Tag Archives: Airbus A319100

Helvetic Airways to operate an Airbus A319 on new holiday routes from Bern and Geneva for Kuoni

Helvetic Airways (Zurich) has acquired this Airbus A319 to supplement its fleet of six Fokker 100s.

For the current summer season, Helvetic will be operating the newly-acquired Airbus A319 for Kuoni on the following routes:

From Bern:	Heraklion	From Geneva:	Heraklion
	Kos		Kos
	Rhodes		Rhodes
			Fuerteventura / Arecife
			Larnaca
			Las Palmas / Tenerife
			Hurghada / Sharm El Sheikh

Copyright Photo: Rolf Wallner/AirlinersGallery.com. Captured this morning in the early morning light at Zurich, Airbus A319-112 HB-JVK (msn 1886) was leased from AWAS on May 3, 2013.

Helvetic Airways:

EasyJet cuts its pretax loss in the first half to $93 million

EasyJet (UK) (easyJet.com) (London-Luton) has reported its first half financial results:

A. HIGHLIGHTS

	2013	2012	Change
Total revenue (£ million)	1,601	1,465	9.3%
Loss before tax (£ million)	(61)	(112)	45.5%
Pre-tax margin (%)	(3.8)	(7.6)	+3.8ppt
Loss per share – basic (pence)	(12.0)	(21.2)	43.4%
Return on capital employed (%)¹	(0.9)	(2.8)	+1.9ppt

Revenue initiatives and the focus on maintaining EasyJet’s cost advantage, combined with competitor capacity reductions and the timing of Easter have enabled easyJet to reduce its first half pre-tax loss year on year by £51 million to £61 million.

EasyJet ended the first half of the financial year with £1,194 million of cash, a decrease of £17 million against last year. Net cash as at 31 March 2013 was £433 million compared to £42 million at 31 March 2012.

On 1 May 2013, John Barton succeeded Sir Mike Rake as easyJet Chairman. The whole team at easyJet wishes to note its thanks for Sir Mike Rake’s strong leadership of the Board for three years during which easyJet’s total shareholder return was 233%.

Progress against strategic objectives:

Drive demand, conversion and yields across Europe

Total revenue per seat increased by 8.6% year on year on a constant currency basis, and by 5.8% per seat on a reported basis, to £53.39 as the half year benefited from an early Easter, competitor capacity retrenchment, returns focused changes to EasyJet’s network and improvements to its revenue management system.
Average load factors increased by 1.7 percentage points to 88.6% whilst capacity grew by 3.3% to 30 million seats.

Maintain cost advantage

Cost per seat excluding fuel grew by 3.4% on a constant currency basis and by 3.1% on a reported basis to £38.89. Year on year cost increases were largely driven by increased charges at regulated airports and from higher weather related disruption and de-icing costs.
EasyJet lean delivered an incremental £25 million of savings in the period.

Build strong number 1 and 2 network positions

Successful deployment of capacity from Madrid base which was exited in December 2012 to strengthen easyJet’s position in Edinburgh, Manchester, Gatwick, Geneva, Lisbon and Lyon.

Disciplined use of capital

In the six months to 31 March 2013, EasyJet has returned £85 million or 21.5 pence per share to shareholders through the increased payment of ordinary dividend, at three times earnings cover.
Further to the January 2013 IMS, easyJet has signed sale and operating leaseback agreements for 12 new A320 and 12 of the oldest A319 aircraft.
Significant improvements have been made in underperforming routes increasing overall network returns.
easyJet is in the final stages of the commercial evaluation of the next generation of short-haul engine technology. The process has been subject to high standards of governance. In the event that the Board of easyJet concludes that an order will be in the interest of all shareholders, easyJet will bring a proposal to shareholders that will cover both the next generation of deliveries, which are likely to be after 2017, and a plan for the bridging period from 2015 to 2017.

Commenting on the results, Carolyn McCall, easyJet Chief Executive said:

“EasyJet delivered a strong first half performance, demonstrating the Company’s structural advantage in the European short-haul market against both legacy and low cost competition, and a continuing resilience against a challenging European macro-economic environment.

Our performance reflects measurable progress against EasyJet’s four key strategic objectives that have been amply demonstrated by a significant reduction in the loss for the first half and significant improvement in ROCE over the same period.

Whilst there is always the potential for unexpected events to impact short term financial performance, the outlook for the second half of the financial year combined with the strong reduction in first half losses means that EasyJet expects to deliver improved returns and profitability for the year ending 30 September 2013.”

In other news, the company is nearing a decision to order the re-engined Airbus A320neo or the Boeing 737 MAX.

Read the full story and analysis by Reuters: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Christian Volpati/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-111 G-EZBR (msn 3088) with the special Airbus 100 markings stops at Paris (CDG).

EasyJet (UK):

EasyJet to test AVOID ash detection technology through creation of artificial volcanic ash cloud

EasyJet (UK) (stylized as easyJet) (London-Luton) and its partners Airbus and Nicarnica are planning the final stage of testing for the AVOID technology. Last week EasyJet flew back a ton of volcanic ash from Iceland collected by the Institute of Earth Sciences in Reykjavik. The ash, dried to create the consistency of fine talc, will be used in a unique experiment which is planned for this summer.

The next phase of testing will involve two Airbus test planes, one of which has the ability to disperse the ash into the atmosphere, thereby creating an artificial ash cloud for a second Airbus test aircraft with the AVOID technology fitted to detect and avoid at over 30,000 feet.

The experiment, which is expected to be conducted in August, will take place when the Seviri and Calypso satellites are aligned to be able to image the ash cloud from space thereby helping to prove the accuracy and effectiveness of the AVOID technology.

Ian Davies, easyJet’s Engineering Director, commented: “The threat from Icelandic volcanoes continues and so finalizing the approval of the AVOID technology is as crucial now as ever to ensure we never again see the scenes of spring 2010 when all flying ceased for several days.

“Transporting a ton of volcanic ash from Iceland is an important step in the final journey of testing the technology and moving towards commercial certification.”

Dr Fred Prata, inventor of the AVOID technology, said: “This is the perfect science experiment. We will know exactly how much ash we have placed in the atmosphere, and also its concentration and composition. AVOID will then measure it and demonstrate the technology.”

Manfred Birnfeld, Senior flight Test Engineer for Airbus, said: “We are all working towards reducing the impact of volcanic ash clouds, and the technology being developed in AVOID could prove valuable in identifying airspace free of ash contamination and provide data for pilots and airlines on the precise localisation of ash clouds.

“This is why Airbus is supporting the development of AVOID and we hope this system will contribute towards three dimensional, dynamic mapping tools to allow the airlines to take necessary decisions for a safe flight under the full knowledge of current location of ash clouds.”

The AVOID system can be likened to a weather radar for ash. Created by Dr Fred Prata, Chief Technology Officer at Nicarnica Aviation, the system comprises of infrared technology (developed by the U.S. military) fitted to aircraft to supply images to pilots and an airline’s operations control center. The images will enable pilots to see an ash cloud, up to 100 kilometers ahead of the aircraft and at altitudes between 5,000 feet and 50,000 feet, thus allowing them to make small adjustments to the plane’s flight path to avoid any ash cloud. The concept is very similar to weather radars which are standard on commercial airliners today.

On the ground, information from aircraft with AVOID technology would be used to build an accurate image of the volcanic ash cloud using real time data. This could open up large areas of airspace that would otherwise be closed during a volcanic eruption, which would benefit passengers by minimising disruption.

Copyright Photo: Paul Bannwarth. Airbus A319-111 G-EZIK (msn 2482) touches down at EuroAirport serving Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg.

EasyJet (UK):

Spirit Airlines reports a 1Q net profit of $32.8 million

Spirit Airlines (Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood) issued the following financial report:

Spirit Airlines, Inc. reported first quarter 2013 financial results.

Adjusted net income for the first quarter 2013 was $32.8 million, or $0.45 per diluted share¹. GAAP net income was $30.6 million, or $0.42 per diluted share.
For the first quarter 2013, Spirit achieved an operating margin, excluding special items, of 14.4 percent¹. Operating margin on a GAAP basis was 13.4 percent for the first quarter 2013.
Spirit ended the first quarter 2013 with $483.5 million in unrestricted cash.
Spirit grew total available seat miles (“ASMs”) 20.8 percent as compared to the first quarter 2012.
Spirit’s return on invested capital (before taxes and excluding special items) for the last twelve months ended March 31, 2013 was 28.0 percent. See “Calculation for Return on Invested Capital” table below for more details.

Revenue Performance

For the first quarter 2013, Spirit’s total operating revenue was $370.4 million, an increase of 22.9 percent, compared to first quarter 2012.

Total revenue per available seat mile (“RASM”) for the first quarter 2013 was 11.85 cents, an increase of 1.7 percent compared to the first quarter 2012 driven by strength in operating yields. The calendar shift of Easter occurring in March this year compared to April in 2012 contributed to the strong first quarter 2013 results.

Passenger flight segment (“PFS”) volume grew 17.8 percent year-over-year in the first quarter 2013. Average non-ticket revenue per PFS for the first quarter 2013 increased 5.9 percent year-over-year to $54.75 and average ticket revenue per PFS for the quarter increased 3.2 percent year-over-year to $79.09. The growth in non-ticket revenue per PFS during the first quarter 2013 was primarily driven by the introduction of advance purchase restrictions on bags as well as other various changes in our pricing structure for optional services.

Cost Performance

Total operating expenses in the first quarter 2013 increased 21.4 percent year-over-year to $320.8 million on a capacity increase of 20.8 percent.

Cost per available seat mile excluding special items and fuel (“Adjusted CASM ex-fuel”) for the first quarter 2013 was 6.04 cents, up 0.8 percent year-over-year. The increase in Adjusted CASM ex-fuel was primarily driven by depreciation and amortization expense related to amortization of heavy maintenance events. Due to an increased number of severe winter storms during the quarter, the Company experienced a higher number of weather-related flight cancellations compared to the same period last year. The CASM pressure associated with the resulting decrease in ASMs as well as other weather-related expenses such as higher deicing expense, also contributed to the increase in Adjusted CASM ex-fuel. The impact of these items was partially offset by efficiency benefits resulting in lower labor expense per ASM, lower distribution expense per ASM, and an increase in average stage length.

Selected Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Items

As of March 31, 2013, Spirit had $483.5 million in unrestricted cash and cash equivalents, no restricted cash, no debt on its balance sheet, and total shareholders’ equity of $614.8 million.

During the first quarter 2013, Spirit incurred capital expenditures of $10.6 million, which includes the purchase of a spare engine that was financed under a sale leaseback transaction after it was delivered. The Company paid $15.1 million in pre-delivery deposits (“PDPs”) for future deliveries of aircraft, and paid $6.8 million in maintenance reserves, net of reimbursements.

Fleet

In the first quarter 2013, Spirit took delivery of two used A319 aircraft and two new A320 aircraft, ending the quarter with 49 aircraft in its fleet. Spirit’s March A320 aircraft delivery was the carrier’s first aircraft to be delivered with sharklets. The Company has five additional new A320 aircraft with sharklets scheduled for delivery in 2013.

The carrier is expanding quickly. On April 25 started service on nine new nonstop routes and also resumed summer seasonal service on a variety of our customers’ favorite routes.

Nine New Spirit Airlines Nonstop Routes Starting April 25, 2013:

Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Cancun, Mexico (CUN)
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Oakland/San Francisco (OAK)
Philadelphia (PHL) – Las Vegas (LAS)
Philadelphia (PHL) – Myrtle Beach (MYR)
Baltimore/Washington (BWI) – Myrtle Beach (MYR)
Baltimore/Washington (BWI) – Las Vegas (LAS)
Houston (IAH) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Denver (DEN) – Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP)

In addition, Spirit resumes the following summer seasonal routes:

Atlantic City (ACY) – Detroit (DTW)
Atlantic City (ACY) – Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Atlantic City (ACY) – Atlanta (ATL)
Atlantic City (ACY) – Boston (BOS)
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Myrtle Beach (MYR)
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Portland, Oregon (PDX)
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Boston (BOS)
Boston (BOS) – Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
Detroit (DTW) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Orlando (MCO) – San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ)
Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – Kingston, Jamaica (KIN) – starts May 9, 2013

The following new nonstop routes start in June:

Houston (IAH) – Denver (DEN) – starts June 13
Houston (IAH) – Detroit (DTW) – starts June 13
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Los Cabos, Mexico (SJD) – starts June 13
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) – Latrobe/Pittsburgh (LBE) – starts June 14

Copyright Photo: Bruce Drum. Airbus A319-132 N506NK (msn 2490) taxies to runway 9L at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Spirit Airlines:

EasyJet launches Edinburgh-Southend service

EasyJet (UK) (London-Luton) on May 2 launched its first flight to London Southend from Edinburgh. The new route means EasyJet now operates to four London airports with up to 28 flights connecting the capital cities per day.

EasyJet flights to London Southend will operate six days a week and offer the quickest route into Stratford and East London. Around 85,000 passengers are anticipated to use the service over the next 12 months and fares start from £29.99 each way.

In March EasyJet added a seventh aircraft to the airport and launched six new routes in a move which is expected to deliver 140,000 extra visitors to Scotland.

Copyright Photo: Robbie Shaw. Airbus A319-111 G-EJAR (msn 2412) in the Supporting UNICEF scheme taxies at London (Gatwick).

EasyJet (UK):

EasyJet’s expanding route map at Southend (SEN):

Allegiant’s 1Q net profit increases to $31.9 million

Allegiant Travel Company (Allegiant Air) (Las Vegas) reported the following financial results for the first quarter 2013:

Unaudited	1Q13	1Q12	Change
Total operating revenue (millions)	$273.0	$237.9	14.8%
Operating income (millions)	$52.4	$36.3	44.2%
Operating margin	19.2%	15.3%	3.9pp
EBITDA (millions)	$69.4	$48.3	43.6%
EBITDA margin	25.4%	20.3%	5.1pp
Net income (millions)	$31.9	$21.7	47.1%
Diluted earnings per share	$1.65	$1.12	47.3%

“We are very proud to report our 41st consecutive profitable quarter,” stated Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Allegiant Travel Company. “The month of March is typically our busiest month of the year, and this year was no different. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our Team Members, we have had another profitable quarter.”

Notable company quarterly highlights

Began flying our first A319 on March 1, 2013, the second A319 on April 4, 2013
Repurchased over 284,000 shares for $22.2 million dollars, average purchase price of $78.15
Received board approval to increase share repurchase authority to $100 million
Completed the 166 seat MD-80 conversion project in February
Added two new small cities Provo, UT and Reno, NV
Added eight routes in the quarter
Announced five routes which will start in the second quarter, including one new city, Little Rock, AR
Operated 198 routes in the first quarter of 2013. Expect to operate 203 routes in the second quarter of 2013

First quarter 2013 revenue performance

13^th consecutive quarter of year over year increases in total average fare
First quarter 2013 average fare, average ancillary air per passenger, and total fare were the highest in the company’s history
First quarter TRASM increased by 1.2 percent even though we increased average scheduled service stage length by 4.9 percent and scheduled service ASMs grew by 17 percent
Load factor returned to a normalized rate closer to 90%
Same store markets, those which were operated in the first quarter 2012 and 2013, had a 4.3 percent TRASM increase versus the system average of 1.2 percent
Fixed fee revenue’s decline is attributable to no longer operating two aircraft in track charter programs as previously disclosed

	1Q13	1Q12	Change
Scheduled Service:
Average fare – scheduled service	$97.54	$94.95	2.7%
Average fare – ancillary air-related charges	$41.64	$32.39	28.6%
Average fare – ancillary third party products	$5.81	$5.36	8.4%
Average fare – total	$144.99	$132.70	9.3%
Scheduled service passenger revenue per ASM (PRASM) (cents)	8.60	9.04	(4.9)%
Total scheduled service revenue* per ASM (TRASM) (cents)	12.79	12.64	1.2%
Load factor	89.8%	91.1%	(1.3)pp
Passengers (millions)	1.8	1.7	8.4%
Average passengers per departure	148	138	7.2%
Average scheduled service stage length (miles)	978	932	4.9%

* Total scheduled service revenue includes scheduled service, ancillary air-related charges, and ancillary third party products revenue.
ASMs = available seat miles
PRASM = scheduled passenger revenue per scheduled available seat mile

First quarter 2013 cost performance

Operating CASM, excluding fuel increased only 0.2 percent to 5.18 cents despite an almost eight percent decrease in aircraft utilization for the same time period due to a higher concentration of flying during peak periods
Operating expense per ASM decreased by three percent even though our average fuel expense per gallon increased by three percent. System ASMs per gallon of fuel improved to 67.3; a 9.6 percent increase versus the first quarter 2012
Maintenance and repairs expense per passenger decreased by 19.2 percent due to a more normalized rate of engine overhaul expense compared to unusually high levels in the first quarter of 2012
Salary and benefits expense per passenger increased by 18.4 percent due mainly to increases in pilot compensation. As we reached a trailing twelve month operating margin of 14 percent in November of 2012, our pilots moved into a higher pilot pay rate band per our compensation agreement with our pilot work group. Additionally, higher flight attendant headcount resulting from the increased gauge of our MD-80 aircraft and operating six 757 aircraft as opposed to one during the first quarter 2012
Depreciation and amortization per passenger increased 35 percent primarily due to accelerated depreciation from the announced retirement of six MD-80s from first quarter 2013 through third quarter 2013, along with higher depreciation stemming from 51 converted 166 seat MD-80s at the end of the quarter versus 17 a year ago
Other expense per passenger increased 35 percent primarily attributable to a higher write-down of engine values in our consignment program

	1Q13	1Q12	Change
Total System*:
Operating expense per passenger	$117.31	$112.03	4.7%
Operating expense per passenger, excluding fuel	$59.62	$55.10	8.2%
Operating expense per ASM (CASM) (cents)	10.20	10.52	(3.0)%
Operating expense, excluding fuel per ASM (CASM ex fuel) (cents)	5.18	5.17	0.2%
Average block hours per aircraft per day	5.9	6.4	(7.8)%

* Total system includes scheduled service, fixed-fee contract and non-revenue flying.

Second quarter 2013 cost trends

Salary and benefit expense is still subject to the same pressures as in the first quarter including the higher pilot pay band in effect
We expect the bulk of the engine and heavy airframe maintenance for the year will be incurred in the second and third quarters. For the full year, we are still anticipating maintenance per aircraft per month to be between $100 thousand and $110 thousand which has been our normalized historical run rate
Second quarter depreciation expense will still feel the impact of the accelerated depreciation reflected in the first quarter and to a lesser extent the higher depreciation from the converted 166 seat MD-80s as we had converted 27 aircraft by the end of June 2012. Four of the MD-80s driving the bulk of the accelerated depreciation are scheduled to be retired in the third quarter of 2013. In addition, we are expecting higher depreciation in the fourth quarter as we are currently expecting to place seven A320s into service by the fourth quarter of 2013.

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Allegiant introduced the first Airbus A319 into operations on March 1. The second was introduced on April 4. The former easyJet (Switzerland) A319-111 HB-JZN became N302NV (msn 2387) when it was delivered on February 11, 2013. The airliner is leased from GECAS.

Allegiant:

Fastjet to enter the South African market via Federal Airlines, drops its fight with Don Smith of Five Forty Aviation

Fastjet (Fastjet.com) (Dar es Salaam), Africa’s low-cost airline, has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with local South African investment company Blockbuster, with the objective of Fastjet operating services in South Africa by the end of May 2013.

Blockbuster is associated with a number of high profile South Africans including, Mr Edward Zuma and Mr Yusuf Kajee. It is anticipated that the new entity will be 75% owned by Blockbuster, in compliance with South African law, and 25% owned by Fastjet. Tickets could go on sale within a few weeks and Fastjet is targeting May 31 to launch the initial Johannesburg to Cape Town route.

A commercial arrangement has been struck between Blockbuster and local operator Federal Airlines, a company with a 20 year history in South Africa, which will allow Fastjet to leverage Federal Airlines’ existing licensing infrastructure and deliver its low-cost airline model to the South African public.

In recent months, Fastjet has been in discussions with a number of South Africa-based entities to support its market entry strategy, including negotiations regarding a potential purchase of liquidated airline 1time. In the opinion of the Directors, the value of the 1time has diminished over time.As there is still no indication that 1time creditors will accept the Fastjet offer, the Company has therefore chosen to invest in the Blockbuster/Federal Airlines venture to pursue its entry into an important African market and a country well-suited to Fastjet’s low-cost operating model

Fastjet is also pleased to announce that it has raised additional working capital to assist with the South Africa launch though a successful placing with an institutional investor who is committed to low cost air travel in Africa.

The Company has received legally binding commitments to raise £2,000,000 by way of the issue of 160 million new ordinary shares (the “Placing Shares”) at a price of 1.25 pence per share (the “Placing Price”). These shares will rank pari passu in all respects with existing ordinary shares of fastjet. Following completion of the Placing the Company will announce the issue of the Placing Shares and the date of their admission to AIM, expected by 1 May 2013. The Placing Shares carry one attaching warrant for every two allocated Placing Shares subscribed, with each warrant entitling the holder to subscribe for one ordinary share in the Company at the Placing Price with an exercise period of one month.

In South Africa, the airline intends to initially operate flights along the Johannesburg – Cape Town route twice a day, seven days a week in the prime business travel morning and afternoon slots. Flights to other key destinations will be launched once the Cape Town route is established.”

Earlier this week, Fastjet announced the signing of a MOU with Don Smith, CEO of Five Forty Aviation Limited which trades in Kenya as Fly 540 to resolve issues that have concerned the media in particular. The signing of this MOU provides a positive platform for Fastjet to strengthen its East African hub.

The MOU includes, among other provisions, an agreement by both parties to stop legal proceedings in order that mutually beneficial and constructive resolutions are discussed and implemented.

Fastjet plc is the holding company for African airline Fly540, which operates in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana and Angola. Flights under the Fastjet brand commenced in Tanzania in November 2012. The airline has introduced Airbus A319s into its fleet and by adhering to international standards of safety, quality, security and reliability, Fastjet has brought a new flying experience to the African market at unprecedented low prices . Fastjet is implementing the low-cost model across Africa and its long-term strategy is to become the continent’s first low-cost, pan-African airline.

US Airways Group reports a 1Q net profit of $55 million

US Airways Group, Inc. (US Airways) (Phoenix) today reported its first quarter 2013 financial results. For the first quarter 2013, net profit excluding net special items was a record $55 million, or $0.31 per diluted share. Net loss excluding net special items for the first quarter 2012 was $22 million, or ($0.13) per share.

On a GAAP basis, the Company reported a net profit of $44 million for its first quarter 2013, or $0.26 per diluted share, compared to a net profit of $48 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, for the same period in 2012. See the accompanying notes in the Financial Tables section of this press release for a reconciliation of GAAP financial information to non-GAAP financial information.

US Airways Group, Inc. Chairman and CEO Doug Parker stated, “We are extremely pleased to produce these record first quarter results. Our 32,000 hard-working team members continue to run a safe and reliable airline for our customers. These outstanding results are the product of their efforts and provide a solid foundation as we plan for combining with American Airlines.

“Looking forward, our integration planning work with American is going well and we continue to expect that the merger will close in the third quarter of this year. The entire US Airways team is looking forward to working with our colleagues at American to build the premier global airline.”

Revenue and Cost Comparisons

A strong demand environment and record passenger load factors led to record revenue performance. Total revenues in the first quarter were $3.4 billion, up 3.5 percent versus the first quarter 2012 on a 1.3 percent increase in total available seat miles (ASMs). Total revenue per ASM was a record 15.78 cents, up 2.2 percent versus the same period last year, driven by a 2.4 point increase in passenger load factor.

Total operating expenses in the first quarter were $3.3 billion, up 2.2 percent over the same period last year. Mainline cost per available seat mile (CASM) was 13.82 cents, up 1.8 percent on a 1.4 percent increase in mainline ASMs. Excluding special items, fuel and profit sharing, mainline CASM was 8.77 cents, up 0.7 percent versus the same period last year. Express CASM excluding special items and fuel was 15.12 cents, down 1.3 percent on a 0.8 percent increase in ASMs.

Liquidity

As of March 31, 2013, the Company had $2.9 billion in total cash and investments, of which $352 million was restricted, up from $2.7 billion, of which $336 million was restricted on December 31, 2012.

On April 10, the Company launched and priced an offering of 2013-1 Class A and Class B enhanced equipment trust certificates (EETCs) in the aggregate face amount of approximately $820 million. The proceeds from the offering will be used to finance its purchase of 18 Airbus aircraft scheduled to be delivered from September 2013 to June 2014. The transaction is expected to close on April 24, 2013.

As a result of the above mentioned EETC transaction, the Company has secured financing commitments for all of its aircraft deliveries to June 2014.

US Airways’ Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr stated, “We are extremely pleased with the results of our recent EETC financing transaction. Thanks to our strong financial and operational performance, along with our strategic positioning, we were able to obtain the lowest fixed rate financing on an EETC issued by a major airline since 2003.”

Special Items

The Company recognized approximately $11 million of net special charges in the first quarter. Operating special charges totaled $41 million and primarily included costs related to the merger and the ratification of the US Airways flight attendant collective bargaining agreement. In addition, the Company recognized a $30 million non operating special credit in connection with an award received in an arbitration related to previous investments in auction rate securities.

Merger with American

On February 14, US Airways announced that it had reached a definitive merger agreement with AMR Corporation to create the new American Airlines. The new American will have a robust global network, a strong financial foundation, and is expected to generate more than $1 billion in annual synergies by 2015. The Companies presently expect the transaction to close in the third quarter.

Notable Accomplishments

Marketing and Customer Enhancements

Began new daily, non-stop service between its largest hub in Charlotte, N.C. and London’s preferred business airport, Heathrow. The daily flight will supplement the airline’s existing daily service between its international gateway in Philadelphia and Heathrow, and replaces its service between Charlotte and London’s Gatwick airport.
Introduced two new choices to DineFresh, its premium meal option for customers flying in Economy to Europe, the Middle East and South America. Since the program’s inception in August 2012, US Airways remains the only U.S.-based carrier to deliver a premium meal option for customers traveling internationally to or from the United States in Economy.
Announced new non-stop, daily year-round service from its international gateway in Philadelphia to Salt Lake City on June 8. The new service will give customers in Salt Lake City one-stop access to destinations throughout the East Coast, Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

People

The airline’s employees earned approximately $6 million in profit sharing for the first quarter results and an additional $4 million in operational incentive payouts through February.
Honored 64 employees for their more than 45 years of service with US Airways (pilots were honored for 40 years) at the airline’s service anniversary dinner.
Selected 51 employees to receive the fourth quarter Chairman’s Award, US Airways’ most prestigious honor.
Awarded ten employees $10,000 each for providing exceptional service to customers through the airline’s “Above & Beyond” program. The “Above & Beyond” program recognizes employees who provide exceptional service to the airline’s customers and fellow employees. Since launching the program in 2006, the airline has received more than 300,000 A&B coupons and has awarded nearly $7.3 million to more than 9,000 employees.
Announced that its 6,800 flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants – CWA (AFA), ratified a new contract that provides immediate pay increases and includes support for the merger of US Airways and American Airlines.
Announced that its pilots represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), at both wholly owned Express carriers, PSA Airlines and Piedmont Airlines, have voted to ratify new five-year collective bargaining agreements.

Other Notable Accomplishments

Announced that the Company has received FAA certification on its wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft for SafeRoute®, a cornerstone navigation computer software system for the FAA’s NextGen airspace redesign program.
Announced that the US Airways Education Foundation will award $270,000 in grants this year to nonprofit organizations in the airline’s hub cities of Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. Grants will be awarded to children’s educational programs aimed to increase academic achievement for those they serve. Since 1992, the US Airways Education Foundation has awarded nearly $4.9 million in scholarships and grants.
Announced that its Community Foundation awarded a total of $125,000 in grants to Arizona Opera and Ballet Arizona to assist in facilities renovation.

Copyright Photo: Jan Petzold/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-112 N742PS (msn 1275) in the PSA retrojet scheme climbs away from Charlotte.

US Airways:

Frontier launches seasonal service from Denver to Harrisburg and Knoxville

Frontier Airlines (2nd) (Denver) today returns nonstop service between its Denver, Colorado (DEN), hub and both Harrisburg, PA (MDT) and Knoxville, TN (TYS). Both routes will operate seasonally with three weekly nonstop flights.

Following is the schedule for the service from Denver:

Denver-Harrisburg (beginning April 22, 2013)

Route	Departs	Arrives	Frequency	Aircraft
DEN-MDT	11:20 a.m.	4:35 p.m.	Mon/Wed/Fri	A319
MDT-DEN	5:19 p.m.	7:00 p.m.	Mon/Wed/Fri	A319

Denver-Knoxville (beginning April 22, 2013)

Route	Departs	Arrives	Frequency	Aircraft
DEN-TYS	12:30 p.m.	5:09 p.m.	Tues/Thurs/Sun	A319
TYS-DEN	5:59 p.m.	7:00 p.m.	Tues/Thurs/Sun	A319

Beginning May 16, 2013, the days of operation for Harrisburg will be Tues/Thurs/Sun and the days of operation for Knoxville will be Mon/Wed/Fri.

These flights will operate on 138-seat Airbus A319 aircraft.

Frontier Airlines:

The new Germanwings is moving ahead for its relaunch on July 1

Germanwings (2nd) (Cologne) is quickly moving ahead with its new image and plans to take over many routes currently operated by its parent Lufthansa. The low-fare subsidiary issued this statement:

The Lufthansa subsidiary is also ahead of schedule with the re-equipping of its fleet: Already 21 of the aircraft in the Germanwings fleet have been painted in the new livery. The new and modern brand identity is also reflected in the newly styled cabin, which is setting new standards and not only in the low cost carrier segment with generous legroom of 32 inches (81.3 cm) in the front rows. All 36 aircraft in the fleet will be refurbished inside and out by the time the “new Germanwings” takes to the air on July 1.

In order to provide passengers with advance information and planning security for their air travel needs, all the dates for the takeover of Lufthansa routes by Germanwings have already been penned firmly into the timeplan. This will allow the timetable for the “new Germanwings” to be worked out earlier than was originally envisaged. Following last year’s transfer from Lufthansa to Germanwings of connections out of Stuttgart, the first routes to and from Hamburg were handed over at the end of March. From the Hanseatic City, Germanwings is now serving the previous Lufthansa destinations of Vienna, Palma de Mallorca, Stuttgart and Nuremberg. It will be taking over connections to Cologne on June 29, 2013 and all other Lufthansa destinations by the end of January 2014, except for flights to Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Munich hubs.

The transfer to Germanwings of Lufthansa routes out of Berlin commences on October 27, 2013: By 30 March 2014, all destinations ex Berlin (apart from FRA and MUC) will be handed over to the Lufthansa subsidiary. Subsequently, from the end of March 2014 to year-end, the “new Germanwings” will be successively operating flights in the Dusseldorf timetable, except for those on long-haul routes which will still be flown by Lufthansa.

Moves to intensify cooperation between Germanwings and airlines in the Lufthansa Group are also in full swing. A codeshare accord was concluded with Austrian Airlines last year, another is to follow with Swiss International Air Lines. The four daily flights operated by Germanwings, with the Swiss LX code alongside the 4U flight number in future, will greatly improve the quality of flight connections from Cologne through Zurich for passengers of the Lufthansa Group.

Copyright Photo: Karl Cornil. Formerly painted in the special Baden-Wurttemberg color scheme, Airbus A319-112 D-AKNM (msn 1089) now displays the new look at Brussels.

Germanwings: