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Monday, September 20, 2004

Briefs

  • ExpressJet Airlines [XJT] has reached an agreement with its dispatchers, represented by the Transport Workers Union. The new contract covers 74 workers for the next five years. No details were announced. In other news, the ExpressJet pilots recently erected informational picket lines in Houston, Cleveland and Newark marking more than 600 days since the last contract expired on Oct. 1, 2002. The pilots, members of the Air Line Pilots Association, said they are still trying to iron out job security and compensation issues with the company.
  • As Alaska Air Group [ALK] proceeds to cut 900 jobs and close its Oakland, Calif., maintenance facility in an effort to cut costs, Horizon Air said it would cut about 30 of its 3,400 employees. The carriers' holding company hopes to save more than $35 million a year. Many of the jobs are being cut as the carriers hire outside vendors to perform heavy maintenance work, clean the planes and handle some customer service activities.
  • Financially ailing ATA [ATAH] has won a new contract with the U.S. Air Force to provide passenger charter service. The new contract, which begins Oct. 1, is worth about $51 million. However, the carrier expects to have the opportunity to fly additional military charters that could be worth another $200 million. ATA, the parent of Chicago Express, has been providing military charters since 1983. In the first six months of 2004, it was paid $141 million for military charters, or 18 percent of the company's total revenue. Last month, ATA warned investors that because of high debt payments, it might be forced to file bankruptcy this year. The company's stock may be delisted from Nasdaq due to its lack of liquidity.
  • AIR Inc. reports that 850 new pilots were hired in August, bringing the 2004 airline industry hiring to 6,672. Last year the industry hired 4,743 new pilots in the first eight months of the year. Two classes of airlines - nationals and jet operators - hired the most new pilots, 588. The regional carriers fit within either of these two classifications, and are not broken out separately.
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