Transportation Industry

Company Watch - AirTran Airways

AirGuide Business, July 14, 2008

7/14/2008

AirTran Airways flew 1.89 billion RPMs in June, up 15.5% from the year-ago month. Capacity rose 13% to 2.23 billion ASMs and load factor improved 1.8 points to 84.7%. 7/16/2008

AirTran Airways has signed an exclusive agreement with JET Aircraft Maintenance Inc. to provide engine wash services, which the low-fare carrier says will help improve operating costs by saving on fuel. JET Aircraft Maintenance is a designated service provider of Pratt & Whitney Global Service Partners EcoPower engine wash services. AirTran will use EcoPower on its fleet of 143 aircraft. Over time, AirTran expects the agreement to save about one million gallons of fuel annually because EcoPower washes reduce fuel burn by as much as 1.2 percent. This, the company said, will accrue to the bottom line at a time of soaring fuel prices. 7/16/2008

AirTran Airways will cut 180 pilots and 300 flight attendants effective Sept. 6, Senior VP-Marketing and Planning Kevin Healy told the Associated Press yesterday. The carrier said last week it would impose a 15% pay cut on officers and a 5%-8% cut on most staff. As for the job cuts, Healy said AirTran will offer voluntary leave for employees with at least five years of service in a deal under which medical benefits and flight privileges would be maintained for 6-12 months. The LCC had been bucking the capacity-reducing trend of US carriers over the past two years with major expansion, but owing to fuel costs and a slow economy it decided in the spring to slash capacity for the last third of 2008 and 2009. 7/7/2008

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