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Tag: a320 (Page 14 of 15)

JetBlue Ready to Refurbish Airbus A320 Fleet

May 7, 2018 /

At a late 2014 investor day event, JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) unveiled a plan to boost its annual earnings by adding seats to each of its 130 Airbus (NASDAQOTH: EADSY) A320s. This “cabin refresh” project was designed to reduce unit costs while maintaining best-in-class legroom and adding new enhancements to the customer experience.

After a series of delays, JetBlue has finally completed the first A320 cabin retrofit. Last week, the carrier provided more details about its schedule for completing the project, as well as some design changes it is adopting. The cabin refresh will be a significant contributor to JetBlue’s efforts to keep unit costs roughly flat over the next few years.

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JetBlue Ready to Refurbish A320 Fleet

JetBlue Has a Plan for Beating Alaska Air

March 20, 2018 /

Two years ago, JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) tried to buy trendy West Coast rival Virgin America. However, it ultimately lost a bidding war to Alaska Air (NYSE: ALK), which was eager to expand its strong position in the Pacific Northwest to the rest of the West Coast.

JetBlue responded with an aggressive plan to gain market share on transcontinental routes. The linchpin of this strategy was the expansion of Mint, JetBlue’s highly acclaimed premium service, to a slew of new routes. So far, this strategy has been extremely successful, and it is putting a ton of pressure on Alaska Air in the transcontinental market.

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JetBlue vs Alaska Air

Hong Kong Express expects six-month A320neo delivery delay

February 18, 2018 /

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Hong Kong Express Airways Ltd expects at least a six-month delay in deliveries of new Airbus SE (AIR.SE) A320neo jets due to issues with engines made by Pratt & Whitney, according to an internal memo issued by the airline.

The budget carrier has grounded one plane in Hong Kong until May due to a lack of spare engines after the jet made a mid-air turn-back due to engine issues last month, said a person with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly and so declined to be identified.

Another one of its five A320neos remains on the ground at the Airbus final assembly line site in Hamburg and has yet to be delivered to Hong Kong because one of its engines needs a fix, according to a memo to pilots seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The U.S. aviation regulator on Wednesday said the engines from Pratt & Whitney – a unit of United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) – posed a potential shutdown risk, in a formal warning that followed similar action by European regulators on Feb. 9.

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, owned by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (INGL.NS), said on Feb. 10 it had grounded three jets due to issues with Pratt & Whitney engines.

Pratt & Whitney’s priority is to obtain replacement engines for all of the affected jets globally, said the Hong Kong Express memo, the contents of which were first reported by the South China Morning Post earlier on Thursday.

The memo said that could take months, while new A320neos on the production line could be delayed for “six months or more”.

Because replacement engines will need testing, Hong Kong Express is “seriously considering” not introducing any new A320neos into its fleet until next year at the earliest, the memo said.

Representatives of Hong Kong Express – part-owned by HNA Group Co Ltd – were not immediately available for comment. The South China Morning Post reported that Hong Kong Express said the memo had been issued to provide relevant details about the fleet and operations to its cockpit crew.

Airbus on Thursday said it was assessing the impact the engine issue would have on 2018 deliveries.

Pratt & Whitney did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The engine maker on Monday said it would discuss the potential affect of the problem on 2018 engine production after regulators respond to its proposed fix. (Story by Jamie Freed)

WestJet Sees Boeing’s Max 7 as Key to Savings

February 12, 2018 /

Boeing’s slow-selling 737 Max 7 has a big fan in Western Canada. WestJet Airlines will become the second carrier next year, after Southwest Airlines Co., to operate the smallest version of Boeing’s upgraded workhorse. The Calgary-based company is set to receive five of the single-aisle jetliners next year.

“We love those planes,” WestJet Chief Executive Officer Gregg Saretsky said in an interview, citing the aircraft’s range and 12 additional seats compared with the Boeing 737-700, a linchpin of the airline’s fleet. “It’s great for long, thin markets.”

