Monthly Archives: April 2018

Air Canada to launch daily nonstop Montreal-London, Ontario and Montreal-Windsor, Ontario flights

Air Canada today announced it will begin new domestic regional nonstop flights on July 2, 2018. The only year-round service between Montreal–London, ON and Montreal–Windsor, ON will provide services that meets the needs of both local and connecting passengers. Flights are timed to offer convenient connections to/from Atlantic Canada including Saint John, Fredericton, Moncton Halifax and St. John’s; to Europe including Brussels, Rome, Geneva, Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris, Lyon, Frankfurt, as well as Casablanca, Morocco.

Daily Montreal–Windsor, Ontario flights will be operated by Air Canada Express Jazz 50-seat Bombardier CRJ jets. The schedule for the flights is:

Flight #	Depart	Time	Arrive	Time
AC8183	Montreal	08:50	Windsor, ON	10:39
AC8184	Windsor, ON	11:10	Montreal	12:55

Daily Montreal–London, Ontario flights will be operated by Air Canada Express Jazz 78-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft. The schedule for the flights is:

Flight #	Depart	Time	Arrive	Time
AC8665	Montreal	13:50	London, ON	15:37
AC8664	London, ON	15:20	Montreal	16:49

Copyright Photo: Air Canada Express-Jazz Aviation Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) C-GGOY (msn 4365) YYZ (TMK Photography). Image: 940839.

Air Canada Express-Jazz aircraft slide show:

SkyWest Airlines brings United Express jet service to Plattsburgh starting on August 29

SkyWest Airlines will begin daily United Express jet service between Plattsburgh and Washington-Dulles International Airport beginning on August 29, 2018.

The new Plattsburgh service will be on Bombardier CRJ200s. SkyWest is a leading CRJ200 operator and has been named the manufacturer’s most reliable operatorin North America five times.

Copyright Photo: United Express-SkyWest Airlines Bombardier CRJ200 (CL-600-2B19) N945SW (msn 7770) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 941709.

United Express aircraft slide show:

ANA unveils the features of the new Airbus A380s, two new colors announced

All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest and only 5-Star airline, has announced the features of Japan’s first Airbus A380, launching in spring 2019.

This aircraft will be introduced on ANA’s Tokyo – Honolulu service, and each cabin is specially designed to meet the passenger’s needs on this route. Honolulu is loved by many Japanese families, couples, newlyweds, and Hawaii is a popular destination for their vacations and honeymoons. With this in mind, ANA aims to make their experience onboard more comfortable by strategically designing the cabin features in order to meet their unique needs while providing them with a once in a lifetime experience.

1.Three Designs for the Special Livery Aircraft
In March 2017, ANA announced the special livery motif FLYING HONU. At the time, the design ANA introduced was blue, an homage to the Hawaiian blue sky. Today, ANA is pleased to announce two more colors, green and orange. The emerald green is inspired by the crystal clear waters of the Hawaiian ocean and orange is a reference to the beautiful Hawaiian sunset.

In order to make this triad, the FLYING HONUs, more familiar to everyone, ANA has created a character from each aircraft. The blue character is named “Lani,” meaning sky, while the emerald green character is named “Kai,” meaning ocean, and the orange character is named “Ka La,” from the Hawaiian word meaning sunset.
2.Configuration and Seat Products
In order to provide the perfect trip, ANA has designed each cabin to accommodate a host of needs for passengers of all ages. For example, on the upper deck, ANA has introduced eight First Class seats, 56 Business Class seats, and 73 Premium Economy seats.

This marks the first time ANA has offered First Class on this resort route, and its aim is to provide passengers with a luxurious onboard experience. Each seat features its own door and provides passengers with the privacy they need to enjoy their personal space.

ANA’s Business Class is a popular option for passengers on honeymoons and family vacations. Therefore, compared to other aircraft where seats are staggered, this revolutionary Business Class offers pairs of seats, allowing passengers to enjoy and share their exciting travel experience sitting next to each other while still keeping all seats with aisle access.

