United Airlines wants to move towards “dual approaches and departures” for aircraft at Newark Liberty International, something its president Scott Kirby says is needed to expand its hub there. “The key we’re going to need to work on to really make the Newark hub structure work is to get to a world where we can have dual approaches and dual departures,” he said Feb 27. Typical operations see 1 aircraft land and then 1 depart on runways 22L and 22R at Newark today. The airport can increase throughput slightly if it uses cross runway 11 for arrivals. Aircraft operations were limited to 81 per hour at Newark prior to the FAA's decision to remove slot restrictions in Oct 2016. Kirby likens the sought dual “procedure” to operations at San Francisco International, which often uses 2 runways for approaches and 2 for departures. <br/>
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United Airlines CE Oscar Munoz delivered a heart-warming message about togetherness in an internal memo to more than 85,000 team members. Munoz also used the memo to announce the carrier will pay US$628m in profit sharing for 2016 — a nice chunk of change, but a notably smaller chunk than the $1.1b in 2016 profit sharing at Delta Air Lines. Munoz in the memo called the hundreds of millions of dollars "a recognition of the value you individually contributed to our company." The United CE also used Tuesday's profit sharing memo to point out to employees that the carrier's biggest financial commitment is the investment in its employees — a $10.3b line item that includes employee salaries, healthcare, retirement contributions, performance bonuses and profit sharing, among other things. <br/>
It's been 16 years since Air India was last on the block. Now, India is again mulling the idea of selling 51% of the carrier. But the economics are no longer the same. In the early 2000s, Air India's main problem was inefficiency and red tape. It had 3 times as many staff per plane as global airlines, and wasn't even permitted to hedge energy costs using derivatives: Pilots would shop for cheaper jet fuel in Singapore and Dubai. It's a different story now. Air India's reputation for being among the most unreliable airlines worldwide is intact. A bigger worry for any potential owner, however, is the dysfunctional capital structure. A decade ago, the govt decided to bulk up the airline. The plane-buying spree that ensued pushed up debt more than 20-fold. <br/>
German Efromovich, controlling shareholder of Avianca, said Wednesday he would "gladly" respond in court to a lawsuit by minority owners that alleged he forced the carrier into a deal that hurts them. Efromovich and United Continental Holdings are being sued by Kingsland Holdings, controlled by El Salvador's Kriete family, for "clandestinely" negotiating a US$800m loan and strategic alliance behind the backs of other shareholders. The lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court claims Efromovich negotiated the deal with United for his own benefit even when there were competing offers from other airlines. United said it could not comment on pending litigation. Avianca also declined to comment on the lawsuit. Synergy, which is owned by Efromovich, holds 78% of Avianca voting shares, while Kingsland holds 22%. <br/>
TAP has posted a full-year net profit of E34m (US$35.8m) for 2016, marking its return to profitability. Revenue for the year fell E156m to E2.2b, but operating costs dropped by E227m to E2b, triggering the bottom line turnaround. The carrier said the positive result was driven by “strong investment” from its new shareholders, Atlantic Gateway Group, including revamping of Portugalia to become of TAP Express, a complete renewal of its regional fleet and the creation of a shuttle service between Lisbon and Porto. During the year, TAP also upgraded the interiors of its Airbus fleet, added new routes to Boston and New York JFK and boosted frequencies to Newark, more than doubling its US flights. In 2016, TAP carried a record 11.7m passengers, marking a 400,000 improvement on 2015, despite cutting available seats by 3%. <br/>
Etihad Airways and EgyptAir have entered into a new codeshare partnership to be introduced in phases beginning March 1. Under the initial phase of the agreement, Etihad will place its EY code on EgyptAir flights between Abu Dhabi and Cairo. In turn, EgyptAir will place its MS code on Etihad’s flights between the two capital cities. During the second phase, Etihad will gain access to major cities across Africa on flights operated by EgyptAir via its Cairo hub. In turn, EgyptAir will be able to access key routes to Australia and the Far East served by Etihad from its Abu Dhabi hub. The third phase will see Etihad’s EY code placed on domestic flights across Egypt. EgyptAir chairman and CE Sherif Ezzat said the carrier is keen on enhancing its network through partnering with strong airlines. <br/>