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WestJet High on Boeing 737 Max7

Delta picks Airbus for new 100 jet order

December 14, 2017 /

Delta Air Lines has come to terms with Airbus for a firm order of 100 new A321NEO aircraft, plus options for up to an additional 100 airplanes. Deliveries are set to begin in 2020, and will be used to replace older, less fuel efficient aircraft. Delta will outfit the new aircraft with a total of 197 seats, including 20 in First Class, 30 in Delta Comfort+, and 147 in economy. The new Airbus aircraft will be powered by fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney geared-turbofan engines. The customer experience will feature on-demand inflight entertainment, Wi-Fi, and power ports at each seat. The cabin will feature full spectrum LED cabin lighting, and new bookshelf-style overhead bins that are 25% bigger than the previous Airbus bins. Deliveries are scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2020, and run through 2023.

Delta also announced that its Delta TechOps Center will become a major maintenance, repair, and overhaul center for the Pratt & Whitney Pure Power PW1100G and PW1500G engines. Pratt & Whitney engines will power both the A321NEO and Bombardier CSeries aircraft that Delta has on order. Deliveries of the new A320NEO family have been severly disrupted this year due to the availability of these latest generation engines from the factory. Airbus had previously announced that its earnings took a hit due to delays in receiving the engines for the A320NEO aircraft type. Airbus has since increased the pressure on engine supplier Pratt & Whitney, which is a unit of United Technologies.

Boeing, which lost out on this order with an offering of its latest generation 737-MAX aircraft, may have been hampered by its decision to object to a sale of Bombardier CSeries aircraft to Delta. Following the Boeing claim that the CSeries received unfair state aid from Canada, the U.S. government levied a 300% tariff on those airplanes. Delta has since vowed not to pay the tariff, and has held talks with its partner Aeromexico about taking delivery of those aircraft. Since that airline is based in Mexico, transferring the order to Aeromexico would circumvent the government tariffs.

Alaska and Virgin America Pilots Win Big Pay Increase

November 1, 2017 /

Alaska and Virgin America pilots have been awarded big pay increases through an arbitration ruling. The arbitration ruling awarded the pilots bigger increases than Alaska Airlines management had sought, but less than the increases sought by pilots. Senior Captains from both air carriers will see their pay increase to $251 an hour, effective today. Senior Captains at Alaska Airlines had been earning $216 per hour, while a senior Captain at Virgin America had been earning $189 per hour. That equates to an increase of 16% for Alaska pilots, and almost 33% for Virgin America pilots. While the new agreement also includes some additional improvements to retirement plan contributions, the union did lose its bid to prevent the company from flying larger regional jets.

The Alaska Air Group closed its acquisition of Virgin America in December of 2016. The merger combined two airlines that were at the top of the customer satisfaction rankings in the United States. However, Alaska’s $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America allowed the pilots union to re-negotiate compensation talks due to a clauses in their contract. This increase in pilot pay now comes on the heels of Alaska missing its earnings estimates last week as higher fuel price contributed to soaring costs. Revenue was also hurt by a price war in the California market, and Southwest Airlines has just announced it will soon begin service to Hawaii. The Southwest effect, the term that has been coined to reflect a drop in airfare prices anytime Southwest enters a new market, could also affect Hawaiian revenue in future quarters.

Virgin America was founded in 2004, and began operations out of San francisco International Airport in 2007. The new air carrier became the first airline in the United States to offer Wi-Fi internet on every flight in May of 2009. The airline began service to Toronto from both Los Angeles and San Francisco in June of 2010. Virgin America began flying to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in December 2010, and ended its service to Toronto in April of 2011. Following the repeal of the Wright Amendment in October 2014, the carrier moved their Dallas operations over to Love Field. Virgin America announced an order for 60 new Airbus A320’s, with the order split down the middle between the existing model and the NEO (New Engine Option model) in January of 2011. The Alaska Air Group has announced plans to retire the Virgin America brand sometime in 2019.

