Downsyndrome.com

First he tackled Asperger’s, now Mark Haddon is putting Down’s syndrome in the spotlight with a new drama that takes sibling rivalry to disturbing extremes. By James Rampton

“Last summer, I decided to kill my brother.” Coming Down the Mountain, the first TV drama by Mark Haddon, opens with this provocative line.

But the controversial nature of the film does not end there. David (played by Nicholas Hoult), the putative brother-killer, is in a rage because he feels his life has been ruined by his sibling, Ben (Tommy Jessop), who has Down’s syndrome. David is brutally disdainful of Ben: “Sometimes they change the recipe and you get a brother who is a big potato with eye tentacles. And then you might as well talk to the dog - if you have one.”

Later, a livid David rails at Ben: “Why are you so clumsy and stupid and pathetic? Why do I have to take responsibility for you all the time? You’re not my brother.” At the screening I attended, there were sharp intakes of breath all around the auditorium at the harshness of that line.

David’s fratricidal feelings are exacerbated when he is forced to move with his family from trendy London (and his gorgeous new girlfriend, Gail) to deepest, darkest Derbyshire so Ben can attend a more suitable school.

David vents his fury on his hapless father (Neil Dudgeon): “Everything’s always about Ben. Ben is the reason why I don’t have any friends and why I’m not with Gail anymore. Everything is so Ben can have any easier life. Ben wants a Ferrari and a Swedish masseuse. I’m sick of bloody everything about Ben.” These are certainly not lines transcribed from the Manual of Political Correctness.

Then David hatches a fiendish plan to take Ben up a mountain and dispose of him once and for all. But - without giving the game away too much - Ben emerges in a new light. He displays a perspicacity and a wicked sense of humour that he had previously been too cowed to exhibit. We realise that - like David - we have fallen victim to prejudices about Ben and underestimated him.

Haddon has made his name taking on such difficult subjects. His novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, about a boy with Asperger’s syndrome, became a runaway best-seller. The author, a charismatic man who twinkles like the earring in his left lobe, is well aware that David’s attacks on Ben might make some viewers squirm.

The writer remains unrepentant, however. “I’m sure some people will get the wrong end of the stick about the scenes where David abuses Ben,” admits the 44-year-old. “But no writer can control the response of an audience. You make a film you feel is as real as possible and hope people react as though it were real. The way of creating believable characters is not by conforming to a set of PC rules. I don’t want it to be sanitised.”

The author adds that he worked for some time with people with Down’s syndrome when he left university, so he feels he knows what he is talking about in his portrayal of Ben. “If you’re going to write something dark and funny about disability, you have to feel comfortable with your subject. And the fact that most of the audience will feel uncomfortable helps. Things can be funny when people are uneasy. It softens them up and stops them falling asleep on the sofa. I like those moments where people half-smile and half- wince.”

Even though Coming Down the Mountain has been made with help from the Down’s syndrome Association, Haddon is prepared for criticism. “I hope that people with Down’s syndrome will be chuffed with this film. There is something validating about seeing people like yourself on screen.

“But some people will doubtless hate it. If people like you are portrayed very rarely, then the expectation is that the character will represent all of you. There are so few characters with Down’s syndrome in dramas that when one comes along, he or she carries a heavy burden. It’s like being the only gay man in EastEnders a few years ago.”

Roanna Benn, the producer of the drama, which goes out on BBC1 this Sunday, also trusts that audiences won’t misunderstand Coming Down the Mountain. “Of course the film is not saying people should behave like David does towards Ben. Are people laughing at Ben? Absolutely not. Part of Ben’s personality is that he says these very funny things - he has this tremendous spirit. He’s a fully rounded human being.”

Haddon reckons that is reflected in the actor, too. “What makes Tommy Tommy is his sense of humour. Down’s syndrome is such a small part of who and what he is.”

In person, Jessop is a vibrant, magnetic presence. When asked what was the hardest challenge he faced during the production, he responds, quick as a flash: “We had to re-shoot one scene several times, and I had to eat eight Weetabixes, 10 cookies and five ice creams. I’m not going to do that again in a hurry!”

