SECURITY
The normal track involves trying to have the ban completely lifted and the fast track involves focusing efforts on getting the ban lifted for four of the 52 carriers.
Suyitno says Indonesia has opted for the fast track and proposed that the ban be lifted on Airfast Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Premiair.
He declines to say when Indonesia hopes the ban will be lifted on these four but says the two sides are due to meet in May.
Garuda is the national carrier, while Mandala is a privately owned scheduled carrier controlled by Indonesian conglomerate Cardig International and overseas investment firm Indigo Partners. Airfast is a charter airline that does much of its work for western mining companies and Premiair is another charter airline that does a lot of corporate jet charters for European and US customers.
The European Commission issued the ban last June after Indonesia failed an ICAO safety audit. Suyitno says ICAO has decided against auditing Indonesia this year until the country takes concrete steps to implement some of the 600 recommendations that ICAO put forward.
ICAO has recommended that “Indonesia should have an independent regulator and we should focus on capacity building” as well as improving rules and regulations, he says.
In terms of capacity building, ICAO wants Indonesia to improve the standard of its safety inspectors and achieve this through training, he adds.
Indonesia currently has around 100 inspectors and is recruiting more so it can increase the headcount, says Suyitno.
The DGAC is also sending inspectors to Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority for on-the-job training, he adds.
BUSSINESS
More trees are falling in the forest that is the US airline industry, chopped by the ever sharper edge of the fuel price cleaver. The latest carriers to fold their wings and shut down are ATA Airlines and Skybus Airlines, both of which ceased operations in the first week of April. ATA lost a key charter contract, making futile its search for new funding to meet the demands of the pump. Skybus, which plans to file for Chapter 11 today, also blamed rising fuel prices and a slowing economy. The death of these two airlines comes just days after another carrier with a long history and a well-known name, Aloha Airlines, shut down suddenly.
All have blamed the rising spire of oil prices as well as competitive pressures. MIT airline project director Bill Swelbar says: “ATA and Aloha, each had a unique situation and a small footprint, but their closings clearly mean that there is more to come in the reshaping of the US industry, whether it’s by liquidation or through mergers and acquisitions. And we’re only at ‘A’ in the list of airlines.”
Signs of trouble
* Aloha Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 20 March, shuts down passenger operations on 31 March * Champion Air announces it will cease flight operations on 31 May * ATA Airlines files for Chapter 11, discontinues passenger operations on 3 April * Skybus Airlines ceases operations 4 April * IATA downgrades 2008 industry profit forecast for the second time |
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Fuel has gone from 1.25 cents per available seat mile for the majors in the second quarter of 2000 to 3.50 cents in 2007’s second quarter, Swelbar notes, adding that labour costs dropped from 3.50 per ASM to 3.00 cents between the same periods.
Although ATA operated only 29 jets, it had a long history and was an early proponent of a blending of the low-fare model with the network model. But ATA had gradually retreated from the low-fare scheduled business as it increasingly came to rely on charter business and on effective “virtual charters” it operated as codeshares for Southwest Airlines. Much like Aloha, it had gone through a bankruptcy from which it emerged as private carrier in late 2004. Aloha stumbled through a reorganisation that lasted 14 months. In February 2006, it was taken into private ownership by California supermarket millionaire Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Company. But Yucaipa, like ATA’s parent, Global Aero Logistics, could not balance the books to pay the fuel bill, and each faced a new and tough competitive challenge.
At ATA, the challenge came when one of its major charter customers, FedEx, announced it would not be renewing ATA’s military charter sub-contract for the next US government fiscal year, which begins in October. ATA said the contract was supposed to last another year. ATA had already trimmed its scheduled service dramatically, announcing a month ago that it would end all service at Chicago Midway, the airport it had made synonymous with low fares, and would also end its West Coast/Hawaii service in June. Southwest, which said its arrangements with ATA also ended on 4 April, had expanded its Midway presence significantly by buying ATA gates at the airport.
