Tag Archives: 737800

Boeing delivers the first directly purchased Boeing 737-800 to UTair of Russia

Boeing (Chicago) has delivered to UTair Aviation (Khanty-Mansiysk), one of Russia’s leading national carriers, its first directly purchased Next-Generation 737-800. Boeing 737-8LP VP-BUL (msn 41707) was handed over yesterday (October 9). The airline currently has 40 Next-Generation 737s on order to be delivered in the next several years.

UTair’s new 737-800 seats 162 passengers and features the new Boeing Sky Interior. This interior is the latest in a series of enhancements for both airlines and passengers. It introduces LED lighting and curved architecture that welcomes passengers onboard and creates a greater sense of spaciousness and comfort in the cabin. The interior also features modern, sculpted sidewalls and overhead bins that disappear into the ceiling, yet carry more bags.

The Next-Generation 737 family has won orders for more than 6,500 airplanes, while the whole 737 family has surpassed 11,000 orders to date.

Based in Russia, UTair is an integrated air carrier and aircraft services company with over 40 years of experience. Today, UTair operates one of the largest aircraft fleets in Russia and ranks among the top three largest Russian carriers by passenger volume.

Top Copyright Photo: OSDU/AirlinersGallery.com. Acquired in the aircraft market, sister ship Boeing 737-8GU WL VQ-BQP (msn 37553) arrives at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow.

UTair (Russia):

Bottom Copyright Photo: Joe G. Walker/AirlinersGallery.com. Brand new Boeing 737-8LP VP-BUL (msn 41707) is pictured at Boeing Field in Seattle before the hand over.

Sunwing to fly nonstop Winnipeg-Freeport flights this winter

Sunwing Airlines (flysunwing.com) (Toronto-Pearson) will increase its flying schedule from Winnipeg by adding nonstop flights to Freeport, Grand Bahama this winter and further expanding its operation from the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport by opening a seasonal base. The opening of this base will result in recruitment of over 60 crew members from within the local community.

Sunwing has been operating from Winnipeg since 2006 when it introduced nonstop flights to Cancun, Mexico. Today, the airline takes Winnipeg travelers to several popular vacation hotspots in Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico and now Grand Bahama starting this winter.

Sunwing Airlines will offer weekly flights to Grand Bahama starting January 18, 2014 until the end of March.

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8K5 WL C-GDBX (msn 33699) taxies to runway 9L at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Sunwing Airlines:

The State of Texas now supports the American-US Airways merger

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) and US Airways (Phoenix) received good news in its efforts to merge. The State of Texas has dropped out of the group opposing the merger along with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Texas now supports the merger and issued this statement:

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, AMR Corporation (Dallas/Fort Worth), the parent company of American Airlines, Inc., and US Airways Group, Inc. (Phoenix) have announced they have reached an agreement for the Texas Attorney General to support the proposed merger of American and US Airways.

Under the terms of the agreement, the new American Airlines will maintain scheduled daily service to more than twenty airports in Texas. In addition, the agreement provides that Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport be maintained as a large hub airport for the combined airline and that the new American will maintain its headquarters in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

The State of Texas had previously joined the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) as co-plaintiff in its pending suit to block the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. With today’s agreement, the Texas Attorney General has agreed to withdraw his participation in the DOJ’s lawsuit.

“I’m pleased we were able to find common ground and gain the carefully considered support of the Attorney General in our home state,” said Tom Horton, chairman, president and CEO of AMR. “This is an important step forward for American Airlines, for Texas, and for our customers and people of both American and US Airways. Texas has long played a lead role in our company’s history, and this agreement is assurance of our commitment to maintain and enhance the outstanding levels of service and connectivity that the new American will provide to the citizens of Texas. This merger will enhance job security and career opportunities for our combined Texas based employee base of nearly 25,000. The combined airline will fly more people and more goods to more places while providing more competition to benefit customers in the U.S. and abroad. We thank Attorney General Abbott for his partnership in finding a solution and also thank the people of American and US Airways for their continued support of the merger.”

Doug Parker, chairman and CEO of US Airways, said the following: “We are grateful to have the support of Attorney General Abbott. In addition, the support for the merger from the employees of American Airlines and US Airways has been overwhelming. This combination makes sense for our customers, employees and the communities we serve. We are dedicated to completing this merger on behalf of all of them.”