Jessop, 22, who was selected for his debut TV role from 130 actors with Down’s syndrome, is also well capable of looking after himself. “Was I concerned about being horrible to Tommy?” Hoult asks. “No, he can take care of himself!”

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Twenty-five million U.S. children and adolescents are overweight or nearly overweight. Children, who eat more calories than necessary, gain weight beyond what is needed to support their growing frames. Childhood obesity starts children on a path to health problems that used to be seen only in adults.

Physicians are already treating children exhibiting symptoms of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, metabolic syndrome, asthma, sleep disorders, liver disease and eating disorders.

Parents can make a big difference in their children’s health by making lifestyle changes. Here are some tips to help lower your kid’s obesity risk:

nu2009u2009Provide plenty of fruits and vegetables.

nu2009u2009Make sure portions are child-sized.

nu2009u2009Sit down together to eat meals.

nu2009u2009Exercise together as a family.

Let your children participate in the grocery shopping and the preparation of this pizza recipe. They will learn to make healthy choices by the example you set for them.

To learn more about childhood obesity, talk with your child’s physician or visit http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/ obesity/wecan/.Salsa, Bean and Cheese Pizza

4six-inch corn tortillas

4teaspoons olive oil

1medium onion, chopped

1fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded

and finely chopped

1clove garlic, minced

1cup rinsed and drained black

beans

1cup chopped tomato

4ounces reduced-fat Monterey

Jack, cheddar or mozzarella

cheese, shredded

2tablespoons chopped fresh

cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place tortillas on an ungreased, baking sheet. Lightly brush both sides of each tortilla with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Bake about 6 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp, turning once.

2. In a large skillet, heat remaining 3 teaspoons of oil over medium high heat. Add onion, jalapeno pepper and garlic; cook until onion is tender. Stir in black beans and tomato; heat through.

3. Sprinkle tortillas with half of the cheese. Spoon bean mixture over cheese. Sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese. Bake about 4 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional analysis: 231 calories, 11 grams fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 496 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of fiber.

Melissa Moore, R.D., L.D., is aClinical Dietitian with Stormont- VailHealthCare. Her column runs thesecond and fourth Monday inThe Capital-Journal.

Copyright 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

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To: STATE EDITORS

Contact: Connie Farrow for Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving
Cures, +1-314-808-1158

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Missouri Coalition
for Lifesaving Cures revealed today a consequence of the deceptive
and far- reaching initiative petition filed last week by opponents of
embryonic stem cell research: It is so poorly worded and
scientifically unsound that it would exclude Missourians with common
chromosomal abnormalities like Down, Klinefelter and Turner syndromes
from its definition of "human."

In their blind rush to put their personal ideology ahead of …

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

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SAN CARLOS — Steve Bates’ home isn’t all that different from those of other single men.

He and a roommate share a spacious two-story apartment with a pool table and a pair of comfortable sofas oriented around a television.

And like many single men, he needs help with his cooking. For Bates, however, the difficulty with cooking stems not from mere lack of experience but from the effects of Down syndrome.

But with financial assistance from his parents and counseling from a local nonprofit, Bates, 43, is able to live independently, performing chores around the house and getting together with friends.

Parca, an organization that provides services for developmentally disabled people and their families, provides a counselor who comes over a couple of times a week to help Bates shop for food and make healthy meals. His roommate also is developmentally disabled and gets help from Parca.

Bates said at times he struggles with the various measurements that cooking requires.

“And I sometimes don’t like to touch things that are hot, like the oven or the stove,” he said.

When he was working at Home Depot as a parking lot attendant, Bates also got help managing his finances. He’s not working now, though he’s taking computer classes with Community Gatepath, another nonprofit group, and wants to do volunteer work taking care of pets.

Parca was formed in 1952 by parents of adults with developmental disabilities who challenged the notion that their children should be institutionalized. Today the organization has an annual budget of about $4 million and provides services to roughly 500 people in San Mateo County and the surrounding area, according to Executive Director Diana Conti. Parca began on the premise that developmentally disabled adults “have a right to live in the community,” said Conti. The group provides an array of services to adults with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other conditions.

Steve’s mother, Nancy, a former president of Parca, said the organization takes a long-term approach to the services it provides.