At Aloha, the threat was fuel prices exacerbated by a new competitor, Mesa Air Group’s very low fares intra-island carrier go! Since it started in June 2006 Go! had eroded a steady source of profit for Aloha, the market among the Hawaiian Islands, while the high cost of fuel had made Aloha’s flights to California unprofitable. Aloha filed for bankruptcy for the second time on 20 March and after failing to win new support from Yucaipa or anyone else, shut down on 31 March.
George Hamlin, a consultant with ACA Associates, called Hawaii “a microcosm of the US market: a duopoly of Aloha and the larger Hawaiian Airlines in a market that could not sustain the entry of an additional carrier in this fuel-price environment”. Hamlin thinks other airline failures are entirely possible. The larger US carriers may have enough cash for the year, says Calyon Securities analyst Ray Neidl, but “if high fuel prices and a lacklustre economy persist through 2009, cash reserves at many airlines might become a concern”.
|
Fuel price sensitivity analysis, percentage of EBITDA |
||
|---|---|---|
|
2008E |
2009E |
|
| Major carriers | ||
| AMR Corp |
5.7% |
4.8% |
| Continental |
5.6% |
4.1% |
| Delta |
2.9% |
2.6% |
| Northwest |
3.2% |
2.9% |
|
UAL Corp |
6.6% |
2.9% |
| US Airways |
31.9% |
6.8% |
| Low-cost carriers | ||
| AirTran Holdings |
6.7% |
5.2% |
| Alaska Air Group |
2.9% |
2.7% |
| Frontier |
NM |
19.7% |
| JetBlue |
2.5% |
2.4% |
| Southwest |
0.9% |
1.5% |
|
NOTES: E=Estimate. NM=Not meaningful. Assume no revenue impact and that any increase or decrease in oil price passes through fully to jet. SOURCE: Calyon Securities (USA) Inc. |
||
Last week also claimed a smaller charter carrier, Champion Air, which said it was hobbled by its fuel-swilling Boeing 727s and would end its operations in May. Champion said it too lost a major customer when Northwest Airlines’ vacations subsidiary MLT said it would stop using the carrier.
Elsewhere in the USA, Sun Country said it would furlough 45 of its 156 pilots for the summer in a 30% cutback forced on it by the cost of fuel. The decision was made by the privately held low-cost carrier’s new chief executive, former AirTran chief financial officer Stan Gadek.
The pain is not only being felt in the US airline market, but also on a more global scale. IATA recently downgraded its industry profit forecast for 2008 for the second time, citing a slowing economy and high oil prices. IATA is now predicting industry profits of $4.5 billion for the full-year. In September 2007 the prediction had been $7.8 billion, which was downgraded to $5 billion in December of that year.
“The broadening impact of the US credit crunch has brought buoyant consumer confidence to an abrupt end,” says IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani. “Oil prices continue to rise. Demand is softening and after the 64% improvement in labour productivity and an 18% reduction in non-fuel unit cost attained since 2001, efficiency gains are much more difficult to achieve.”
There are also early signs from the Asia-Pacific region that the downturn is starting to have an impact on aircraft lease rates. Patee Sarasin, chief executive of Thai low-cost carrier Nok Air – which is seeking next-generation Boeing 737s to replace its 737-400 fleet – says narrowbody lease rates have started to come down. “Leasing companies are more flexible now because they see the downturn coming,” says Patee. “Four months ago we were looking at next-generation [737s] and people were saying ‘you have to wait a long time’. Now we’re getting a lot of offers.” Patee adds that Nok is receiving proposals from leasing companies offering new 737-800s at 20% lower rates than a few months ago. He expects more aircraft to become available and lease rates to drop further as distressed carriers, such as the latest US casualties, offload aircraft, or defer or cancel new aircraft deliveries.