Furthermore, while Premium Economy on other aircraft has about 20 seats, the FLYING HONUs offer 73, allowing more passengers the opportunity to experience the premium features.

The main deck will have 383 Economy Class seats, which includes 60 couch seats. This makes ANA the first in Japan to introduce a couch seat concept. Each couch is comprised of three or four seats and passengers are able to lie on the seats by folding up the leg rests. In addition, passengers will receive a dedicated mattress that will provide them with further comfort. This new seat concept will especially enable passengers traveling with small children to have a more relaxed experience in the cabin.
3.Cabin Interiors
The cabin interiors have also been strategically designed in order for the passengers to feel the spirit of Hawaii from the moment they board the aircraft. The walls and lights have been arranged in such a way as to illustrate Hawaii’s enviable blue skies, sunrises, sunsets, night skies and iconic rainbows.
- All classes will have access to bar counters. Lastly, behind the main deck, ANA has created a multi-purpose room where new mothers will be able to tend to their babies and passengers will be able to change before arriving at their destination.
- 4.Concept
  ANA also created a new concept name called “ANA HAWAii.” By flipping the “ii” 180 degrees, it turns into two exclamation points. This symbolizes the numerous excitements that passengers are able to experience including cabin features, and promotions, as well as the grand opening of a new ANA Lounge at Honolulu Airport.
All images by ANA.

Hawaiian Holdings reports 2018 first quarter financial results

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc., parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2018.

First Quarter 2018 – Key Financial Metrics
	GAAP	YoY Change	Adjusted	YoY Change
Net Income	$28.5M	($5.1M)	$55.8M	+$3.1M
Diluted EPS	$0.56	($0.06)	$1.09	+$0.11
Pre-tax Margin	5.6%	(2) pts	11.0%	(1.6) pts

“2018 is off to a great start,” said Peter Ingram, Hawaiian Airlines president and CEO. “Despite an uptick in competitive capacity in the first quarter, we generated more revenue and carried more guests than any first quarter in our history. No one should be surprised that Hawaiian rose to the challenge. My colleagues on the ground and in the air are without peer – delivering operational excellence coupled with authentic Hawaiian hospitality. Our outstanding first quarter results would not have been possible without the passion and excellence they bring to this airline. It is an honor to serve with them.”

“We are excited for the year ahead, and look forward to continuing to demonstrate that Hawaiian is now, and will remain, the carrier of choice to Hawai’i.”

Statistical information, as well as a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures, can be found in the accompanying tables.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 12 cents per share to be paid on May 25, 2018, to all shareholders of record as of May 11, 2018.

The Company repurchased approximately 549,000 shares of its common stock for approximately $20 million in the first quarter, which leaves approximately $80 million remaining under its share repurchase program.

As of March 31, 2018, the Company had:

Unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $524 million
Outstanding debt and capital lease obligations of $558 million

First Quarter 2018 Highlights

Leadership and People

Effective March 1, 2018, welcomed Peter Ingram as its new president and chief executive officer (CEO) following the retirement of former president and CEO Mark Dunkerley.
Strengthened its senior leadership team with the promotions of John Jacobito Senior Vice President, Information Technology; Jim Landers to Senior Vice President, Technical Operations; and Brent Overbeek to Senior Vice President, Revenue Management and Network Planning.
Celebrated record-setting results in 2017 by rewarding its more than 6,700 employees with $23.8 million in profit sharing, the largest annual payment in Hawaiian’s history.

Operational

Carried nearly 2.9 million guests across its network, a record for the first quarter.

Partnerships

Deepened its reach into Japan by commencing code-share operations with Japan Airlines (JAL) under a new comprehensive partnership between the two airlines.

New Routes

Expanded its routes to the Pacific Northwest with the launch of new daily non-stop service between Portland International Airport (PDX) and Maui’s Kahului Airport (OGG).
Expanded its routes to Southern California with the announcement of new daily nonstop flights between Long Beach Airport (LGB) and Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) beginning in May 2018.

Fleet and Financing

Selected its wide-body aircraft of the future by executing a non-binding letter of intent with Boeing for the purchase of 10 new 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft (above) for delivery starting 2021, with purchase rights for an additional 10 aircraft.

Top Copyright Photo: Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-243 N361HA (msn 1823) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 940253.

Hawaiian Airlines aircraft slide show:

interCaribbean cancels St Thomas and St Croix planned operations

interCaribbean Airways has advised the Caribbean traveling public that planned services to St Thomas and to St Croix are canceled.

The airline continued;

interCaribbean has been working for some months to have the USVI filings process completed, for which it is not possible to manage simultaneously with the setup of all other operations in parallel. Such has been the process, that other requirements to setup at the airports are unable to be advanced without this completed.

interCaribbean over a month ago deployed an additional aircraft to Tortola in readiness for these flights but given the unusually lengthy processes to get to a starting point, it has become clear that the approval process and our priorities are not aligned. interCaribbean will now redeploy the aircraft into other operations and growth opportunities. We operate in 13 countries and have not faced the prolonged or protracted challenges of setting up an operation timely in any country. We wish to acknowledge we have seen the full cooperation from the CPB (Customs and Border Protection) and the TSA (Transport Security Administration) Agencies in receiving their early and timely approvals for both St Thomas and St Croix.

A key element at any new city served is selecting a partner handling company. In the case of the USVI, we are confronted with handling costs that are three to four times the norm across our entire network of cities. We simply will not pay such outrageous prices. We cannot expect to have to double our everyday affordable low airfares to compensate, for we will not see support from the traveling public.

Given the work necessary to make these cities a viable destination with airfares for which we have become known, we have elected to postpone until the winter season of this year 2018 and give time and opportunity to consider other options to create effective partner handling, and for all authorities to take all the time needed. Should we find a satisfactory point. We will update the traveling public as we move forward and keep you appraised.

JetBlue announces first quarter 2018 results

JetBlue Airways Corporation today reported its results for the first quarter 2018:

Diluted earnings per share of $0.27. This compares to JetBlue’s first quarter 2017 diluted earnings per share of $0.24 cents.
Pre-tax income of $110 million, a decrease of 9.2% from the first quarter of 2017.
Pre-tax margin of 6.3%, a 1.3 point decrease year over year.

Highlights from the First Quarter 2018

First quarter 2018 revenue per available seat mile (RASM) growth of 6.1%, year over year, including the net benefit from Holiday calendar placement.
Operating expenses per available seat mile, excluding fuel (CASM ex-fuel) of 3.1%, within the initial guidance range, despite a lower completion factor and offset by timing of maintenance expenses.
JetBlue signed a multi-year agreement with Pratt & Whitney for the purchase and maintenance of GTF engines, as work on the Structural Cost Program continues.

Key Guidance for the Second Quarter and Full Year 2018:

Capacity is expected to increase between 5.0% and 7.0% year over year in the second quarter 2018. For the full year 2018, JetBlue expects capacity to increase between 6.5% and 8.5%.
RASM growth is expected to range between (3.0)% and 0% for the second quarter 2018 compared to the same period in 2017.
CASM Ex-Fuel is expected to grow between 2.0% and 4.0% for the second quarter of 2018. For the full year 2018, JetBlue expects year over year CASM Ex-Fuel to be between (1.0)% and 1.0%.

“I’d like to thank our nearly 22,000 Crewmembers, who again did an exceptional job safely managing through the many snow storms that hit the Northeast during the first quarter, and into early April. Our strong RASM performance was driven by our revenue management initiatives, ongoing ancillary growth, and strong demand across our network. In addition, CASM ex-fuel growth was within our quarterly guidance, despite pressures from lower completion factor” said Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s President and CEO.

This quarter JetBlue achieved an important milestone in its Structural Cost Program, with a new engine purchase and maintenance agreement with Pratt & Whitney. In addition, JetBlue continued to make capital-light investments to support a broad digital transformation strategy, and further grow its ancillary revenues. These are part of JetBlue’s commercial and cost initiatives as it makes progress toward its goal of achieving superior margins.

