Business Buzz

Keystone Ground Support announces expansion: The GSE parts supplier will be opening a new branch in Philadelphia on Oct. 18. Keystone has been serving the GSE industry for 35 years. The new branch in Philadelphia is located in Essington, Pa., next to Philadelphia International Airport.

IATA announces new airline industry outlook: The International Air Transport Association revised its 2010 industry outlook and is now projecting a profit of $8.9 billion (up from the $2.5 billion forecast in June). In its first look into 2011, the association estimates that profitability will drop to $5.3 billion. The improved outlook for 2010 is being driven by a combination of factors. On the revenue side, increasing demand and disciplined capacity management are leading to sharply stronger yields pushing revenues higher. At the same time, costs remain relatively stable. Rapidly improving demand has pushed traffic 3-4% above the pre-crisis levels of early 2008. Demand in 2010 is expected to grow by 11% (stronger than the previous forecast of 10.2%) while capacity will only expand by 7.0% (up from the previous forecast of 5.4%). North American carriers are now forecast to make $3.5 billion (up from $1.9 billion). US airlines cut capacity significantly as fuel prices spiked in 2008 and maintained a cautious approach to reinstating capacity to the market this year. The U.S. economy and the resulting freight and air travel growth have grown at a better pace than in Europe. As a result, U.S. airlines have seen a much larger rise in yields than other regions. The industry outlook grows weaker in 2011. The impact of the post-recession bounce from re-stocked inventories will dissipate.

American Airlines to move terminals at SFO: The airline announced it will relocate its operations to San Francisco International Airport’s (SFO) new Terminal 2 in spring 2011 from its current location in Terminal 3. In conjunction with the terminal move, American will construct a brand-new Admirals Club lounge for customers to enjoy before, between or after flights. In the new terminal, American will have 14 ticket counter positions and 20 self-service machines to offer a smooth check-in for its more than 30 daily departures at SFO. Unique in its design and amenities, the approximately 575,000 square foot terminal will boast six security screening lanes, free Wi-Fi throughout the terminal, more comfortable lounge areas with ample electrical outlets, plus 12 restaurants and nine retail stores, including a gourmet market with a wine bar and spa. Once the terminal is completed, it is expected to receive Silver LEED™ Certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Designs (LEED) program.

Zebra Enterprise Solutions (ZES) announces launch of real-time locating system: A division of Zebra Technologies announced the launch of Dart Ultra-Wideband (UWB) Real Time Locating System (RTLS) in the United States, Canada and the European Union. The next generation of the Sapphire UWB product line, Dart UWB provides precise location accuracy and real-time visibility of highly mobile, high-value asset movement. Dart UWB is especially effective in industries characteristic with highly-metallic environments, such as IT, aerospace, financial, federal government and aerospace and defense. Dart UWB also includes a full set of location products certified for use in potentially hazardous and explosive environments as defined by the ATEX Directive in Europe. These intrinsically safe location products have been designed for use in extreme, regulated environments such as petrochemical and other process-focused manufacturing industries.

Continental Airlines moves terminals at Orlando: The carrier moved its operations from Terminal A to Terminal B at Orlando International Airport (MCO), on Sept. 22. Continental’s move centralized its proximity to fellow Star Alliance members United and US Airways, already located in Terminal B. The ticketing and check-in counter was also relocated to Terminal B and Continental’s gates at Orlando International moved from Airside 1 to Airside 3 on Sept. 23. Continental will occupy Gates 33, 35, 36 and 39 in Airside 3.

Partnerships/ Acquisitions/ Contracts

JBT Corporation announces equipment contract for Dulles: JBT Corporation announced that its JBT AeroTech business was awarded a $20.4 million contract by BARC, a joint venture comprised of Balfour Beatty, Azteca Enterprises, H.J. Russell & Company and CARCON Industries, the construction manager for the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) Terminals A and C Re-Gating Project. The contract includes the supply of 39 new Jetway(R) passenger boarding bridges, 21 Jetpower(R) ground power units, 18 JetAire(R) air handling units and other associated equipment and services.

Alitalia Ground Handling at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport implements UFIS Resource Management System: With the assistance of its local partner Softlab, UFIS-AS is delivering its UFIS® Resource Management System. The delivery has been in a four-phased approach. Operational use of rostering and coverage for apron services began in late April with daily deployment, using OPSS-PM, beginning in June. Alitalia is scheduled to begin using rostering and coverage for its passenger services at the beginning of October. This will be followed by operational use of OPSS-PM for passenger services at the end of October.

Gategroup announces acquisition of Cara Airline Solutions: Gategroup and Cara Operations Limited announced that they have reached an agreement for Gategroup to acquire Cara Airline Solutions, Canada’s premier airline catering and logistics provider. When completed, the transaction immediately will establish gategroup’s core brand Gate Gourmet as a major player in the Canadian airline services market, where it currently does not have a presence. Cara Airline Solutions, which operates 10 facilities at some of Canada’s busiest and largest airports, achieves annual revenues of approximately CHF 200 million. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and approvals.

Aviapartner announces new contracts in Dusseldorf: Aviapartner announced it has signed up with Air France and KLM Cityhopper for providing passenger handling services in Düsseldorf, starting Sept. 1. The new contract is an extension to the existing ramp handling services which Aviapartner provided for many years. The company now provides full handling services, which include passenger services (check-in, boarding assistance, baggage tracing services), aircraft handling (loading and unloading of baggage and freight, ground power, cleaning, water and sanitary services, freight and baggage transfer, headset, pushback and towing) and traffic operations (flight documentation, communication, crew briefing and flight supervision).

Compass GSE and eTug merge: Used equipment from Compass GSE and the full line of new electric GSE (eGSE) from eTug are now available under one roof: Compass eGSE LLC. Clients can now select new and used equipment from one website and one vendor. The company said the merger would simplify the operation, lower costs and enable it to better serve its clients.

JBT Corporation announces contract for Edmonton International: JBT AeroTech was awarded a $5.6 million contract for the Edmonton International Airport. The contract includes the supply of Jetway Systems® integrated gate equipment including eight new passenger boarding bridges, seven new ground power and preconditioned air units, as well as additional ancillary equipment and services. The contract award is a key component of Edmonton International Airport’s overall “Expansion 2012” airport development program. Throughthe project, more than 480,000 square feet of terminal space is being added to provide improved air service as well as passenger capacity, comfort and convenience.

Aviapartner implements new IT solution: The ground handling company announced that in order to increase operational efficiency while continuing to deliver high-quality services, it is implementing a new IT solution for its cargo operations. The solution is based on the software delivered by Hermes Logistics Technologies. On Aug. 17, 2010, the first flight was succesfully handled using the new IT solution. Further rollout to all departments within the Amsterdam Cargo operations is ongoing.

Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines complete integration of Amadeus’ passenger service system: One of the world’s largest airline groups flying more than 71 million passengers annually, and Amadeus, a leading travel technology partner and transaction processor for the global travel and tourism industry, announced the group’s successful migration to Amadeus’ Altéa Inventory solution. The migration sees the replacement of the two legacy systems that have served each airline for the last 40 years and marks a major step in the group’s initiative to modernize and consolidate its passenger service system. Fully integrated with Altéa Reservation, the common airline group’s reservation system, Altéa Inventory allows Air France-KLM to benefit from unique capabilities such as real-time seat availability across all direct and indirect channels, including online distributors.

People in the News

Keystone Ground Support announces manager for new branch: The company announced Shannon Mowbray will manage the new branch when it opens in Philadelphia. Mowbray is coming to the company from Piedmont Airlines. At Piedmont she procured GSE spares for the Philadelphia station.

Palmer Johnson Power Systems announces new regional manager: The company promoted Brad Lyons to regional manager of its California sales and service centers. Lyons previously held the position of branch manager at Palmer Johnson’s San Francisco branch since May 2007.