April 2009 Archives

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. reported increases in March traffic for its Colgan and Pinnacle Airline subsidiaries. Both companies reported an increase in passenger traffic: Pinnacle’s passenger count increased 1 percent to 888,206 while Colgan’s count grew 15 percent to 224,649 passengers flown.

Hawaiian Airlines exceeded analyst' estimates in the first quarter and posted a profit of $23.5 million. A 44.9 percent year-over-year decline in fuel prices more than offset weaker demand for Hawaii vacations.

Yesterday I picked up the latest edition of Plane & Pilot Magazine and came across a great article about flying the Diamond DA40 Diamond Star. The Diamond Star has always been an airplane on the cutting edge of aircraft design. It has continued to evolve since its original certification over a decade ago. The DA40 now comes with an all glass cockpit - thanks to its Garmin 1000 avionics package - which is as advanced as any I have used in today’s modern airliners.

AirTran last week reported its highest first-quarter profit ever at $28.7 million and projected a profit for every quarter this year. On Friday AirTran announced that it is recalling all of the remaining pilots and flight attendants it had furloughed in 2008.

JetBlue Airways posted a first-quarter profit of $12 million, compared to a net loss of $10 million in the year-ago period, and predicted it will "earn a profit every quarter this year." AirTran Airways posted a company record first-quarter profit of $28.7 million, reversed from a $35.4 million loss in the same period a year ago, signaling "the first steps in a long recovery for our company and our industry," Chairman, President and CEO Bob Fornaro said.

As the airline industry returns to profitibility and begins to expand, there will be new oppurtunities for those who are trained and ready to take advantage of them. Look to the regional carriers to lead the way back to prosperity though according to Andrew Snyder of Today’s Financial News.

Allegiant Air reported a first-quarter profit of $28.3 million, nearly three times the $9.7 million earned in the year-ago period. "We held our own in a challenging revenue environment, more than offsetting fare weakness with increased load factors," CFO and MD-Planning Andrew Levy said. "At the right price we continue to find strong demand for our product."

ATP welcomes three of its Airline Career Pilot Program Graduates as new CFIs:

• Chris from ATP Phoenix
• Brian from ATP Jacksonville
• Adam from ATP Phoenix

Skywest Inc., the parent company of Skywest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, reported that despite the cancellation of 750 flights this quarter it will report a first-quarter profit of $4.5-7.5 million dollars.

Bucking the trend of storing planes in the desert while riding out the global recession, American Airlines introduced the first of 76 new Boeing 737s it has just purchased. The new aircraft will fly on dozens of routes passing through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Alex Osleger is the Director of Operations for Chautauqua Airlines, which is one of three airlines owned by Republic Airways holdings. Mr. Osleger has established himself as an authority in the regional airline industry, so we were very pleased when he took time from his hectic schedule to answer a few questions for us.

We've recently seen aircraft manufacturers preparing for a recession lasting until sometime in 2010. President Obama has sounded very upbeat by comparison, predicting that we will see a turnaround by the end of this year. But now, some economic analysts say we may see an upturn in airline travel by this summer.

Congratulations to Vien, who was just hired by GoJet Airlines. Vien completed the Private Pilot & Airline Career Pilot Program and Regional Jet Standards Certification Program with ATP.

Airbus, Europe’s largest aircraft manufacturer, states in its annual report on the future of the airline industry:

 “The world's fleet, which includes both passenger and freighter aircraft, will grow from 14,980 at the end of 2006 to nearly 33,000 by 2026."

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has acknowledged the decline in airline passenger traffic so far in 2009, but forecasts that the US airlines will grow again soon.

That is the headline of a very interesting article I read in the Cleveland Plain Dealer today. The article describes the situation that Liam Broderick, a young furloughed airline pilot, finds himself in and the reasons why he is very optimistic about his future in the airline industry.

I came across an article in this month’s Flying Magazine which caught my eye. The article does a great job of describing a sometimes misunderstood program with Gulfstream Training Academy and Gulfstream International Airlines.

Colgan Air began operation in 1965 as Colgan Airways Corporation. Charles J. Colgan Sr. started the company and it became the fixed based operator (FBO) at Manassas Airport in Virginia. In 1970 the company began scheduled airline operations between Manassas and Washington's Dulles Airport and Poughkeepsie, NY under contract with IBM which was located in Manassas at that time.

Boeing is the world’s largest producer of Airliners, and every year they take an objective look at the future of the airline business. This report is called Boeing’s Current Market Outlook and it is based on current firm orders for its aircraft. The Current Market Outlook is the most accurate projection of what the airline industry is going to be for the next 20 years.

In spite of the shadow over the economy and concern about the decline in travel demand, analyst Michael Derchin of FTN Securities is still optimistic about the airline industry. He recently outlined his case at a speech at the Wings Club in New York, and here are his major points: