February 2010 Archives

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. said Thursday it plans to buy as many as 80 new Bombardier jets.

Republic Airways Holdings Inc., operator of several regional airlines, cited a big one-time gain related to its acquisition of Frontier Airlines as it reported that its fourth-quarter profit rose nearly 6 percent on higher sales.

The parent of regional carrier ExpressJet Airlines on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter profit, compared with a year-ago loss, as sales rose 5.1 percent.

Year-over-year business turbine aircraft activity was up 5.3 percent overall, with the Part 91 operational market segment having the strongest increase at 8.6 percent, according to Aviation Research Group/US’s January 2010 TRAQPak activity level report released yesterday.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. ended the fourth quarter and 2009 with improved income and cash reserves despite lower operating revenues.

ExpressJet Holdings, Inc., parent company of regional and charter airline operator, ExpressJet Airlines, Inc., today announced that it signed an agreement with United Airlines covering 22 ERJ-145 aircraft for United Express service effective December 1, 2009. This signed agreement finalizes the previously announced successful bid by ExpressJet to replace flying done by other United Express partner carriers whose contracts have expired. An additional 10 ERJ-145 aircraft, sourced from our Corporate Aviation (charter) fleet, were added through an amendment to the agreement and will begin operating for United Express on May 1, 2010.

Regional airline operator ExpressJet Holdings Inc. said January traffic rose 15 percent as the carrier flew more for Continental Airlines Inc., its main customer.

Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SkyWest, Inc. today launched a new partnership with United Airlines with scheduled service under the United Express code from Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD). ASA is starting United Express service with eight weekday flights from Chicago O'Hare, and 15 weekday flights from Washington Dulles, using eight newly refurbished 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200 regional jets. In May, ASA will add six CRJ200 aircraft to the United Express operation, bringing the average number of weekday flights to 90 and the total number of cities served by ASA in the United Express network to 21.

Airlines toughed it out through the end of one of the worst decades on record, cutting capacity, fares and free perks in the face of reduced demand. Head winds had been easing up a bit as the economy looked to be gaining altitude, giving airline execs and analysts pause to predict a better 2010.

International premium air travel rose 1.7% in December, the first growth since May 2008 and the severe recession a year ago, the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday.

SkyWest Inc., which operates SkyWest Airlines and Atlantic Southeast Airlines, said on Wednesday that its January traffic rose 9.9 percent.

Last year Southwest Airlines' revenue shrank for the first time ever. Now the CEO says it could rebound with record revenue in 2010.

Allegiant Air, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allegiant Travel Company, reported a 21.1% increase in traffic on a 20.6% increase in capacity for the month of January 2010. Load factor for the period increased 0.4 percentage points.

The parent company of Hawaiian Airlines is reporting consolidated net income for the three months ended Dec. 31 of $35 million, on total operating revenue of $297 million. Hawaiian also said Friday its traffic rose 2.2 percent in January and planes were more crowded.

Continental Airlines reported Monday its traffic for January increased 8.5%, while its passenger load factor improved 4.0 points over last year.