JetBlue groundeia os E190 para correção de software

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[b]JetBlue to Idle E190s for Work, Add ExpressJet Planes[b] (Update4)
By Mary Schlangenstein
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- JetBlue Airways Corp., the first airline to fly 100-seat Embraer jets, will start grounding the planes on March 8 to fix persistent software problems.
JetBlue will contract with regional carrier ExpressJet Holdings Inc. for four 50-seat aircraft to replace the 25 Embraer E190s as they're sidelined two at a time. JetBlue is contacting passengers on affected flights about the plane change and giving them $25 travel vouchers.
The E190s' grounding is the latest setback for JetBlue, which last month widened its forecast for a quarterly loss after a winter storm led to cancellation of 1,102 flights. Last year, New York-based JetBlue slashed growth plans to help stem losses.
``They are learning from the Valentine's Day meltdown,'' George Hamlin, head of Fairfax, Virginia-based Hamlin Transportation Consulting, said in an interview. ``They want to get the problem fixed and accommodate their passengers.''
In some cases, the software difficulties produce erroneous instrument readings, none of which interfere with the planes' safe operation, JetBlue spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said in an e- mail.
One flight was diverted last month when cockpit equipment wrongly showed problems with de-icing gear on an E190's wings. The jet flew to another airport instead of New York's John F. Kennedy International, where there was a possibility of icing.
Costs
JetBlue doesn't expect the repair costs to be material, Dervin said. The airline didn't immediately say whether the work would be covered by a warranty on the Embraers. The low-cost carrier began adding the jets in 2005 to serve markets too small for its 150-seat Airbus SAS A320s, of which it has 99.
The work should be finished by April 30, in time ``for the busy summer travel months and beyond,'' Dervin said. She said she didn't have an estimate of how many passengers may be affected.
The ExpressJet planes will fly one daily round trip between Boston and Buffalo, New York; two daily round trips between Boston and Washington-Dulles International Airport; one daily round trip between New York's JFK International and Columbus, Ohio; and two daily round trips between JFK and Richmond, Virginia.
Neither JetBlue nor ExpressJet commented on the financial terms of the replacement flying contract. Planemaker Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, didn't immediately return calls for comment.
`Teething Pains'
Software troubles led to the Embraers being flown about 10 percent less each day than planned, boosting the cost for each seat flown a mile. The E190s flew an average of 9.9 hours daily, compared with 13.1 hours for the A320s in the fourth quarter, JetBlue said last month.
``The E190 is an aircraft with more than its share of teething pains,'' said Douglas Runte, an analyst with RBS Greenwich Capital Markets in Greenwich, Connecticut. ``We expect that these problems can be resolved.''
The repairs will be done by JetBlue and Embraer at an Embraer facility in Nashville, Tennessee.
Shares of JetBlue rose 24 cents, or 2.1 percent, to $11.82 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. ExpressJet shares fell 26 cents, or 3.9 percent, to $6.42 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.
The ExpressJet planes are among 69 that the Houston-based carrier retained from Continental Airlines Inc. this year, and will carry ExpressJet's logo, spokeswoman Kristy Nicholas said. They will be flown by ExpressJet crews, and displaced JetBlue crews still will be paid, Dervin said.
``This is good for ExpressJet,'' said Ray Neidl, an analyst with Calyon Securities Inc. in New York. ``They have planes available and this gives them a little bit of business.''
February Problems
JetBlue already was working to recover from last month's weather-related problems.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general is investigating why the airline left passengers stranded in parked planes at JFK during a storm.
Poor decision making, a communications breakdown and workers overwhelmed by more than 130,000 affected customers extended the impact of the Feb. 14 storm over several days, JetBlue has said. The carrier has said it will spend at least $30 million on travel vouchers, refunds and other costs, leading to the wider first-quarter loss.
In April, JetBlue moved to restore profits by slowing growth, reducing operating costs and boosting worker productivity. The airline delayed by four years the planned addition of 44 aircraft, including some E190s, sold five planes and said it may shed more this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 6, 2007 17:21 EST
fonte: bloomberg