Airline Announces Execution of Purchase Agreements for Airbus Aircraft
Order Announced in June
TEMPE, Ariz., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- US Airways (NYSE: LCC)
and Airbus S.A.S. have entered into definitive aircraft purchase agreements
for 92 new aircraft, including 32 wide-body and 60 A320 Family narrow-body
aircraft, incorporating the terms of the aircraft order announced in June.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050223/LAW097LOGO)
The airline executed a purchase agreement for 22 A350 XWBs in both the
-800 and larger -900 series configuration. This allows for modest
international expansion or replacement of existing older technology
aircraft should market conditions warrant.
The airline will take delivery of the first A350 XWBs in 2014, becoming
the North American launch customer for the fleet type. Purchase rights for
additional aircraft are included, allowing for the eventual retirement of
all other wide-body jets and leaving the airline with a single
intercontinental fleet type of A350 XWBs.
The airline also executed a purchase agreement for 10 A330-200 aircraft
with deliveries starting in 2009 and flexibility to convert to A330-300 or
longer range A340s. These deliveries will facilitate the eventual
retirement of US Airways' B767 fleet.
A third purchase agreement was executed for 60 narrow-body aircraft,
including 10 A319s, 40 A320s and 10 A321s, with conversion rights.
Narrow-body deliveries, including 37 aircraft from a previous purchase
agreement, run from 2008 through 2012. Classic Boeing 737-300/400s will be
eliminated from the fleet as the A320s are delivered. The narrow-body fleet
count is expected to remain stable.
US Airways CEO and Chairman Doug Parker said, "We are very pleased to
have cemented our order with Airbus and look forward to continued success
as we add these new safe, efficient and comfortable airplanes to our fleet.
Our employees will benefit from new, state-of-the-art aircraft in which our
customers will receive the great service they deserve and expect."
US Airways is the fifth largest domestic airline employing more than
36,000 aviation professionals worldwide. US Airways, US Airways Shuttle and
US Airways Express operate approximately 3,800 flights per day and serve
more than 230 communities in the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Caribbean and
Latin America. The new US Airways -- the product of a merger between
America West and US Airways in September 2005 -- is a member of the Star
Alliance network, which offers our customers 16,000 daily flights to 855
destinations in 155 countries worldwide. This press release and additional
information on US Airways can be found at http://www.usairways.com. (LCCG)
-Fly with US-
Forward Looking Statements
Certain of the statements contained herein should be considered
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be
identified by words such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "indicate,"
"anticipate," "believe," "forecast," "estimate," "plan," "guidance,"
"outlook," "could," "should," "continue" and similar terms used in
connection with statements regarding the outlook of US Airways Group, Inc.
(the "Company"). Such statements include, but are not limited to,
statements about expected fuel costs, the revenue and pricing environment,
the Company's expected financial performance and operations, future
financing plans and needs, overall economic conditions and the benefits of
the business combination transaction involving America West Holdings
Corporation and US Airways Group, including future financial and operating
results and the combined companies' plans, objectives, expectations and
intentions. Other forward-looking statements that do not relate solely to
historical facts include, without limitation, statements that discuss the
possible future effects of current known trends or uncertainties or which
indicate that the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be
predicted, guaranteed or assured. Such statements are based upon the
current beliefs and expectations of the Company's management and are
subject to significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the
Company's actual results and financial position to differ materially from
the Company's expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are
not limited to, the following: the impact of high fuel costs, significant
disruptions in the supply of aircraft fuel and further significant
increases to fuel prices; our high level of fixed obligations and our
ability to obtain and maintain financing for operations and other purposes;
our ability to achieve the synergies anticipated as a result of the merger
and to achieve those synergies in a timely manner; our ability to integrate
the management, operations and labor groups of US Airways Group and America
West Holdings; labor costs and relations with unionized employees generally
and the impact and outcome of labor negotiations; the impact of global
instability, including the current instability in the Middle East, the
continuing impact of the military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the potential impact of future
hostilities, terrorist attacks, infectious disease outbreaks or other
global events that affect travel behavior; reliance on automated systems
and the impact of any failure or disruption of these systems; the impact of
future significant operating losses; changes in prevailing interest rates;
our ability to obtain and maintain commercially reasonable terms with
vendors and service providers and our reliance on those vendors and service
providers; security-related and insurance costs; changes in government
legislation and regulation; our ability to use pre-merger NOLs and certain
other tax attributes; competitive practices in the industry, including
significant fare restructuring activities, capacity reductions and in court
or out of court restructuring by major airlines; continued existence of
prepetition liabilities; interruptions or disruptions in service at one or
more of our hub airports; weather conditions; our ability to obtain and
maintain any necessary financing for operations and other purposes; our
ability to maintain adequate liquidity; our ability to maintain contracts
that are critical to our operations; our ability to operate pursuant to the
terms of our financing facilities (particularly the financial covenants);
our ability to attract and retain customers; the cyclical nature of the
airline industry; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel;
economic conditions; and other risks and uncertainties listed from time to
time in our reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be
other factors not identified above of which the Company is not currently
aware that may affect matters discussed in the forward-looking statements,
and may also cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed. All forward-looking statements are based on information
currently available to the Company. The Company assumes no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect actual
results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such
estimates. Additional factors that may affect the future results of the
Company are set forth in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the
Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2007,
which is available at http://www.usairways.com.
SOURCE US Airways
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http://www.usairways.com
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CONTACT:
US Airways, +1-480-693-5729
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