Airline Finance News - North America.

Oct 16, 2006

Cost of bumping passengers should be analyzed. It's difficult for airlines to measure the animosity created by bumping a traveler off of an oversold flight, the Wall Street Journal's Scott McCartney writes. Some travelers say they have been bumped from flights and received travel vouchers that come with restrictions. Oct 13, 2006

Sales of airline travel by agents continues to grow. Travel agents' sales of airline travel in September was up 4% over September 2005. A total of $6.9 billion in airline travel was sold by travel agents during the month, according to the Airlines Reporting Corporation.

Oct 13, 2006

ACE Aviation

ACE Aviation Holdings, parent of Air Canada, said its shareholders overwhelmingly approved a statutory arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act giving ACE's board the authority to make "one or more special distributions to shareholders" of up to C$2 billion in capital, including units of its Aeroplan Income Fund subsidiary. It is expected to be completed by year end. The measure passed with 95.5% approval and was approved by Quebec Superior Court. The Air Canada Pilots Assn. is challenging the plan, saying it is "oppressive and unfairly disregards the interests of Air Canada's creditors." Oct 11, 2006

American Airlines

American Airlines flew 10.6 billion system RPMs in September, a 1.4% dip from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 0.5% to 14.03 billion ASMs and load factor was down 0.7 point to 75.5%. Domestic RPMs declined 3.8% to 6.74 billion, capacity fell 2.4% to 8.88 billion ASMs and load factor dropped 1.2 points to 75.8%. International traffic rose 3.1% to 3.85 billion RPMs against a 3% capacity increase to 5.15 billion ASMs, lifting load factor 0.1 point to 74.8%. Oct 10, 2006

American Airlines, United Airlines, Fidelity

Fidelity reduces stake in airlines. Fidelity cut its stake in American Airlines and United Airlines in half, according to regulatory filings. Fidelity is the largest shareholder of U.S. airlines. Oct 11, 2006

Atlantic Southeast Airlines, SkyWest Holdings

Air Line Pilots Assn. President Duane Woerth requested that the National Mediation Board send the stalemate between pilots at Atlantic Southeast Airlines and parent SkyWest Holdings to arbitration. In a letter to NMB, he said, "It is our judgment that further mediation will not result in an agreement." ASA pilots have been in contract negotiations since September 2002. SkyWest, whose pilots are not unionized, acquired ASA last year from Delta Air Lines. In May, NMB ended talks when no agreement was reached on the open sections of the contract. Oct 11, 2006

Comair

Comair Files Suit To Share Plane Crash Costs. Barriers from an airport construction project were among several hazards contributing to August's deadly Comair plane crash, the airline said, as it sought help in paying compensation to victims. Oct 15, 2006

Continental Airlines

Continental Ground Workers Reject Union. Continental Airlines on Thursday said its ground workers voted against union representation by the Transport Workers Union of America. Oct 13, 2006

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it will report a third-quarter profit and had accrued an employee profit-sharing pool of more than $100 million through Sept. 30. "The actual amount of profit-sharing that the company will be able to distribute to employees on Feb. 14, 2007, depends on the company's full-year financial results," CO said. The third quarter will be its second straight three-month period in the black. Oct 12, 2006

Continental Airlines

Continental Airlines said it is contributing an additional $70 million to its pension plans, bringing its 2006 contributions to $246 million, a total it said exceeded the minimum funding requirement. "I'm pleased that we have achieved a solid record for making our required contributions, plus some," Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner said. Oct 11, 2006

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines' Grinstein, 73, was widely reported yesterday to have told a New York audience that DL is on track to emerge from Chapter 11 in the first half of 2007 and that he will leave the company soon after. No successor has been chosen, he added. Oct 13, 2006

Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines

Some analysts expect airline mergers in the near future. Some analysts expect a wave of airline mergers in the coming months as Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines finalize their bankruptcy reorganization plans. United Airlines Chief Executive Glenn Tilton has said publicly

that the industry would benefit from consolidation. Oct 14, 2006

Hawaiian Airlines

US Bankruptcy Court denied a preliminary injunction request by Hawaiian Airlines to restrain Mesa Air Group from entering the island market with its new carrier go!. Hawaiian asked the court to prevent Mesa from selling tickets for inter-island service for a year and that it "be required to honor each and every ticket that it has issued to date." In a decision issued Thursday, Judge Robert Faris wrote that such an injunction "would be a severe blow to any business." Hawaiian's request alleged that Mesa used confidential information it obtained when considering whether to invest in or acquire HA when the latter was in bankruptcy. Mesa denied that any of the information it obtained under a signed confidentiality agreement was used to build a business plan for go!, which launched last June. Oct 9, 2006

MAIR Holdings

MAIR Holdings last week asked the US Bankruptcy Court in Minnesota to issue a declaratory judgment that $122.2 million in dividends and fees paid by bankrupt subsidiary Mesaba Aviation from 2002 through 2005 "were wholly proper and appropriate under law" and should be shielded from Mesaba employees and creditors. The suit is in response to a ruling last week that authorized Mesaba creditors to pursue claims against the parent company. "The public speculation that these dividends and payments were improper is unsupported by the facts, by the law and is damaging to MAIR," President and CEO Paul Foley said. The parent argued that Mesaba was solvent at the time of each payment and afterward. Oct 10, 2006

Midwest Air Group 

Midwest Air Group said September passenger RASM rose an estimated 9.5% year-over-year to 9.5 cents, while yield increased an estimated 2.5% to 14.7 cents. The company flew 296.2 million RPMs during the month, a 13% gain over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 5.8% to 416.5 million ASMs and load factor was up 4.5 points to 71.1%. Oct 12, 2006

Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines flew 6.17 billion consolidated RPMs in September, a 5.5% decline from the year-ago month. Capacity fell 7.1% to 7.58 billion ASMs and load factor rose 1.3 points to 81.3%. Domestic RPMs dropped 3.3% to 3.17 billion as ASMs fell 4.4% to 4.03 billion, raising load factor 0.9 point to 78.6%. International traffic decreased 5.2% to 2.59 billion RPMs against a 7.2% decline in ASMs to 2.97 billion, sending load factor up 1.8 points to 87.2%. Oct 10, 2006

Northwest Airlines

Northwest Airlines announced a tentative agreement with its striking mechanics, represented by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Assn., which will conduct a ratification vote during the next month. NWA said the deal offers one week of layoff pay per year of service up to five weeks, or up to 10 weeks of separation pay for those leaving the company. Employees accepting layoff would remain on furlough status for two years and may apply for open positions, NWA said. Last month the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled that AMFA mechanics were eligible for unemployment benefits. Oct 9, 2006

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Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: [e-mail]

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Oct 9, 2006