20 May 2019

North America Newsletter 20 May

Air Canada enters into Exclusive Agreement with Transat A.T. Inc. to pursue a Combination of the two Companies Air Canada announced 16 May that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Transat A.T. Inc. (Transat) regarding the proposed purchase by Air Canada (ACDVF) of all issued and outstanding shares of Transat and its combination with Air Canada. The proposed transaction, valued at approximately $520 million or $13.00 per share of Transat (on a fully-diluted basis), will create a Montreal-based global travel services company in leisure, tourism and travel distribution operating across Canada and internationally. Air Canada has all the necessary funding required to complete the transaction which is accordingly not subject to financing conditions. Air Lease Corporation Announces Pricing of Public Offering of $750 Million of Senior Unsecured Medium-Term Notes Air Lease Corporation announced 16^th May the pricing of its public offering of $750 million aggregate principal amount of 3.750% senior unsecured medium-term notes due June 1, 2026. The sale of the Notes is expected to close on May 23 subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, the purchase of commercial aircraft and the repayment of existing indebtedness. American Airlines Group Announces Pricing of Unsecured Senior Notes American Airlines Group Inc. announced 16 May that it priced $750.0 million aggregate principal amount of unsecured senior notes due 2022. The offering was increased from a previously announced size of $350.0 million aggregate principal amount of notes. The notes will have an interest rate of 5.000% per annum and are being issued at a price equal to 100% of their face value. The notes will be guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Company’s direct wholly-owned subsidiary, American Airlines, Inc. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund contributions to its pension plans. American Airlines Welcomes Tentative Approval of Additional Service at Tokyo Haneda International Airport American Airlines welcomes the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) tentative approval of additional service at Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND). American was tentatively granted authority to operate a daily flight between HND and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and a second daily flight between HND and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Boeing Statement on 737 MAX Certification and Return to Service Boeing has completed development of the updated software for the 737 MAX, along with associated simulator testing and the company’s engineering test flight. To date, Boeing has flown the 737 MAX with updated MCAS software for more than 360 hours on 207 flights. Boeing is now providing additional information to address Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requests that include detail on how pilots interact with the airplane controls and displays in different flight scenarios. Once the requests are addressed, Boeing will work with the FAA to schedule its certification test flight and submit final certification documentation. Frontier Airlines' Flight Attendants Ratify Five-Year Collective Bargaining Agreement Frontier Airlines and its flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), announced the ratification of a new five-year collective bargaining agreement today. Of the 88 percent of eligible flight attendants who voted, 94 percent cast ballots in favor of the agreement. Hawaiian Airlines Awarded Tentative Approval for a New Haneda Route Hawaiian Airlines received a preliminary decision from the U.S. Department of Transportation to allocate a new slot to the airline for expanded service to Haneda Airport. This is a critical step toward gaining rights to provide additional service between Honolulu and Tokyo before the start of the 2020 Olympic Summer games.  The allocation is contingent upon the successful conclusion of consultations by the Government of Japan with affected local governments and communities. Jetlines Announces a Definitive Lease Agreement with SmartLynx for Two Airbus A320 Aircraft in Line for December Launch Canada Jetlines announced 16 May that it has entered into definitive lease agreement with its partner, SmartLynx Airlines SIA, for two Airbus A320 that will be available for delivery in Q4 2019 in line with the expected commencement of Jetlines’ operations. Jetlines has set a launch of commercial service targeted for December 17 using Vancouver as Jetlines’ home base. U.S. Department of Transportation Tentatively Grants United Airlines Authority to Operate New Service to Tokyo Haneda The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced 16 May that United Airlines was tentatively granted a total of four daily nonstop flights to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND). The slots will be allocated for flights from United's hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Pending completion of an aviation agreement between the U.S. and Japanese governments later this year, the flights are expected to begin service by the summer of 2020. WestJet ratifies three-year agreement with WestJet flight dispatchers WestJet announced 19^th May that WestJet flight dispatchers, represented by the Canadian Airline Dispatchers Association (CALDA), voted 90% favour of a three-year agreement. The vote does not include WestJet Encore. The agreement starts May 18 and expires May 18, 2022. Acumen Aviation © 20 May 2019 All Rights Reserved.