Lack of Cash, Suitors Kills Aloha
Mar 31, 2008
| Aloha Airlines will cease its passenger services for good after March 31 because it could not find a qualified buyer and blamed its demise on high fuel prices and what it alleges has been predatory pricing by Mesa Air Group. But Aloha still is considering buyers for its air cargo and contract services, which will continue operating for now.In a bankruptcy court filing March 30, Aloha said it was down to $900,000 in unrestricted and unencumbered cash and, without the cessation of its passenger services, would run out of that cash in less than a week. It also had $31.2 million in restricted cash.”Despite the groundswell of support from the community and our elected officials, we simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for our passenger business,” Aloha president and CEO David Banmiller said in an Aloha press release March 30.
“Unfortunately, unfair competition has succeeded in driving us out of business, bringing to an end a 61-year-old company with a proud legacy of serving millions of travelers in the true spirit of Aloha,” he added. Mesa’s Go! subsidiary began low-fare inter-island service in Hawaii in June 2006. Mesa, which has repeatedly rejected accusations that it has acted improperly on pricing, reacted to Aloha’s demise by announcing it will increase its average daily operations from 54 flights per day to 94 flights per day as of April 1. Aloha served five destinations within Hawaii (Honolulu, Lihue, Kahului, Kona and Hilo) and six on the U.S. mainland (Oakland, Orange County, Sacramento, Reno, Las Vegas and San Diego). Aloha said code-share partner United and other airlines are prepared to assist and accommodate Aloha’s passengers. For customers flying on an Aloha flight with a United ticket, United said it will rebook them on alternate flight as soon as possible for on additional charge. For customers traveling on an Aloha ticket, United said it is offering discounted one-way fares through the end of April to “make it easier for them to return home.” Hawaiian said it is expanding its daily flight schedule by more than 6,000 seats and adding staffing at airports “to help displaced Aloha ticket holders get to their destinations as soon as possible.” It set up a special toll-free number for Aloha ticket holders at 1-877-892-8896 and a special link on its Web page at HawaiianAirlines.com. Passengers who do not wish to be re-accommodated by another airline should contact their travel agent or credit card company to request a refund, Aloha said. Aloha Air Group, which had filed for bankruptcy protection March 20, is continuing the operation of its air cargo and contract services, both of which it said are have been “historically profitable.” Aloha said in court filings that it is receiving “bona fide purchase offers” for the businesses and will continue discussions with those bidders. Aloha has before the Court a motion to approve the sale of its cargo division to Saltchuk Resources, Inc for $13 million. Aloha described its air cargo business as “easily the most profitable” of its business segments and said it handles 85% of the air cargo traffic in the state. It has a major contract with the U.S. Postal Service to carry mail among the islands. |
Order for 36 E-195s is Deja Blue
Mar 27, 2008
JetBlue founder and Chairman David Neeleman said he has raised $150 million to finance a new low-cost, low-fare airline based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and announced that the company has placed a firm order for 36 Embraer E-195 jets valued at $1.4 billion.Neeleman, born in Sao Paulo to American parents, said he hopes to begin service on the new carrier in early 2009, pending government approval, and plans to grow the airline to serve most major markets in Brazil with as many as 76 new Embraer aircraft by 2013. The carrier has launched a Web site at www.voceescolhe.com.br (“Your Choice”) for the public to help choose a name and offer other pre-launch advice.It’s already clear, however, that the new carrier will be taking some pages out of JetBlue’s playbook. Like JetBlue, its aircraft will have leather seats and LiveTV satellite television at every seat (JetBlue owns LiveTV). The leather seats, live television and new aircraft were distinguishing features for JetBlue when it launched service from New York in 2000, helping it establish a reputation as a different kind of low-cost, low-fare carrier.Neeleman also believes that, in Brazil as in New York when JetBlue launched, fares are much higher than they need to be and a new service with significantly lower fares can stimulate a lot of new demand, even though Brazilians already are served by TAM and low-cost carrier Gol.“It’s a similar solution to a somewhat similar situation,” said Gareth Edmonson-Jones, a spokesman for Neeleman on the Brazil project who also worked with Neeleman during JetBlue’s startup and early years.Neeleman said Brazil has the second largest economy in the Americas and 10th largest in the world, but only 5 percent of Brazilians fly, in part because fares are, on average, 50 percent higher than in the U.S. on flights of similar distances. He said his airline’s target market will be “the 150 million passengers who travel annually by long-distance bus, as well as those who, for lack of a convenient alternative, don’t travel at all.” Edmonson-Jones said the carrier is aiming for its lowest fares to be close to the bus trip prices.The aircraft order also harkens back to JetBlue in that JetBlue was the launch customer in 2005 for the Embraer 190, which it configured for 100 seats.Neeleman’s new Brazilian carrier will configure its E-195 aircraft for 118 passengers with two-by-two seating. Neeleman is boasting that his carrier will offer more leg room than competitors, and that the aircraft’s size and efficiency will enable the airline to “provide nonstop service profitably where they can’t.”The airline’s E-195 order also includes options for another 20 jets and purchase rights for an additional 20. The entire Embraer order, if all options and purchase rights are exercised, is valued at $3 billion. |
Irish budget carrier Ryanair has also being spreading its wings in France since opening its first French base at Marseille in 2006. Marseille also has seen a trebling of weekly departures over the last year from Moroccan low-fare operator Atlas Blue.
Barriers to entry still remain high in France, according to Rutter, and Air France “is very comfortable in using the power that their dominance gives them”. However, things are starting to improve with a growing number of French airports opening dedicated low-cost terminals, and a new government which has a more positive view of low-cost carriers, says Bacchetta: “The new Sarkozy administration is much more business friendly and low-cost carrier friendly. We’re heading in the right direction.”
This Lufthansa Airbus A320 suffered a wing-tip strike before executing a go-around during an attempt to land at Hamburg International Airport during high winds on 1 March.
Germany is among the countries battered by hurricane “Emma” as the storm swept across Central Europe.
The country’s weather service, Deutscher Wetterdienst, warned of widespread strong winds, and meteorological equipment at several German airports recorded gusts exceeding 30-40kt.
Weather data from Hamburg Airport showed winds gusting up to 49kt. The A320, identified as D-AIQP, was apparently arriving on runway 23 after a domestic service from Munich.
Its left wing-tip contacted the runway and the aircraft drifted far to the left of the centreline before the crew aborted the landing. Local reports, citing maintenance sources, indicate that the jet escaped with only superficial damage.
PICTURES: Cathay chief 777 pilot fired after low-level flypast stunt
The incident took place on 30 January at Everett Airport immediately after Cathay took delivery of the new 777-300ER. After takeoff for Hong Kong the captain – chief 777 pilot Ian Wilkinson – returned the aircraft to the airfield and made a low-level flypast with the landing gear up.
One industry source close to Cathay tells flightglobal.com that the aircraft was at just 28ft-30ft above the ground.
©Matt Cawby/www.microvaultradio.com |
Watch the withdrawn video of the Cathay Pacific low-level flypast here …
On board were around 50 or 60 people, according to another industry source, including Cathay chairman Christopher Pratt.
Cathay confirms that “the pilot in command of the flight concerned had been dismissed as he had not sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by. A second pilot involved has also been subject to disciplinary proceedings. Both disciplinary actions are subject to an appeals process”.
©Matt Cawby/www.microvaultradio.com |
The airline adds that “Cathay Pacific has a well established approval process for fly-bys and a number had been conducted in the past as display flights at air shows with proper approval in place.
“The approval process was not followed in this case, resulting in disciplinary actions. Following the incident, Cathay Pacific has issued a notice to all cockpit crew reminding them of the company’s policy for conducting fly-bys.”
Cathay says it is still conducting an internal investigation into the incident, “including the collection of flight data, and interviews with the crew involved”.