Texas airports included in the agreement include:

Abilene Regional Airport
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport
Corpus Christi International Airport
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport
East Texas Regional Airport
Easterwood Airport
El Paso International Airport
Houston William P. Hobby Airport
Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport
Jack Brooks Regional Airport
Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport
Laredo International Airport
Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport
McAllen-Miller International Airport
Midland International Airport
Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport
San Angelo Regional Airport
San Antonio International Airport
Tyler Pounds Regional Airport
Waco Regional Airport
Wichita Falls Regional Airport

In other news, the DOJ lost its bid to delay the trial in its lawsuit to stop the merger. Many of the DOJ’s attorneys and staff were put on furlough due the government shutdown.

The “airline trial of the century” will proceed as scheduled in late November.

American Airlines:

US Airways:

American Airlines launches a code-share agreement with TAM Linhas Aereas, will launch new routes to Brazil

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) has announced the launch of a new code-share agreement with TAM Linhas Aereas (TAM Airlines) (Sao Paulo), increasing American’s network connectivity in Brazil and further enhancing its relationship with LATAM Airlines Group. Customers can begin booking tickets on code-share flights for travel starting on August 22.

Through the agreement, the two airlines will code-share on each other’s flights between the United States and Brazil. American’s customers will also have access to TAM flights from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to eight additional destinations throughout Brazil, including Fortaleza, Natal and Vitoria, and TAM’s customers will also have access to American flights from Miami, New York and Orlando, to 25 cities in the U.S., including Atlanta, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

The improved access provided through the relationship will also complement American’s new Brazilian service to Curitiba (CWB) and Porto Alegre (POA) from Miami, pending government approval, and Sao Paulo (GRU) from Los Angeles, all of which will be available for booking on August 18. The new service from Miami to Curitiba and Porto Alegre will launch on November 21 and the service from Los Angeles to Sao Paulo will launch on December 16. With the additional routes, American will serve nine destinations in Brazil.

TAM, which plans to join the oneworld^® alliance in 2014, is a member of the LATAM Airlines Group. LATAM operates nearly 1,500 daily flights to 144 destinations in 27 countries.

Top Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. American’s Boeing 737-823 N980AN (msn 33203) approaches Los Angeles International Airport for landing.

American Airlines:

TAM:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Bernardo Andrade/AirlinersGallery.com. TAM’s Airbus A319-132 PR-MAN (msn 1831) prepares to land at the downtown Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro.

The next move for AMR and American Airlines

AMR Corporation (American Airlines) (Dallas/Fort Worth) and US Airways (Phoenix) in a show of unity, vowed yesterday to fight the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit in court (along with six states and the District of Colombia). Three high-powered attorneys have been hired to fight the lawsuit. The two airlines will try to argue in court that their merger will promote competition, especially against Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines.

However the real measure being used by the DOJ and will probably be the central theme in the court, will another merger lead to lower ticket prices? With the recent Delta-Northwest, United-Continental and Southwest-AirTran mergers, ticket prices have been raised steadily (probably due more to fuel costs) along with an increasing long list of add-on charges. Airline profits are at its highest. The DOJ is using American’s and US Airways’ own pre-airline merger reports when they were arguing for a merger which states an AA-US merger would lead to higher yields permitting the lower ticket prices to be dropped on many routes where they compete adding to the bottom line for the merged company. AA-US also have a large share of the routes and traffic from slot-controlled Washington Reagan National Airport. Very few of those routes have any meaningful competition. DCA routes have some of the highest yields in the country.

At any rate the lawsuit will delay the merger decision, probably now to 2014.

Read the full report from Reuters: CLICK HERE

However for bankrupt AMR Corporation and American Airlines and its shareholders, the rejection could send its bankruptcy reorganization back to where it all started with a key question:

Can the deal be restructured again to meet the DOJ’s antitrust objections (especially concerning Washington’s Reagan National Airport) and keep some value for the creditors and shareholders? Without US Airways in the equation, a new reorganization would probably shift the company’s equity to the current creditors. The existing shareholders could get nothing in any new reorganization making it harder to “sell”.

In addition what happens to CEO Tom Horton and his nearly $20 million severance package?

Nick Brown examines the options for AMR in this article as it tries to adjust to a newer reality: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: TMK Photography/AirlinersGallery.com. The new 2013 livery of American is now likely to become the livery of a new American with or without US Airways as more aircraft are repainted. There is a tipping point (probably already achieved) where it becomes unfeasible to go to another look. US Airways’ CEO Doug Parker, if he becomes the CEO of the new American, may be stuck with current CEO Tom Horton’s design going forward. The controversial livery is the least of Doug’s problems right now. Boeing 737-823 N965AN (msn 29544) poses for the camera under perfect light at Toronto (Pearson).

