October 2009 Archives

The business aviation industry is not out of the woods just yet, but General Dynamics executive vice-president, Joe Lombardo, is cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the future according to FlightBlogger’s John Ostrower.

Gulfstream International Airlines announced today additional service under under Gulfstream's "Continental Connection" affiliation with Continental Airlines. Under this arrangement, Gulfstream coordinates pricing and schedules with Continental Airlines. Gulfstream passengers enjoy a seamless travel experience as through ticketing and baggage transfer is offered.

If you were waiting for the market for business jets to bottom out, wait no longer. They are on the way back up, according to Textron officials. The comment came during a press conference Oct. 27 on third-quarter results.

Third-quarter results showed the benefits of more than a year of reducing capacity, and of adding incremental fees that provided each of the three largest carriers with at least $1 billion annually in new revenue. Airlines, it seemed, were one of the few industries that actually prepared for the recent recession.

Top airline executives are growing more optimistic about future profit despite tough conditions in the third quarter, according to a survey released Monday by the International Air Transport Association.

JetBlue Airways, AirTran Airways, Allegiant Air and Alaska Airlines all recorded healthy profits. Alaska stood way out, with a quarterly profit of $88 million and an operating margin of a healthy 16.5%. Alaska saw a smaller drop in unit revenue than its peers—the airline has little exposure to overseas routes that have been hit hard by the deep recession. Maybe these numbers are a sign that good service wins when money’s tight.

The parent of SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines said Tuesday it reached an agreement with United Airlines involving operational funding and a codeshare arrangement.

SkyWest, Inc. subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) will begin operating as a United Express carrier in the first quarter of 2010 as part of a deal that sees SkyWest lending United Airlines $80 million and agreeing to let United defer up to $49 million it owes the Utah-based regional airline operator.

ATP today announced its entry into the FBO business: ATP Jet Center, a full-service FBO at Daytona Beach International (DAB), is now open.

AirTran Holdings, operator of discount carrier AirTran Airways, is expected to report third-quarter results on Wednesday. The Orlando-based company is expected to post an adjusted profit for the July-September quarter, one of the few bright spots in an industry still reeling from weak demand for business travel.

Two of country's Regional Jet carriers that fly interisland routes in Hawaii are merging in hopes of growing and taking market share away from Hawaiian Airlines.

ExpressJet Holdings Inc. said Monday that its traffic rose 19 percent from a year ago, when the carrier was reeling from the loss of flying for Delta and shutting down its own branded airline.

Republic Airways Holdings today announced that it will acquire 10 E190AR jets from US Airways.

September is a particularly slow month for airline travel. Situated between the summer rush and the holiday season, consumers usually take September off from traveling the friendly skies. And incentives to move around during the back to school season are further inhibited by economic constraints happening right now. But JetBlue has found a way to get people into their airline seats.

ATP welcomes three more of its graduates as new CFIs:

• Bryan from ATP Jacksonville
• Matt from ATP Daytona
• Chris from ATP Jacksonville

Southwest Airlines boosted its passenger loads in September by more than 11 percentage points from a year earlier, filling 74.7 percent of its seats with paying passengers according to the Dallas Morning News.

Japan's first ever passenger jet, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), received a 100-plane order from St. Louis, Missouri based Trans States Holding, which operates Trans States Airlines.

Bombardier won a $770 million contract to build 22 planes for American Airlines. The order is part of a $2.9 billion financing package for the air carrier which ordered CRJ-700 regional jets to be placed with American Eagle.

ATP welcomes three more of its graduates as new CFIs:

• Rebekah from ATP Jacksonville
• Tommy from ATP Daytona
• Brandon from ATP Stuart

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. said its traffic grew in September, with revenue passenger miles up 10.7 percent from a year ago to 927.7 million.

September saw a return of traffic growth for the Houston-based carrier for the first time since last August, helped by a favorable year-ago comparison. In 2008, Continental's operations were impacted by Hurricane Ike, which caused a multi-day closure of its Houston hub.

Frontier Airlines emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. With that, the Denver Business Journal notes "the scrappy Denver carrier known for low fares and animals on its jet tails … enters a new era," one in which Frontier will now be a unit of Republic Airways. Republic acquired Frontier through the bankruptcy process, and says it plans to continue to run Frontier as a stand-alone operation.