“Ever since he’s been out of high school, they’ve been involved with him as far as independent living,” she said of her son.

Unlike Bates, many people with Down syndrome are not able to live independently. For these individuals, Parca provides assisted- living residential units.

Bates spent several months at Parca’s Cedar Street Home, a group- living arrangement in San Carlos that serves as a workshop in life skills and a launching pad towards independence. Now that he’s on his own, he still keeps in touch with a circle of friends.

“We get together and watch TV and eat some pizza and talk about old times,” said Bates, who likes to watch slapstick comedies and is a diehard San Francisco Giants fan.

He used to date, but he hasn’t lately.

“I need to get back into that,” he said.

Staff writer Aaron Kinney can be reached at (650) 348-4302 or at akinney@sanmateocountytimes.com.

c2007 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior
written permission.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

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Dusty Dutton, a 30-year-old Larkspur woman with Down syndrome, is a successful and self-supporting puppeteer whose shows delight visitors to local farmers markets and children throughout the area.

John Coleman, 45, of Oakland, disabled since undergoing knee surgeries a couple of years ago, cannot get the funding to start his high-tech manufacturing business from the state agency charged with rehabilitating the disabled.

Besides the vast differences in complexity of their business plans, Dutton and Coleman are different in two other ways — Dutton has had the full support of her parents in navigating the state’s agency for the severely developmentally disabled, the Department of Developmental Services.

Coleman, on the other hand, stands alone before the Department of Rehabilitation, a state agency critics say is ill-equipped to help the disabled achieve self-sufficiency through self-employment.

Eight million disabled people live in California; a large proportion of them are children and others who either cannot or do not want to work for themselves.

Still, a huge population of adults who yearn to work falls through the cracks of the two state agencies charged with helping them obtain self-sufficiency, according to those familiar with the challenges of helping the disabled obtain their own businesses.

In California, the disabled are served primarily by the Department of Rehabilitation and the regional centers, a network of 21 nonprofits that serves clients of the Department of Developmental Services.

Officials with those agencies say they work hard on scant resources to provide comprehensive services. Still, they only receive enough money to serve about 300,000 adults combined — less than 4 percent of state’s disabled.

Those who are overlooked could be more independent, find more satisfaction in their lives, participate in the larger community and contribute to the tax base, their supporters say.

Increasingly, people in the field of rehabilitation are learning that self-employment and entrepreneurship can be excellent work solutions for people with physical or mental limitations. These adults have often been assigned to workshops where they receive low wages, are isolated from the mainstream working world and don’t use their talents to their full capacities. In the worst cases, they are sequestered at home or in institutions.

“Until employers eliminate architectural, attitudinal and cultural barriers to hiring, training and sustaining people with all types of abilities in their workplace, many people — even those with the most severe disabilities — have found self-employment to be a viable option,” said Mindy Oppenheim, president of San Francisco-based SEED — Supported Employment Education Designs — which provides training and technical assistance for supported employment.

Overlooked opportunities

The 1990 Census revealed that disabled people have a higher rate of self-employment and small-business experience than the able- bodied, according to information on the Web site of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy.

“Even so,” the Web site said, “entrepreneurship for people with disabilities is often overlooked by government programs and by many people with disabilities as an avenue from the public rolls to self- sufficiency.”

And data suggests that many disabled people are eager to start their own businesses.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration, which funds state vocational rehabilitation programs, said 20 percent to 30 percent of its vocational rehabilitation clients would prefer self-employment, yet only 2.7 percent of successful cases end in new businesses.

There is no record of what becomes of the remaining clients.

The state Department of Rehabilitation serves about 100,000 clients annually. Last year, the agency successfully closed 80 business plans, meaning those clients’ business plans were funded and materialized into sole proprietorships, said Lana Fraser, assistant deputy director for work force development. But the agency keeps no figures on how many people requested that service.

Self-employment opportunities for people with disabilities are still overlooked by state-funded programs.

The funds the state Department of Developmental Services pays vendors haven’t changed since 2002, when a freeze was enforced for the kinds of programs that would support entrepreneurs, said Rocio Smith, executive director of Developmental Disabilities Area Board V, which monitors the services provided by the regional centers in the Bay Area.

