US AgentSo am I mad or are you suggesting Airbus has an agenda to put US airlines out of business ??? :confused:
I think he means more along the lines of “assisted suicide”… :dev2:
US AgentStandard mobile phones, issued to the flight crew by Vodafone et al, can do lots of harm to electronics following recent statements by the FAA.
LOL!!!
US AgentNone currently in US military fleets, but Lockheed & MD Helicopter recently teamed up to bid on the US Army Light Utility Helicopter program with the MD-9000 Explorer.
US AgentModerators please correct the title !
I’ve always wondered why members weren’t allowed to correct that themselves…:confused:
US AgentUPS orders 27 Boeing 767s
Tribune staff, wire reports
Published February 6, 2007
source link
United Parcel Service Inc. ordered 27 Boeing Co. 767-300ER freighters valued at as much as $3.89 billion to meet demand from increasing global trade. The purchase comes as Atlanta-based UPS remains in talks with Airbus SAS over its delayed order for 10 A380 jumbo freighters. The new planes are not intended to replace the A380s and will instead fill shorter-range needs, UPS said Monday. The 767s will be delivered between 2009 and 2012. The 767’s list price is $133 million to $144 million, but orders for multiple aircraft usually are discounted.
Boeing had a backlog of just 28 orders for 767s, or enough for about two years’ worth of production, before UPS’ order, according to Airclaims Group’s Ascend, which maintains aircraft fleet and valuation data. “Keeping the line open through 2012 is Boeing’s big win with this one,” said Douglas Runte, managing director of RBS Greenwich Capital Markets.
US AgentConfirmed…
US Airways withdraws offer after creditors reject takeover
Associated Press
Published February 1, 2007
source linl
Delta Air Lines Inc.’s unsecured creditors committee threw its support behind the airline’s stand-alone reorganization plan on Wednesday, a decision that prompted US Airways to drop its hostile $9.8 billion bid to buy Delta.
US AgentNORTHWEST AIRLINES: Carrier not planning on merger this year
Associated Press
Published January 31, 2007
source link
MINNEAPOLIS — Northwest Airlines Corp. plans to emerge from bankruptcy as an independent carrier and stay that way through 2007, Chief Executive Doug Steenland said Tuesday.
Northwest and other airlines have been the subject of intense merger speculation. Northwest has hired a merger consulting firm, but said that was so it could be prepared to respond to merger offers.
But Northwest has no plans to merge either before it exits bankruptcy, which it expects to do by June 30, Steenland said.
He declined to comment on reports that Northwest has held talks with Delta or that it is currently in merger talks.
Northwest is scheduled to file details of its reorganization plan by Feb. 15.
“That business plan and that valuation will be predicated on Northwest being a standalone, independent airline,” he said.
Steenland also said Northwest plans to keep its headquarters in the Twin Cities.
US AgentAirline: Pursuit of Delta limited
Ch. 11 exit would end chase by US Airways
Associated Press
Published January 31, 2007
source link
TEMPE, Ariz. — US Airways Group Inc. Chief Executive Doug Parker said Tuesday that he would not pursue a hostile bid for Delta Air Lines Inc. if it emerges from bankruptcy.
“We’ve got a company to run,” Parker said. “We’re not going to keep chasing this thing, even though we’ve got a bunch of people telling us we should.”
Parker said he would hold Delta’s creditors to a Thursday deadline to begin moving forward on its $9.9 billion bid for the Atlanta-based carrier.
To keep the offer alive, Parker said Delta’s creditors have until midnight Thursday to request a delay in a Feb. 7 bankruptcy hearing on Delta management’s bankruptcy plan.
The creditors also must call on both companies to begin the federal regulatory process and a due diligence process that would open Delta’s books for US Airways.
If this doesn’t happen, and Delta emerges from Chapter 11 as a standalone company, Parker said he would no longer pursue the airline. He said it would be more difficult to make money if US Airways were to combine with a standalone Delta.
Ray Neidl, an airline analyst with Calyon Securities in New York, said no matter what happens by Thursday, US Airways probably will continue to look to combine with other carriers.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t do this deal, they wouldn’t be out hunting again pretty soon,” Neidl said.
When US Airways first bid for Delta in November, analysts speculated whether the deal would set off a wave of mergers and acquisitions in the industry. But Parker said Tuesday that he didn’t believe there was much chance for more consolidation.
US AgentThe thought of the USAF flying European tankers makes me want to puke.
I’ll admit it makes me feel a bit queezy too.
Allow the Euros to bid on (and win) “non-strategic” programs only.
US AgentWhy don’t Wireless airplanes fill me with confidence????
My wireless keyboard doesn’t work properly half the time…
My wireless mouse is erractic .
Boeing adjusts after 787 glitch
Tribune staff, wire reports
Published January 26, 2007
source link
Boeing Co. said Thursday that it is scrapping plans to install wireless entertainment systems on its 787 Dreamliner because the technology wouldn’t have worked in all countries. The cancellation of the system won’t delay delivery of the plane next year and won’t increase costs, said spokeswoman Lori Gunter. The Chicago-based company discovered late last year that the frequency it sought in some countries had already been allocated to other uses, she said.
“It’s a bit of negative news flow at a time when the 787 is getting closer to a first flight,” said Mary Anne Sudol, a Caris & Co. analyst in New York. “On the other hand, it could avoid any delays to the schedule.”
The Dreamliner will have 61 miles of wiring, compared with 91 miles on the 767 it will replace, and more than 300 miles on rival Airbus SAS’ double-decker A380. Wiring problems have plagued Airbus’ 555-seat jumbo jet and resulted in a two-year delay in delivery.
