Chautauqua Airlines to Replace American Airlines Flight Services from Wichita to St. Louis
American Airlines, in its effort to downsize its presence in St. Louis, will discontinue nonstop flight service between Wichita and St. Louis today. The service was provided by Chautauqua Airlines, American Airlines, with two daily flights.
Wichita joins 12 cities where non-stop service from St. Louis will no longer be available on any carrier: Austin, Texas; Nashville, Indianapolis; Wichita, Kan.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Madison, Wis.; Norfolk, Va.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; San Antonio, Texas; San Francisco; and Des Moines, Iowa. American Airlines will be left with 36 flights departing daily from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, far fewer than the nearly 500 daily departures from the airport when American Airlines took over Trans World Airlines (TWA) less than 10 years ago.
“It is unfortunate that American Airlines has chosen to downsize this hub,” said Valerie Wise, Air Service and Business Development Manager. “The St. Louis route performed well from Wichita. We will continue to work to find a carrier to resume this service.”
TWA originally provided nonstop service between Wichita and St. Louis. American purchased TWA in April of 2001, and in December of that year, TWA no longer existed.
The most attractive options from Wichita to St. Louis now are on Delta through Memphis, or American or United through Chicago. All of the airlines serving Wichita, except Allegiant, serve St. Louis but with one-stop.
Cathay Pacific Airways Shares Fall Sharply on Fuel Hedging Loss
Shares in Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. fell sharply Thursday after Asia’s third-largest carrier said it could lose nearly $1 billion from hedging its jet fuel costs, adding to the toll on global airlines from bad bets on oil prices.
The company also reiterated its profit warning for 2008, saying passenger and cargo traffic had weakened significantly in November and December. Cathay shares tumbled 7.6 percent to 8.97 Hong Kong dollars on the territory’s stock exchange.
Hong Kong’s flagship airline, in a statement late Wednesday, said its unrealized losses from hedging contracts as of year’s end had soared to HK$7.6 billion ($980 million) as oil prices slumped in recent months. That’s almost triple the HK$2.8 billion ($361 million) hedging loss the carrier had reported as of Oct. 31.
The bets were originally placed to protect against surging oil prices early last year. Most of the losses on the contracts, which run through 2011, hadn’t been realized and could be lower should fuel prices rise again, the carrier said.
Airlines around the world have wracked up huge losses after trying to limit their fuel costs when oil prices spiked last year, incorrectly betting that prices would continue to rise.
Air China, the mainland’s No. 2 carrier, in November reported potential hedging losses of 3.1 billion yuan ($454 million). That same month, United Airlines said it would have to put up some $990 million in collateral on fuel hedges that had turned against the company.
About half of all fuel used by the global airline industry was hedged in 2008, according to the International Air Transport Association.
“What Cathay has done is taken some risk and it’s backfired,” said Damien Horth, Asia transport analyst at UBS AG in Hong Kong, who says the airline’s strong network and management still leave it well positioned to weather the downturn.
“I am skeptical on the economic benefit of hedging for airlines,” he said.
With oil prices sharply lower, Cathay said it expected this year’s fuel bill to be about HK$20.3 billion less than 2008’s.
The airline again advised that full-year earnings would be disappointing, its second warning since November. Bookings for the first quarter of 2009 also are “markedly down” from last year, the company said.
“I think the biggest challenge is the weak state of the market — both the passenger market and the freight market. We see significant weakness in those markets going forward,” Cathay CEO Tony Tyler told reporters in Hong Kong.
The company posted a HK$663 million loss in the first six months of last year amid mounting jet fuel costs — the first half-year loss in nearly five years.
To cope with the downturn, Cathay plans to park two freighters, offer unpaid leave to employees and possibly delay construction on a cargo terminal to cut costs.
It will keep passenger growth flat in 2009 by scaling back services to North America and adding flights to Australia, the Middle East and Europe, but the airline won’t cut any destinations.
Airlines Market Investment, China eyes greater global market share in airline industry
The Chinese airline industry is hoping to sign some profitable deals at Tuesday’s 7th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition.
Jin Zhuanglong, general manager of the newly-founded Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), said on Monday that he wished to sell short-haul passenger planes, ARJ21, to overseas clients at the forthcoming air show.
“One of our goals is to serialize and mass produce ARJ21 products for further growth,” said Jin. “We will do our best to expand business overseas, break into the international market for the first time and occupy a certain proportion of the global market share as early as possible.”
Li Yuhai, deputy general manager of China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC), also expressed his conglomerate’s determination to explore overseas markets and turn China-made planes into brand names.
AVIC was reorganized in October. The country’s two aviation industry conglomerates, AVIC-I (China Aviation Industry Corporation I) and AVIC-II (China Aviation Industry Corporation II) were merged in an effort to make a bigger impact internationally.
Miao Wei, vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, said on Monday that the Chinese government encourages development of export-oriented aviation products of civilian use either independently or through cooperative manner.
“The government will also encourage efforts designed to enlarge the size of production of civilian aviation components via subcontracts,” said Miao.
The 7th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China, will take place in Zhuhai, a port city in the Guangdong Province. It runs from Tuesday to Sunday. It is the largest air show of the kind, according to Zhou Lewei, deputy secretary-general for the Organizing Committee for Airshow China.
Some 600 business people from 35 countries and regions are expected to attend. Aviation giants Boeing of the United States, Airbus of France, Bombardier of Canada, and Embraer of Brazil included. More than 60 aircraft will be exhibited including China-made Jian10 strike fighter plane and Airbus 380.
Source: Xinhua
Sam Choy Partners With American Airlines to Celebrate New Route
American Airlines is marking the launch of its four-times-a-week service between Chicago and Beijing by collaborating with Honolulu celebrity chef Sam Choy to create Asian-fusion menu items for on-board service.
Choy, a four-time nominee for the James Beard Best Pacific Regional chef award, worked with American Airlines to design premium-class menus for Hawaii flights in 2007 and for flights between the U.S. and Tokyo this February.
American Airlines’ Chicago-to-Beijing service is designed to complement its existing Chicago-Shanghai link. American Airlines is a subsidiary of Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp.
Northwest Airlines grounds 27 planes to comply with Federal Aviation Administration directive
Northwest Airlines grounded 27 planes Friday after a company audit showed noncompliance with a directive related to landing gear.
Flights on the Boeing 757s were canceled, with about 2,600 passengers affected.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s directive focused on a linchpin in the aircrafts’ landing gear. But Northwest says passengers were never in danger.
Northwest spokeswoman Tammy Lee Stanoch says the problem was fixed on the planes Friday evening. By 10:40 p.m., the FAA had cleared Northwest to begin using the planes again.
Besides putting up some of the affected passengers in hotel rooms, Northwest worked with its new parent company, Delta Air Lines, to find other aircraft to accommodate passengers.