In 2006, a minor cost of living adjustment boosted payments to service vendors by 3 percent — or about $142,000 to the clients in Smith’s territory.

Some of that money, Smith said, will help support those who want to open small businesses.

But the freeze still exists. Why is this option so poorly funded?

“We do not see people with disabilities as capable of giving us value,” Smith said. “When they do anything, we say ‘amazing’ when they are just regular folks doing regular things. It’s a civil rights issue that has kept people with disabilities from being integral parts of our society.”

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DALY CITY — Angelito Malimban is a bowler.

He’s not a very good one, but he’s enthusiastic, said Edna Diala of The Arc of San Francisco, a nonprofit agency that supports and advocate for people who have developmental disabilities.

“He gets a strike when he’s lucky,” she said.

There wasn’t much strategy in Malimban’s game on Wednesday, during Fun Day, an event held for developmentally disabled children and adults at Serra Bowl in Daly City.

The 48-year-old San Francisco resident, who has Down Syndrome, merely picked up a red bowling ball with two hands and lightly threw it on the lane, watching it head toward the pins. One pin down, many more to go.

Diala looked on behind him.

“There should be more like this, so they can explore their hidden talents,” she said. “Angelito’s hidden talent is he loves to dance.”

Fun Day celebrated its 14th year on Wednesday. More than 600 people attended the event, primarily put together by the Bay Area Knights of Columbus Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled.

Maxine Frazier, district governor of Lions Club International, whose localdistrict is a co-sponsor, said that Fun Day has gotten bigger and bigger each year.

“It’s an outing for them,” she said proudly. “Look at the their smiles. They are just motivated to come out and have a fun day.”

Marian Mann, of the Daly City Lions, also took note of the happiness, because she knows that at the end of the day, all the clients will leave as winners. Each person who bowled received a medal.

“Seeing their expressions is tear-jerking,” Mann said, before the awards were given out. “They’re so proud, and seeing that is an incredible feeling. This is why I keep doing it.”

Erik Winkler and Odie Reyes of the Burlingame Lions Club were among the 200 volunteers who helped with karaoke and in the lunch room throughout the day. Like Diala, Winkler said he feels there should be more activities similar to Fun Day.

“There’s always room for more,” he said. He has a 39-year-old brother who is mentally disabled living in Millbrae. “This interaction with other people is healthy.”

Staff writer Christine Morente covers faith, families and North County. She can be reached at (650) 348-4333 or at cmorente@sanmateocountytimes.com.

c2007 ANG Newspapers. Cannot be used or repurposed without prior
written permission.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

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The symptoms started in 1983. I woke up in the middle of the night with a pain, as if I were being jabbed with hot needles, running from my knee to my ankle on my right leg. When I started to walk, the symptoms disappeared. I would go back to bed and sleep for another hour and a half and it would start all over again. This went on for three days. Then, the same symptoms began in the left leg. After that, the right leg would start, and after an hour and a half, the left leg. It took a long time to get a diagnosis. A neurologist I went to thought it was a psychological problem because it only happened at night. I finally found a doctor who knew immediately what the problem was and he put me on medication.

You see people sitting on the train with their legs jerking back and forth. But that’s not a typical symptom of restless legs. I run a support group, where what you see is people just getting up to walk. You can almost feel it coming on. You just get up and it goes away. One of the guys in my support group doesn’t want to disturb his wife and children, so he goes down and walks in their building’s laundry room. He always takes a piece of clothing with him to throw into the washer so people won’t be alarmed at his hanging around. I can’t go to the theater at night, only in the afternoon. I request an aisle seat and I sometimes have to leave at the intermission. Ninety minutes is about the length of time I can stay sitting.

It’s definitely in the family. I’m one of eight siblings. All of us have had it or have it. My mother had it. It was not diagnosed, but I remember her saying that at night she had to get up because her knees were hurting her. When I went to the movies with my older sister, she would always stand in the back. The children of my brothers all have it. My nephew’s wife says that sleeping with him is like sleeping with Fred Astaire.

When I first took medication, it felt like I had discovered a miracle. I didn’t know what it was to sleep more than an hour and a half at a time. Now, I get up to six hours’ sleep. We have a wonderful little commercial on television. There’s a chair and the person is supposed to be sitting in the chair, but it’s empty because the person can’t sit.–c.s., 78

COMMENTARY

The pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome (RLs) is poorly understood. symptoms are mediated at several levels of the central nervous system. Dopaminergic neurotransmission and iron metabolism in the subcortical regions of the brain have been implicated. There is evidence suggesting RLS is a primary pain modulation disorder involving central sensitization at the spinal cord level. (1) RLS has been found to follow neurologic insults, so this patient’s pain may result from an interaction between a centrally mediated process and nerve root compression from lumbar disk herniation. This story reminds us that patients do not always present with classic symptoms.

RESOURCES

Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation Web site: http://www.rls.org Patient and physician education, links to support groups

REFERENCE

(1.) Barriere G, Cazalets JR, Bioulac B, Tison F, Ghorayeb I. The restless legs syndrome. Prog Neurobiol 2005;77:139-65.

CAROLINE WELLBERY, MD

COPYRIGHT 2007 American Academy of Family Physicians
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

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His great-grandfather was Utah artist Avard Fairbanks, whose sculptures stand in the U.S. Capitol. But, frankly, Joe Fairbanks isn’t the least bit impressed.

What Joe likes is to draw in a lined spiral notebook, his nose right up against the paper. Give him a ballpoint pen and without a moment’s hesitation he will draw you one of the people that march continuously through his head. These drawings are at once deliberate and whimsical, part Pokemon, part Paul Klee. Joe, born 24 years ago with Down syndrome, is content to fill notebook after notebook, inspired by the pure joy of putting pen to paper.

But Ruth Lubbers, executive director at Art Access in Salt Lake City, thinks that with some help Joe’s art could reach a larger audience.

Earlier this summer, Lubbers paired Joe up with Utah artist Paul Heath. As part of Art Access’ Partners Program, the two men have been getting together twice a week so that Paul can help Joe see more possibilities — staying true to Joe’s style but adding color, expanding it to clay and wood, and scanning it digitally to make it reproducible.

The established artist and the fledgling artist sit around the dining room table in Paul’s Rose Park home, next to the living room that is filled with tubes of paint instead of furniture. Paul’s work is whimsical, too, generally taking a nostalgic sense of place and turning it slightly askew. His three-dimensional piece called “North Temple,” for example, features motel signs, Wonder Bread and a lariat in a combination that both evokes and caricatures another era.

Joe lives more in the present. On the other hand, he’s also drawn to the art of ancient Egypt. Joe can’t read, but he loves hieroglyphics and has borrowed some of the images for his own work. On a recent afternoon, flipping through the pages of a tome called “Hidden Treasures of Antiquity,” he suddenly was attracted to a photo of an Egyptian tomb and its ancient lettering. He turned to a clean page in his notebook and began copying the markings.

Joe loves the English alphabet, too. Sometimes, on his drawings of creatures that look like cheerful aliens, he will write a random set of letters: “SPLT” maybe, or “ROKS.”

Joe is currently serving a two-year mission at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ Bishop’s Storehouse, where he helps other special-needs workers bag apples and potatoes. He also has a job teaching other adults with Down syndrome how to do chores such as sweeping the floor.

“He’s very exacting,” says his mom, Julia Koerner.

“Joe doesn’t care who he’s related to,” Koerner says, referring to several noted artist relatives, including great-grandpa Avard and an uncle who once was curator of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. “He keeps us all grounded.”

Paul, too, has learned lessons from Joe as the two work side by side.

“Joe helps me take my own art seriously,” Paul says, “To know there is a real beauty in creating, that if you’re not following what’s in your heart, you’re not doing your job.”

Joe and Paul’s artistic partnership will be on display, along with the work of six other mentor-artist partnerships, Aug. 17 though Sept. 14 at Art Access Gallery, 230 S. 500 West. There will be an artists’ reception during the monthly Gallery Stroll, Aug. 17, 6-9 p.m. The program includes artists with disabilities or “other life situations that prevent them from fully participating in the mainstream arts community,” says Lubbers.

E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com

Copyright C 2007 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.

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Aug 13, 2007

JAL Group is looking to build on its significant financial turnaround with a greater commitment to routes oriented toward business travelers. From Oct. 28 it will add a 14th weekly Tokyo Narita-Guangzhou flight and increase NRT-New Delhi service to daily from five-times-weekly. It will maintain the recent increase to 13 weekly flights on its NRT-New York JFK service but will decrease frequencies to Los Angeles (to seven-times-weekly from eight), Paris Charles de Gaulle (to seven from 10) and Hong Kong (to 14 from 17). JAL is rolling out its Shell Flat Seat on NRT-New Delhi and Nagoya-Bangkok services and plans to introduce a charter service between Tokyo Haneda and Shanghai Hongqiao. On the cargo front, it will operate to Vietnam for the first time with twice-weekly Osaka-Ho Chi Minh City flights due to begin Oct. 28 aboard its third 767-300F. The aircraft will be used to replace certain 747-200F frequencies within Asia. Aug 8, 2007

Japan Airlines reported its load factor on Hawaii, transpacific and South Korean flights is forecast to be "particularly high" during Japan’s peak summer travel period Aug. 10-19. Hawaii’s load factor for that period is expected to be 94 percent for a total of 56,462 available seats. Though that figure is down 1.1 percent from the same week in 2006, load factors on Hawaii routes this summer are well above those for JAL routes to Europe, Southeast Asia and Guam. Aug 8, 2007

Japan Airlines said it would focus on high-profit, high-growth passenger routes to more Asian destinations beginning in late October. The expansion will include increased passnger flights to China and the U.S., and increased cargo flights to Vietnam and Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. Aug 8, 2007

Japan Airlines domestic flights had a string of safety problems, such as an engine catching on fire, has also pushed customers to rival All Nippon Airways. Banking sources said in May that Japan Airlines had asked its main lenders to swap part of its USD$14 billion of debt for equity to prop up its capital. But a media report has since suggested that plan is now on hold in the face of reluctance from its banks and because the airline thought it might obtain better terms if it waited until progress on restructuring was clearer. Analysts have warned of the risk of share dilution with a capital increase. Aug 6, 2007

Japan Airlines’ first-quarter loss narrowed by two-thirds, helped by increases in revenue on international routes and efforts to cut staffing costs, the company said on Monday. The result put the restructuring airline, Asia’s biggest by revenue, slightly ahead in its plan to post a net profit for the first time in three years, although not enough to bump up its full-year outlook. Aug 6, 2007

Japan Airlines has forecast an operating profit of JPY35 billion yen and a net profit of JPY7 billion yen for the year to end-March. It has taken longer to recover than its peers from the aftermath of September 11 and an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Asia, weighed down by heavier oil costs as it uses a higher proportion of older gas-guzzling jumbo jets and comparatively high personnel costs. Aug 6, 2007

Japan Airlines; Kanayama was tight-lipped about possible capital raising, saying only that airlines were always looking at ways to improve their capital but that the company had nothing to disclose at this time. Efforts to cut personnel costs, however, appear to be bearing fruit, and sources familiar with the matter have said Japan Airlines aims to trim 4,300 jobs by April 2009, a year earlier than planned. Aug 6, 2007

Japan Airlines said its April-June operating loss came in at JPY8.5 billion yen (USD$73 million), down from a JPY31.9 billion yen loss a year earlier. Air transport revenue rose 3 percent, lifted by brisk business passenger demand on routes to China and Southeast Asia, fuel surcharges and the axing of unprofitable routes. The troubled carrier rolled out a restructuring plan in February this year that focused on using smaller planes to improve fuel efficiency, reducing jobs, overhauling its pension system and selling non-core assets. Aug 6, 2007

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COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

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Aug 13, 2007

Air Astana

Air Astana, Kazakhstan’s flag airline, carried 970,000 passengers in the first half of 2007, up 42% over the year-ago semester. It expects to carry more than 2 million passengers for the full year. First-half capacity increased 44% to 3.1 billion ASKs as the fleet grew to 18 aircraft with the delivery of two 767-300ERs, two A320s and two A321s. The carrier said its fleet will number 34 by 2014. Aug 8, 2007

Air China, Cathay Pacific Airways, SkyWorks Capital

Connecticut-based SkyWorks Capital has teamed with Cathay Pacific Airways parent Swire Pacific and Air China to create SkyWorks Capital Asia Ltd. The new Hong-Kong based joint venture, ownership of which is evenly divided between SkyWorks, Swire and Air China Development Corp. (Hong Kong), will give the aerospace and aviation advisory firm a presence in the booming Asia/Pacific market to complement its major role in the US. Aug 10, 2007

Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways posted a 55 percent rise in first-half earnings on Wednesday, on strong passenger demand and synergies from a buyout of rival Dragonair. Cathay said on Wednesday it would focus on taking advantage of its newly acquired Dragonair, and its extensive network across mainland China, and partner Air China. Hong Kong’s largest air carrier posted a net profit of HKD$2.58 billion (USD$330.8 million) for the January-June period, versus HKD$1.67 billion a year ago. Aug 8, 2007

China Southern Airlines

Chinese airlines are expected to expand their collective fleet by 12% annually and reach 1,550 aircraft by 2010, a CAAC source revealed. China’s registered fleet numbered 1,039 at the end of 2006, up 15.6% from the year before. As competition increases in the domestic market, Chinese airlines typically are looking to solidify or enhance their competitive positions through aircraft purchases. China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines set the orders in motion last month with commitments for 45, 23 and 10 narrowbodies respectively. Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Spring Airlines and China United Airlines also are planning aircraft buys this year. Aug 8, 2007

Dragonair, Cathay Pacific Airways

Dragonair became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay on September 28. 2006. Cathay Pacific holds a 17.32 percent stake in Air China. The latter said last month that first-half net profit would jump at least 20 times, from just CNY45 million yuan (USD$6 million), under domestic accounting standards. Aug 8, 2007

Garuda

Garuda Indonesia swung to a half-year profit of IDR148 billion ($15.9 million) from a IDR361 billion loss in the first six months of 2006, according to press reports from Jakarta. Revenue rose 12% to IDR5.8 trillion. CEO Emirsyah Satar was quoted saying that passenger numbers increased 7.1% to 4.4 million and that the improved result was due in part to higher fares (yield rose 8%) and a better utilization rate. Load factor climbed 6 points to 76% as the fleet decreased to 49 aircraft from 56, The Jakarta Post reported. Aug 6, 2007

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines reported its load factor on Hawaii, transpacific and South Korean flights is forecast to be "particularly high" during Japan’s peak summer travel period Aug. 10-19. Hawaii’s load factor for that period is expected to be 94 percent for a total of 56,462 available seats. Though that figure is down 1.1 percent from the same week in 2006, load factors on Hawaii routes this summer are well above those for JAL routes to Europe, Southeast Asia and Guam. Aug 8, 2007

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines said it would focus on high-profit, high-growth passenger routes to more Asian destinations beginning in late October. The expansion will include increased passnger flights to China and the U.S., and increased cargo flights to Vietnam and Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. Aug 8, 2007

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines domestic flights had a string of safety problems, such as an engine catching on fire, has also pushed customers to rival All Nippon Airways. Banking sources said in May that Japan Airlines had asked its main lenders to swap part of its USD$14 billion of debt for equity to prop up its capital. But a media report has since suggested that plan is now on hold in the face of reluctance from its banks and because the airline thought it might obtain better terms if it waited until progress on restructuring was clearer. Analysts have warned of the risk of share dilution with a capital increase. Aug 6, 2007

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines’ first-quarter loss narrowed by two-thirds, helped by increases in revenue on international routes and efforts to cut staffing costs, the company said on Monday. The result put the restructuring airline, Asia’s biggest by revenue, slightly ahead in its plan to post a net profit for the first time in three years, although not enough to bump up its full-year outlook. Aug 6, 2007

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines has forecast an operating profit of JPY35 billion yen and a net profit of JPY7 billion yen for the year to end-March. It has taken longer to recover than its peers from the aftermath of September 11 and an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Asia, weighed down by heavier oil costs as it uses a higher proportion of older gas-guzzling jumbo jets and comparatively high personnel costs. Aug 6, 2007

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