PlaneBuzz

Hello everyone. It's time once again to jump into the fray. Our Holiday Hiatus is over. Time to close out the story on 2011 and start the story of 2012.

The first issue of PlaneBusiness Banter for 2012 is now posted.

This week we talk a lot about airline stocks. We look at how they performed for the last week, the last month, the last quarter and the last year.

The good news? The sector posted a huge fourth quarter. Not so good news -- yearly stock performance numbers were horrible. But hey, the quarterly numbers are much more important.

In addition, contrary to a number of wire service and financial news site headlined "end of year" airline stock stories that are floating about the Internet -- we tell you which airline stock really posted the best return to investors in 2011.

And no, it's not Alaska Air Group -- as many stories say was the case.

We also update subscribers this week on the American Airlines bankruptcy. The airline is starting to announce route changes, and has announced some fleet news. But, as Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Linenberg reminded investors in a note last week, timing for the airline's Section 1110 filing the end of this month means that we should hear a lot more from the airline in the next 2 1/2 weeks concerning which aircraft the airline wants to keep, which ones it wants to walk away from, and which ones it wants to renegotiate with lessors.

On the traffic front, December RASM estimates from those airlines that supply such things are coming in mixed. We tell you who has reported better than expected RASM performance, and who has disappointed.

Following up on traffic -- a reminder. Airline earnings reports for the fourth quarter and year-end will begin to roll out in a little over a week.

Both JAL and Hong Kong Airlines are talking about potential IPOs in 2012, while Lufthansa was apparently just pulling Virgin Atlantic's strings over bmi. The German airline finalized a deal with IAG, parent of British Airways for the airline, er, slots over the Christmas holiday. Not surprisingly Sir Richard says he is going to continue the fight to keep BA from getting its hands on bmi's slots.

Unfortunately I don't think his screams are going to matter to UK regulators.

On this side of the Atlantic, flight attendants for AirTran and Southwest announced a seniority agreement right before Christmas -- good news for the airline.

Did Boeing meet its 2011 delivery goal? No.

How many more aircraft did Airbus deliver in 2011 than Boeing?

Are those "tiny" hairline cracks that have been found in the wing assembly of the A380s really a safety issue?

All of this, and a lot more in our first issue of the year.

If you aren't yet a subscriber to PlaneBusiness Banter -- why not? Find out how you can become one here.

Posted by Holly at 1:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Frankly, there is usually very little that shocks me about this industry. Surprises me, yes. Piques my curiosity, yes. But shocks me -- no.

But I got caught out in left field on this one.

This afternoon Continental CEO Larry Kellner announced in a letter to employees, and in a press release, that he was leaving the company, effective the end of the year.

But wait, he's just not leaving as CEO. He's leaving his position as Chairman of the Board of the airline as well.

Gone.

Kellner is leaving the airline to head up a new private investment firm, Emerald Creek Group, LLC.

The airline announced that Jeff Smisek, President and COO of Continental, will succeed Larry as CEO and Chairman of the Board.

How about that?

Another good one bites the dust.

Posted by Holly at 7:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now I know the rest of the story.

This week one of our friendly airline geeks on a list I am on sent out some disturbing pictures in which it appeared someone at United AIrlines decided to take a pressure washer to one of the airline's Boeing 767s -- knocking out windows and generally making a huge expensive mess.

But that wasn't a pressure washing. It was from fire hoses.

Kieran Daly wrote on his blog, Unusual Attitude this week that he was told that United took a Boeing 767-300, and gave it the full customer-facing treatment. New seats, interior fittings, and best of all,"Panasonic's all-singing, all-dancing in-flight entertainment." All of this was done at its Chicago maintenance base.

That's when all hell broke loose.

If you would like to read the official MX write-up of the damage, you can access it at Kieran's blog. It runs for pages and pages. And pages.

Posted by Holly at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks for your feedback on the news concerning Southwest's move into Boston. I'll strip off names and summarize comments I've received via email later today.

But first -- let's talk about what has been going on of late concerning the NTSB and their investigation concerning the actions of the pilot in the crash of Pinnacle/Colgan/Continental Express Flight 3407 last week.

If you are like me, you probably did a double take when you read the the Wall Street Journal article yesterday in which the paper reported that "evidence suggests pilot error" as the likely cause of the crash. The New York Times then ran with a story that said that the "crew may have overreacted" after the auto pilot system pointed the plane's nose down to generate speed. No sources were named in either paper's reports.

While officially the NTSB has not publicly made such comments, the assumption would have to be made that someone on the inside of the investigation was feeding both news sources.

Enter a number of our pilot readers.

Here is a "Read Before Fly" announcement that was sent to Southwest Airlines' pilots yesterday. Sound familiar?

Last night more than one pilot sent me a copy. And they weren't all Southwest pilots. Apparently the notice was posted on the PPRUNE site, or at least that is what one American Airlines' pilot wrote me.

___________

Safety Alert 2009-01 - February 18, 2009

There is a potentially significant hazard concerning the ILS to runway 23 in BUF.

Information has been received indicating it is possible to obtain a significant nose pitch up, in some cases as much as 30 degrees, if the glide slope is allowed to capture before established on centerline. Pilots who are preparing to configure and land have the potential to experience abrupt pitch up, slow airspeed, and approach to stall if conditions present themselves in a certain manner.

