaken both long-term structural change and measures responsive to current industry conditions. This latest round of initiatives is yet another step toward more solidly positioning American for success in the long term," said Chairman and CEO Donald J. Carty.The initiatives being announced include: * American will expand its successful April 2002 Chicago hub "de-peaking" to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth beginning Nov. 1 to allow the airline to utilize people, gates and aircraft more productively - and to give customers better flight options. * American will retire its 74-jet Fokker 100 fleet - furthering the fleet simplification efforts that had previously cut fleet types from 14 to seven. The first F-100 will leave the fleet in the third quarter of 2003 and the last plane will retire by the third quarter of 2005.
In addition to reducing the number of fleets and sub-fleets, American has deferred 35 aircraft deliveries in 2002 and will seek every opportunity to defer or cancel new deliveries going forward. Given recent economic and consumer confidence reports, American will reduce capacity by 9 percent by November, versus summer 2002. As part of the capacity reduction, American will accelerate the retirement of its nine TWA 767-300 aircraft to November 2002.
American will reduce, between now and March 2003, an estimated 7,000 jobs in order to realign its workforce with the planned fall capacity reductions, fleet simplification and hub restructurings. Once the October and November schedules are in place, the company will be communicating specific job reduction impacts internally to the affected workgroups and locations.
Meanwhile, United, responding to changes in the airline industry and feedback on its loan guarantee application with the Air Transportation Stabilization Board (ATSB), announced it is changing its business plan. As a result, the company is updating its application with the ATSB to include significantly broader, deeper and longer-term cost savings. “The world has changed,” said Jack Creighton, chairman and chief executive officer. “Revenue isn't coming back the way the industry expected. Demand isn't returning, fares remain low, and the industry is grappling with how to respond. At United, we have determined that we must make improvements in our business plan to ensure we get the cost savings we need to compete in an industry that has fundamentally changed. “Despite those efforts, we have to do more,” Creighton said. “We are facing debt payments of $875 million in the fourth quarter and we have insufficient access to the public capital markets to repay them. To avoid this liquidity crisis, Jake Brace, our executive vice president and chief financial officer, has been asked to lead the company's intensified recovery effort. “We have given ourselves a very short timeframe - 30 days - to conclude our discussions with all stakeholders,” Creighton said. “As a result, the changes we need to make are urgent, significant and immediate. Simultaneously, we are preparing for the potential of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing this fall, due to our fourth quarter debt payments. Unless we lower our costs dramatically, filing for bankruptcy protection will be the only way we can ensure the company's future and the continued operation of our airline.”
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Portugal cancels EC 635 order
Eurocopter verliert Auftrag in Portugal
Portugal has killed a deal to buy nine EC 635 helicopters from Eurocopter, alleging the Franco-German consortium failed to deliver the aircraft on time. The Defense Ministry said in a statement it was examining the possibility of demanding compensation from Eurocopter for unspecified damages. The contract, signed in December 1999, was worth 35 million euros. Defense Minister Paulo Portas said Eurocopter had promised to deliver the EC 635 helicopters to the Portuguese army between July 2001 and last March but none had arrived so far. Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
USAF orders more Boeing C-17s
Zehn Millarden Dollar für neue Transporter
On Aug. 15 Boeing and the U.S. Air Force announced the signing of a $9.7 billion follow-on procurement contract for 60 C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft. Since its first flight in 1991, Boeing has delivered 89 C-17s to the U.S. Air Force, whose personnel have amassed more than 300,000 hours in the aircraft, flying global airlift in support of both combat and humanitarian missions. Most recently it has been used to ferry troops, equipment, supplies and humanitarian aid into the rugged terrain of Afghanistan. The high reliability, versatility, and flexibility of the C-17 have made it the transport aircraft of choice for the U.S. military. Recently, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence chose the C-17 as its airlift flagship, with four now in service to Her Majesty's government. "This contract defines the C-17 as the new global airlift standard - it has proven itself time and again in service around the world, and will be the airlifter of choice well into the 21st Century," said George Muellner, vice president and general manager, Air Force Systems, a business unit of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. The additional aircraft will bring the total number of C-17s in the U.S. Air Force fleet to 180.
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NEWS IN BRIEF – KURZMELDUNGEN
The government of India has signed two contracts with a Russian firm for the acquisition of nine special purpose helicopters to equip the Navy with the Airborne Early Warning capability. These helicopters were evaluated by a Naval Team in 1996 and were found to meet the Naval Staff Qualitative Requirements. The price and other terms and conditions were negotiated by the duly constituted Price Negotiation Committee before the contracts were signed.+++
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd (MHI) and the Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power unit of The Boeing Company have successfully completed the preliminary MB-XX full-scale Combustion Chamber / Injector Assembly test program. Flight-like hardware was tested at the MHI Tashiro Test Facility in Japan at full operating pressure and temperatures in multiple test series conducted over a two-year period. Key performance parameters, heat loads, combustion stability and hardware durability was verified. "Validation of MB-XX combustion chamber and injector design is a major development milestone and helps solidly position our team as a leading supplier for the next-generation upper stage engine," said Byron Wood, vice president and general manager for Boeing Rocketdyne. "The MB-XX program is a major business initiative for Boeing and MHI and represents a significant commitment by both companies to the future of rocket propulsion."
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Australian flag-carrier Qantas Airways has ordered four additional Boeing Next-Generation 737-800 airplanes to join its initial 737-800 fleet of 15. The four new twinjets, due for delivery between May and July of next year, are worth approximately $US240 million at list prices. Since January, Qantas has introduced the 15 winglet-equipped Next-Generation 737-800s to Australian domestic routes alongside its existing fleet of 38 Classic 737s.
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The U.S. Army and Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Land Combat Systems business unit have announced the successful deployment of a recoverable Pre-Planned Product Improved (P3I) Bat submunition at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. This third of three successful flight tests conducted to date involving recoverable Bats was performed by the Army's Precision Fires Rocket and Missile Systems project office and Northrop Grumman to demonstrate the performance of the P3I Bat's dual-mode seeker against a number of benign stationary targets using the sensor's lookdown search mode. "Preliminary postflight data analysis indicates that the P3I Bat achieved the key objectives of the test mission," said Emmitt Gibson, vice president of Precision Munitions at Northrop Grumman. "The submunition's dual-mode seeker successfully performed a stationary target attack flight profile, which put the expected number of targets clearly in the seeker's field of view. The Bat was also successful in demonstrating the navigation accuracy required for stationary target detection.
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Three SWISS flying instructors commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation to conduct pilot licensing examinations for the Embraer RJ 145 have, in the view of the authorities, failed to fulfil all the formal requirements for these activities. In view of this, SWISS has withdrawn 34 pilots who completed their Embraer RJ 145 examinations with these examiners from flying duties until such formalities have been completed. These developments will have no impact on SWISS flight operations. SWISS pilots additionally serve not only as flying instructors but also as examiners authorised by the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation (FOCA) to conduct examinations and checks on its behalf. In implementing the new Joint Aviation Requirements, the standardised regulations for civil aviation throughout Europe, SWISS adopted a different interpretation of the formal requirements for such examiners from that adopted by the FOCA. SWISS regrets its non-compliance with this administrative requirement. This does not, however, affect the flying qualifications of the examiners concerned and the pilots they examined. The three examiners affected have several years of experience as regional aircraft instructors, together with experience as captains on the Embraer RJ 145 and other aircraft types. They have also successfully completed all the training required to serve as examiners on the type: all that is currently lacking is the official entry of the Embraer RJ 145 qualification on the licences concerned.
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In July, 1.16 million passengers were welcomed aboard by SWISS. The seat-load factor in the month under review was 76.1%, not only exceeding the figure for the previous month but also the Business Plan. In Europe, 886,661 passengers were carried in July – the seat-load factor attained 63.5%. Traffic to destinations in south-east Europe and the Scandinavian countries produced highly satisfactory results. On the intercontinental route network SWISS had a load factor of 82.6% - in all, 271,995 passengers were transported. The flights to North America - SWISS offers direct connections to New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Washington and Montreal also had very good payloads. Destinations in the Far East also proved to be very popular. The results achieved lie above the Business Plan of December 2001, which foresaw 921,000 passengers for the month of July.
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From 1 September 2002 (bookable from 12 August 2002), the Star Alliance partners Austrian Airlines Group and Lufthansa will introduce a new and innovative fare concept for scheduled flights between Austria and Germany. Vagn Soerensen, Chief Executive Officer of the Austrian Airlines Group, said the following at the launch of the new offers: “When we received EU approval for our joint regional air traffic policy with Lufthansa, we told our customers that it would inevitably lead to more attractive offers on flights between Austria and the Federal Republic. Now, with the beginning of the second half of the business travel season and the onset of autumn city tours, we are making good this promise of lower fares!” The fare programme is based upon a stronger concentration on sharply defined target groups and their travel needs in this market sector of crucial importance to the Austrian Airlines Group. The “Economy Special” and especially “Economy Flexible” fares represent very interesting alternatives price-wise to the regular “Business” fare, and allow a winning combination of more flexible time planning and lower prices. The “Weekender” and “Ad-hoc Weekender” are the fare variations of choice for the flexible weekend trip, whether for sightseeing or visiting relatives. The “Super Saver” is the top price offer for trips to Germany planned at least three weeks in advance.
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The Austrian Airlines Group has made further strong improvements in the overall punctuality rate of its flights. Statistics just released by the AEA (Association of European Airlines, www.aea.be) for the first half-year of 2002 show that, of the 28 European airlines represented in the AEA, the Austrian Airlines Group rose to third place in terms of punctuality (AAG was fifth over the same period in 2001). Overall, 89.7 % of all 66.957 scheduled flights made by the Group were on time.
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Middle East Airlines (MEA) of the Lebanon has placed an order with Airbus for six A321s, becoming a new customer for the type. The order confirms an announcement by the airline earlier this year, when it said that it would acquire A321s as part of a fleet modernisation that is the last part of its re-structuring plan. MEA will take delivery of five A321s between January and May 2003, and a sixth in early 2004. The aircraft will be powered by International Aero Engines V2533s, which feature quietness that meets tough new Stage 4 noise standards. MEA's A321s feature luxurious seating for 31 passengers in business class and 118 in economy, with personal TVs for everyone.
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Last updated 16 August 2002
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