Pilots accept France-only Transavia expansion A


ir France-KLM’s plan to develop low-cost affiliate Transavia’s domestic operation has cleared its last major hurdle after the flag car- rier’s largest pilots’ union approved


the proposal. The pilot union, Syndicat National des


Pilotes de Ligne (SNPL) accepted Transavia’s expansion in France under the condition a previ- ously proposed project to develop the low-cost unit across Europe be shelved. Pilot opposition to plans for Transavia’s European expansion sparked a record two-week strike in September that cost Air France an estimated 330 million euros ($408.9 million). The accord came after the SNPL revealed


results of a pilots’ referendum that saw 53 per cent of participants backing Transavia’s devel- opment in France - a figure that increased to 60 per cent among SNPL members. More than 200 Air France pilots have volunteered to fill the 72


positions available at Transavia France and the agreement will also see the introduction of inte- grated career management for Air France and Transavia pilots, as well as a joint seniority list. Air France chairman and chief executive


officer, Frédéric Gagey, says: “We welcome the positive outcome of this consultation which puts an end to a period of uncertainty. The majority


Weak LatAm hits LATAM


LATAM AIRLINES has seen year-on-year cargo volumes de- cline in November by 2.5 per cent to 394 million revenue tonne kilometres (RTK), because of weak cargo volumes into Latin America.


The November result is slightly above October, when RTK was 393 million. It is substantially above the September cargo figures, when its RTK was 349 million. The November is the highest RTK figure of the year, yet it is still down on 2013. In January, RTK was 351 million. No figures were released for February and March. In April, RTK was 360 mil- lion, rising to 364 million in May. It dropped to 328 million in June before rising to 346 million in July. It dipped slightly in August to 344 million and rose a small amount in Sep- tember to 349 million. LATAM Airlines says: “Cargo traffic decrease was driven by weaker imports into Latin America.” The RTK has dropped in every month of 2014 except Jan- uary and October, when it rose by 0.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively. February saw a decline of 0.8 per cent, followed by drops of 6.6 per cent in March and 11.5 per cent in April, the biggest fall of the year. May saw a decline of 0.7 per cent, fol- lowed by a drop of 5.1 per cent in June. July saw the smallest decline of the year of 0.4 per cent. August was down by 1.9 per cent and September saw a drop of 3.2 per cent. Year-to-date (YTD) RTK is down 2.9 per cent to 3.9 billion.


The weak cargo volumes throughout 2014 have led to losses. In the third quar- ter of 2014 LATAM made a loss of $107.8 million,


which it blamed on the weakness of South American econ- omies. LATAM chief executive officer, Enrique Cueto (see picture), says: “Results have not met our expectations, mainly because we are facing a context with increased competition, a weaker macroeconomic scenario in South America, especially in Venezuela and Argentina and depre- ciated local currencies.” Available tonne kilometres (ATK) fell by 3.8 per cent in November to 641 million. In January ATK was cut by 4.8 per cent, followed by bigger drops in February, March and April of 5.7 per cent, 9.2 per cent and 11.5 per cent, respec- tively. May saw a drop of 4.4 per cent, followed by a bigger decline in June of 6.4 per cent. ATK in July was down 5.3 per cent, followed by a 5.6 per cent drop in August. It fell 3.6 per cent in September. October saw the smallest drop of the year of 2.5 per cent before declining by 3.8 per cent in November. YTD ATK is down 5.7 per cent to 6.6 billion. On a positive note, the load factor in November rose by 0.8 percentage points to 63.9 per cent. The load factor has risen in every month of 2014 except April, when it stayed the same.


ACW 15 DECEMBER 2014 3


of pilots have chosen to accompany us in our growth strategy on the low-cost market with Transavia.” September’s two week strike - over a dispute between Air France-KLM and the SNPL which feared expansion of the budget airline across Europe would see jobs being exported - cost the airline an estimated 20 million euros a day. It contributed to a 79.2 per cent reduction in profits for the first nine months of 2014 com- pared to the same period of the previous year. Air France-KLM cargo revenue for the first nine months of 2014 contributed to the airline’s overall profit drop after it fell by six per cent to 1.9 billion euros, making a loss of 181 million euros compared to 184 million euros for the same period of 2013 . The company says it remains committed to


its strategic plan of breaking even by 2017 and being profitable by 2020, part of which involves cutting its freighter fleet from 14 to five by the end of 2016.


NEWSWEEK WORLDNEWS


TS-TECHNIK, a subsidiary of Russia’s UTair Group, has won the Europe- an Aviation Safety Agency’s EASA Part-145 certification. This allows TS-Technik to carry out repairs on aircraft components used by UTair fleet and TS-Technik customers in Russia and abroad. TS-Technik is the main provider of base and line technical maintenance services for aircraft of the UTair Group fleet.


NORBERT DENTRESSANGLE has announced the appointment of Chris- tophe Bigot to head up its US air and sea business. Bigot will develop Nor- bert Dentressangle business in the high-tech, luxury and fashion goods, aerospace, chemicals and project cargo sectors.


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