This effect is the result of an earthen obstruction close enough to the ILS to affect the integrity of the glide slope signal. This has resulted in the issuance of an advisory given on ATIS which states that "the ILS Glide Slope for runway 23 is unusable beyond 5 degrees right of course." When attempting to intercept the runway 23 ILS from right traffic, the ILS glide slope indication may read full deflection down. Just prior to intercept it may then move up in such as manner as to enable approach mode to capture in such a way as to result in a nose up pitch and loss of airspeed. Southwest Airlines has issued a notice reading: "Until further notice, when executing the KBUF ILS/LOC Runway 23, DO NOT select Approach Mode until established on the localizer inbound."

This issue is being addressed on several levels in an attempt to address procedures, facilities, and communication regarding this matter. If you experience any issues related to this, please file an ASAP form and or call SWAPA Safety at SWAPA toll free 800-969-7972.

____________

Posted by Holly at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is great news.

As I had written in PlaneBusiness Banter in December, it did appear that Delta Air Lines and its pilot union were close to coming to an agreement which would see the airline reinstate its Aviation Safety Action Program.

This morning the airline announced just that.

From the airline's release:

"Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to reinstate its Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) covering pre-merger Delta pilots. The revised program mirrors an existing Northwest Airlines pilot ASAP program."

In addition to the reinstated pilot ASAP, Delta has formal ASAP programs in place for its dispatchers and Technical Operations employees, and other safety reporting programs for flight attendants and ground employees. Delta also will continue ASAP programs currently covering pre-merger Northwest pilots, dispatchers and load planners, and other safety reporting programs for its other workgroups.

This means that almost 17,000 employees of the airline are now covered by some form of voluntary safety reporting system at Delta.

Excellent news. Just makes me want to do a little happy dance outside. Only problem is that if I did, I'd probably fall on the ice and break a limb. So -- happy dance will be postponed until it's a little warmer. (Yes, I'm at the Dallas-Ft.Worth branch office this week.)

We have two more major airlines and their pilots groups to beat into submission in regard to ASAP participation. And we all know which two airlines I am talking about. American Airlines and US Airways.

And no, as I told my PBB subscribers not too long ago, I'm not going to shut up until the last two stragglers are back in the fold. ASAP program participation is too valuable to all concerned.

Posted by Holly at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whoa. Who is this handsome man?

We knew Delta Air Lines was serious about creating a real honest-to-god communications department when they hired away veteran Ned Walker from Continental Airlines.

Today that fact was made apparent once again as the airline announced that Ed Stewart has been named head of external communications for the airline.

Ed, who is currently a senior vice president at Fleishman-Hillard in Dallas, is most well-known for his 16-year stint at Southwest Airlines.

Having personally dealt with Ed many times during his time at Southwest, I can say, without question, that he was one of the best PR spokespersons any company could have asked for. Notice I said any company. Not any airline.

In terms of airline PR, he was so far ahead of the pack it wasn't even close.

Nice move. Both for Ed and for Ned and ....Delta Air Lines.

Posted by Holly at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Score another one for Jon Ostower, better known as Flightblogger.

Jon, who in my opinion is the source for all things Boeing, published a document this afternoon that appears to be a copy of a legitimate Airbus presentation entitled, "Boeing 787 Lessons Learnt."

The 46-page document says that it was presented by Burkhard Domke, Head of Engineering Intelligence for Airbus and it has a date on it of October 2008. You can download a copy by clicking here.

The report outlines a list of problems that Boeing has had and continues to have with the 787 production process under a number of headings:

• Design Issues

• Weight Issues

• Engine Issues

• Certification Issues

• Production Issues

• Schedule Issues

Makes for some interesting reading.

Posted by Holly at 1:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In addition to announcing earnings today, American Airlines announced that it has entered into a purchase agreement with Boeing, under which American intends to acquire an initial 42 Boeing 787-9 aircraft scheduled for delivery beginning in 2012 and ending in 2018, with the right to purchase up to 58 additional 787 aircraft that may be scheduled for delivery beginning in 2015 and ending in 2020.

Posted by Holly at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Clearly the most shocking news in the industry this week was the fact that Frontier Airlines did not take the opportunity to get rid of its Airbus A318s as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

The airline this week reaffirmed the leases on all of its aircraft. All of them. That's right. Every single one of them.

As most of you know, when an airline files for Chapter 11 protection, the airline is allowed to suspend the payment of any aircraft leases or contracts for a period of 60 days.

At that point, the airline has to make a decision on which aircraft it wants to keep, and which aircraft it wants to get rid of.

Surprising to me, and a lot of other industry observers, Frontier did not take this opportunity to get rid of any aircraft. I would have bet money that they were going to take this opportunity to ditch the A318s.

The airline owns 22 of its Airbus aircraft and leases 38. The airline also flies 10 Bombardier Q-400s under its Lynx brand. The airline owns five of those aircraft and five are leased.

Posted by Holly at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning United Airlines held what was billed internally as a "John Tague" leadership call to announce, basically, what we told you was in the works two days ago.

While Tague was not officially tagged with a higher position as part of the announcements today, the fact that it was Tague making the bulk of the comments, and not Glenn Tilton, I think, speaks for itself.

In his comments this morning Tague outlined these changes for the airline:

The airline is removing a total of 100 aircraft from its fleet. As we had written here yesterday, the entire 737 fleet will be parked. (Provided the airline can work out the necessary ugly details with its lessors.)

This is going to take place over 2008 and 2009.

The airline will also retire six Boeing 747-400s in 2008 and 2009.

About 80 total aircraft are now expected to be out of the United system by the end of this year.

And yes, Ted is, indeed, dead.

The airline will kill the brand, and simply reintegrate the 56 A320s back into the mainline configuration as the airline retires its 737s.

As for layoffs, the official total number of employees who will now be laid off is between 1400 and 1600. These will be salaried management staff members. This includes the previous 500 reductions already announced, so, again, our numbers we posted here yesterday were right on target.

The one interesting twist to the announcement this morning was that Joe Kolshak, who just quit his job at Midwest Airlines Kolshak was named the new SVP of Operations. You may remember Joe when he was at Delta Air Lines. Well, he then moved to Midwest in what I always thought was a kind of strange move, and now he's at United.

Leaving United, for the second time, will be Sean Donahue. Sean was the big mover behind the Ted product, and has already enjoyed one severance package from United previously. Bill Norman, SVP of United Services will also be leaving the company.

All in all, just about what we had told you about here previously on the bit items, for the exception of some additional personnel shifting about.

Ticker: (Nasdaq: UAUA)

Posted by Holly at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi guys. I know. I've been absent for a couple of days. And look what happens when I go off and leave you on your own.

First, the US Airways/United deal appears to be floundering, or at least that is what the New York Times reported late yesterday. Although for those of us who read such reports carefully, if I was a betting woman, it would appear that there were some union "sources" talking to Ms. Maynard and Mr. Sorkin because of that one telltale line in the story.

The line? "In particular, it became clear that the labor agreements would have to be sorted out before the combined airline could see any of the savings from the deal, which could have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars."

My translation of this is that union leaders wanted a seat at the table - before negotiations could go any further. And having listened to US Airways' Chairman and CEO Doug Parker talk this spring about how he did not think giving labor a mandate to sort out their differences ahead of time was such a hot idea (aka Northwest and Delta) -- I doubt that US Airways would agree to give labor that kind of position in a potential deal up front.

If the deal is indeed dead, this certainly puts Mr. Tilton and United in a strange position. After putting themselves on the block openly for years -- this will be the second deal to fall through involving the airline in less than two months. So much for the great deal hunter.

I wish management at United would figure out that it's more important to actually run a good airline, as opposed to constantly running numbers on various merger scenarios.

Alas, now it looks like the airline is rather inept at both.

Meanwhile, Airbus warned earlier this week about additional problems with its manufacturing process, and American Airlines has been announcing cuts in routes right and left -- including JFK/Stansted.

American said Tuesday it is discontinuing flights between Chicago and Buenos Aires, as well as its Boston to San Diego route. It will also reduce its flights from Chicago to Honolulu to only  "peak demand days." The airline is also restructuring its operations in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Today the airline announced it is cutting service between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and London's Stansted Airport effective July 2.

As one of our industry buddies wrote today, "I'm shocked. Simply shocked."

Wise guy. Yeah, right.

No one should be shocked at this news, as American added this flight less than a year ago in response to competitive service on the route by EOS. EOS is now gone, so bye bye American.

Anyone taking bets as to when American finally shuts down its money-losing Love Field adventure?

But hope springs eternal at JetBlue, which this week not only announced it was delaying a slew of new aircraft deliveries -- 21 aircraft for as long as five years -- the airline also issued a prospectus on a $160 million bond offering.

Gotta hand it to them -- it's probably better to do an offering now than later this summer. Stock up those cash assets while you can.

Finally, while there were a lot of headlines yesterday talking about "lower" energy prices, remember that term is soooo relative. Prices yesterday were not that much lower. Not only that, but today, prices were back up again.

Crude oil closed at $131.03/barrel today, up almost 2% on the day, while N.Y jet fuel closed at $3.96/gallon. West Coast jet fuel is still running above $4/gallon.

Ticker: (Nasdaq:UAUA); (NYSE:LCC); (NYSE:AMR), (Nasdaq: JBLU)

Technorati Tags: airline CEOs, airline mergers, airlines, American Airlines, jet fuel, jetBlue, United Airlines, US Airways

Posted by Holly at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Efforts to move forward with an FAA reauthorization bill stalled today, after the Senate voted 49-42, on a procedural vote to limit debate on the bill.

After two weeks of intense negotiations on both sides -- Senate Democrats and Republicans still could not come to an agreement on a bill that was not padded by amendments from both sides.

Unless they can revive the FAA bill, and I think chances of this happening now are slim to none, lawmakers will probably opt for a 15-month extension to re-authorize the agency through September 2009.

Posted by Holly at 4:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We waited and we waited and we waited.

Sources had told us that there was going to be a board meeting at Continental Airlines today. So we waited.

No news.

Finally, I made the decision that we had to go ahead and post PBB.

Figures.

We post, and not 20 minutes later, news hits that the board did, in fact,  meet today, and in a follow-up note to employees, Larry Kellner has told them that the board has decided that a merger is not in the best interest of Continental at this time.

Continental executives told employees that the risks of such a deal outweigh the potential rewards.

The company says it will continue to review potential alliances and membership in SkyTeam.

Looking more and more like the scenario we outlined last week in PlaneBusiness Banter where we discussed why it was United Airlines and US Airways could do a deal together just picked up more weight.

Posted by Holly at 5:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How long can Silverjet hang on?

Another airline bites the dust, as EOS, the privately-held all business-class carrier that flew between London's Stansted and JFK has filed for bankruptcy and is flying its last flights today.

The airline, which had said earlier this month that it had closed on a deal that would bring it an additional $50 million in capital -- apparently saw that deal evaporate.

Eos’s first flight took place on in October, 2005. The airline purchased three Boeing 757s and reconfigured the 220-seat planes with just 48 business-class seats, which converted into fully flat sleeping quarters.

Posted by Holly at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At the recent Phoenix International Airline Symposium, Lehman Brothers analyst Gary Chase said something I thought was worth repeating.

Actually he said more than one thing that was worth repeating.