Revenue Performance and Outlook

First quarter RASM growth exceeded expectations at 6.1%, above JetBlue’s guidance range from early March of 3.5% to 5.5%. Lower completion factor resulted in capacity growth below the low-end of the guidance range from January.

JetBlue’s Latin and Caribbean region was the brightest spot in its network during the first quarter, with leisure travel exceeding expectations. Growth remains targeted to Boston and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and skewed towards adding frequencies on existing routes. JetBlue continues to build relevance for its leisure and business customers, underpinning solid RASM growth and supporting its margin commitments.

Cost Performance, Outlook and Balance sheet

JetBlue’s solid revenue performance and cost management efforts were partially offset by increasing fuel prices. The company’s focus on costs and the timing of certain expenses resulted in CASM ex-fuel within the guidance from January. JetBlue continues to expect its CASM ex-fuel growth to inflect during the second half of the year, driven by progress in its Structural Cost Program.

“We are delighted with having closed a 15-year deal for the purchase and maintenance of NEO engines. A minor portion of the expected savings from this agreement is included in our 3-year program, and most of the run rate savings will extend well beyond 2020. Our continued focus on costs and our recent accomplishment give us confidence that we will achieve our CASM ex-fuel commitments from 2018 to 2020,” said Steve Priest, JetBlue’s EVP Chief Financial Officer.

JetBlue also continued to maintain a balanced approach to capital allocation, which included debt repayment, one aircraft lease buy-out and $125 million in share repurchases in the quarter.

Capital Allocation and Liquidity

JetBlue ended the quarter with approximately $779 million in unrestricted cash and short term investments, or about 11% of trailing twelve month revenue. In addition, JetBlue maintains approximately $625 million in undrawn lines of credit.

During the first quarter, JetBlue repaid $58 million in regularly scheduled debt and capital lease obligations. JetBlue anticipates paying approximately $65 million in regularly scheduled debt and capital lease obligations in the second quarter and approximately $197 million for the full year 2018.

Fuel Expense and Hedging

The realized fuel price in the quarter was $2.09 per gallon, a 23.8% increase versus first quarter 2017 realized fuel price of $1.69.

JetBlue does not presently have any forward fuel derivative contracts to hedge its fuel consumption. Based on the fuel curve as of April 13^th, JetBlue expects an average price per gallon of fuel of $2.23 in the second quarter of 2018.

JetBlue aircraft slide show:

Silver Airways completes its acquisition of Seaborne Airlines, the brand will continue

Silver Airways and Seaborne Airlines on April 23, 2018 announced that Silver’s acquisition of Seaborne’s business and assets has successfully been closed, creating a leading independent airline to serve the Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, and beyond.

The acquisition brings together two strong independent airlines with similar SAAB 340B fleets, complementary route networks, and common codeshare/interline partners.

With the upcoming deployment of Silver’s recently announced new fleet of state-of-the-art ATR 42-600s across both networks, the combined airline will have an expanded range, allowing it to better serve passengers and markets while creating more opportunities for employees and greater value for its business partners.

The combined airline will continue operating Silver’s route network in the Bahamas, Florida, and beyond under the Silver Airways banner and Seaborne’s route network throughout Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Caribbean under the Seaborne name.

The total fleet now consists of 31 aircraft, including SAAB 340s and de Havilland Twin Otter seaplane aircraft.

Steve Rossum of Silver Airways will serve as CEO of the combined airline. Ben Munson will resume his role as president of aviation consulting firm Embark Aviation, and continue as a valued advisor to the company.

The combined airline will employ nearly 1,000 aviation professionals and will be headquartered at Silver Airways’ offices in Fort Lauderdale under the leadership of executives from both Silver and Seaborne.

Corporate and operations support functions will continue at locations in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, San Juan, and St. Croix, U.S.V.I.

Seaborne aircraft slide show:

Silver Airways route map:

Seaborne Airlines route map:

Widerøe introduces the Embraer E190-E2 into revenue service

Widerøe today (April 24) became the first airline in the world to put the new Embraer E190-E2 into revenue service.

The brand new aircraft type was introduced on flight WF622 this morning on the Bergen-Tromsø route.

Embraer made this announcement:

Widerøe, Scandinavia’s largest regional airline, completed the first scheduled passenger flight of an Embraer E190-E2 this morning, April 24. The aircraft, registered LN-WEA and operating as flight WF622, departed Bergen Airport on time at 7:35 AM and arrived at Tromsø Airport two hours later at 9:35 AM local time. The flight was sold out.

Today’s flight marks the official entry into service of the first of three new E-Jets E2s that Embraer has developed to succeed its first-generation E-Jets. Deliveries of the larger E195-E2 are planned to start in 2019, and in 2021 for the smaller E175-E2.

Widerøe passengers experienced a quiet, environmentally-friendly flight on the 672 nm sector. The E190-E2 has the lowest external noise and emissions levels of any aircraft in its category and burns 17.3% less fuel than the current-generation E190.

The completely redesigned and pleasant E2 cabin interior features new acoustic treatments, an improved quiet air conditioning system and more stowage space. In some flight conditions, cabin noise levels in the E2 are 50% lower than in the main competitor.

The lowest community noise margins in the airline industry were achieved through a combination of low-drag and low-noise airframe design with outstanding field performance. These features reduce required engine thrust making the E2 much quieter during approach and take-off.

Widerøe will receive two more E190-E2s this year. It holds purchase rights for an additional 12 E2s. The total value of the order is approximately USD 873 million if all rights are exercised.

For the E-Jets program alone, Embraer has logged more than 1,800 orders and 1,400 deliveries, redefining the traditional concept of regional aircraft by operating across a range of business applications.

Photo: Widerøe.

Video:

Southwest to add more service at New York LaGuardia and Washington Reagan National following a slot agreement with Alaska

Alaska Airlines Group has received approval from the Department of Justice (DOT) for an agreement with Southwest Airlines. Southwest will lease 12 “within perimeter slots” at New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and and eight “within perimeter” slots at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA).

The lease, which commences in October 2018, will enable Alaska Airlines to monetize the valuable slots, while Alaska reallocates its flying from DCA and LGA to Dallas Love Field, to more strategic and profitable opportunities on the West Coast.

This slot lease runs through 2028, at which point Alaska will have the right to reassume flying using these valuable slots from LGA and DCA.

This new agreement will allow Southwest Airlines to expand operations at both LGA and DCA.

Southwest Airlines aircraft slide show:

Porter Airlines to resume seasonal service to Mont Tremblant, new maintenance base at Sudbury

Porter Airlines flights to Mont Tremblant, Quebec, are back in time to enjoy summer in the Laurentians region (below). Seasonal service begins on June 22, and runs until September 23, 2018.

Flights operate up to four times weekly starting July 26 through Labour Day, and two times weekly for the remainder of the season.

Passengers fly nonstop from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to Mont Tremblant International Airport in just 70 minutes.

Additionally the carrier also started seasonal service to Stephenville with 11 round-trip flights on Saturdays through June 23, increasing to twice weekly from June 27 to September 1, 2018. Flights will continue into the fall and winter to the west coast on the island of Newfoundland (below).

In other news, Porter Airlines has announced it will establish a new maintenance base at Greater Sudbury Airport for its 29 Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

Photo Above: Porter Airlines. The Hon. Glenn Thibeault, Mayor Mayor Brian Bigger, Sudbury AirportCEO, Todd Tripp, and Porter COO, Paul Moreira announcing Porter’s investment in a Sudbury aircraft maintenance base with the support of The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. This investment demonstrates how the private sector can work with government to benefit local economies, ensuring our eight local maintenance team members have an excellent, new hangar facility at Sudbury Airport.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by Porter): Porter Airlines Bombardier DHC-8-402 (Q400) C-GLQQ (msn 4272) MYR (Jan Petzold). Image: 941689.

Porter Airlines aircraft slide show:

Route Map: