Delta Air Lines posted a US$257 million second quarter loss saying it no longer forecasts a full-year profit amid the recession-induced travel slump. Delta’s loss included $390 million in losses from fuel hedges and $58 million of costs for its merger with Northwest Airlines. Excluding those charges, Delta said it would have net profit of $191 million. “We are not planning for any meaningful recovery in the coming months and no longer expect to be profitable this … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: Fuel and merger costs drag Delta into Q2 loss

United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said it will cut international routes by seven per cent to further cut costs after posting a second-quarter loss which amounted to, excluding one-time costs, $323 million. Combined with earlier cuts, this most recent announcement will bring United’s capacity cuts to almost 11 per cent this year, up from a plan of as much as 10 per cent. The new cuts will take effect in the last four months of 2009. Revenue fell 25 per cent from a year earlier … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: United Airlines cuts international capacity

Cargojet Income Fund, a Canadian provider of time-sensitive overnight air cargo services, has entered into a partnership with SkyLink Express to combine their regional air cargo feeder aircraft networks. The new partnership will operate under the name Cargojet Regional and will be owned 55 per cent by Cargojet’s subsidiary Prince Edward Air and 45 per cent by SkyLink Express (SL Express). The new partnership will create a business with annual combined revenues of over C$26 million … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: Cargojet + SkyLink = Cargojet Regional

American Airlines says cargo revenue dropped 42.6 per cent in the second quarter 2009 to US$134 million and traffic in the same period was down 25.1 per cent from the same quarter last year. Yield was down 23.4 per cent. Overall, the carrier reported a US$390 million net loss for the second quarter, with an estimated $50-$80 million revenue loss blamed on swine flu. The carrier did however, confirm that it has financing in place to take delivery of all 84 of its Boeing 737 orders through 2011. … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: American’s cargo revenues down 42.6%

Cash-strapped Air Canada has cleared the last hurdle in its attempt to avoid a second bankruptcy filing, following the carrier’s last holdout union approval of a new labor contract that contains no raises or pension payments for 21 months. Canada’s main airline, a unit of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., now has wage and pension agreements with all five of its Canadian unions that will save Air Canada precious cash and more importantly meet the conditions necessary for … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: Air Canada clears last labour hurdle

Boeing has completed flight tests of a modified fuel-metering unit and fuel-oil heat-exchanger (FOHE) on a new British Airways Rolls-Royce Trent 800-powered 777-200ER. The modified system is designed to prevent the buildup of ice, which was suspected as the cause of a crash-landing of a BA 777 at London Heathrow Airport in January 2008, and an engine rollback on a Delta Air Lines 777 last November. The redesigned unit has also been mandated by the European Aviation Safety Agency, which says … [Read more...] about AMERICAS: Boeing completes flight tests of fuel anti-icing system