AirTran Airways Adds Another Flight Destination To Sunshine State From Port Columbus International Airport

AirTran Airways is making another trip to the Sunshine State from Port Columbus International Airport starting in December.

AirTran, whose parent is Orlando-based AirTran Holdings Inc., said Monday that it will add a daily round-trip flight to Fort Myers, Fla., from Port Columbus on Dec. 17. The carrier, which arrived at Port Columbus last November, runs three daily flights to Atlanta along with one each to Ft. Myers, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando.

The second Ft. Myers flight to be added in December departs from Port Columbus at 8:30 a.m. and arrives in Ft. Myers at 11:05 a.m. The second leg leaves Florida at 6:59 p.m. and arrives back in Columbus at 9:34 p.m.

AirTran is the only carrier to run flights from Port Columbus to Ft. Myers and Ft. Lauderdale. The airline competes for the Orlando market with Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co., which runs two daily flights to the city.

AirTran runs more than 700 daily flights to 67 destinations, including 10 cities in Florida. Parent AirTran Holdings lost $274 million on $2.4 billion in revenue last year.

At Port Columbus, AirTran carried about 230,000 passengers through August, representing a 5 percent market share.

Etihad Airways CEO and delegation visit Chicago

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, and members of the airline’s senior management team have hosted a high level gala reception in Chicago to celebrate the launch of Etihad’s flights to the famed ‘windy city’.

The gala reception took place at Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel and was the culmination of a week of activities to promote the airline’s latest US destination. This included meetings with mayor of the city, Richard Daley, and James Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, as well as prominent members of the Arab business community in the US.

Mr Hogan said: “Etihad Airways has received a very warm welcome in Chicago since we launched our flights last month and we are delighted build on our established relations with O’Hare airport and civic and trade officials in the city.”

Last week Mr Hogan was the key note speaker at a special luncheon in the hosted by AmCham Abu Dhabi.

During the speech, Mr Hogan discussed the growing relationship between Abu Dhabi and Chicago and explained how Etihad’s new service will bring significant economic benefits to America’s third largest city.

Etihad Airways began flights to the US city of Chicago at the beginning of September 2009. The initial three flights per week service will increase to six flights per week at the beginning of November and then move to a daily service at the beginning of 2010.

Chicago is the third largest US market for air travel to the Middle East and GCC, after New York and Washington DC, and the state of Illinois is home to one of the largest Arab-American communities in the US with an estimated population of more than 240,000 residents.

Delta Air Lines Getting $1 billion From Signed Agreement To Use American Express Card

Delta Air Lines getting $1 billion boost from extension of American Express card agreement.

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s biggest carrier, said Tuesday it is getting a $1 billion boost following a credit card agreement it has reached with American Express Co. A company executive also said Delta expects to turn a profit in 2009.

The agreement between Delta and American Express is a multiyear extension of their existing partnership. The companies have offered a portfolio of card products since 1996.

Delta will receive an immediate $1 billion boost to its liquidity from a purchase of SkyMiles that American Express will use in part for its membership rewards program. Delta said it expects to receive an additional $1 billion from contract improvements through 2010. American Express cardmembers will be offered expanded options for booking travel on Delta, and American Express will have the opportunity to increase merchant acceptance in more places in the Midwest.

Delta expects to end 2009 with roughly $7.5 billion in unrestricted liquidity. Like other airlines, Delta has been trying to raise cash and preserve it as long as possible, as lower demand for seats has eroded industry revenue amid the global economic downturn.

“We’re pretty confident where our cash position is,” Chief Executive Richard Anderson said.

The news about the credit card deal came ahead of an investor conference the Atlanta-based airline hosted.

At the conference, Delta President Ed Bastian said the carrier expects to be “solidly profitable” in 2009. He declined to provide specific figures. He made the projection even as he predicted that overall industry revenue will fall 8 percent to 12 percent in 2009. He also said Delta faces higher pension costs due to the decline in the value of its employee pension trusts, which have been affected by the market meltdown.

Late Monday, meanwhile, an arbitration panel ruled that the pilot seniority lists at Delta and Northwest Airlines will be integrated based on pilots’ status and aircraft category, though pilots from one carrier will not be able to fly for a period of time certain planes that the other carrier brought to the combination.

The three-member panel’s decision, which affects roughly 12,000 pilots, is binding and effective immediately.

Delta, which acquired Northwest on Oct. 29, wants to smoothly integrate the two work forces as part of its effort to achieve significant cost savings from the deal. A joint pilot contract was reached previously, but seniority had remained unresolved until Monday.

Pilots value their seniority. Those at the top of the list get first choice on vacations, the best routes and the bigger planes that they get paid more for flying.

In late 2009, Delta plans to merge Northwest’s WorldPerks reward program with Delta’s SkyMiles reward program.

Delta said it plans to continue its long-standing partnership with U.S. Bank through their existing corporate relationships including merchant acquiring, an expanded debit card program and corporate lending.

Last month, Alaska Air Group inked an expanded marketing alliance with Delta. The move will help feed passengers to support new international routes Delta plans to launch next year. Delta’s chief said at the time that the two carriers have not had any discussions about a combination.

At Tuesday’s investor conference, Anderson offered a quick “no comment” when he was asked why Delta hasn’t sought to acquire Seattle-based Alaska Air, which operates Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.

Asked if he sees the possibility of further consolidation in the industry, Anderson said, “There don’t appear to be any indications, but I have no better evidence than you.”

Airline Launches New Route To Australian

In order to increase tourist visits to Australia, several airlines launching new routes flights from England to Australia. Singapore Airlines is to launch the airline route service to Australia flight of stone.

Airline launches flight service to the Australian, among others: Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways.

Qatar Airways provide flights to Australia flights three times per week, flights from the center in Doha and will be a daily flight in early 2010. The flight from Doha to Australia will be taken within one hour.

Claire Golding, Tourism Victoria regional manager for UK and Europe, providing a statement “British tourists flying into our country rose by two percent in August 2009 but with so many new flight routes, began to offer great value and world class activities and fascinating attractions we believe in welcoming a greater number of British visitors in 2010. ”

At the end of September, Singapore Airlines increased capacity into Melbourne by ten percent by introducing an Airbus A380 – the world’s largest passenger aircraft on routes between Singapore and Melbourne. The airline now operates 21 weekly services between Singapore and Melbourne.

From March this year the British tourists have also been able to travel to Melbourne with Etihad Airways via Abu Dhabi. And in February this year, Emirates added a third daily flight to Melbourne with connections from six UK departure airports – Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow. Emirates has also launched a new airline Virgin Blue graduate with meaning that visitors to Melbourne can extend their visit to Australia.

Airlines Merger Analysis, Continental Airlines and United Airlines

A Wall Street analyst expects Continental Airlines to bid to acquire United Airlines, after reports that United and US Airways were in merger talks.

Stifel Nicolaus airline analyst Hunter Keay said in a client note Monday that a United-US Airways merger is “a suboptimal scenario” because of pilot labor issues, revenue risks, and “problems with regulatory review due to higher domestic overlap” on routes United and US Airways have in common.

“We expect Continental to respond to reported United-US Airways merger plans with a bid for United,” Keay wrote, “partly as a defensive maneuver. . . .We expect Continental to respond relatively quickly.” Keay said he had no knowledge of merger negotiations or discussions between Continental and United.

Industry observers acknowledge that Continental is a better match for United. “But it takes two to agree,” said aviation consultant Robert W. Mann, of Port Washington, N.Y.

Continental and United discussed merging in 2008, until Continental walked away.

A combined United-Continental would create the world’s largest airline, ahead of Delta Air Lines, now the largest after acquiring Northwest Airlines in 2008. A combined US Airways-United would be the second-biggest U.S. carrier. Delta and Air France-KLM are larger worldwide.

Continental’s strong presence in New York and in Pacific markets would complement United, said Gimme Credit L.L.C. bond analyst Vicki Bryan in a client note. A United-Continental combination “could generate nearly $2 billion in revenue and cost savings, perhaps twice the benefits” of a United-US Airways merger, she wrote.

Continental has more cash – $2.9 billion – vs. US Airways’ $1.3 billion and “stronger free cash flow as a percentage of revenue, and slightly lower leverage,” Bryan said.

Keay said a United-US Airways merger would “seriously jeopardize” the joint ventures Continental and United had been pursuing to coordinate on scheduling and pricing.

A United-Continental merger would face less regulatory scrutiny because the carriers have fewer overlapping city pairs – nine, whereas United and US Airways have 14.

Keay said that, in a United-US Airways merger, proposed service or job reductions at Philadelphia International Airport “would be met with pushback” by politicians, possibly including U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.), who protested when US Airways closed its Pittsburgh hub in 2006.

“We see potential political and/or legal issues with the handling of US Airways’ Philadelphia hub, given the relatively close proximity to United’s Washington Dulles hub,” Keay wrote.

“We see a high likelihood of forced asset divestitures at Philadelphia or Dulles, and Phoenix or San Francisco, given hub redundancy.”

Gimme Credit’s Bryan noted, “US Airways lacks the rich appeal of new markets.”

United and US Airways’ overlapping markets – such as Washington – could result in reduced market share “if the combined carrier was required to sell common slots, for example, before the merger could meet regulatory approval,” Bryan said.

Most airline CEOs, including United’s Glenn Tilton and US Airways’ Doug Parker, have touted the benefits of more industry consolidation.

In 2002, Tilton was recruited to United, after nearly three decades in the oil industry, to turn around the troubled Chicago-based carrier. Hit by competition from low-fare carriers, United’s labor costs were among the highest in the industry. Two United passenger planes were hijacked in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

After United filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, management in 2003 eked out hefty concessions from unions that saved about $2.5 billion.

“United flight attendants and pilots have been at war with the company since the restructuring,” said Mann. “It wasn’t a small haircut. These were scalpings.”

US Airways filed for bankruptcy protection twice in the last decade and was saved from liquidation in 2005 by combining with America West Airlines, of Tempe, Ariz.

Parker, with America West since 1995, became CEO of the new US Airways. Under his leadership, US Airways improved operational problems at Philadelphia International Airport – uneven baggage service, and one of the worst records for on-time flights.

Parker made an unsuccessful hostile bid for bankrupt Delta in 2006. US Airways tried to combine with United in 2008, but United walked away.

One of US Airways’ biggest unresolved headaches from its 2005 merger has been integrating its pilots and flight attendants, which are split on seniority lines – with more-senior crews employed by the old US Airways and less-senior personnel working for the former America West.

“US Airways hasn’t been able to run one airline,” said Mann. “They still operate on two separate contracts. They still fly on two separate fleets.”

If United and US Airways merge, seniority integration of the workforces will have to be resolved. Management has to be “willing to pay to play,” Mann said.

“I think they could convince people who are today opposed to a merger to participate. They are going to have to share the economics,” Mann said. “If they try to do it cheap, chances are they’ll have a lot of resistance.”