British Airways' shares shot up by more than 8% yesterday as the carrier defied analysts' expectations and announced that traffic dropped by only 2% in April, compared with the same period of the previous year. Traffic fell 22.1% on Asia-Pacific routes due to the SARS pneumonia but recorded a 3.9% gain on the North Atlantic. The company's seat load factor fell by 0.4% to 69%, as capacity was cut by 1.3%.
The Bush Administration is going to begin "looking very hard" at whether it can justify the current 25% limit on foreign ownership of U.S. airlines, says DOT Undersecretary Jeffrey Shane. He tells international airline CEOs in Miami he is "embarrassed to say" U.S. ownership rules are among the world's most restrictive.
US Airways yesterday posted a $282 million pretax loss for 2003's first quarter, compared with a $435 million deficit in the year-ago period. But after accounting for unusual gains and fresh-start accounting adjustments stemming from the carrier's emergence from Chapter 11, net income was up to $1.63 billion for the quarter, versus a 2002 first-quarter net loss of $269 million.
Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (PMB), the company set up to hold the Malay government's stock in Malaysia Airlines, missed its deadline to sign a detailed agreement with Airbus at the end of last month to buy six Airbus A380s. A memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this year (DAILY, Jan. 8).
Seventeen percent of Americans who traveled outside the U.S. in the past year told a Harvard School of Public Health project they are avoiding international air travel because of the SARS pneumonia. While the virus has taken its toll on Asian carriers like Cathay Pacific and Dragonair where load factors dropped 70%, it's significantly affecting U.S. carriers as well.
Northwest President Doug Steenland told attendees at a Labor Department hearing yesterday that contributing common stock from its Pinnacle Airlines subsidiary to its employee pension plans was key to Northwest maintaining its overall liquidity. "The contribution of Pinnacle stock allows Northwest to preserve over $330 million in cash to weather these challenging times," Steenland said.
Four U.S. major passenger and cargo carriers last week filed a joint complaint with the DOT against the government of Argentina and several of the country's airlines for unfair airport charges.
A Boeing 727 chartered by Houston-based operator Castaways took off from Miami for Cancun yesterday carrying 87 passengers in the first of its "Nude Flights," catered and marketed to practicing nudists (DAILY, Jan. 27.) All passengers aboard the aircraft disrobed as soon as the jet reached cruising altitude. The flight was only half-full to give participants plenty of personal space, according to Donna Daniels, co-owner of the operation. Inflight rules call for no hot beverage service, balmy cabin temperature and no hanky-panky. -LZ
NTSB meets today to select its "most wanted" safety recommendations for 2003. Aviation concerns that top NTSB's list include runway incursions, aircraft center wing tank explosions and airframe icing certification.
Reports from the Caribbean confirm that the long-awaited merger of BWIA, based in Trinidad & Tobago, and LIAT, headquartered in Antigua, was approved by private shareholders and will go into effect in June.
United exercised an option from its recent agreement with the International Association of Machinists (IAM), and filed a motion in bankruptcy court to reject leases at its Indianapolis and Oakland maintenance centers, leaving San Francisco as its sole maintenance base. An internal United publication listed May 9 as the closing date for Indianapolis and May 31 as the targeted shutdown at Oakland.
Following recent successes in a campaign for reduced charges at regional airports, The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) renewed its plea for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) to reconsider its position on airport charges, and also look a its cost structure and manning levels. Two weeks ago, management agency Hong Kong Airport Authority (HKAA) offered airlines deferred payments for landing charges at HKIA for the next three months (DAILY, April 29).
Two members of the Belgian government, Transport Minister Isabelle Durant and State Secretary for Energy Olivier Deleuze, resigned yesterday in the latest, spectacular episode of a dispute over night flights at Brussels International Airport. Both were members of Ecolo, Belgium's French-speaking green party. Durant opposed plans to increase night flights over Brussels that were supported by Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, a Flemish liberal. -MT
Employees who participated in the voluntary pay reduction-bonus program at Mesa are set to receive bonuses this week, after the airline posted a $12 million profit in its second quarter (DAILY, May 2). Employees agreed to a 5% reduction in base pay for one year. Employees are paid the amount of that reduction, plus an equal amount as a bonus for every quarter Mesa logs an operating profit. -LR
Thanks to "ongoing tight control of costs," Virgin Atlantic posted a pretax profit of GBP10 million (US$16 million) in the fiscal year ended April 30, compared with a GBP92 million loss in the previous year, the British carrier said yesterday. "Due to the continuing challenges in the aviation market," turnover fell from GBP1.5 billion (US$2.4 billion) to about GBP1.4 billion (US$2.2 billion) in the year ending in April 2003, whereas passenger numbers remained stable at around 4 million, the carrier reported.
Distributing a roundtrip airline ticket through Orbitz is significantly less expensive than booking a ticket through a Sabre-based or other traditional travel agency, according to a new report to be released today. Produced by Washington-based Global Aviation Associates at the request of Orbitz, the new analysis, obtained by The DAILY, found the average cost to all airlines for booking a ticket through Orbitz is $16.43, or 37% less than the Sabre travel agency cost.
International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC) plans to cut its 2004 delivery schedule by at least 10 aircraft as the company tries to deal with a flood of requests from airlines around the world to provide some type of relief during the current industry slump.
Senate Commerce Aviation Subcommittee Chair Trent Lott (D-Miss.) yesterday told The DAILY that the FAA reauthorization bill will contain some "significant environmental language" to streamline the airport expansion process.
A group of Los Angeles-based line mechanics from Delta last week won the Season 10 championship finale of the television show Junkyard Wars. The show featured eight teams in a competition to build powered vehicles from scratch and compete in head-to-head competition. Mechanics Jeff Higginbotham and Darren Tamanaha led the Delta team. -SL
As an acting member of the Global Aviation Information Network (GAIN), FAA wants to deepen airline understanding of how safety directly contributes to the bottom line. "We find that many airlines don't make the connection between safety and maintenance costs," said Christopher Hart, FAA assistant administrator for safety systems. "We want to show there is correlation."
