American Trans Air plans to launch daily, nonstop service between Chicago Midway and Charlotte, N.C. Beginning July 18, the carrier will offer three daily flights Monday through Friday and two flights each day on the weekend. "We have seen much demand for this particular route," said Don Moonjian, VP-marketing. ATA's regional carrier Chicago Express plans to start separate daily service between Chicago and Toledo, Ohio. The carrier will offer four daily flights with turboprop aircraft.
Delta yesterday reported a $397 million first quarter loss, including one-time items, but the carrier still believes it will become profitable in the second half of the year. Excluding unusual costs, the carrier reported a $354 million loss, compared to a $122 million in the same quarter last year. The loss was slightly worse than analyst expectations. The carrier recorded $43 million in one-time expenses, due to the carrying cost of grounded aircraft and surplus pilots and an adjustment of equity rights in Priceline.com.
Reflecting similar moves by British Airways, SAS and Deutsche BA, BMI British Midland said yesterday it will drop Saturday night restrictions and minimum stay requirements on all domestic flights from London Heathrow Airport. The airline will allow passengers to mix fares on flight sectors, and name changes on tickets are possible until two hours before departure. The lowest one-way fare is GBP29 (London-Belfast).
Cessna Aircraft, citing a drop in market demand for single-engine airplanes, will shut down the McCauley Propeller Systems operation in Vandalia, Ohio, and move some of the work to Columbus, Ga. "Market conditions over the last several months have made it necessary to adjust single-engine piston production schedules," the company said. "This weakened demand has resulted in excess staffing and plant capacity at Cessna's facilities at its McCauley" division.
United in February achieved its best mishandled baggage performance since 1984, partially due an upgrade of the carrier's BullsEye bag scanning technology. United recorded 3.28 mishandled bags per 1,000 North America customers, down from 5.29 in February 2001. Year-to-date through March, United's mishandled bag rate was 3.6, well ahead of its internal yearly goal of 4.7. Chris Schoenfeld, manager-ramp operations planning, called the performance "extraordinary."
Greg Taylor next Monday returns to United as senior VP-planning only weeks after he was reassigned within the US Airways management team. Taylor held the position of senior VP-planning at US Airways for several years, but CEO Dave Siegel earlier this year moved him to the position of president of the US Airways Express division. Prior to his work at US Airways, Taylor spent 23 years at United.
Aviation policy debate should include foreign ownership and control, Reid Van de Water, assistant secretary for aviation and international affairs, told the International Aviation Club yesterday. Van de Water opened the door to "exploration" of the issue, which has pitted open and protectionist economies and business and labor groups against each other.
Rockwell Collins yesterday reported net income of $58 million for the three months ended March 31, which is a slight decline from the same period last year despite the fact that the company's giant commercial segment saw revenues plummet by nearly 20%. Commercial revenues dropped to $352 million for the period, down 19% from the $436 million reported last year. The revenue decline was due mostly to a dip in avionics sales to the air transport market and, to a lesser extent, to lower sales of business jet and inflight entertainment products, the company said.
John Magaw, DOT under secretary for transportation security, yesterday morning underwent an angioplasty procedure at George Washington University Hospital following admission Monday for mild chest pain. Although he "tested normal on an EKG [electrocardiogram]," DOT said, Magaw, 66, remained in the hospital overnight for observation and additional tests.
Nav Canada announced its three- and six-month financial results this week, with the main feature being revenue shortfalls caused by reductions in air traffic since Sept. 11. During the second quarter ending Feb. 28, air traffic was about 16% lower than originally anticipated. Overall, the net results for the quarter were $13 million lower than anticipated. Nav Canada expects that year-over-year reductions in air traffic will continue through the remainder of the fiscal year.
Air Line Pilots Association's US Airways Master Executive Council still had no decision at press time yesterday on whether to accept a proposal from management that would increase regional jet operations in exchange for certain job protections (DAILY, April 16). The MEC scheduled a two-day session that began Monday, but ALPA spokesman Roy Freundlich told The DAILY that it is now possible that the session will extend to tomorrow.
American continues to repaint the 136 TWA aircraft operating in its system. As of April 10, 87 aircraft have the AA livery and six have the TWA interim liveries.
All major airports in Italy were nearly deserted yesterday as millions of workers staged an eight-hour strike to protest the government's labor reforms. Stoppages staged from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time by pilots and cabin crews, flight controllers, ground staff and firemen prompted Alitalia to cancel 271 flights out of 374 nationwide.
A team of five investigators from NTSB will assist the South Korean government in its investigations of the Air China Boeing 767-200ER accident in Pusan Monday. An FAA team is also en route, while a Boeing team arrived late yesterday. They will join a team of 50 air transport and civil aviation officials from China who are already working on the investigation.
Secret Service has made its recommendations to DOT, TSA and FAA on restoring services at DCA to pre-Sept. 11 conditions, a Secret Service official told The DAILY.He stressed that resumption of routing aircraft over the Potomac River -- rather than the radio route now in use -- "is not an issue for us." Neither is aircraft size -- those with more than 156 seats have not been allowed into DCA since the attacks -- nor the hard 7 a.m.-10 p.m. curfew now in place, he said.
The Senate Commerce Committee tomorrow is expected to hold a markup of the Chicago O'Hare Airport expansion bill -- the National Aviation Capacity Expansion Act of 2002 -- introduced by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), who sits on Senate Appropriations, but the committee will face stiff opposition from Sen. Peter Fitzgerald (R-Ill.). Fitzgerald, a member of the Commerce Committee, is expected to "continue to make policy arguments" against the expansion, said his spokesman, but there was no word on whether he plans to introduce any amendments.
Senate lawmakers told FAA Administrator Jane Garvey yesterday that they are troubled by agency proposals to meet a $200 million budget shortfall caused by increased security spending by drawing on funds earmarked for infrastructure improvement, and cutting back costs, including training and staffing. Garvey was making what is likely to be her last appearance before the Appropriations transportation subcommittee, in a hearing that was slated to discuss capacity and safety issues.
Lima-based AeroContinente will return one of three Boeing 767s recently acquired to serve its long-haul routes because of bureaucratic difficulties in obtaining certification in Peru. According to Carlos Moreno-Andrade, the carrier's CEO, "It's inconceivable that in Chile, where regulations are as demanding or more than in Peru, two sister aircraft were certified in only one month, while in our own country this process has already taken five months."
NTSB recommended that FAA order all Airbus A320-family operators to standardize the way they require pilots to set and cross-check horizontal stabilizer trim settings by using "center-of-gravity" (CG) trim values instead of positive or negative degrees of pitch.
US Airways CEO Dave Siegel will be paid a minimum of $750,000 in his first year as the struggling airline's top executive, an amount roughly 14% less than his predecessor was slated to receive. According to details of Siegel's three-year contract, however, he has the potential to take home a large bonus and close to two million stock options over three to five years. Reported as part of US Airways' annual proxy filing, Siegel's compensation also includes a one-time payment of $750,000 on his first day with the company.
AeroMexico plans to add a third daily nonstop flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Mexico City on May 6. The new flight will be an evening departure operated with a MD-87. With the new service, AeroMexico will operate 21 weekly flights from DFW to Mexico.
FLEETWATCH - EXPRESS ONE INTERNATIONAL and FRONTIER Express One International Aircraft March March 1997 2002 727-100C/-100F 5 2 727-200 3 0 727-200F 15 13 B200 (SUPER KING AIR) 0 1 TOTAL 23 16 Frontier