But given the events in the energy markets the last two days, I'm going to pick his comments about how everyone in the industry was talking about "$100 a barrel oil." Paraphrasing, he said something like, "Who says this is going to stay at $100? It seems like some people in the industry are looking at this as some arbitrary cut-off point. That they are revamping spreadsheets to take that number in account. What about $130/ barrel oil? $150 a barrel? Who says that oil is going to continue to hover around $100/barrel?"

As I talked about in a recent issue of PlaneBusiness Banter, he then went on to explain just what massive changes we could begin to see -- when, not if, oil began to move even higher.

Well folks, today the price of oil is inching closer to that $130 mark.

Yesterday oil closed at a new all-time high price of $111.76.

Today, it's up again.

As I post this, light crude oil futures are trading at $113.60, up 1.84 for the day.

Posted by Holly at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of our readers at American just sent me a note that says:

"Last night, the FAA conducted a spot inspection
of the S80 fleet to check compliance with AD 2006-15-15,
as incorporated into an American ECO (engineering
compliance/change order).

Using their method where they sample a statistical
number of aircraft and extrapolate to the entire
fleet, the FAA examined 10 aircraft at DFW. 9
were found not to be in compliance with the ECO.
As a result, the entire S80 fleet is grounded
as of now."

He included this list:

This is only one page of many.

2020 2135 SP80XL DFW /ATL SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
2211 2135 M83GXL DFW /PDX SEG CNLD CODE911-MECH RMKS OPNL
0497 2140 M83GXL DFW /ICT SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
0657 2145 M83GXL DFW /ABQ SEG CNLD CODE911-MECH RMKS OPNL
              -- CHG EQ M83G/4YU TO SP80/
1251 2145 SP8VXL DFW /MCI SEG CNLD CODE911-MECH RMKS OPNL
              -- CHG EQ SP80/586 TO SP8V/
0541 2150 M83GXL DFW /DEN SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
2059 2150 M83GXL DFW /SLC SEG CNLD CODE911-MECH RMKS OPNL
1601 2200 M83GXL DFW /SAN SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
              -- CHG EQ SP80/470 TO M83G/
0343 2205 SP80XL DFW /ELP SEG CNLD CODE911-MECH RMKS OPNL
0785 2205 SP80XL DFW /AUS SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
2380 2205 M83GXL DFW /ORD SEG CNLD CODE911-MECH RMKS OPNL
              -- CHG EQ SP80/422 TO M83G/
0403 2220 SP80XL DFW /TUS SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
              -- CHG EQ SP80/4WB TO M83G/
1079 2225 SP80XL DFW /OKC SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
2285 2235 SP80XL DFW /PHX SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
0550 2240 SP80XL DFW /SAT SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
1410 2255 SP80XL DFW /TUL SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL
1274 2300 M83GXL DFW /AUS SEG CNLD CODE910-MECH RMKS OPNL

Technorati Tags: American Airlines, FAA

Posted by Holly at 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Long day in Washington.

Herb Kelleher, Chairman of Southwest Airlines, just began his testimony.

Posted by Holly at 4:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Remember all the you-know-what that hit the fan in December, after a story was, well, I would say "placed" with the New York Times -- concerning a certain New York hedge fund? That fund, Pardus Capital, just happened to have positions in both Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. And guess what the head of this hedge fund, Karim Samii, was writing in a letter to the management of said airlines?

Yep. You guessed it. He wrote, expressing his frustration at the fact that the two airlines had not yet consummated a merger agreement. The letter got heavy media attention.

As I said at the time, I wasn't sure what planet this guy had been hanging out on, but there was not going to be a Delta/United deal. Period.

Fast forward to late yesterday, and guess what?

Pardus Group has stopped investor redemptions from its fund. Translation? If they have any of your money -- you can't get it.

"The actions we have taken will allow us to protect the funds and their investors from the external short-term pressure of the broader financial markets," New York-based Pardus Capital Management LP said in an e-mailed statement. "The funds have been disproportionately affected by recent market volatility."

The fund's  holdings in United and Delta are rather small, compared to some of Pardus' other holdings, including those in General Motors, Ford Motor Company's  former division, the Visteon Corp., and Paris-based Valeo, an auto parts manufacturer.

Posted by Holly at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jon Ostrower's  excellent blog, FlightBlogger, has more details on the 787 wing box design flaw that was first made public by ILFC's Steve Hazy this week at the JP Morgan Transportation Conference.

Technorati Tags: Boeing_787

Posted by Holly at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Leave it to ILFC's head honcho Steve Hazy to let the rest of the world know what is going on with Boeing and Airbus airplanes.

This time it's Boeing and the news is not good.

Hazy told investors in New York yesterday at the JP Morgan Chase Transportation Conference that he believes a design change is needed in the 787's center wing box, a key piece that connects the wings to the fuselage.

As a result, he expects the first flight of the 787 will now be delayed until the fall. Boeing has said its goal is to have the first flight by the end of June.

The next "formal" delay announcement from Boeing regarding the 787's maiden flight would be the fourth time the aircraft's first flight has been pushed back.

Ticker: (NYSE:BA)

Technorati Tags: Boeing_787

Posted by Holly at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Stunning news out this afternoon, as the Air Force announced that Airbus and Northrop Grumman have been awarded the $40 billion Air Force tanker deal.

According to the Air Force, the contract is for the right to build up to 179 tanker aircraft, to be called the KC-45A, for the Air Force.

"The tanker is our number one procurement priority right now," said Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb in a press release about the deal. "Buying the new KC-45A is a major step forward and another demonstration of our commitment to recapitalizing our Eisenhower-era inventory of these critical national assets."