American Airlines:

US Airways:

Gol reduces its losses in the second quarter to almost $191 million

Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (Gol Transportes Aereos) (Sao Paulo) issued the following financial information for the second quarter where it reduced its loss to $190.7 million.

recorded an operating loss (EBIT) of R$35 million in 2Q13 resulting in a negative margin of 1.8%, an improvement of R$320 million and 18 percentage points over 2Q12. In the first half, GOL recorded a positive operating margin of 1.7%, in line with the margin projected for 2013, of between 1% and 3%.
PRASK (passenger revenue per available seat-kilometer) totaled R$14.14 cents in 2Q13, 10.5% up on 2Q12. This performance fueled the 7.5% year-over-year upturn in RASK (operating revenue per available seat-kilometer), which came to R$15.72 cents in 2Q13. The continuous monthly increase in PRASK since April 2012 reflects the Company’s efforts in optimizing its offer and maximizing the profitability of its routes.
CASK (operating cost per available seat-kilometer) totaled R$16.01 cents in the second quarter, 8.4% down on the same period last year. Fuel costs per ASK fell by 8.8%, primarily due to the 3.4% decline in the per-liter fuel price and the use of a more fuel-efficient fleet. CASK ex-fuel fell by 8% in the same period, chiefly impacted by the reduction in personnel costs.
SMILES’ IPO during the quarter meant that the Company ended 2Q13 with its biggest ever quarterly cash position (cash, cash equivalents, financial investments and short and long-term restricted cash), totaling R$2.8 billion, equivalent to 34% of net revenue of the last 12 months (LTM).

Read the analysis by the Wall Street Journal: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Rodrigo Cozzato/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-8EH WL PR-GUM (msn 35846) in the new CBF – Transportadora Oficial de Selecao Brasileira livery taxies past the camera in Sao Paulo (Guarulhos).

Gol Transportes Aereos:

Boeing delivers the first Boeing 737-800 to Iraqi Airways

Boeing (Chicago) has delivered a Next-Generation 737-800 to Iraqi Airways (Baghdad), the first of 30 that the airline ordered in 2008, marking a milestone in its relationship with the airline.

With the delivery of Boeing 737-81Z YI-ASE (msn 40104) on August 12, 2013, Iraqi Airways currently has 39 Boeing airplanes on order, including 29 Next-Generation 737-800s and 10 787 Dreamliners.

Copyright Photo: Duncan Kirk/AirlinersGallery.com. Showing off the Arabic titles side, Boeing 737-81Z YI-ASE is pictured on a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle. The delivery also ushered in a new look for Iraqi.

Iraqi Airways:

United to add seasonal Denver-Fort Myers service on December 16

United Airlines (Chicago) will start weekly Denver-Fort Myers seasonal service with Boeing 737-800s on December 16, 2013. The route will go to daily service on January 7, 2014 per Airline Route. The flights will end on April 7, 2014.

Copyright Photo: Michael B. Ing/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-824 N26210 (msn 28770) in the Star Alliance livery soars into the Southern California skies from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

United Airlines:

American Airlines to add new service to Cozumel and Roatan

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) is planning to add weekly flights between its DFW hub and Roatan, Honduras starting on November 23, 2013 per Airline Route. Roatan Island is famous as an diving destination off the northern coast of Honduras in the Bay Islands.

In addition, American will also add Miami-Cozumel service commencing on November 21. The route will be operated five days a week.

Both routes will be operated with Boeing 737-800s.

Copyright Photo: TMK Photography/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-823 WL N922NN (msn 29523) approaches the runway at Toronto (Pearson).

American Airlines:

American to add nonstop West Palm Beach-Los Angeles service on November 21

American Airlines (Dallas/Fort Worth) will add daily nonstop service from West Palm Beach, FL to Los Angeles starting on November 21.

The carrier will add daily seasonal West Palm Beach-New York (LaGuardia) flights from November November 21 through March 31, 2014 per Airline Route.

Both routes will be served with Boeing 737-800s.

In other news, AA will introduce its new Airbus A321 on the New York (JFK)-Los Angeles route on January 7, 2014. The new A321s will gradually replace older Boeing 767-200 ERs on the route.

Copyright Photo: Brian McDonough/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 737-823 N981AN (msn 29569) approaches from the south to land at Washington (Reagan National).

American Airlines: