Boeing (Chicago, Seattle and Charleston) and Ethiopian Airlines (Addis Ababa) today (June 17) announced an order for six 787-8 Dreamliner at the Paris Air Show. The order was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing’s Orders and Deliveries website.
The Dreamliners complement the airline’s existing 13 787s currently operating in the fleet and are part of Ethiopian’s long-term strategy to increase capacity and provide greater route flexibility to and from its hub in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Airlines is the first African operator of the 787. Ethiopian Airlines currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 737, 757, 767, 777, and 787 airplanes in passenger service, and has 757, MD11, 777 and a 737-400F airplane in cargo operations.
Copyright Photo: AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner ET-AOT (msn 34748) rests between assignments at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Air Lease Corporation (AL) announced today long term lease agreements for seven new Airbus A320neo Family aircraft with Air Astanaย (Almaty), the national airline of Kazakhstan.
The seven aircraft include two new A320neos and five new A321neos and LRs, all from ALCโs order book with Airbus. One A320neo is scheduled to deliver in Spring 2016, while the remaining six aircraft will deliver in 2018 and 2019. The A321neo aircraft will replace the remaining Boeing 757-200s (top).
Top Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 757-2G5 P4-FAS (msn 29489) arrives at London (Heathrow).
Air Astana aircraft slide show:ย
Bottom Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Air Astana has been adding Airbus A320s and new A321s so the final replacement by A321s is not a surprise. Airbus A321-231 P4-NAS (msn 1042) taxies at Amsterdam.
Air Canada (Montreal) and Unifor, the union representing the airline’s approximately 4,000 Customer Service and Sales Agents, have announced that they have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract for five years.
The airline continued;
“Along with agreements concluded with other employee groups over the past eight months, this tentative agreement with Unifor, subject to ratification, provides Air Canada with added stability and flexibility to support profitable growth. Importantly, it is a “win-win” agreement which acknowledges the contribution of our customer service and sales agents to Air Canada’s success,” said Calin Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada.
“We’re very pleased to have achieved important gains for our Air Canada members,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. “We listened closely to what our members wanted in this contract and delivered results.”
The agreement is subject to ratification by the union membership. Details of the agreement will not be released pending ratification and approval by the Air Canada Board of Directors.
The union will recommend ratification to its members and the Company will seek the Air Canada Board of Director’s approval for the agreement.
This tentative agreement with Unifor follows on the conclusion in October 2014 of a new agreement with Air Canada’s pilots on collective agreement terms for ten years. It is the fourth tentative collective agreement reached by Air Canada and its unions, including those with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) representing its U.S. unionized workforce and UNITE representing its U.K unionized workforce.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com.ย Air Canada Airbus A330-343 C-GFAJ (msn 284) climbs away from the runway at London (Heathrow).
Cathay Pacific Airways (Hong Kong) this week added three weekly nonstop flight from San Francisco International Airport to Hong Kong, bringing the total number of nonstop weekly flights from San Francisco to 17. San Francisco was the airline’s first destination for nonstop service to the USA which launched on July 1, 1986 (below) (Photo: Cathay Pacific Airways).
The added frequencies from San Francisco arrive on the heels of Cathay Pacific’s new four-times-weekly service from Boston to Hong Kong, which launched on May 3, 2015.
Flight CX893 from San Francisco to Hong Kong departs every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 1:30 am, arriving in Hong Kong the following day at 6:40 am. This early morning arrival was strategically coordinated to allow passengers to connect with every Cathay Pacific flight across Asia โ including Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and over 22 gateways in mainland China โ without a lengthy layover in Hong Kong. The return flight, CX892, will depart Hong Kong at 6:45 pm (local time) on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, arriving in San Francisco at 4:30 pm (same day).
All of Cathay Pacific’s 17 flights from San Francisco are operated by Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft. Flight CX893 offers a three-class cabin configuration on Wednesdays and Fridays: the award-winning Business Class, the newest cabin, Premium Economy, and the new long-haul Economy Class; Sunday departures also include First Class for a four-cabin configuration.
Details of the new flights are included in the schedule below (all times local):
Copyright Photo above: AirlinersGallery.com. Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-367 ER B-KPY (msn 37899) taxies at London (Heathrow).
Qatar Airways (Doha) today celebrates the first anniversary of the Doha – Miami route. The new route has been a success for the carrier. The airline will take the route to daily service on November 18. The company issued this statement:
Today, Qatar Airways, a proud member of the oneworld alliance, celebrates one year of nonstop service between Miami International Airport and Hamad International Airport in Doha. Due to a successful first year and an increase in passenger demand, Qatar Airways will increase from five flights per week to daily flights along this route, beginning November 18, 2015.
Qatar Airways is the only carrier to offer a nonstop flight between Miami and the Middle East, connecting South Florida to over 140 destinations around the world via its state-of-the-art hub in Doha.
“Miami and Doha share a vibrant love of art, fashion and music,” said Vice President of the Americas, Gunter Saurwein. “With a kinship for travel, both cities have so much to contribute to one another. The immense demand along this route has exceeded our expectations and we are very pleased to offer daily flights this fall.”
Both Doha and Miami are essential components of the worldwide aviation network. Through Doha’s centralized location and modern services at Hamad International Airport, travelers from Miami can reach cities such as Bangkok, Colombo, Jakarta, and Mumbai in an impressive 20 hours or less through a quick transfer in Doha. Similarly, travelers can connect seamlessly to key destinations in both North and South America from Miami.
Qatar Airways’ Miami to Doha route is operated with a Boeing 777-300 ER in a two-class configuration of 42 seats in Business Class and 293 seats in Economy Class.
While increasing flights in Miami, Qatar Airways also recently announced plans to launch service to new destinations across the United States. The airline plans to commence daily, nonstop flights between Doha and Los Angeles on January 1, Boston on March 16 and Atlanta on July 1 in 2016.
Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 18 years of operation, to the point where today it is flying a modern fleet of over 150 aircraft to 146 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 777-3DZ ER A7-BAC (msn 3610) climbs away from Heathrow Airport in London.
Lufthansa (Frankfurt) according to TASS, will drop three Russian destinations from Frankfurt as the Russian routes have become unprofitable. Moscow (Vnukovo) will be dropped on August 31, Nizhny Novgorod on September 7 and Samara on September 6.
Read the full report from LNR Media quoting TASS: CLICK HERE
Copyright Photo: AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-114 D-ALD (msn 623) taxies at London (Heathrow).
Delta Air Lines (Atlanta) and its pilots, represented byย the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), have reached a tentative agreement on a new contract.
ALPA issued this statement:
On June 4,ย the Negotiating Committee for the pilots of Delta Air Lines, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA), reached a tentative agreement with Delta management on an amended collective bargaining agreement, over six months ahead of the December 31, 2015 amendable date.
In a letter to the Delta pilots, Delta Master Executive Council (MEC) Chairman Captain Mike Donatelli wrote, “This agreement represents the culmination of tremendous effort on your behalf. We have been engaged in negotiation preparation and execution for a full year, with incredible dedication from our negotiators, professional staff, subject matter experts and your elected representatives.
As a function of process within the Delta MEC Policy Manual, your elected representatives will now have TA language in their possession for seven days. We will meet, and if they approve the agreement, it will be made available to the Delta pilots for membership ratification.”
The tentative agreement is in the hands of the Delta MEC, the union’s governing body, for consideration. Until that process is complete, the details of the tentative agreement will not be publically released.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 767-432 ER N839MH (msn 29712) departs from London (Heathrow).
Delta Air Lines aircraft slide show (current livery):ย
Aer Lingus (Dublin) will add the Dublin – Liverpool route on October 23. The route will be operated 16 time a week with Airbus A320 aircraft according to Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A320-214 EI-DEL (msn 2409) taxies at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Austrian Airlines (Vienna) will resume daily Vienna – Manchester Fokker 100 service on September 10 per Airline Route.
Copyright Photo: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Previously operated by Tyrolean Airways as Austrian arrows, all Fokker 100s are now operated by a combined and new Austrian Airlines. Tyrolean Airways was quietly closed down on March 31, 2015. Fokker F.28 Mk. 0100 (Fokker 100) OE-LVI (msn 11468) departs from London (Heathrow).
Malaysia Airlines (Kuala Lumpur) is “technically bankrupt” according to its new CEO Christoph Mueller, formerly of Aer Lingus. Mueller announced today at a press conference the company will cut around 6,000 jobs in order to reduce costs. The airline continues to operate normally.
The airline will also rebrand on September 1. Mueller did not want to offer any details on the rebranding.
Mueller also stated the new airline could break even by 2018.
A full review is underway on all routes and some routes will be dropped.
As previously reported, a new legal entity, Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB), will replace the technically bankrupt Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS).
An analyst commentย from Ken Odeluga, a senior market analyst at www.cityindex.co.uk
Christopher Muellerโs strategic comment very much suggests the recently appointed CEO is trying to afford himself maximum flexibility in the difficult months ahead.
Thereโs a moderate possibility the airline will in practice not be formally declared bankrupt.
We note Malaysian bankruptcy law provides a much lower threshold to judge going concerns than would apply to Malaysian Airlines.
Its balance sheet is remarkably clean under the circumstances with about $810m of accumulated losses including $75m of hedge accounting.
Aside from that, there is no other red ink at allโno significant impairments or other risky effects and its most recent pre-tax margin at 17% is well above MAโs internal run-rate.
The burdens that exist are of course not inconsiderable, but the point is, the airline has been carrying them for longer than its crisis has been going on.
Its bigger problems involve the significant depreciation in the ringgit against the dollar that continues to shave off its room to manoeuvre, not to mention political interference, powerful unions, and more than a whiff of alleged corruption.
MAโs cost base could be about 20% higher than those of its rivals.
Mueller will need in the near-to-immediate term, all his negotiating, persuasive and coercive skills in dealing with all sorts of stakeholdersโthose which are legitimate and those for whom that term is more arguable.
At least there does now appear to be a will in the State apparatus that wasnโt there a year ago.
Mueller will have the ear of those strong enough to bulldozer parties which might attempt block the root-and-branch reform of the airline that will be necessary to make it what it may never really have beenโcompetitive.
Copyright Photo above: SPA/AirlinersGallery.com. Malaysia Airlines is reviewing its fleet of 13 Boeing 777-200 ERs and will also attempt to find buyers for two of its six Airbus A380s. Airbus A380-841 9M-MNB (msn 081) approaches the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport.
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