British Airways just released their June traffic statistics, and passenger load factor compared to June 2008 was only off by 0.1 percentage points, down to 77.6%.
The carrier also reported that premium traffic was down 14.9% compared to last year, though I guess that isn’t as horrible as it looks when it is compared to May’s 17.2% decline.
But I found the fleet news the most interesting:
The remaining three mainline Boeing 757 aircraft will be grounded in summer 2010 and a further three Boeing 747-400s in winter 2010. The delivery schedule for the first six Airbus A380 aircraft has been extended by an average of five months with the first delivery still due in 2012. The schedule for the remaining six A380s has been extended by an average of two years with the final aircraft arriving in 2016.
OK, this is the last post on April traffic statistics. I promise. 
So Southwest posted a 4.4 point increase in load factor in April to 77 percent, thanks to a 4.1% increase in RPMs and a 1.9% decrease in ASMs. Revenue passengers were also down 1.5%. Wait what?
It does seem weird that RPMs went up while revenue passengers went down, and my best guess is that it’s just how load factor is calculated. RPMs is simply the sum of all the miles flown by passengers during the month. The report also noted a 5.6% increase in the average trip length, so that makes sense. It seems that while there were slightly less passengers, those who were flying were on longer routes than April 2008.
Southwest also included a note on revenue:
April 2009 passenger revenues per ASM are estimated to be in line with last year, as expected. However, current revenue and booking trends continue to be adversely impacted by the weak economic environment and now also by concerns over the recent H1N1 Swine Flu outbreak. Therefore, the Company currently expects the year-over-year decline in second quarter 2009 passenger revenues per ASM to exceed first quarter 2009′s decline of 2.8 percent.
In other traffic news, JetBlue posted a slight increase in load factor thanks to a capacity cut. Most importantly, the press release mentions that “preliminary passenger revenue per available seat mile for the month of April increased five percent year over year.” Nice. The airline probably got a boost from Easter, but it’s still great to see a positive number.
I also found British Airways’ results interesting. Load factors looked pretty good, but premium traffic decreased 17.7% compared to April 2008. It’s never good to see that kind of decline in traffic that brings in so much revenue. British Airways also noted the importance of Easter, saying that “the effect in April 2009 is to increase non-premium and reduce premium volumes.”
Like most other airlines, British Airways recently released its December traffic statistics. Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKs) were down 3.4%, and the greatest decrease in traffic was found in the Asia Pacific region, with an 11.2% drop. Capacity cuts preformed by the airline helped keep load factor at 76.7%, only a 0.2% decrease.
The most notable statistic, in my opinion, is the fact that premium traffic fell 12.1%, while non-premium traffic only dropped 1.7%. This seems to be a problem for most international carriers. First and business class bookings are a great source of revenue. The drop can be good for consumers, however, as I would not be surprised to see some deals on premium travel. For example, British Airways put out a press release announcing $1,000 roundtrip fares to Amsterdam from New York on its OpenSkies subsidiary. Yes, the fare is for the lower PREM+ cabin and is not valid for the busier summer season, but as Online Travel Review puts it, the fare is “an amazing deal.”
Yesterday, it was announced that BA CityFlyer’s 10 Avro RJ100s and two RJ85s will be replaced with E-Jets. British Airways has ordered six E170s and five E190SRs, with options for three more E190s. The aircraft will be used out of London City (LCY). It was mentioned in the press release that the lower emissions and greater fuel efficiency of these aircraft compared to the Avros was one of the main factors in the order.
I’m going to announce my total ignorance here – the 190SR? On the specifications page on the Embraer website, I see the AR, LR, and STD versions. Can anyone provide some more information on this variant?
Interestingly – if British Airways chooses not the exercise those options for additional E190s, capacity in terms of seats will be down about 26%. (That is, if the seat counts on BA CityFlyer’s Wikipedia page are correct. 
) If they do, capacity will grow a bit.
The first E170 will be delivered in the second half of 2009. The E190 needs to receive steep approach certification to operate out of London City (which the E170 obtained in 2007), though the Embraer press release reports that the aircraft is “undergoing a series of engineering evaluation tests with a view to receiving its steep approach certification by the end of 2009.”
Anyway, it will be a shame to see the Avros go away – I do think it is pretty cool to see a regional jet with four engines. Sadly, I don’t think I will every be able to ride one of them, as I think all of them are gone from commercial service in the US.
Okay, so this isn’t the biggest of news but I did receive an e-mail about this last week and I thought it was worth sharing, as it should be useful for passengers. Here’s part of the press release I received:
New York, NY – Oct. 30, 2008 – British Airways today announced the launch of its remote check-in service, allowing travelers to check-in for flights from any location through their mobile devices. Mobile check-in is made possible by the British Airways mobile Web site, powered by Usablenet, and is a easy-to-use, free service available across global markets in 11 languages with no need of additional downloads or software.
By logging on to www.ba.com/mobile with any Web-enabled mobile device, customers can access the British Airways timetable, as well as select seats and check-in individuals, groups and families for departure or return flights in real time.
“We are proud to be the first UK airline to offer a remote check-in service in 11 languages,” said Chris Carmichael, British Airways innovation and planning manager. “We recognize that our customers have busy lifestyles, and by offering greater accessibility, we hope to enhance their overall travel experience.”
What purpose does an alliance serve? Well, in many cases it is a merger without the mess of one. One airline might want to work with another but not necessarily combine with it. Perhaps the best example of this situation is Continental’s new partnership with United. In other cases, countries restrict foreign ownership. In the EU, non-EU investors can only invest up to 49.9% in the the company, and in the US it is even stricter. So an alliance allows the airlines to work together but remain separate.
In other cases, I think, the separate airlines are kept as part of national pride. For example, take Alitalia. If Lufthansa would have offered to help but only if Alitalia became part of Lufthansa, I think many would be angry that Italy’s national airline would go away.
Anyway, back to my main topic. Yesterday it was reported that Cathay Pacific was interested in a takeover bid of British Airways. While at first it appears that such a deal violates the previously mentioned EU rule, apparently because Cathay is 40% owned by a British firm, it is allowed. The partnership certainly makes sense. The two airlines are already in oneworld, and as such are already working together.
I think that I found this story interesting not because of this specific partnership, but in terms of existing partnerships and future ones. I would not be surprised at all to see future deals like Cathay and British. Lufthansa has already acquired other carriers. With all three alliances in possession of or looking for antitrust immunity, I think in the future we will be seeing more and more consolidation.
Anyway, I just found that news story interested. Tomorrow I’ll be going back to earnings. I’ve already skipped over a couple of reports from the past few days, and JetBlue, AirTran, and US Airways released today.
British Airways has canceled all of its flights to and from Pakistan. The action is a response to the horrific terror attack on the Marriot in Islamabad that occured this weekend. Interestingly, the airline did not say when operations will resume. I wonder if any other airlines will make that choice. I’m hoping not too many passengers were stranded due to this move, though I’m sure BA alerted everybody.
This is one of my more opinionated posts…
In a move that wasn’t too surprising, American, British Airways, and Iberia (along with Finnair and Royal Jordanian) applied for anti-trust immunity. They even set up a website to get support for the move (hat tip to Lucky for the link). Right now I think I like the deal. American and British have always been close and I think cooperating a bit further in terms of operations and other areas (like frequent flier programs) can help them run more efficiently.
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic, isn’t too pleased at all. I’m not surprised – Virgin and BA have been bickering since before I was born! Yesterday an article of his appeared in the Wall Street Journal. He claims if the application is approved, it would be bad for air travelers. Continue reading ‘Branson and Oneworld’
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