Seventy-seat regional jets being marketed by Bombardier, Fairchild Dornier and Embraer should hold their market value long term, but the Embraer and FD versions need more customers, Nelson Klug, director-consulting at Avitas said yesterday. Speaking at the U.S. Regional Airline Conference, Klug noted that it will take one to two years for the 70-seat market to return full force, and he questioned whether all three manufacturers could survive that long.
Greece's ailing flag carrier Olympic Airways is asking for an additional EUR55.7 million in state aid to finance its transfer to Athens' new international airport, the airline said yesterday. "This request concerns the demand for compensation Olympic Airways is entitled to for its forcible and premature evacuation from the Hellenikon Airport and its premature and obligatory relocation," Olympic said. The Greek government already contributed EUR143.8 million to finance the move to Spata last year.
French carrier Air Lib signed a letter of intent with two Libyan carriers -- Libyan Arab Airlines and Afriqiyha -- aiming at setting up a code-share agreement for services between Paris and Tripoli, an Air Lib spokesman said yesterday. The route will be operated once a week with Libyan aircraft, starting in April. Frequencies would gradually increase, and Air Lib would operate services to Libya, starting in September, the French company said.
After several years of losses, Air China registered a profit of 49.84 million yuan (US$6.4 million) for the year ended Dec. 31. This was a far cry from the $71 million profit projected by the airline. An Air China official in Beijing said the airline would have posted a higher profit had it not been for high operational costs. The official attributed higher costs to a payment made to 230 workers in voluntary severance late last year to reduce headcount.
U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Share of Service Third Quarter 2001 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 42,705 America West 52,524 ATA 12,802 American 178,099 Continental 94,594 Delta 215,001 Northwest 140,337 Southwest 236,258
Southwest last week took delivery of a pair of new Boeing 737s, bringing its fleet to 359. The aircraft -- N413WN and N414WN -- were the fifth and sixth deliveries of the year.
The European Commission yesterday authorized plans by SAS to increase its stake in Spanair from 49% to 74%. The EC said the takeover of Spain's second-largest airline by SAS "does not raise competition concerns." The only route operated by both SAS and Spanair is Madrid-Copenhagen. "There are other credible competitors on this route and SAS's control of Spanair does not present any risk of creation of a dominant position," the commission said.
America West yesterday promoted several executives. Derek Kerr was named senior VP-financial planning and analysis; Larry LeSueur was named VP-Phoenix hub operations; Joette Schmidt was selected as VP-customers and inflight services, and Mark West will become VP-purchasing.
Continental plans resume daily nonstop service between Newark and Tokyo Narita, effective April 18. Service was cut to five weekly flights after demand dropped last summer largely due to the weak economy. The route is served with Boeing 777s.
The Association of European Airlines yesterday unveiled plans to set up a mutual insurance fund covering war and insurance risks in Brussels, as the European Union economy and finance ministers addressed the issue at a ministers' council meeting the same day. AEA claims that it is faced with "an ultimatum" from insurance companies, whose proposals would add about EUR600 million to the annual insurance bill of the association's 28 members.
Freddie Laker won aviation's 2002 Tony Jannus Award -- named after the pilot who in 1914 flew what is regarded as the first scheduled commercial flight, from St. Petersburg to Tampa. Laker launched the concept of low-fare transatlantic travel in 1977 with Laker Airlines Skytrain, which stopped in 1982.
Boeing Commercial's VP and general manager of customer support Brad Cvetovich plans to retire July 1. He has been in charge of engineering and technical staff that supports the operators of nearly 12,000 Boeing and Douglas jetliners. Cvetovich has been in aviation for 39 years working for North American Rockwell, McDonnell Douglas and Boeing.
Frontier this week added its sixth Airbus A319 aircraft to its operating certificate. It entered into a lease agreement for the A319 with GE Capital Aviation Services. Frontier's fleet consists of 17 Boeing 737-300s, seven 737-200s and six A319s.
Northwest this summer plans to restore an evening bank of flights at its Memphis hub due to an anticipated growth in traffic. The flights will be offered as part of the airline's summer schedule that starts June 7. About half of the restored 52-flight bank will be operated by mainline operations and the remainder by Mesaba and Express I. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, Northwest eliminated the last flight bank of the day at each of its three hubs.
Northwest plans to start nonstop service between Detroit and San Antonio on July 1. The new Detroit-San Antonio route will be operated once daily with an Airbus A319.
KLM plans to significantly boost capacity on many of its long-haul destinations. The airline also announced that it would harmonize seat configuration in its World Business Class and increase seat pitch onboard the Boeing 767s to match the standard set on board the Boeing 747-400 and MD-11 fleets. The airline will offer daily services to San Francisco, Newark and Vancouver together with Northwest Airlines from March 9. It plans to increase capacity to Detroit, Los Angeles and Montreal "during the course of the summer."
United wants Congress to ensure that a compromise plan for expanding Chicago O'Hare Airport reached by outgoing Republican Illinois Gov. George Ryan and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has the force of federal law behind it that would keep it from being altered by future state and local officials.
American continues to repaint the 136 TWA aircraft operating in its system. As of March 1, 58 aircraft have the AA livery and 19 have the TWA interim livery.
U.S. Major Carriers Systemwide Share of Service Third Quarter 2001 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 44,439 America West 53,272 ATA 14,582 American 208,806 Continental 110,729 Delta 227,817 Northwest 149,748 Southwest 236,258
Southwest, continuing its strategy of conservative growth this year, will further boost its service from Chicago Midway to the West Coast. Starting May 5, the carrier expects to launch three daily nonstop flights from Midway to Los Angeles. It previously announced plans to start two daily flights from Chicago to Seattle on March 10 and three daily services on the Chicago-Oakland route, starting April 7 (DAILY, Jan. 23).
U.S. Major Carriers Unit Revenues and Expenses, By Region, Third Quarter 2001 Operating Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Profit/(Loss) Yield per ASM per ASM per ASM per RPM Carrier (cents) (cents) (cents) (cents) Alaska 10.33 9.98 0.35 12.93 Domestic 10.47 10.06 0.41 13.11
EVA Air has no plans to cancel an order placed nearly two years ago for seven Boeing 777s. The airline responded to a local report that the carrier may alter or abandon the agreement signed in June 2000 for three 777-200Xs and four 777-300Xs. The deal also includes options for eight additional aircraft. The airline has not made any changes in its plans to use these aircraft on its flights from Asia to Europe and North America, a spokesman said.
American Trans Air plans to boost its scheduled service from Indianapolis to many of its existing destinations. Beginning June 1, the carrier will operate seven additional flights per week and on June 20 will add 13 more. Also on that date, ATA will add one nonstop flight per day to Orlando, for a total of two daily flights with continuing service to San Juan, P.R. Starting June 20, ATA will add daily service to Seattle with its new Boeing 737-800s. The flight will operate from Indianapolis to Chicago Midway, with continuing service to Seattle.
