Monthly Archives: October 2015

Garuda Indonesia takes delivery of a Boeing 777-300 in the SkyTeam livery

Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) yesterday (October 28) delivered the pictured 777-3U3 ER (Extended Range) registered as PK-GII (msn 29145) to Garuda Indonesia (Jakarta) in the SkyTeam livery.

Garuda Indonesia became the 20th member to join the SkyTeam Alliance in August 2014, providing access to an extensive global network with more than 16,320 daily flights to 1,052 destinations in 177 countries. The Indonesian flag carrier currently operates more than 90 Boeing airplanes, including Next-Generation 737s, 777-300 ERs and 747-400s.

Garuda Indonesia, the national airline of Indonesia, connects more than 75 destinations worldwide with close to 600 daily flights and a fleet of 174 aircraft with the average age of which is less than five years old.

Photo: Boeing.

Garuda Indonesia aircraft slide show:

SkyWest reports a 3Q net profit of $36 million

SkyWest, Inc. (SkyWest Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines) (St. George, Utah) today reported financial and operating results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

SkyWest generated $36 million of net income for Q3 2015, or $0.71 per diluted share. Excluding special items, SkyWest’s net income for Q3 2014 was approximately $26 million, or $0.50 per diluted share.

Operating income for Q3 2015 was $78 million, an increase of 32% from Q3 2014 of $59 million.

SkyWest reported $77 million of net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2015, or $1.49 per diluted share, a $88 million improvement from the corresponding period of 2014, which had net loss of $11 million, excluding 2014 special items.

Commenting on the results, Chip Childs, SkyWest, Inc. President said, “Our third quarter results reflect continued progress in the optimization of our fleet and flying contract mix. These improvements, along with solid operating performance, have contributed to our increasing operating margins. Additionally, we look forward to operating the E175 aircraft with three of our major partners by mid-2016, and we believe our operating performance continues to create additional opportunities to improve our fleet mix and operating margins.”

Fleet Information:

Total aircraft in service at September 30, 2015 was 656, a net decrease of 84 aircraft from September 30, 2014 of 740 aircraft. Changes in SkyWest’s fleet mix are as follows:

Added 26 new E175 aircraft with United Airlines (“United”)
Added three new E175 aircraft with Alaska Airlines (“Alaska”)
Added twelve used CRJ200 aircraft with Delta Air Lines (“Delta”)
Added 16 used ERJ145 aircraft with American Airlines (“American”)

Combined, 57 aircraft were added year-over-year

Removed 36 EMB120 30-seat turbo-prop aircraft (“EMB120s”) from multiple partners
Removed 69 ERJ145/135 aircraft from service from United
Removed 36 CRJ200 aircraft from service with multiple partners

Combined, 141 aircraft were removed year-over-year

SkyWest’s aircraft in service decreased by 20 net aircraft from June 30, 2015 to September 30, 2015, with changes in fleet mix as follows:

Added five new E175 aircraft with United
Removed eleven ERJ145 aircraft from service with United
Removed 14 CRJ200 aircraft from service from multiple major airline partners

Under its fleet transition, SkyWest generated approximately 24,800 additional block hours with its dual class aircraft (CRJ700s/900s and E175s) during Q3 2015, compared to Q3 2014.

SkyWest also had a reduction of approximately 89,000 block hours with its less profitable 50-seat and smaller aircraft (CRJ200s, ERJ145s/135s and EMB120s) during Q3 2015, compared to Q3 2014.

Under an agreement announced in Q3 2015, SkyWest Airlines is scheduled to place 18 additional new E175 aircraft into service with United, with anticipated scheduled delivery dates from Q4 2016 to Q2 2017. SkyWest Airlines is currently scheduled to have a total of 58 E175s in service with United by the end of Q2 2017.

Under a previously announced agreement, SkyWest Airlines is scheduled to take delivery of twelve new E175 aircraft for Alaska from Q4 2015 to Q4 2016. SkyWest is currently scheduled to have a total of 15 E175s in service with Alaska by the end of Q4 2016.

Under an agreement announced last week, SkyWest Airlines is scheduled to take delivery of 19 new E175 aircraft for Delta from Q3 2016 through mid-2017.

The following reflects expected E175 aircraft that SkyWest anticipates will be placed into service by period:
Airline Q4 2015 2016 2017   Cumulative Total End of 2017
United – 7 11 58
Delta –   13 6 19
Alaska   2   10 –   15
Total 2   30 17

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. SkyWest Airlines is already operating the Embraer 175 for Alaska Airlines. Alaska Skywest-titled Embraer ERJ 170-200LR (ERJ 175) N170SY (msn 17000483) taxies at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

Alaska SkyWest aircraft slide show:

Republic Airways pilots ratify a new three-year contract

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. (Republic Airlines 2nd and Shuttle America) (Indianapolis) has announced that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ (IBT) Local 357, which represent the approximately 2,100 pilots of Republic, have voted by a margin of 76% to ratify a new three-year contract, with approximately 85% of the eligible pilots voting.

The three-year agreement becomes effective on or about November 1. The agreement invests approximately $50 million a year on average over the three-year duration of the new agreement, including both the ratification bonus and the anniversary bonus. The new agreement includes significant improvements in work rules and pilot quality of life. Additionally, it establishes pay rates that recognize Republic’s pilots as leaders in the regional airline industry, including a transformational $40/hr first year new hire rate.

Copyright Photo: Tony Storck/AirlinersGallery.com. Embraer ERJ 170-200LR (ERJ 175) N135HQ (msn 17000224) of Republic Airlines operating as an American Eagle carrier arrives at Baltimore-Washington (BWI).

American Eagle-Republic aircraft slide show:

Southwest Airlines announces new spring routes

Southwest Airlines (Dallas) beginning on April 12, 2016, will begin offering new nonstop service between:

Grand Rapids, Michigan and Chicago (Midway)

Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C. and Atlanta

Flint, Michigan and Chicago (Midway)

Dayton, Ohio and Chicago (Midway)

St. Louis and Des Moines, Iowa

St. Louis and Wichita, Kansas

St. Louis and Pittsburgh*

Wichita, Kansas and Phoenix

Newark and Orlando

Las Vegas and Newark

*Starts March 10, 2016

In addition to the new routes on April 12, 2016, Southwest will begin offering year-round nonstop service between St. Louis and Seattle/Tacoma, previously offered seasonally.

Southwest serves 96 destinations across the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Copyright Photo: Mark Durbin/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-7H4 N909WN (msn 32458) in the Beats Music special livery taxies at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show (current livery):

JetBlue reports net income of $198 million for the 3Q

JetBlue Airways Corporation (New York) today reported its results for the third quarter 2015:

Operating income of $351 million in the third quarter. This compares to operating income of $164 million in the third quarter of 2014.

Pre-tax income of $322 million in the third quarter. This compares to pre-tax income of $132 million in the third quarter of 2014.

Net income of $198 million, or $0.58 per diluted share. This compares to JetBlue’s third quarter 2014 net income of $79 million, or $0.24 per diluted share.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-232 N516JB (msn 1302) named “Royal Blue” prepares to depart from Long Beach.

JetBlue Airways aircraft slide show:

Air Austral moves up the last Boeing 777-200LR revenue flight to October 30

Air Austral (St. Denis, Reunion Island) has now scheduled the last Boeing 777-200 LR (Longer Range) revenue flight for October 30 as flight UU202 from Dzaoudzi (Mayotte Island) and Reunion per Airline Route. This was brought forward from May 30, 2016.

Air Austral aircraft slide show:

Airline Aircraft Type “Endangered Species List”: CLICK HERE

SAS schedules the last Boeing 717 revenue flight for October 31

Scandinavian Airlines-SAS (Stockholm) is now planning to operate the last Boeing 717 revenue flight on October 31. The last flight is currently scheduled to be flight SK1768 between Prague and Stockholm (Arlanda) according to Airline Route. The 717s are operated by Blue1 (Helsinki) for SAS.

As previously reported, SAS sold Blue1 to CityJet and will continue to operate operate other aircraft types for SAS under contract.

Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 717-23S OH-BLP (msn 55064) in the Star Alliance scheme departs from Zurich.

Blue1 aircraft slide show:

Airline Aircraft Type “Endangered Species List” (kept up to date): CLICK HERE

Spirit Airlines reports 3Q GAAP net income increased 44.9% to $97.1 million

Spirit Airlines, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) today reported third quarter 2015 financial results.

Adjusted net income for the third quarter 2015 increased 31.6 percent to $97.3 million ($1.35 per diluted share) compared to the third quarter 20141. GAAP net income for the third quarter 2015 increased 44.9 percent year over year to $97.1 million ($1.35 per diluted share).
Adjusted pre-tax margin for the third quarter 2015 increased 560 basis points to 26.9 percent. On a GAAP basis, pre-tax margin for the third quarter 2015 increased 760 basis points to 26.9 percent.
Spirit ended the third quarter 2015 with unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $748.9 million.
Spirit’s return on invested capital (before taxes and excluding special items) for the twelve months ended September 30, 2015 was 28.8 percent2.

Copyright Photo: Andy Cripps/AirlinersGallery.com. Spirit took delivery of 3 new Airbus A321 aircraft during the third quarter 2015, ending the quarter with 76 aircraft in its fleet. Airbus A321-231 N657NK (msn 6671) taxies at the FLL hub.

Spirit Airlines aircraft slide show:

Emirates and Alaska Airlines to codeshare

Emirates (Dubai) today (October 26) announced a new codeshare and lounge agreement with Alaska Airlines (Seattle/Tacoma).

Emirates continued:

Pending governmental approval, Emirates will begin marketing up to 300 daily Alaska Airlines flights, which will give customers the simplicity of purchasing connecting flights on both airlines using one reservation, and a seamless ticketing, check-in, boarding and baggage check experience during the entire journey. In addition, the new codeshare agreement will feature several other new benefits including reciprocal lounge access and priority boarding and check-in for elite fliers.

With two daily flights now departing from Dubai to Seattle/Tacoma, the enhanced codeshare agreement gives passengers easy connections to 49 cities including Honolulu, Denver, Las Vegas, Portland, Phoenix, Pullman, Sacramento, Spokane, Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks as well as Canadian destinations such as Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria.

Top Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Emirates Boeing 777-36N ER A6-EBC (msn 32790) taxies to the gate at Amsterdam.

Below Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-990 ER N474AS (msn 40715) with the revised titles and winglet markings arrives at Baltimore/Washington.

Alaska Airlines aircraft slide show:

Emirates aircraft slide show:

Germania Flug (Switzerland) takes delivery of its first Airbus A321

Germania Flug AG (Holiday Jet) (Switzerland) (Zurich) has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321. The pictured Airbus A321-211 HB-JOI (msn 5843, ex D-ASTD) was delivered on October 21 from the German parent Germania (Berlin-Schonefeld). The new type went into service yesterday (October 25) from Zurich and Geneva to Pristina, Kosovo and Skopje for tour operator Air Prishtina according to ch-aviation.

Copyright Photo: Andi Hiltl/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A321-211 HB-JOI prepares for takeoff at Zurich with the new Swiss registration and flag.

Germania Flug (Switzerland) aircraft slide show: