• Bankruptcy Protection Sought ---the airline filed for protection from creditors today after one of its 767-300s was re-possessed by the lessor in Calgary on 27August enroute from the UK to Vancouver.  This left passengers stranded.  At the same time, one of the airline's Boeing 757s was seized in Glasgow due to non-payment of fees.  This prompted the airline to file for CCAA protection in Canada and similar filing in the UK to protect Zoom UK Airlines.  Zoom employed 450 people in Canada and 260 in the United Kingdom before the shutdown.   A statement from Hugh Boyle, executive chairman of the airline said the company's British and Canadian operations "have sought creditor protection by filing legal notices of intention to appoint an administrator in both the UK and Canada."  The Ottawa-based discount carrier owes money to a lot of airports, including $400,000 to the Calgary Airport Authority.  In Ottawa, passengers learned that their flight to Glasgow was first delayed and then cancelled.  In Halifax, 213 passengers had to get off an Ottawa-bound plane that was grounded Wednesday due to a maintenance issue, and are now stranded there.  

• Labour Problems ---on July 25th the Minister of Labour rules that Air Canada must live up to its labor-code obligations to laid-off workers as it embarks on a plan to cut 2,000 jobs to deal with surging fuel prices.  The airline said the ruling would not affect its plans to complete its cuts by November 1.  "I have instructed labor program officials to monitor the situation to ensure that any affected employees receive their entitlements under the Canada Labor Code," Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn said in a statement.  Air Canada had asked for a waiver from its labor code obligations after it announced the cuts in June.  Union officials had argued there was no justification for Air Canada to be exempted.  Under the rules, employers cutting 50 or more jobs must notify the minister, union officials and nonunion employees at least 16 weeks before the termination date.  They must also establish a joint planning committee to make all reasonable efforts to develop an adjustment program for the terminated staff.  

• John Wayne? ---Aviation Week magazine reported that an Air Canada A319 aircraft was sent to John Wayne airport in Orange County (SNA) in July to undergo trials for possible future service there.  The trials were completed on July 22nd and included five departures with the aircraft ballasted with newspapers to simulate full passenger loads.  Air Canada has been on a waiting list of airlines wishing to operate from SNA since 2001.  No final decision has been made by the airline as yet or proposed start date.

• July Traffic Results ---for the month of July Air Canada reported a load factor of 83.0 per cent on a consolidated basis with Jazz, matching a July 2005 record, versus 81.8 per cent in July 2007, an increase of 1.2 percentage points.  System traffic decreased 0.6 per cent on a capacity decrease of 2.0 per cent system wide.  The mainline carrier flew 0.1 per cent fewer revenue passenger miles (RPMs) compared to last July.  Capacity decreased by 1.8 per cent, resulting in a load factor of 84.0 per cent for the month compared to 82.5 per cent in July 2007.  Jazz, from which Air Canada purchases regional capacity, flew 7.1 per cent fewer RPMs in July 2008.  Capacity decreased 4.3 per cent, resulting in a load factor of 72.1 per cent, compared to 74.2 per cent in July 2007.   

• Asset Sales? ---Air Canada may raise up to C$800million selling and leasing back planes and other inventory, it said on August 8th after reporting its second-quarter profit fell 21 percent due to surging fuel costs.  The has tallied the worth of numerous assets and will study in the coming months how much cash to extract amid tough times in the industry.  Meanwhile Air Canada parent company ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. said it expects to take another two or three months deciding how to part with its 75 percent stake in the airline and wind up operations, an effort that has already been delayed this year in the industry's downturn.  Alternatives include selling its stake via a secondary offering, buying back the minority interest and then amalgamating the firms, or selling out to private equity.  

• Aeroplan Profit Falls ---the second-quarter profit a Groupe Aeroplan Inc. fell 36 percent as its cost of rewards and other expenses rose, the consumer loyalty program operator said.  Aeroplan earned C$31.5 million, or 16 cents a share, down from year-earlier C$49.5 million, or 25 cents a share.  Despite the drop in earnings, shares of Aeroplan rose 23 cents, or nearly 2 per cent recently on the Toronto Stock Exchange.  

• Luxembourg Application ---Air Canada has applied to the Canada Transportation Agency (CTA) for a license to operate an international air service using large aircraft on a scheduled code-share basis only between Canada and Luxembourg.  The CTA has granted the request and issued the necessary licence documents.  No details have been announced by the airline yet as to when this may be implemented.  The current licence approval is valid until August 15, 2009.

• Schedule Cuts ---the Air Canada reservation system has been uploaded with the new winter schedule showing the reduced service on many routes.  Toronto-Tokyo non-stop flights will be suspended for the winter with plans to resume in the spring.  Instead, a 777-300 will operate Toronto-Vancouver-Tokyo on a daily basis.  Halifax-London(LHR) and Edmonton-London daily flights will be reduced to four times weekly service using 767-300 equipment.  These cuts are in addition to those mentioned in the July 24 news update.

• Fleet Reconfiguration ---the Airbus A320 fleet is in the process of being re-configured to 14 Executive Class (from 20 now) and 132 Economy Class seats (from 120 now).  The program is to better match capacity with demand and to help reduce cost per available seat mile due to high fuel prices.  The A320 fleet retrofit will be complete by the first quarter of 2009.  The A321 fleet reconfiguration to 20 Executive Class and 154 Economy Class seats is already complete.  The A319s will remain at 14 and 106 configuration.  

• More Mexico ---WestJet Vacations announced on July 29th the introduction of seasonal non-stop service to two new international sun destinations in Mexico, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta.  These new sun destinations are part of WestJet's enhanced winter schedule, which also includes increased frequency to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Palm Springs, Orlando, Honolulu, Maui, Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan and Nassau from many cities across Canada.  Non-stop flights from Vancouver and Calgary to Cancun are operated by WestJet for WestJet Vacations.  As of November 2008 WestJet will fly to 51 destinations, 22 of which are sun destinations in the U.S.A., Mexico and the Caribbean.  By 2013 WestJet will fly to over 65 scheduled destinations.

• Second Quarter Results ---reported on July 30th second quarter net earnings of $30.2million.  This compared to $11.5 million reported in the second quarter of 2007.  Year to date, net earnings in 2008 were $82.7 million compared to $41.4 million earned in the same six months of 2007.  

• Route Cut ---for the second time WestJet is suspending its Toronto-Los Angeles route this fall, and letting service lapse between Calgary and Newark, but says it remains committed to expanding total seat capacity, cushioned by trips to Mexico.  "Toronto to Los Angeles was intended to be year-round," WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said, noting that the service is slated to end November 1st, less than a year after it was re launched.  This route will be shifted to seasonal scheduling because of slowing advance bookings.   This winter the airline will be scaling back various domestic schedules such as the Edmonton-Winnipeg, Calgary-Hamilton and Halifax-Montreal pairings.  

• New London Service ---this winter will see WestJet operated a new direct service from London Ontario to Orlando commencing February 17th, 2009 and running each Tuesday through to the end of April.   Departures will be at 1530 from London.   

• July Traffic Figures ---announced July traffic statistics with a load factor of 79.7 per cent, capacity measured in available seat miles of 1.558 billion and revenue passenger miles of 1.242 billion.  "Give our substantial growth in capacity, we are pleased with our strong load factor" commented Sean Durfy, President and CEO.  

• Dash 8 Wet-Lease ---from September 2 through September 30th Prince George BC airport will be undergoing runway construction.  WestJet has arranged to wet-lease capacity on Hawkair Dash 8-100 aircraft to maintain service to/from Prince George during the month.  The main runway is being extended at Prince George and the Boeing 737s could not operate from the shorter runway.  

• Route Application --WestJet has applied to the CTA for a licence to operate a scheduled international service between Canada and Barbados.  The CTA has granted the request and the appropriate licence documentation has been sent to the airline.  No exact start up date of service has been announced as yet.

• New Cargo Route ---the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) announced on August 12th that Lufthansa Cargo will commence service through Toronto on September 2, 2008.  Twice-weekly MD-11F freighter aircraft will operate from Frankfurt to Toronto and then on to Atlanta GA.   The flights will are scheduled to arrive at 0140hrs in the morning from Frankfurt and depart at 0340hrs to Atlanta on Wednesdays and Sundays.  The aircraft will be handled at the midfield cargo area.

• Licence Application ---has applied to the CTA for a licence to operate a scheduled international service between points in Italy and points in Canada.   The applicant has been designated by the Government of Italy.  The CTA has granted the application and will issue the necessary documentation to the carrier.  

• Frequency Reductions ---in addition to previously announced cut of the Toronto-Anchorage-Hong Kong service this winter CPA has announced more cuts to its Vancouver-Hong Kong service as high fuel prices force the airline to look for more profitable routes.  Effective October 26th the Vancouver route will be served by 14 flights a week, down from 21 flights a week now and 17 flights a week starting September 16th.  Aircraft will be redeployed to potentially more profitable routes in Australia, Europe and the Middle East.  

• Quebec City Year Round --announced on July 30th that the airline will continue flying year-round between Quebec City and Toronto City Centre Airport (YTZ) after its summer schedule concludes on September 2nd.  The ongoing roundtrip flights will operate every weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with daily summer service resuming next year.  Special holiday schedules, including everyday flights from December 17 to January 7 are also part of the program.  Detailed flight schedules are available at their web site www.flyporter.com 

• Financial Results ---CAE said its quarterly profit rose 21 per cent as revenue grew along with demand for its flight simulator and training services.  Net profit was C$46.1 million, or 18 cents a share, up from C$38.7 million, or 15 cents a share in the same period last year.  CAE said it was awarded a C$138.2 million in military contracts in the quarter and announced a series of military contracts worth about C$106 million. The Montreal-based company has been expanding its more stable military business to reduce its reliance on the less predictable commercial flight simulator market.  The company has also been expanding geographically.  In the civil segment, CAE won orders for 13 full-flight simulators and continues to expect a total of about 34 orders for the year.  

• Second Quarter Results ---reported its financial and operating results for the 6-month period ending June 30, 2008.  A total of 16.1 million passengers were processed at Toronto International Airport in the first half of 2008, a 5.7 per cent increase compared to the same 2007 period.  Effective January 1, 2008 the GTAA reduced landing fees and terminal charges 3.0 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively.  The GTAA announced a further 25 per cent reduction of landing fees for cargo operations that will be effective January 1, 2009.  For the second quarter revenue over expenses was $7.2 million, an improvement of $10.4 million compared to revenues under expenses of $3.2 million for the same period of 2007.  Total operating expenses, including ground rent, were $130.2 million in the second quarter of 2008.  

• New Facility ---the HIAA announced on August 7th that it will build a new combined services complex to house its fire hall and maintenance facility.  The $24 million complex will combine HIAA's emergency response services (ERS) and maintenance functions.  It will replace the current fire hall built in 1981, and the airport's original maintenance garage, which has been in operation since 1960.   The 6,000 square metre complex will be energy efficient and built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design specifications, the highest standard in green building design as recognized by the Canadian Green Building Council.  Its airside location will allow for optimal emergency response, meeting both Transport Canada and ICAO standards for response times. The first phase of construction will begin immediately, with an expected opening in the fall of 2009.  

• June Traffic ---announced July 28th that its traffic figures for June 2008, as measured in weighted charging units for en -route, terminal and oceanic air navigation services, in comparison to the same month in 2007.  The traffic in June increased by an average of 4.7 per cent and fiscal year-to-date traffic was 6.3 per cent higher than in 2007.  

• New Orders ---announced that its Landing Gear Division has been awarded additional contracts for the repair and production of landing gear components mainly for the B-2, C-5, F-16, P-3 and T-37 aircraft, essentially from the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy.  Production will be spread out over the next four years, with deliveries expected to start in fiscal year 2009.  The combined value of the contracts is more than $15.8 million.  

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• New Aircraft ---announced on August 6th that its's first Boeing 757-200 Freighter Aircraft has joined it's fleet of thirty three aircraft.  This aircraft is capable of uplifting a maximum cargo payload of 80,500 pounds.  An increase of 33% over the 727-200 aircraft.  The aircraft was seen operating between Hamilton and St. John's via Moncton several nights last week.   Meanwhile, the company's first of two Boeing 767-200 converted freighters has arrived in Hamilton as well and was seen operating between Hamilton and Calgary last week.  

• Malev to terminate ---effective September 23rd Malev will no longer fly between Toronto and Budapest and will dispose of their two remaining 767-300 aircraft by November to concentrate on Eureopean network only.

• Transaero to cancel---effective September 24th, Transaero are going to stop flying between Toronto and Moscow citing high fuel costs as the prime decision factor.

• Japan Airlines Charters ---once again Japan Airlines will operate some fall foliage charter flights between Japan and Toronto on September 24th, 26th, and 28th utilizing a 747-400 aircraft type.

• Kelowna Flightcraft buys DC-10s ---Kelowna Flightcraft purchased an ex-DAS DC-10-30F from Aerolease International FL and has also agreed to acquire an ex-Variglog DC-10-30F (msn 46949) from Aerolease.

• Felix Airways Order ---Felix Airways of Yemen ordered eight CRJ700s for delivery starting in Sept. 2008 for operation in support of Yemen Airways.

• DHC-6-400 Order ---Montenegro Charter ordered a new DHC-6-400 from Viking Air for delivery in 2nd quarter of 2011.