Tag: lauda

Bombardier Delivers Global 7500 to Racing Legend Niki Lauda

April 1, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

Bombardier announced today that it delivered its first European-based Global 7500 aircraft to long-time Bombardier customer, Niki Lauda, as production and completions of the award-winning business jet continue to ramp up as planned. Bombardier is on track to deliver between 15 and 20 Global 7500 aircraft in 2019.

Long-time Bombardier customer and F1 World Champion takes delivery of the first European-based Global 7500 aircraft
Production and completions ramp up for Global 7500 jets proceeding as planned
The Global 7500 aircraft recently completed the world’s longest-range business jet flight in history and broke the city pair speed record between LA and NYC*
Winner of the 2019 Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award, the Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardier’s signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets

“We are thrilled to deliver our flagship Global 7500 business jet to Niki Lauda, our esteemed customer for many years,” said David Coleal, President, Bombardier Business Aircraft. “The Global 7500 aircraft is simply the best business jet on the market. It sets the standard by which all other aircraft in private aviation will be measured, demonstrated by the prestigious design and aviation awards it has garnered. The Global 7500 aircraft is the crown jewel of the industry.”

“I have enjoyed watching the evolution and growth of the Global Aircraft program. I have always been impressed with the expertise, craftsmanship and innovation that go into building every Global business jet,” said Niki Lauda. “The Global 7500 aircraft is the culmination of all the knowledge Bombardier teams have gained over the years and I look forward to experiencing the range, speed and comfort this jet has to offer.”

The Global 7500 jet is the latest in a series of Bombardier business aircraft that Mr. Lauda has owned and piloted during his career as an aviator. Previously, he operated a Global 6000, Global 5000 and Challenger 300 jet as his private aircraft.

Since its entry-into-service, the Global 7500 aircraft has unequivocally proven itself to be the highest-performing aircraft in the industry. The Global 7500 business jet has a top speed of Mach 0.925 and recently flew from Singapore to Tucson, completing a record-setting 8,152 nautical mile flight—the longest-range flight in business aviation history. In addition, it also recently broke the city pair speed record between Los Angeles and New York. The Global 7500 aircraft continues to assert its position as the leader in the business jet market.

The Global 7500 aircraft offers Bombardier’s signature smooth ride and a spaciousness that is unique among business jets. With its award-winning bespoke interior featuring a full-size kitchen and four true living spaces, the Global 7500 jet offers the ultimate in-flight experience. Setting the benchmark for the most exceptional cabin interior, the Global 7500 aircraft offers the most innovative features: Bombardier’s patented Nuage seat, meticulously designed for maximum comfort and the revolutionary nice Touch cabin management system (CMS), a new way to connect with the Global 7500 aircraft cabin through the Bombardier Touch dial, featuring business aviation’s first application of an OLED display.

About Bombardier

With over 68,000 employees across four business segments, Bombardier is a global leader in the transportation industry, creating innovative and game-changing planes and trains. Our products and services provide world-class transportation experiences that set new standards in passenger comfort, energy efficiency, reliability and safety.

Headquartered in Montréal, Canada, Bombardier has production and engineering sites in 28 countries across the segments of Transportation, Business Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft and Aerostructures and Engineering Services. Bombardier shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, Bombardier posted revenues of $16.2 billion. News and information are available at bombardier.com or follow us on Twitter @Bombardier.

Ryanair Eyes Boeing MAX 10, Airbus for Laudamotion

March 6, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ryanair is in early discussions with Airbus about a potential future order for some 100 A321 aircraft for its recently acquired subsidiary Laudamotion, but for now the company is focusing on leased older aircraft, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said on Wednesday.

The Irish budget carrier is also interested in the latest Boeing narrow-body model – the 737 MAX 10 – for its all-Boeing main fleet “at the right price” but those conditions do not exist currently, O’Leary told Reuters in an interview.

Any future order of Airbus A321s for Austrian unit Laudamotion would most likely “not include fewer than 100 aircraft” including 50 firm orders and 50 options, O’Leary said on the sidelines of an airlines conference in Brussels.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Jason Neely)

FILE PHOTO: A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 plane taxis at Lisbon’s airport, Portugal September 27, 2018. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

Ryanair Acquires Remainder of Austria’s Laudamotion

January 29, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

VIENNA (Reuters) – Irish budget airline Ryanair has acquired the remaining quarter of its Austrian unit Laudamotion for an undisclosed price, it said on Tuesday.

Europe’s largest budget carrier previously owned a 75 percent stake in Laudamotion. Former Formula One racing champion Niki Lauda, who last year bought back and re-branded the airline he founded, gave Ryanair the option to buy the whole carrier.

“Laudamotion is now a 100 percent-owned subsidiary of Ryanair Holdings plc,” Laudamotion said in a statement. It detailed plans to grow rapidly in the coming years, to 7.5 million passengers and 30 aircraft in 2021 from 4 million passengers and 19 aircraft this year.

At a news conference at Vienna’s main airport, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary declined to disclose the price his company paid for Laudamotion.

The deal for the last stake was completed on Dec. 31 but had nothing to do with Lauda’s brief return to hospital shortly afterwards, O’Leary said. Lauda will stay on as chairman of Laudamotion’s board.

“Niki has great experience in the airline industry, particularly in the airline industry in Germany and in Austria,” O’Leary said when asked about Lauda’s role. “He knows all the players. When we were buying it (Laudamotion) he had access to the various ministers in Austria, which we didn’t have.”

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Ryanair Ramping Up Ultra-Low-Cost Unit In Poland

December 4, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

WARSAW/DUBLIN (Reuters) – Ryanair (RYA.I) is ramping up a new subsidiary with weaker labor rights to better compete in eastern Europe, infuriating staff and unions by bypassing concessions granted during a year of industrial strife.

But a key element of the plan, forcing staff to move to self-employment contracts, is being probed by Polish authorities and a law to allow contractors to join unions — and potentially push for concessions granted in Western Europe — is due to enter force there in January.

Europe’s largest low-cost carrier has seen almost a third wiped off its share value in 12 months since strike threats led it to recognize unions for the first time. Investors fear better staff conditions could undermine its business model, among other issues.

While hailing progress in securing deals on improved conditions with unions across Europe, management is planning the rapid expansion of Polish-registered Ryanair Sun, where staff are self-employed contractors, a model Ryanair has largely phased out at its main airline under union pressure.

The model denies staff normal employment rights such as paid sick leave and effectively blocks union representation, staff and union representatives said.

“On the one hand, Ryanair is busy reaching out to the unions to show a new socially responsible face,” said Philip von Schöppenthau, secretary general of pilot group the European Cockpit Association.

“But at the same time they are busy working in the opposite direction building up a potentially union-free — by design union-free — company, Ryanair Sun.”

Ryanair counters that many staff are happy with contractor status, which they say gives them higher pay. It says the contracts are standard in Polish airlines and that the unit’s rapid expansion — from five to 20 planes next year — would not be possible if conditions were not competitive.

“It’s not necessarily the best model for union membership growth, so I would expect the unions to say negative things … But look, it’s the way the Polish market works,” Chief Marketing Officer Kenny Jacobs told Reuters in an interview.

SCALE OF MOVE

Ryanair Sun is currently only operating in Poland, Ryanair’s largest market in eastern Europe, and Ryanair declined to say whether it planned to expand the unit to other markets.

But Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said in July he planned to grow Ryanair Sun and Austrian unit Laudamotion “as quickly as they’re able to grow”. In October he told investors the two units would drive “much of” the airline’s growth.

With more than 200 planes on order over five years, Ryanair has the capacity to build both units into mid-sized European airlines with tens of millions of passengers a year each.

While Laudamotion has signed a collective agreement with its unions, HSBC Bank described Ryanair’s new multi-unit structure as “an attempt to counter the pressures of unionization”. Goodbody stockbrokers said Ryanair Sun gave Ryanair “the chance to create an ultra-low cost business”.

O’Leary made the decision to recognize unions under the threat of a mass Christmas strike last year, after months of cancellations and an extremely tight global market for pilots. With several union deals done and small airline failures increasing pilot supply, the airline is under less pressure now.

EASTERN EXPANSION

Ryanair has singled out central and eastern Europe as a key market for growth, split between “essentially just two airlines” — Ryanair and union-free, Hungary-based Wizz, Jacobs said.

Ryanair says its staff costs were on par with Wizz before the staffing crisis, at 5 euros per customer flown, but have since grown to 6 euros.

While Ryanair Sun will help Ryanair compete with Wizz in eastern Europe, Wizz is likely to face pressure from unions as it moves into Western Europe, Jacobs said.

Non-unionization also means Ryanair Sun avoids collective labor agreements that can put restrictions on transfers to other bases.

Moving planes and crew quickly between airports helps give Ryanair the lowest airport costs in Europe — accounting for as much as two-thirds of their cost advantage over some rivals.

Unions say Ryanair is using the unit to pressure staff in negotiations in other countries. When Irish pilots threatened to strike earlier this year, Ryanair announced it was cutting capacity in Ireland and offered staff jobs at Ryanair Sun.

THREAT TO MODEL

Prospects for Ryanair Sun and its contractor model will depend in part on how regulators and staff react in the coming months.

Ryanair announced in September that it was liquidating its Polish bases and would offer staff jobs at Ryanair Sun. A memo dated Oct. 1 and sent to all pilots in Poland by Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew said pilots who do not sign the contracts would not be offered a conversion course for Ryanair Sun “and so we will have no jobs for them in Poland”.

Cabin crew were offered the choice of signing the new contracts or taking alternative jobs in the United Kingdom or Germany on the same terms, but crew said the cost of living made the option impractical.

Within days, 300 cabin crew had joined a new union, CWR, which Ryanair has not recognized. Pilots have not yet attempted to unionize.

Ryanair has since convinced over 100 cabin crew to overcome initial reluctance and sign the contracts. CWR said that was partly through the dismissal of a handful of cabin crew workers on probationary contracts. Ryanair declined to comment.

At least 50 cabin crew are still refusing to sign the contracts under which “any representation such as unions cease to exist” said Paulo Conceicao, the secretary of the CWR union.

But that could change when a Polish law comes into force on Jan. 1 that will give broader powers to employees who want to unionize.

One union source told Reuters the law would allow the unions to consider strikes. Two others said the formation of the first dedicated pilot union in Poland may follow some time next year.

(Writing by Conor Humphries and Joanna Plucinska; Graphic by Andy Bruce; Editing by Catherine Evans)

Will IAG buy Norwegian

April 12, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

Parked Boeing 737-800 aircrafts belonging to budget carrier Norwegian Air are pictured at Stockholm Arlanda Airport March 6, 2015. REUTERS/Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency

By Sarah Young

LONDON (Reuters) – British Airways-owner IAG (ICAG.L) said it is considering making an offer for Norwegian (NWC.OL), a low-cost carrier worth about $1.2 billion, in a deal which would expand its budget offerings and give it control of a struggling rival.

IAG said on Thursday it had bought a 4.61 percent stake in Norwegian as a platform for starting talks, and that could lead to it making a full offer for the airline founded by former fighter pilot Bjorn Kjos.

“IAG confirms that no such discussions have taken place to date, that it has taken no decision to make an offer at this time and that there is no certainty that any such decision will be made,” IAG said in its statement.

Shares in Norwegian, a stock which this year has been pounded over worries about its profitability, surged 37 percent on the news. https://reut.rs/2qqcSn6

A trailblazer of low-cost long-haul flying in Europe, Norwegian has been leading the charge to eat into the trans-Atlantic market where traditional full-service carriers like British Airways have historically made most of their profits.

Norwegian has already made its impact felt: British Airways and others have recently tried to compete more directly with Norwegian by introducing basic economy fares.

But Norwegian’s fast expansion has left it under pressure to control costs and shore up its balance sheet.

That has provided IAG, formed in 2011 through the merger of traditional flag-carriers British Airways and Iberia and led by CEO Willie Walsh, with an opportunity, say analysts.

Seasoned deal-maker Walsh was much quicker than rival full-service airlines Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) and Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) to embrace budget flying, buying short-haul carrier Vueling in 2015 and setting up IAG’s own long-haul low-cost carrier Level last year.

“Willie Walsh has long been interested in the low-cost long haul concept, long before the creation of Level. This may be an attempt to accelerate its development, while also adding to the scale and reach of Vueling in the intra-European market,” Liberum analyst Gerald Khoo said.

Adding Norwegian’s short-haul operations in Europe to Vueling would create a budget carrier better placed to compete against the continent’s two biggest low-cost airlines Ryanair (RYA.I) and easyJet (EZJ.L).

Bernstein analysts said a full takeover could be expensive but suggested a partnership deal would benefit both parties.

“A partnership that looks to maximize the synergies of the two networks, minimise duplications of capacity and investment on key routes, and use IAG’s travel management capabilities to improve Norwegian’s expertise in this area could all provide some of the benefits of consolidation without the likely high cost of a deal,” they said.

NORWEGIAN UNDER PRESSURE

Highlighting the difficult state of Norwegian’s finances, the airline last month raised $168 million in a share sale after warning of a larger than expected first-quarter loss.

Norwegian said in its statement on Thursday that it had no prior knowledge of IAG’s actions, but welcomed the investment.

“Norwegian believes that IAG’s interest in the company confirms the sustainability and potential of our business model and global growth,” it said.

Norwegian’s shares, temporarily halted after the IAG news, rose as much as 39 percent to 250 crowns when they resumed trading, valuing the company at 9.5 billion Norwegian crowns ($1.22 billion).

Whether it proceeds with an offer for Norwegian or not, through its new investment, IAG will at least be well-placed to influence its rival.

“If there is no imminent bid for Norwegian, IAG is just the first vulture to have landed that would like a say in how Norwegian’s long-distance fleet … is dismantled and sold,” Norne analyst Karl Johan Molnes said.

There will be no buying Norwegian on the cheap, however, said SEB analyst Jo Erlend Korsvold.

Even after Thursday’s rally, Norwegian’s founder and top owner, CEO Kjos who controls a quarter of the company’s shares, is expected to demand a significantly higher price before selling, said Korsvold.

Kjos was not available for comment when contacted by Reuters.

IAG’s interest in Norwegian would see a wave of consolidation in European air travel which started last year extend its reach to long-haul travel.

Lufthansa and easyJet expressed interest in Italy’s struggling Alitalia [CAITLA.UL] this week.

Ryanair last month agreed to buy a majority stake in a new Austrian leisure airline founded by Formula One former champion Niki Lauda, while easyJet bought a parts of failed airline Air Berlin last year.

Shares in IAG initially dropped 3.4 percent on the news before recovering to trade down 0.7 percent at 611 pence. The company has a market capitalisation of about 12.6 billion pounds ($17.89 billion).

($1 = 7.7844 Norwegian crowns)

($1 = 0.7043 pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young, additional reporting by Terje Solsvik and Ole Petter Skonnord in OSLO and Victoria Bryan in BERLIN,; editing by Kate Holton and Adrian Croft)

Formula One Champ Niki Lauda Rescues His Old Airline

January 25, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

The former Formula One champion Niki Lauda has rescues the airline named after him. Niki, formerly Aero Lloyd Austria, was acquired by Lauda and renamed in 2003 before being partnered with Air Berlin a year later. He later sold the airline to the larger Air Berlin in 2011, where it ferried Austrian and German sun-seekers to Mediterranean beaches.

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Niki lauda rescues his old airline