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Monday, March 31, 2008

Aloha to end passenger service


Only days after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (for the second time in as many years), Hawaiian carrier Aloha Airlines announced that it will terminate all passenger service effective today. The airline has been fighting a three-way price war with Hawaiian Airlines and startup go!, which is owned by Mesa Air Group.

"This is an incredibly dark day for Hawaii,”" said David A. Banmiller, CEO of Aloha. "“Despite the groundswell of support from the community and our elected officials, we simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for our passenger business. We had no choice but to take this action." In a statement released by the airline, Aloha said that it "deeply regret[s] the impact this will have on our dedicated employees who have made Aloha one of the best operating airlines in the country... unfortunately, unfair competition has succeeded in driving us out of business, bringing to an end a 61-year-old company with a proud legacy of serving millions of travelers in the true spirit of Aloha."

Hawaiian Airlines met with Aloha early yesterday to try to work out a deal to save Aloha. The deal was viewed by Aloha executives as a "last resort", and would have involved Hawaiian keeping the Aloha name alive and operating inter-island and possibly a few inter-island routes. But the deal fell through after Hawaiian was willing to put up only about $5 million in cash (in comparison, Aloha was losing $5 million a month). This is indeed sad news for aircraft enthusiasts, too - Aloha was the last scheduled operator of the Boeing 737-200, and one of these airplanes was painted in a retro livery a few years ago.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

"Defective airplanes or parts"? I think not


This morning I reported on how several U.S. airlines that operate the MD-80 had to perform additional checks on wiring covers. A few hours later, I received a comment on that blog post that was rather entertaining. (Here are a few excerpts - for the entire comment in all of its gloriousness, click here.)

To: NATIONS OF THE WORLD – GOVERNMENTS, EMBASSIES, AND PRESS (Please See The Distribution List Below). DEFECTIVE AIRPLANES AND PARTS POTENTIALLY ABOUT TO FLOOD THE MARKET
Dear Your Excellencies, And Other Honorable World Citizens:
I am a lawyer in New York, an American citizen, and a man who greatly values the sanctity of human life.
Airline companies within the United States may be about to seek to “dump” defective aircraft upon, and/or sell harmful cannibalized aircraft parts to, businesses and citizens within your respective many countries...
To the extent that you may not already be aware of the current aviation safety crisis occurring now in America that has caused this clear-and-present threat, please inform your countrymen and countrywomen of this potentially-imminent and hazardous occurrence. Please ask your country’s officials, private firms, and citizens, to be vigilantly on the look-out for offers to buy these defective airplanes or parts. It is important you ensure that your friends and neighbors do not buy these items. The safety and lives of your fellow citizens may depend upon it...
...The fleets of a number of United States commercial airlines are deteriorating. Our federal government in the U.S. has finally caught up to the decay. We in America are now effectively in the painful process of outlawing these aged, dangerous planes – and holding civilly and criminally accountable those malicious individuals that would continue to sanction their use, regardless. This threat to us is from within. The airline companies’ next move will be to try to jettison the bad planes for profit.


My first thought was that this was a Nigerian spam comment, or something of the sort. It turns out that although it wasn't a spam letter, it had just about the same amount of factual value. The safety checks that have been carried out throughout the past month have more to do with making sure that paperwork is up-to-date, rather than having "dangerous airplanes". The US is home to some of the safest airlines in the world. There is no "current aviation safety crisis" in this country, as the author of the comment writes. As far as I know, none of the airlines are looking to "“dump” defective aircraft" - they're merely making sure that the planes get another look-over. And besides, even if they were, would you likely need to "ensure that your friends and neighbors do not buy these items"? I don't know about you, but I'm not shopping around for "defective aircraft" or "harmful cannibalized aircraft parts".

By the way, who wrote that comment? A click of the author's Blogger profile reveals that he is none other than John J. Tormey III, Esq. A quick Google search turns up the fact that he is involved with the "Quiet Rockland" project, which appears to be concerned with aircraft noise. What airplane noise and "defective aircraft" have in common is not immediately apparent. Tormey also writes a blog entitled "THE END OF SOUTHWEST AIRLINES" in which he writes vitriolic blog posts. These have titles like "THANK YOU FOR FLYING AIR KEVORKIAN a/k/a SOUTHWEST AIRLINES - YOU ARE NOW FREE TO SPRINKLE YOURSELF ABOUT THE COUNTRY" and "Thank You For Flying Air Kevorkian - I Mean, Southwest". In a blog post entitled "NO LUV LOST," he quotes himself as saying that "the persons that should be flying Southwest at this point, should be only those referred by Doctor Kevorkian."

I'm saving Mr. Tormey's comment and writing about it because I think it's rather hilarious. I don't think he realizes that Southwest Airlines has never had a fatal accident due to "defective airplanes".

American, Delta inspect MD-80s

photo by Kevin Boydston
American Airlines yesterday announced that it was canceling 300 flights on Wednesday in order to inspect wiring covers in its 300-strong MD-80 fleet, with an American spokesperson calling the move an "abundance of caution" by the airline. Later in the day, Delta also said that it would voluntarily reinspect 117 of its MD-88s as well as 16 MD-90s. Delta said that as of last night, it had not found any problems, but the airline was nonetheless forced to cancel about 325 flights yesterday, with a few more following today.

Other airlines flying the MD-80 also reviewed their fleets as well: Allegiant Air said that it reviewed its 35 MD-80s without needed to cancel flights; a spokesperson for Alaska Airlines said that its 10-strong fleet of MD-80s operated "normally".

The checks come at a time when airlines are scrambling to comply with FAA audits and safety directives. Earlier in the month, the agency fined Southwest Airlines $10.2 million for flying 46 of its Boeing 737s without proper safety checks. American Eagle grounded 25 CRJs last week in order to double-check inspection papers on the hydraulic systems and rudders.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

ANA to start budget airline

photo by Giyu (Velvia)

Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has been experiencing increased pressure in recent years from growing low-cost carriers in Asia, has announced plans to launch a budget airline of its own. ANA is considering a joint venture with another Asian airline, and the new carrier could be flying as early as March 2009. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the airline would probably be based in another country in Asia - Japan is noted for higher labor and operating costs.

The planned startup also comes at a time when ANA faces increased competition at its hub at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which is due for expansion in 2010. A spokesperson for ANA said that the budget airline wouldn't fly under the ANA name.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

United to downsize fleet

photo by Drewski2112

United Airlines, facing a slumping economy and rising fuel prices, announced today that it would ground 10 to 15 of its "older, less fuel efficient, narrowbody aircraft" as part of a plan "to offset what could be more than a $1 billion increase in fuel costs in 2008". "We are taking a prudent step now by reducing our fleet, taking assets out of the network that don't make sense at these fuel prices, to better position United to be successful in an ever-challenging environment," United CFO Jake Brace said. "United has an aggressive five-year plan focused on creating shareholder value. We have led the industry in reducing domestic capacity and continue to lead efforts to pass commodity costs onto our customers, as other industries do." As for which type United will ground: probably either some of the Boeing 737-300s and/or -500s.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Northwest: $100 oil to lead to mergers

photo by caribb

Oil, which has been hitting record highs seemingly every day now, has always been a problem for airlines. But when the price of oil starts getting above $100, it becomes a really big problem. On a pre-recorded telephone message for Northwest employees, CEO Doug Steenland said that oil was becoming a "serious budget-breaker". "If fuel remains where it is today, our increased fuel costs will again create a difficult financial challenge for the airline... This rapid increase in fuel is one reason we continue to believe consolidation in the industry is inevitable." Meanwhile, Northwest's merger talks with Delta are currently in hiatus while pilots unions at both airlines try to figure out how to combine their seniority lists.