Avianca cuts Airbus delivery schedule

May 16, 2016 /

Avianca cuts Airbus A320 NEO delivery schedule. The airlines parent, Avianca Holdings, released the following press statement on May 3, 2016:

“In an effort to improve its profitability, achieve a more efficient capital structure and reducing the current levels of indebtedness, Avianca Holdings S.A. reached an agreement with Airbus S.A.S. to reduce the number of aircraft deliveries scheduled for 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The agreement with the European aircraft manufacturer represents a CapEx reduction of approximately USD1.4 billion for the next 30 months. During this same period, Avianca Holdings S.A. will continue to pursue its cost reduction initiatives, seeking to strengthen its balance sheet and generate greater cash flow.

Avianca Holdings S.A. reaffirms its leverage goal, measured as the net adjusted debt over EBITDAR, of no more than 5 times for 2019”.

It was just one year ago that an order for 100 A320-NEO aircraft was firmed up by the airline for the Airbus jets. The order for the 100 Airbus jets was the single largest order ever placed by an air carrier in Latin America, and brought the total number of A320-NEO jets the airline had on order to 133.

Avianca struggles with Latin American woes

The change in fortunes shows just how quickly the Latin American economy has declined. While it seams that falling global oil prices should be good for airline economics, the fact that that drop in prices leads to layoffs and cost cutting in the oil industry negatively impacts business travel expenditures. Brazil and Mexico rank ninth and tenth in global production of petroleum and other liquid Production, respectively. Venezuela (twelfth) and Colombia (nineteenth) follow on that list. In addition to its name sake airline and cargo operations, the airlines parent holding company also controls Aerogal in Ecuador, Avianca de Brazil, Aviateca de Guatemala, LACSA de Costa Rica, TACA de Honduras, TACA de Peru, and TACA de San Salvador. LACSA is an abbreviation for the latin “Lineas Aéreas Centroamericanas Sociedad Anónima”. TACA is an abbreviation for the latin “Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano”.

Avianca

Image from www.avianca.com

Hijacked EgyptAir plane lands in Cyprus

March 29, 2016 /

A Hijacked EgyptAir plane has now landed in Cyprus after a passenger claiming to be wearing a bomb belt seized control of the aircraft. The plane was on its way to Cairo from Alexandria in Egypt. The motive for the hijacking is currently unclear, but at this point it has not been confirmed to be related to any organized terrorist group. The man in control of the Hijacked EgyptAir plane has not been identified. The hijacker has reportedly requested that an envelope he was carrying be delivered to a woman who lives in Cyprus. There are also conflicting accounts of the number of passengers and crew that were aboard the airplane, but it is believed to be somewhere between 62 and 86 people. Around 56 passengers were later released from the Airbus A320 aircraft.

Hijacked EgyptAir plane still holding 7 people

Many hours after the plane arrived in Cyprus, three passengers and four crew members are reportedly still being held on the aircraft. Sky News Europe has stated that the flight departed at 8 o’clock in the morning from Alexandria, Egypt. About 30 minutes after takeoff, the hijacker managed to seize control of the plane. The hijacker then contacted the control tower in Lanarka, Cyprus, and requested permission to land. The Israeli military  scrambled several fighter jet aircraft to protect the nations airspace as a precautionary response.

This hijacking comes just five months after a Russian airplane crashed over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, killing all 224 passengers on board the plane. The cause of that crash has been linked to a terrorist group that claims to have brought down the plane with an explosive device. This incident also comes just one week after terrorists struck the airport and a Metro station in Brussels, Belgium.

Update: The man who hijacked an EgyptAir flight from Alexandria to Cairo has released the remaining passengers and crew. He has left the aircraft and surrendered to police. He has been identified as Eldin Mustafa, and reportedly hijacked the plane to visit a woman in Cyrpus.

 Hijacked EgyptAir plane

Image from www.egyptair.com

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