July 28, 2010 at 11:36 a.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Earnings,
Updated
By Julie Johnsson
Boeing Co. is feeling the squeeze as the Obama Administration pares military spending and the Chicago-based defense contractor is mulling layoffs and other measures to reduce its costs, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney told analysts Wednesday.
Boeing’s second quarter net income and revenues dipped as the aerospace manufacturer delivered fewer airplanes and encountered defense-spending constraints.
Chicago-based Boeing reported a net income of $787 million, down 21 percent from the year ago period, on revenues of $15.6 billion, which declined 9 percent. Although Boeing’s earnings per share of $1.06 were down 25 percent from the prior-year period, they still topped the $1.02 that analysts had estimated. Get the full story »
July 27, 2010 at 8:38 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Chicago executives
By Julie Johnsson
United CEO Glenn Tilton, left, with with Continental Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek after a news conference at The Willis Tower in Chicago, May 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
The new United Airlines is starting to take shape — and there are some surprises.
On Tuesday, Continental Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek announced the senior management team who will lead United after its financial merger with Continental closes in two months.
As promised, the executives reporting to Smisek, who will be United’s post-merger CEO, come from both carriers, and include a cadre of veterans who helped turn Continental around during the mid-1990s. Get the full story »
July 22, 2010 at 2:54 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Updated
By Julie Johnsson
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin America is again planning to enter the Chicago market. Doing so would enable travelers to connect to Virgin Atlantic, pictured here at its 2007 O'Hare debut. (Charles Cherney/Chicago Tribune)
Virgin America plans to wing its way into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport next year, part of an aggressive expansion that could triple the low-cost carrier’s size by 2016.
Virgin intends to challenge the duopoly held by American and United Airlines on direct flights from O’Hare to Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International, flights popular with business travelers and, on occasion, movie stars.
San Francisco-based Virgin, founded in 2007, has quickly won a rabid fan base for its mood lighting and edgy customer amenities. All of its aircraft are outfitted with high-speed Internet connections, while its recently upgraded inflight menu includes less traditional items like tapas plates. Get the full story »
July 22, 2010 at 9:55 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Consumer news
By Julie Johnsson
Controversial low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines is rolling the dice in Chicago, adding new daily flights from O’Hare to gambling havens Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J.
Spirit plans to begin flying to Las Vegas on Nov. 11, 2010, and Atlantic City on March 3, 2011.
The discounter is kicking off the service with a blue-light special: Introductory fares of $9 and $39, each way, for round-trip tickets purchased Thursday or Friday. Get the full story »
July 21, 2010 at 5:53 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes
By Dow Jones Newswires
Severe turbulence on a United Airlines flight from Washington to Los Angeles led to a number of injuries and forced an emergency landing, officials said Wednesday. The Denver Post reported 21 passengers and four crew members were injured including a girl who hit the ceiling but that the injuries were mostly minor. Get the full story »
July 19, 2010 at 12:22 p.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Airports,
Updated
By Julie Johnsson
Boeing CEO James McNerney in front of a 787 which made its international debut at Farnsworth. (Reuters)
Planemaker Boeing Co. unveiled $13 billion in new aircraft orders during the first day of the Farnborough International Airshow, besting the $9 billion in orders reported by rival Airbus SAS as thousands of airplane suppliers and buyers gathered at the largest aerospace trade event of the year.
The flurry of aircraft orders came after two lean years for aircraft manufacturers Chicago-based Boeing and France-based Airbus and signaled that a rebound in the global airline market is well under way.
“The market is clearly coming back and I feel very confident about how we are positioned to regain — and retain — leadership in this business,” Jim Albaugh, CEO of Boeing’s commercial airplane business, told reporters Monday. Get the full story »
July 15, 2010 at 5:28 p.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Crime,
Energy,
Government,
Investigations
By Reuters
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has scheduled a July 29 hearing into last year’s release of a Libyan convicted for the 1988 bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, and related actions by BP.
The committee said Thursday that it will ask officials of BP Plc to testify after the U.K.-based oil giant acknowledged that it had lobbied the British government in 2007 to transfer Libyan intelligence officer Abdel Basset al-Megrahi to Tripoli. The company said it was concerned that his continued imprisonment in Scotland could hurt an offshore oil drilling deal with Libya. Get the full story »
July 15, 2010 at 11:36 a.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Design
By Reuters
A Boeing 787 prepares for its first test flight in December. (AP)
Boeing Co said Thursday that issues raised in its 787 Dreamliner flight tests could delay first delivery of the long-awaited carbon-composite aircraft into the first part of 2011, but the company also expects an uptick in new plane demand over the next two decades. Get the full story »
By Bruce Japsen
The new Orbitz TV commercial. (Orbitz)
Chicago-based Internet travel agency Orbitz Worldwide Inc. today launches a major new advertising campaign touting the information and services consumers can expect when they arrive at their hotels.
The new campaign, developed with New York ad agency BBDO, features a branded tagline, “When You Orbitz, You Know.” Financial terms of the campaign were not disclosed. Get the full story »
July 12, 2010 at 5:35 a.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Design,
Government
By Dow Jones Newswires
European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. will offer prices below its previous ones in order to win a contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with new aerial refueling tankers, German daily Financial Times Deutschland reports Monday, citing industry sources. Get the full story »
July 8, 2010 at 5:42 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Policy
By Julie Johnsson
Chicago-based United Airlines will put to the test new rules that threaten airlines with fines of up to $27,500 per passenger for planes that idle on an airport’s tarmac for more than three hours.
United operated four of the five flights in the U.S. during May that were delayed on the tarmac beyond the new limit mandated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, including one flight that was delayed for nearly five hours. Get the full story »
July 8, 2010 at 1:31 p.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Computers,
Defense,
M&A,
Technology
By Associated Press
Boeing announced its second acquisition in as many weeks, saying it will buy anti-cyber attack software company Narus.
Narus will be a wholly owned subsidiary operating in the Network & Space Systems unit of Boeing’s defense business. Narus also will develop smart grid energy projects, as well as help protect Boeing’s in-house computer network, it said. Get the full story »
July 8, 2010 at 12:27 p.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Defense
By Reuters
Airbus parent EADS has submitted a bid to supply refueling tankers to the U.S. Air Force, the company said Thursday.
“We’re proud of our offering, which is the only one in this competition that is flying and refueling the full array of receiver aircraft,” EADS North America Chairman Ralph Crosby said in a statement. Get the full story »
July 8, 2010 at 11:05 a.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Defense,
Manufacturing
By Associated Press
Aerospace supplier AAR Corp. said Thursday it has been selected by the U.S. Transportation Command to provide airlifts for troops and cargo in Afghanistan. The new contract has an initial term of one-year with four one-year renewal options. It’s valued at $24 million per year.
July 8, 2010 at 10:32 a.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Energy,
Environment
By Associated Press
An experimental solar-powered plane completed its first 24-hour test flight successfully Thursday, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night. The test brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun.