The KC-45A is expected to be able to provide refueling to both Air Force and Navy planes, while its predecessor, the KC-135, must be configured for one or the other before takeoff.

It was widely believed that Boeing held the edge in these negotiations. As one report said tonight, "Boeing officials must be feeling a little bit like the New England Patriots."

This award comes after a scandal involving  the revelation that a top Boeing official had conducted illegal job negotiations with an Air Force acquisition official who later joined the company broke in 2001 -- scuttling what was widely believed to be, at the time, a slam-dunk contract for Boeing.

One thing is for sure. Stars aren't the only thing falling on Alabama tonight. So are dollar bills. A big part of the Airbus pitch on this contract was the fact they would manufacture the aircraft outside of Mobile, AL.

Posted by Holly at 7:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Flight International reported today that American Airlines is investigating an incident Thursday in which the engine on one of its Boeing 777-200ERs apparently failed to respond to throttle commands for several seconds during an approach into Los Angeles.

The incident, at this point, sounds somewhat similar to the problem that caused a British Airways 777-200 to land short of the runway at Heathrow recently. Both aircraft were equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 800 engines.

According to the column,

"The incident involved American’s flight AA299 from Miami and occurred at a height of around 2,000ft as the aircraft was descending to Los Angeles.

In an information statement to members, the Allied Pilots Association – which represents American Airlines cockpit crew – says the aircraft experienced a “hang-up” of its left-hand engine.

“The auto-throttles were on and the left engine hung at approach idle as the right engine accelerated normally,” says the association.

“It is believed that the left engine would not respond to throttle inputs for 10-15 seconds before finally responding and accelerating to the commanded thrust.”

All of American’s 777-200ERs are fitted with Rolls-Royce Trent 800 powerplants.

Maintenance personnel have downloaded the flight-data recorder information and will examine the fuel tanks and engine fuel filters for possible contamination. Tests will also be carried out on the electronic engine control."

Posted by Holly at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flight International is reporting today that Airbus is now looking at a potential 2017-2020 timetable before the airline will have a new single-aisle aircraft ready to roll.

This push back confirms what was being bandied around last year at the ISTAT conference. The problem is fuel consumption. Before Airbus and Boeing can guarantee that a new aircraft is 15-20% more fuel efficient -- they are not going to put out a new airplane. And if  they can't post at least that level of efficiency improvement, airlines are not going to want any of the new airplanes.

So -- it all goes back to the engines.

According to the article,

"Airbus's chief operating officer customers, John Leahy, says the development of new engine technology is dictating the pace of new narrowbodies from Airbus and Boeing. "The engine-makers say the technology won't be around until 2015, so we're looking at 2017-20 for the next-generation single-aisle," he says.

This is later than Airbus previously indicated, having until now maintained that it expected the next-generation aircraft to be available from the middle of the next decade - a schedule with which its rival Boeing concurred last year."

Trust me. Boeing doesn't have a hot shot rocket engine parked on the back forty that burns 20% less fuel either.

Clearly one of the U.S. airlines most affected by this delay is American Airlines -- which now finds itself in the unenviable position of sitting on an increasingly expensive fleet of older MD-80s it would like to get rid of sooner than later. But with no new single-aisle aircraft now on the horizon for possibly another 10 years from either Airbus or Boeing -- this is going to leave American in the position of having to beef up its fleet with existing generation aircraft.

Bad timing.

Posted by Holly at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I've been writing on and off all day, I'm sure I've been no different than many of you other geeks out there who have been mulling over the details concerning the sliding  bellyflop landing of a British Airways 777 at Heathrow today.

The mishap is perplexing for a number of reasons.

I mean, what happened? The pilot has been quoted as saying he "lost all power" and basically glided the big jet to the ground.

But passengers who were on the plane don't seem to have thought the plane had lost power. (Although that is not a reliable indicator.)

Wind shear? The weather did not look to be particularly prone to creating wind shear. Looked pretty calm.

Did the plane run out of fuel?

Did both engines really just shut down?

Bird strike?

Dunno. This one is one of those that makes you shake your head and wonder.

Thankfully no one was apparently seriously hurt. That is the best news.

But the more interesting question for those of us who love anything that has a wing attached to it is the question .....what happened?

This one will be interesting to follow.

Posted by Holly at 10:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Continental Airlines' earnings call just began. It didn't take long for a little "intra-Texas" two-step kick from CEO Larry Kellner, who was all too happy to thank his "co-workers" right off the bat -- as he announced the airline will distribute $158 million in profit sharing checks to employees......on Valentine's Day.

Posted by Holly at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm off to tidy up this week's holiday week issue of PlaneBusiness Banter, but just couldn't resist dropping in to convey the news from Airbus this morning.

In a nutshell, Airbus chief executive, Tom Enders  told Airbus employees in Germany yesterday that the sinking dollar is "life threatening" to the European aircraft manufacturer.

"The dollar's rapid decline is life-threatening for Airbus," he said in Hamburg. "The dollar exchange rate has gone beyond the pain barrier."

As the Financial Post pointed out today in a story on the comments, "For every 10¢ the dollar falls against the euro, Airbus loses a billion euros in unfavorable foreign exchange. The euro now sits at US$1.48 against the dollar, up from US$1.35 at the beginning of the year. While the majority of Airbus's expenses are in euros, aircraft are sold in U.S. dollars."

Now while I am not sure that the drop in the value of the dollar is the biggest problem Airbus is looking at, there's no question that its impact is not insignificant.

Having said that,  I think there might be an answer to this problem hidden in my previous story this week about the drama queen in Alabama. Follow me on this one. I mean, if BMW can manufacture automobiles in Alabama, why can't Airbus make airplanes there?

I can see it now. "Proudly Manufactured in Tuscaloosa" on the side of an A320. Tuscaloosa, Toulouse....what the hey.

I would just make sure they didn't hire St. Nick to do PR for them. That would mean his face would be on the front and back of every aircraft brochure. Just as it was this year on the University of Alabama's football media guide.

Technorati Tags: Airbus, airplanes, Nick Saban, declining dollar

Posted by Holly at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't help it. What a more appropriate post to follow-up our post on the closing price of oil today than this one.

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has become the first person to buy a personal Airbus A380.

Yes, you read that correctly.

Alwaleed is the world's 13th richest person, according to Forbes magazine, and Citigroup's largest individual shareholder. (Yes, he has taken a bit of a bath with his shares there of late -- to the tune of about $2.5 billion.)

A billion here. A billion there. Who's counting? He already owns a personal Boeing 747-400.

The new aircraft has been dubbed "The Flying Palace." No word on what he is paying, or any details on how the new jet will be outfitted.

As Todd Blackledge was heard to exclaim over yet another of his "Taste of the Town" adventures on ESPN's Saturday Night Football recently, "Sweet Mercy!"

Technorati Tags: Airbus, Boeing

Posted by Holly at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a follow-up to my post from yesterday, here is what I think Southwest should have announced yesterday. That is, if the marketing foot had been in gear with the hand holding the excel charts.

Instead of the new "Business Select" and "Business" class monikers, Southwest should have gone with two main fare classes -- "Gotta Get Away," as they have done for the lower fares, but "Gotta Go Now" for their fully refundable price fares. Or "Gotta Get There Now" if the previous suggestion sounds too much like one of those commercials for an overactive bladder.

Anyway, there are a couple of potentials that could have been used.

My point is -- Gotta Go Now, Gotta Get Away? Simple. Ties into the airline's established marketing mindset. Makes the point. And no crappy "Business" fare tag for a product that is not any different from  the product sold as a "Gotta Get Away" fare -- except that it is more expensive and refundable.

Then, they should have created the "A+ Boarding" option. A simple flat add-on fee for guaranteed "A" group boarding.

"Flying on a Gotta Go Now fare? Upgrade to the "A+" boarding option for (fill in the blank) and be assured of an "A" Group boarding pass."

Marketing could have had a field day with this. Given out special little buttons. T-shirts. Given "A+" purchasers more drink coupons. I can see the commercials now.

In other words, the airline should have taken that "exclusive" group feeling that is there now and run with it. Taken advantage of it. It would have fed right in with the exclusive "clubby" "A" boarding group mentality that we "A" group boarders like to think we possess.

But does the term, "Business Select" lend itself to any of this? Not hardly. In addition, note to Southwest. Not all "A" group boarding nuts consider themselves to be "business travelers." And you shouldn't have made that assumption, or hung that moniker on them. It's a mistake.

I have a lot of friends at Southwest Airlines. Some very dear friends. And the airline has done more positive things over the years than most. There is no question about that.

But the more I think about this announcement from yesterday, the more my head hurts. It makes things way too complicated and it takes the very guts out of their existing core marketing strength. It really makes me wonder if any of this decision was run by the great folks at GSD&M in Austin (they handle the airline's advertising) beforehand. If it was, shame on GSD&M. If it wasn't, shame on Southwest.

"Business Select?" Arrrrgh.

Technorati Tags: airline industry news, airlines, Southwest Airlines

Posted by Holly at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

No, not really.

I'd much rather Boeing get it right, rather than get it rushed.

(That's my new aircraft manufacturer mantra. Hear me Bombardier, Boeing, Airbus and Embraer? Actually we already know Airbus hears me, don't we?)

And I quote from my Speednews email:

"Boeing has announced a 6-month delay in its planned initial deliveries of the 787 due to continued challenges completing assembly of the first airplanes.

Deliveries are now slated to begin in late November or December 2008 vs original schedule of May 2008. First flight is now anticipated around the end of first quarter
2008."

What does bother me about this is that it was just September 5 that Scott Carson, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, told us all that the airplane's first flight had been delayed, but that "the 787 remains on track to be delivered to its first customer, ANA, next May."

Yeah. Right. Okay Scott.

We didn't believe you then, and well, anyone now taking bets on the "fall of 2008" date? Or is this more "wishful thinking"? In the meantime, anyone got a new measurement on the length of Scott's nose these days?

Technorati Tags: Airbus, Boeing, Boeing_787, Bombardier, Embraer

Posted by Holly at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As we said when Airbus was in the throes of its angst in regard to the A-380 delays -- there was a good reason the guys at Boeing were not being too openly obnoxious about the ills of its competitor.

Today -- the main reason reared its ugly head. Fact: new aircraft rarely meet original timetables for anything.

After assuring investors on the most recent earnings call that yes, the 787 was still going to roll out on schedule -- despite was was becoming an ever-increasingly tight timeline -- last month the company revised that estimate, saying that the first flight of the new bird had now been pushed back until at least October.

Today, Scott Carson, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said that Boeing's new 787 jetliner will not begin flight testing until mid-November or mid-December, because it's taking longer than anticipated to get the first plane ready.

For what it's worth, Boeing also said that the 787 remains on track to deliver its first plane to ANA next May.

What's the rush? I'd rather see Boeing take its time and do the flight-testing of the aircraft right -- then with the now scheduled faster rate of flight testing the company now has on the books.

Technorati Tags: Airbus, airplanes, Boeing

Posted by Holly at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This weekend  Southwest Airlines  raised the majority of its fares by $1 to $10, one-way.

As most of you are aware -- whenever Southwest raises its fares -- it's usually a bigger deal than the usual legacy airline increases. Why? First, because almost immediately the legacy carriers jump up and down in a frenzy, matching any Southwest increase as soon as possible.

Secondly, as JP Morgan analyst Jamie Baker points out in a note this morning, most of the airlines' domestic revenue comes from markets where legacy carriers compete with the discount airlines. Not those Ithaca to Pittsburgh runs. As a result, when Southwest ups its fares -- everyone notices.

Or, as Baker said, "This One Matters – We have grown increasingly wary as to benefits of continued Legacy-only fare efforts given, well, they don't really seem to be helping all that much (i.e. dozens of fare increases have translated into LOWER domestic prices for consumers, in large part due to perpetual sales). Fare efforts that lack Discounter participation simply don’t pack much RASM punch, as the industry generates significantly more revenue in Discounter markets than, say, between White Plains and Oxnard. However, when Southwest chooses to push fares higher, we do sit up and take notice and expect the market to do the same."

This will be Southwest's fourth major fare increase for the year. The airline pushed through five major fare increases in 2006.

The fact the airline is raising fares bodes well for future revenues. The news also comes after both Continental and US Airways voiced positive RASM news about June -- in their traffic reports last week.

Posted by Holly at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did anyone watch the official Boeing coming out party Sunday for the 787? I know a number of readers wrote me notes who had trouble with the internet feed from the Boeing site. I also had a couple of you wonder if ex-NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, who was moderating the event, might have had a bit too much champagne before he got onstage.

I didn't watch the entire thing, but one thing I did note -- the plane is a heckuva a lot better looking with its nose on. Those earlier shots that were taken a couple of weeks ago that were posted online and that we posted in PBB did not have the nose attached. Without the nose the airplane looked rather stubby -- but with sexy wings. The plane looks a lot less stubby fully assembled -- now  it has both sexy wings and a sexy nose.

Meanwhile, in the gossip category -- how come former CEO Phil Condit was at the ceremony and Alan Mulally was not? James Wallace, the reporter with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer who does such a great job covering the aerospace industry, said in an article today that Mulally was not invited.

For those of you who missed the official roll-out yesterday, (and I guess that includes Alan) here you go.

Ticker: (NYSE:BA)

Posted by Holly at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm going to see this thing in person one of these days. Just not today.

But for those of you in Memphis, the lone AN-225 freighter is flying in today from Gostomel in the Ukraine. As of 4:30 CDT, the aircraft is now projected to land at about 5:15 CDT.

For those of you who have never seen this wonder of aviation, here's a shot from the Paris Air Show this year. 

The huge Ukrainian transport plane, the largest airplane in the world, has a wingspan of nearly 300 feet - the length of a football field.

Posted by Holly at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Times Online in London is reporting US Airways is going to ditch a $3.7 billion Airbus order in favor of a competitive deal with Boeing.

And I quote, "The Times understands that US Airways will announce an order for between 20 and 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners within the next 48 hours. The deal will be worth between $3.2 billion and $4.9 billion at list prices."

Makes sense to me. US Airways needs to replace aging aircraft sooner than later -- and the A350WXB is still kind of a "work in progress" with no definite roll-out date, and, as Steve Hazy, head of uber-leasing company ILFC said in Phoenix at the recent ISTAT Conference, the airplane itself is still a work in progress.

This news comes after Boeing scored two nice additional orders for the aircraft this week -- one from Virgin Atlantic, the other from Air Canada.

Virgin Atlantic said it will buy 15 787-9 jets valued at about $2.8 billion at list prices. Deliveries are to begin in 2011.

Virgin Atlantic's order also included options on eight additional 787-9s and purchase rights on a further 20 planes. Virgin Atlantic said the total deal could be worth up to $8 billion.

Meanwhile, Air Canada said Tuesday that it had exercised options and purchase rights for an additional 23 787s, bringing its total orders for the aircraft to 37 from 14. The order for the 23 planes is worth about $3.5 billion at list prices.

Posted by Holly at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boeing officials reported Tuesday that the PlaneMaker now has 514 orders for its new 787 Dreamliner.

Company officials said Tuesday that Japan Airlines Corp. (JAL) ordered five more of the planes and said that additional orders from "unidentified customers" pushed the total past 500. JAL has now ordered 35 of the 787s.

Posted by Holly at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From the WSJ Evening Wrap:

FCC Rules Out Cellphones on Planes

The Federal Communications Commission won't allow passengers to use cellphones while in flight, saying in an order that was released today that there was "insufficient technical information'' available on whether airborne cellphone calls would jam networks on the ground.

Existing rules require cellular phones to be turned off once an aircraft leaves the ground in order to avoid interfering with cellular network systems on the ground. The FCC began examining the issue in December 2004.

Posted by Holly at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

American Airlines said today that it will move up three scheduled deliveries of the single-aisle, medium range 737-800 from 2016 to 2009.

American says that it will bring forward the delivery of 47 of the planes to 2009-2012 from 2013-2016.

The topic of American's delayed decision on a Maddog fleet replacement was a hot topic of conversation this year at the annual ISTAT Conference, as I reported in PlaneBusiness Banter, with no less than Steve Hazy, CEO of uber-airline leasing firm ILFC making the comment, "The day of reckoning will come."

Then again, as was pointed out by others, the airline has not been in a position to even purchase more aircraft for the last several years.

American is the largest operator of MD-80s. It currently owns 138 and leases 187 more of the aircraft, nearly half of the airline's fleet.

The 737-800 carries roughly the same number of passengers as the MD-80, but will use 25% less fuel per available seat mile, according to the statement issued today by American.

Ticker: (AMR:NYSE)

Posted by Holly at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Click here.

Hey, we're all airline geeks this week. Forget the lack of orders, forget the weight issues, forget the employee strikes against Airbus.

This week we are all just gawkers of the latest thing that can fly. The fact it is so huge is just icing on the cake. Or would that be two cakes? Two cakes and one french croissant?

Posted by Holly at 9:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, yesterday in PBB we wrote about the latest delay in the UPS A380 freighter order that was announced last week.

Today -- that news is old news.

Today UPS canceled the order. Kaput.

Airbus now has NO orders for its A380F.

Posted by Holly at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Both the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg are reporting that we could hear, as early as tomorrow, that Lufthansa has agreed to purchase 20 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft from Boeing, with options for 20 more. These will be the passenger version of the aircraft, not the cargo version.

This is the new "stretch" version of the 747 aircraft. Interesting in that Boeing just recently modified the 8i product -- adding some seats to its basic configuration. While this did reduce the maximum range of the aircraft -- you have to wonder if this change wasn't what helped to make the Lufthansa deal a "go."

This is not, repeat, not good news for Airbus.

Posted by Holly at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While other news outlets were highlighting the fact that the major players involved last week -- France, DaimlerChrysler, and Lagardere cancelled a scheduled meeting to discuss the financing of the Airbus A350 aircraft -- "squabbling" was how Reuters put it -- Flight International focused today on the real issue here.

The real issue is that any type of launch aid is now subject to closer scrutiny, because the WTO dispute continues between the United States and the European Commission. The question at issue here? Government subsidies to aircraft manufacturers.

Speaking of, the U.S. has filed its first WTO submission, and the EC is expected to reply by Feb. 9. Meanwhile the EC has already asked the WTO to select panelists and set a timetable for its own case against the U.S. before the end of business today.

Given this backdrop, I think it is safe to say that the manner in which the new aircraft's launch is funded is a bit more complicated then it would have been previously.

I wouldn't, therefore, call the cancellation of the funding meeting last week a result of "squabbling" or "infighting" amongst the EADS partners. Rather, I'd call it making sure their respective backsides are covered no matter what plan is adopted -- given the current political landscape.

Posted by Holly at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From today's WSJ:

Airbus revealed that its share of new aircraft orders by value has waned to about 36% this year from 45% last year, in a sign of just how much damage the European jet maker has suffered amid delays in its A380 superjumbo program. Boeing, of course, has been the major beneficiary of Airbus's turbulence, and the U.S. aerospace giant is on course to pass Airbus in orders for the first time in six years. Airbus predicts global demand for 22,700 aircraft worth $2.6 trillion over the next two decades. "This is a growth industry, no matter how you slice it,'' said Chief Operating Officer John Leahy at a news conference in London.

Posted by Holly at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reports today say that Emirates has canceled its order for 10 A340-600 aircraft from Airbus.

Emirates will, instead, go with Boeing 777s.

In addition, Emirates is apparently also talking to Boeing about a new passenger version of the 747 -- a stretched 747-8, according to President Tim Clark.

Could Clark's words be a not-so-subtle warning message to Airbus in regard to Emirate's current order of 43 Airbus A380s? If I were a betting person, I'd say yes.

Meanwhile -- it was also announced today that Qantas has agreed to buy eight more of the A380s and four more A330-200s.

Given the money Qantas is already going to receive from Airbus because of delays in the delivery of the A380 and confirmed delivery date assurances in this new order -- I'd be willing to bet that the net cost to Qantas of its A380s is going to be, er, quite reasonable.

Posted by Holly at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If the cost of attending personally was just simply not in your budget this year, AvWeek is blogging from this year's Farnborough Festivities.

Thanks to the legendary Queen of Regional Aviation, Benet Wilson, for the heads up.

Posted by Holly at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As expected, Airbus today released details of its revised A350 design.

What was not expected, at least for me, was that the manufacturer kept the A350 moniker. There was talk last week that Airbus would probably move to an "A370" tag in an attempt to distance the old from the new.

Technically the new aircraft is dubbed the X-WB.

Isn't that a wanna be television network?

Whatever. No, actually it stands for Xtra Wide Body.

Airbus now estimates it is going to spend about $10 billion in development costs on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner competitor. Estimated arrival time for the new baby is now 2012.

Meanwhile, I was *shocked,* simply *shocked* to hear today that Boeing did confirm in Farnborough that it is experiencing production delays with the 787.

Reasons? The two usual suspects. Excess weight and problems with suppliers.

The percentage of outsourced components on the 787 is unprecedented. As a result, this news really does not come as a surprise, as industry observers have said for years that the high number of outsourced elements of the new jet would be problematic when crunch time rolled around.

Posted by Holly at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I spoke recently at the Regional Airline Association soiree in Dallas, (no, it wasn't particularly a joyous gathering) one of the questions that came up concerned turboprops. Was it my opinion that the lowly turboprop could indeed be on the cusp of a revival?

I said yes for a couple of reasons.

Economics and passenger comfort. If you've talked to the folks at Horizon, you know that they simply love the airplane.

Guess the news is getting out. Last week it was reported that Continental is looking to replace some of its smaller regional jets with 24 Bombardier 70-passenger Q400 aircraft.

All I know is that Horizon loves them, and the people I know who have flown on the aircraft have nothing but good things to say about them.

Good news for Bombardier -- which continues to sit on its hands, while Embraer eats its lunch in the 100-seat market.

Posted by Holly at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)