The entertainment system, made by Matsu****a Electric Co.’s Panasonic and Thales SA, also had some technical issues, Gunter said. It’s being replaced by an alternate technology that will be developed and certified in time and will also reduce the weight of the jetliners by 150 pounds.
US AgentUS Airways unsure on higher Delta bid
Associated Press
Published January 24, 2007
source link
ATLANTA — US Airways Group Inc. Chief Executive Doug Parker was non-committal Tuesday on whether his company would be willing to further increase its bid to buy Delta Air Lines Inc. to appease Delta’s creditors.
“It’s not a yes,” Parker said when asked if the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline would again boost its offer, valued at $9.8 billion.
But, he quickly added, “We’re always willing to talk to people.”
Parker said Delta’s official committee of unsecured creditors, which will play a key role in deciding whether any merger would move forward, has not indicated that it wants US Airways to offer more money.
Parker said he is in the dark about what the creditors committee is thinking. The committee has not issued a statement about its position since US Airways increased its offer for Delta nearly 20 percent on Jan. 10.
“There’s been no negotiating whatsoever,” Parker said. “No one has come back to us and said we should increase our offer.”
A Feb. 7 bankruptcy court hearing in New York has been scheduled to discuss the disclosure statement to Delta’s reorganization plan, which calls for the Atlanta-based airline to emerge from Chapter 11 by the middle of this year as a stand-alone carrier. If the statement, which includes details of Delta’s operations, is approved, the carrier could begin soliciting votes for approval of its reorganization plan.
US Airways is asking Delta’s official creditors committee to support postponing that hearing. It has said that if that condition is not met by Feb. 1, along with several other conditions, it will revoke its bid for Delta.
Parker said Tuesday that US Airways made the point to the creditors committee as recently as last week that time is running out for action by the committee.
“We made it crystal clear, if there is no action by Feb. 1, then our offer is withdrawn,” Parker said. “They fully understand that now. We’re dead serious about the deadline.”
Delta’s board, meanwhile, could vote on US Airways’ most recent offer this week.
While Delta has opposed a merger with US Airways, and Delta’s chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, has said in the past he doesn’t believe airline consolidation is the wave of the future, he said in a newsletter sent to employees Tuesday that a merger can’t be ruled out for Delta after it exits bankruptcy.
Grinstein said Delta’s board will make decisions about the airline’s future after it exits bankruptcy as a stand-alone company
US Agent…[related]…
Airlines flying high as profit set to take off
Falling fuel costs and a surge in travel demand expected to result in strong earnings for 2007
By Julie Johnsson
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 20, 2007
source link
After years of heavy losses, U.S. airlines are poised for a big rebound, driven by strong interest in travel and falling oil prices.
In a sign that carriers finally have emerged from the turbulence that followed the 9/11 attacks, American Airlines and Continental Airlines have reported an annual profit for the first time in years.
And United Airlines, which flirted with liquidation during its three-year bankruptcy, is expected to show a profit for the first year since 2000 when it reports 2006 earnings on Tuesday.
In all, the 10 largest U.S. carriers combined should post a 2006 gain of between $1.4 billion and $1.7 billion, predicts AirlineForecasts, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm.
This year’s results stand to be even better. Fuel, the second-largest operational expense for most airlines, after labor, is becoming more affordable as oil prices drop. Plus, carriers like United are starting to reap the results of expense cuts made to survive the downturn.
Those top airlines stand to make a total of $5.9 billion in 2007 if crude oil averages $55 per barrel, according to AirlineForecasts. They should make a cumulative $6.9 billion in 2008 if fuel prices stay at current levels. On Friday, crude oil closed at $51.99 per barrel.
“The moderation of oil prices is starting to reveal the progress that’s been made in [cutting] non-energy costs of the business,” said Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Co., an airline consulting firm based in Port Washington, N.Y.
Airlines’ bottom lines could improve further if one or more of the mergers contemplated by some of the industry’s biggest players are consummated, observers say.
US AgentAirbus to stick with freighter version of A380
Bloomberg News
Published January 20, 2007
source link
TOULOUSE, France — Airbus SAS said Friday that it won’t drop its superjumbo freighter program even if it loses the last customer for the cargo version of the A380.
United Parcel Service Inc., which signed a contract for 10 A380 freighters in December 2005, is the last customer for the model, which Airbus planned to begin producing in 2010. A French newspaper said Friday that UPS might cancel its order as early as next week,
“We have no information about any cancellations,” said Airbus spokesman Justin Dubon. “Airbus sees that there’s a market for this type of aircraft, and we want to be in that market.”
UPS is “still studying the matter,” said Norman Black, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based company. “There has been no decision.”
The A380 program has been delayed at least two years because of wiring problems. FedEx Corp. canceled an order for 10 A380 freighters Nov. 7, and International Lease Finance Corp. dropped plans Dec. 4 to take five of the planes.
US AgentTo SOC,
It is not that people dont like the whole US nation. Most of my friends are american and so far I have not met a bad american per se. I have found amaricans decent, kind, and civilised. I like America and americans very much. It is the disagreement with US policies.
Its funny how this statement gets thrown around by America-haters in general…and while it is seen as valid by liberal Americans (who also hate America)…it does little to console the families of innocent Americans killed by terrorists.
The foregin policies of every nation are typically seen as dubious at best…its just that America is the most successful at carrying out theirs.
US AgentChang suggested that Beijing will offer the J-10 to Iran, in hopes of dissuading Washington from selling more F-16s to Taiwan.
LOL…that logic is flawed on so many levels. :rolleyes:
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