It also says it has “taken the initiative to inform the Civil Aviation Department of the case and a report will be submitted to the department once the investigation is complete”.
The first officer was not dismissed as he reportedly did not know permission had not been obtained for the manoeuvre but he has been removed from training duties for six months.
ACCIDENT
| Feb 25, 2008 | |
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SIA plane reports trouble, lands safely in Japan
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| TOKYO - A SINGAPORE Airlines jet shut down one of its two engines after suffering mechanical trouble on Monday but landed safely in Japan, transportation officials said. There were no injuries reported. The Boeing 777-200 plane, flying from Singapore to Nagoya, reported the trouble about 30 minutes before arriving, said Mr Yasuki Shigeno, a Transport Ministry official at the Central Japan International Airport.Officials initially said the aircraft suffered engine problems, but later said a computer glitch involving the right engine appeared to be the cause of the trouble, adding investigations were continuing.The plane landed with only one engine operating, but none of the passengers and crew aboard was injured, according to Shigeno. He later corrected the total number of passengers and crew members to 223, from 210.There was no damage to the plane, the official said.’The cause of the incident is being investigated by engineers, and the aircraft is expected to return to service once investigations are complete and components changed,’ Singapore Airlines said in an e-mail | |
PERINGKAT BANDARA-BANDARA DUNIA
16 Februari 2008 11:16 PM
Bintang 5
-
Hong Kong International - Seoul Incheon
- Singapore Changi Airport
Bintang 4
Amsterdam Schiphol
KLIA Kuala Lumpur
Sydney
Zurich
Bintang 3
Abu Dhabi Int’l Airport
Bahrain Int’l Airport
Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport
Doha International
Dubai International
Johannesburg Int’l Airport
Kuwait Int’l Airport
Garuda orders 10 777-300ERs
Garuda Indonesia has ordered 10 Boeing 777-300ERs and plans to use these long-range aircraft for services to the USA and Europe.
Today at the Singapore Airshow the airline’s CEO, Emirsyah Satar, signed a firm order for 10 777-300ERs and says first deliveries are set for mid-2010.
“We hope that this will be part of our expansion…and will be used to open new routes,” says Satar.
“We’re going to expand to the USA and Europe and” phase out Boeing 747-400s.
The carrier was earlier looking to get 777-200ERs but Satar says it decided on -300ERs instead because the airline wants the extra capacity and the -300ER can operate non-stop from Jakarta to Amsterdam and London, two destinations it plans to serve as part of an expansion.
Boeing says in a statement that the order for 777-300ERs is from an earlier deferred deal for six 777-200ERs, which has now been converted to one for six 777-300ERs. It also includes a new order for an additional four 777-300ERs.
Garuda ordered the six -200ERs in the mid-1990s but postponed delivery indefinitely after falling into severe financial difficulty following the 1997 Asian economic crisis.
Indonesia’s Lion orders 56 more 737-900ERs
source: flightinternational
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 prototype has moved a step nearer to first flight, following the completion of the first engine run of its PowerJet SaM146 engines.
Sukhoi says the first engine start took place at Sukhoi Civil Aircraft’s (SCAC) far-east division at the Komsomolsk-On-Amur Aircraft Manufacturing Association (KnAAPO). It forms part of “the first flight preparation campaign”, says the airframer.
“The first successful engine run – is a real milestone in getting the aircraft ready for the first flight,” says Sukhoi, but does not say when this is likely to take place. It had been originally scheduled to take place before the end of 2007.
The run followed a series of powerplant and auxiliary power unit tests as well as checks of the major aircraft systems such as fuel, hydraulics, air conditioning, electrical, avionics and fire protection. Sukhoi says that the engine-aircraft systems software interface has been tested at the “Electronic Bird” integration bench at SCAC Design Center in Moscow.
Meanwhile, on 18 February the SaM146 completed the first series of the test campaign aboard the Ilyushin Il-76 flying testbed, which Sukhoi says has confirmed all expected performance objectives essential for the first flight.
