Iberia could split with BA, oneworld

Spanish airline Iberia is thinking about ending its seven-year-old partnership with British Airways and the oneworld alliance. The airline's finance and strategy director said recently that Iberia didn't feel 'tied' to BA, stating that "In a marriage you need two parties and Iberia and British Airways' priorities have not always been the same...They [BA] have their priorities...and Iberia is not in first place." He also added that Iberia could potentially hook up with SkyTeam's Air France/KLM or Star's Lufthansa.

Some analysts have wondered whether or not this is just a ploy by Iberia to get increased attention from BA, which recently raised its stake in Iberia from 9% to 10% in order to get two seats on its board. But whatever the outcome, Iberia plans to be aligned closely with either BA, Air France/KLM or Lufthansa as the airline industry in Europe heads for more consolidation. We've seen this with Ryanair's ongoing attempt to merge with Air Lingus and serious talks between Air France/KLM and Alitalia (see the last few posts).

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Use the bathroom before flying China Southern

China Southern has recently figured out that since it takes a liter of fuel to flush a toilet in-flight, passengers are recommended to use the bathroom prior to boarding the plane. That, according to a China Southern captain, is enough for "an economical car to run at least 10 kilometers".

The captain, Liu Zhiyuan, also said that flying around one kilogram of items like pillows, blankets and magazine for one hour consumes 0.2 kg of fuel, meaning that "the blankets and pillows on board the aircraft eat up 60 tons of fuel every day. If each seat is loaded with three 450-gram magazines, another 60 tonnes will be consumed," he explained. Apparently the airline is also filling their on-board water tanks at 60 percent full.

I'm surprised good old Ryanair, which doesn't have any window shades, pillows, etc., hasn't told its passengers use the bathroom before boarding.

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Radioactive 767s

This isn't really relevant when it comes to the airline industry, but it's still something you don't see everyday. Apparently British Airways is grounding three 767s - two at Heathrow Airport and one at Moscow's Domodedovo - indefinitely due to very low traces of radioactive substances.

The groundings are happening as part of the investigation into the poisoning of ex-KGB man Alexander Litvinenko, and the two events might be related. Of course, the risk to anyone on board the planes was probably next to nothing, but people who flew on affected flights (a list can be found here)
From BA's website:

British Airways has been advised that three of its Boeing 767 short haul aircraft have been identified by the UK government as part of the investigation into the death of Alexander Litvinenko.

The airline was contacted last night (Tuesday, November 28) by the government. It has taken the three B767s out of service to enable forensic examination to be carried out.

The initial results of the forensic tests, which was confirmed late this afternoon, has shown very low traces of a radioactive substance onboard two of the three aircraft.

British Airways has been advised that this investigation is confined solely to these three B767 aircraft, which will remain out of service until further notice.

British Airways understands that from advice it has been given that the risk to public health is low.

The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have travelled on flights operated by these aircraft, which operate within Europe.

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Possible takeover of Alitalia by Air France?

Air France/KLM, the airline group that's the largest in Europe, said yesterday that it was in talks with Alitalia about a possible takeover of the Italian flag-carrier. Alitalia is half-owned by the Italian government, and hasn't made a profit since 1998, but has instead remained flying over the past few years due to government bailouts.

A potential problem that stands in the way of the airline's profitability is the fact that it has two main hubs: one in Milan and one in Rome. Most European airlines, by comparison, really have one main hub: British Airways in London, Lufthansa in Frankfurt, Air France in Paris, Iberia in Madrid, etc. Alitalia also has to deal with a bunch of new start-up airlines as well.

The chances of such a takeover aren't very good. The Italian unions have voiced their displeasure, as has the Italian prime minister, Romano Prodi. "I would like to know Air France’s real intentions. Does it want to create a big European transport group in which Italy would also have a place, or simply grab the Italian air transport market, which is large and very lucrative?” he said in the French newspaper Le Figaro.

Air France and Alitalia are already members of the SkyTeam Alliance.

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Could a United-Delta merger happen? It might

United will probably enter this merger madness that's gripping the industry at the time, some analysts predict. At a Citigroup investor conference yesterday, United's CFO, Jake Brace, said that "the industrial logic of mergers in the airline industry is so compelling... We believe mergers in the airline industry have significant synergies, and we believe the industry needs to consolidate."

He also wouldn't say much about the subject of Delta, but wouldn't rule out anything in way of a merger. "We're going to do what makes sense for our company, and we'll be interested to see what happens with US Air and Delta," Brace said.

A United-Delta merger would make much more sense from a variety of standpoints. The two airlines have more compatible fleets - both predominately Boeings - as opposed to US Airways, which has an almost all-Airbus fleet. There is also less overlap between the two airlines' hubs, compared with US Airways. United has hubs at Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and Washington, while US Airways has hubs at Phoenix, Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Philadelphia. In contrast, Delta has hubs at New York JFK, Atlanta, Cincinatti, and Salt Lake City.

Could a merger happen? It might. Analyists predict that United will place a bet for Delta, and will do so sometime soon.

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US Airways/Delta merger update

Here’s a mid-day update (done during lunch break) about the possible Delta-US Airways merger. CNN talked to US Airways’ CEO Doug Parker, who said that his airline’s hub in Charlotte, North Carolina would remain if the two airlines were to merge. Delta’s hub in Salt Lake City would also stay, although each hub is rather close to an existing one: Delta’s in Atlanta and US Airways’ in Phoenix, respectively.

Delta has stated that it wants to remain independent, at least during its stay in bankruptcy. Delta’s CEO said that his airline’s plan “has always been to emerge from bankruptcy in the first half of 2007 as a strong, stand-alone carrier. Our plan is working and we are proud of the progress."

It increasingly looks like any takeover (or merger) of Delta by US Airways will be a hostile bid. Yet Parker thinks that he will convince Delta’s bosses and creditors that the deal is a good one: "What you're hearing right now is reaction from people who haven't yet been able to digest the offer.”

Analysts have said that in addition to US Airways, United and American could potentially be bidders for Delta as well, or at least play a part in the consolidation of the industry.

So will the merger go through? Delta says no, and the fact that it’s in Chapter 11 bankruptcy certainly complicates things. Antitrust laws are another thing to consider; an example of this is the fact that Delta and US Airways are the only two airlines flying the New York-Washington shuttle route. But if the two are merged, it would create the nation’s (and perhaps the world’s) largest airline, beating American for the number one spot.

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US Airways seeking to purchase Delta

US Airways has just announced this morning that it would make an $8 billion bid (with cash and stock) for Delta Air Lines once the latter emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Delta creditors would get about $4 billion cash and and 78.5 million shares of US Airways stock which, based on yesterday's closing stock price, has a combined value of about $4 billion.

There isn’t much information available at this time, since the story was just released about an hour ago, but US Airways said that the deal would ‘generate $1.65 billion in annual synergies’. The combined airline would use the name of Delta, which according to US Airways' CEO, has a slightly higher brand awareness.

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Austrian Airlines to start Iraq service

Austrian flag carrier Austrian Airlines said today that it would start flying scheduled flights to the northern Iraqi city of Erbil twice a week, starting December 11. According to the airline, the city is the 4th largest in Iraq and it is a logical new destination for its extensive Middle Eastern network - the airline claims that it is 'already the number three carrier in Europe when measured by services into the Middle East'.

The flights are on Mondays and Fridays with an Airbus A319 from Vienna to Erbil and back (flights 829 and 830).

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Aeroflot lets 787 slots expire, retires Il-86

Russian flag carrier Aeroflot lost twenty-two production slots last week for the Boeing 787 aircraft because the government wouldn't approve its order. "The original conditions on the contract have expired... We will now be looking for other alternatives. We remain in contact with Boeing," said Aeroflot Deputy CEO Lev Koshlyakov.

Originally Aeroflot remained undecided between the A350 and the 787 and seemed like it would split its order both ways. Alexander Lebedev, owner of 30% of Aeroflot, cut a deal with Boeing to give it the production slots basically as a time extension so that Aeroflot's board could confirm the order, which it has yet to do.

Aeroflot also announced last month that it plans to retire the Ilyushin Il-86 from service later this month. Aeroflot's Deputy Director General Igor Desyatnichenko said that the planes will be retired November 15, and that they were "too costly to keep them through the winter and fly just two or three months in the summer". He also said that the planes, which aren't very fuel efficient, didn't meet European environmental and noise regulations.

The Il-86 was introduced in 1980 and was the first Russian wide-bodied airliner. Aeroflot and other airlines have used (and continue to use) the aircraft on tourist flights to southern resort towns in the Caucasus during the summer months.

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Reactions to FedEx's A380 cancelation

After FedEx's decision yesterday (see previous blog post) to cancel its A380 orders because of prolonged delays on Airbus' part, there have not been any other cancellations by other airlines ordering the A380 - as of yet.

Singapore Airlines, which will be the first airline to put the A380 into service, says that it has no plans whatsoever to scrap its order, although it will get its first A380 in October of 2007 instead of December of this year, as originally planned. The airline said that it won't be affected greatly by the delay because it's taking delivery of six Boeing 777-300ERs this month.

FedEx rival UPS, which has ten A380s on order (as well as options on another ten) said that the company isn't rushing to make a decision about whether to cancel its orders or not. "We are not pressed to make a decision," said Chief Executive Officer Mike Eskew. "Our backs are not against the wall on this issue." UPS says that it has enough planes scheduled for delivery in the next few years to avoid any problem.

Airbus company EADS also reported its first quarterly loss in three years earlier today.

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FedEx Dumps Airbus, Goes to Boeing

Cargo delivery giant FedEx announced today that it has canceled its order for 10 A380-800F planes and instead has ordered 15 Boeing 777 (777F) freighters. Notably, this is the first A380 customer that Airbus has lost.

CEO Frederick Smith said, "The availability and delivery timing of this aircraft, coupled with its attractive payload range and economics, make this choice the best decision for Fedex." He went on to say, "Global demand for air cargo and express services continues to grow rapidly and FedEx has made significant investments in our network to meet customers' needs and fulfill our business objectives. Therefore, it was necessary and prudent for us to acquire the Boeing 777 Freighter." Simply put, FedEx needs new planes soon, not later, and if Airbus can't deliver, then they figure that Boeing will.

Right now I'm sure everyone at Boeing headquarters in Chicago is partying, but not the same in Toulouse, France - Airbus headquarters. Airbus has been facing some tough times recently, with Emirates threatening to cancel its order for 43 passenger A380s (the largest customer of the plane to date). Right now, the scheduled first delivery of the A380 to an airline will be in October 2007 - two years behind schedule.

Deliveries of the aircraft to FedEx are expected to start in 2009 and last through 2011. At the time of writing, shares of Airbus parent company EADS fell 3.05% while Boeing shares climbed 5.26%

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