Northwest Hub Profile Minneapolis/St. Paul Origin and Destinations, Segment Summary and Top Nonstop Markets Origination and Destination Data 12 Months 12 Months Ended June Ended June 2001 1997 Minneapolis Total (All Carriers) O&D Passengers 14,339,620 11,360,600 26.2% Passengers Per 19,643 15,562 Day Each Way
AirTran reported a $12.9 million fourth quarter net loss before one-time adjustments, but the carrier believes its low-cost structure will lead to profitability this year. The deficit was narrower than analyst expectations thanks to revenues that were slightly better than expected. Including adjustments for aircraft lease terminations, recognition of the government grant and other special charges, AirTran posted a $14.2 million net loss. "We are confident that we will return to profitability in the second quarter 2002 and for the year," said President Bob Fornaro.
European Union's former Competition and Transport Commissioner Karl van Miert will join the supervisory board of Fraport, Frankfurt airport's operator said yesterday. Van Miert, as well as Daimler Chrysler's Manfred Bischoff, will replace German government representatives on the 20-member board of Fraport, which was privatized in 2001.
US Airways shortly plans to upgrade its web site to reduce the number of screens and clicks the customer needs to navigate to make a reservation. The airline will introduce an "Express Buy" option that will enable the customer to book a ticket in three clicks.
FAA yesterday proposed a penalty of $100,000 against Delta for alleged 1994 violations of regulations applicable to its FAA-approved anti-drug program. FAA found, during a January 2000 inspection of the carrier's anti-drug and alcohol misuse prevention programs, that it was "apparent that Delta had failed to provide its employee...with access to records related to his drug test," as required under the regulations. Delta provided the information in March 2000.
Fairchild Dornier and Lufthansa Technik Logistik will team at new on-airport spares centers at Munich and Washington Dulles airports to support Fairchild Dornier and Dornier aircraft. Both facilities will be operational by Aug. 1, with Munich slated to open first.
Hong Kong International Airport's passenger traffic last year dropped 0.9% to 33 million from the previous year. Cargo handling was down 7.4% to 2.08 million tons, while flight movements rose 6.2% to 196,805.
The Association of Flight Attendants this week heavily promoted a get-out-the-vote campaign at Delta in the final days of the largest union representation campaign in the U.S. since the 1970s. About 19,600 flight attendants are eligible to cast ballots in the election. The deadline for receiving the ballots is 2 p.m. EST today at the National Mediation Board in Washington. The final tally will be known Friday. "We're biting our fingernails," said Pat Friend, president of the 47,000-member AFA union, which represents flight attendants at 26 airlines.
The U.K.'s air traffic controllers are calling on the government to bail out the country's part-privatized National Air Traffic Services (NATS) to help ensure that safety and essential investment "so as not fall prey to short-term difficulties."
Construction of the new Lahore International Airport in Pakistan has been completed after a 14-month delay brought on by financial constraints. The facility will open for operations Feb. 1. Built on a 640-hectare (1,580 acres) site at a cost of 8.82 billion rupees (US$588 million), it is currently being inspected by the local Civil Aviation Authority, which funded 64.4% of the cost. The terminal is designed to handle 6.5 million passengers a year -- 5 million more than the existing airport seven kilometers away.
Great Lakes has launched its own reservations and inventory hosting site which as of Feb. 1 will carry itineraries for travel only between points served by Great Lakes. Flights will carry the ZK code, and fares will be published under the ZK or Great Lakes Airlines marketing identity. For flights connecting with United, fares will be published under the UA identity as per United's code-share agreement with Great Lakes. Flights under the code share with Frontier will be published with the F9 code.
PartsBase next month will cut its rental expenses for its corporate headquarters by about $58,000 per month by moving to a "significantly" smaller space in Boca Raton, Fla. PartsBase was previously obligated under a sublease agreement to pay $68,000 per month through October 2006 for about 36,000 square feet of office space. This obligation terminated upon the rejection of the sublease by PartsBase's landlord, a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding.
NTSB continues to grapple with whether a hearing on the February 2000 crash of an Emery DC-8 is needed to bolster the fact-gathering phase of the investigation. Some in NTSB believe enough data have been gathered to determine why Emery Flight 17 crashed, sources told The DAILY. However, the five-member board has voted in favor of a hearing. "It's unclear where we go from here," one NTSB source said.
China Airlines (CAL) posted a pre-tax profit of NT$1.63 billion (US$54.33 million) for the year 2001 ended Dec. 31, surpassing the forecast of NT$1.37 by 18.98%. Operating revenue was NT$69.9 billion with passenger operations contributing NT$42.9 billion and cargo NT$23.4 billion. According to an official of the airline, the results were encouraging despite a slowdown in the demand for seats in the last quarter and a drop in the freight business last year due to a downturn in the global electronics industry.
European airline traffic continued to improve in the third week of January, according to data released by the Association of European Airlines. Traffic was down 4.1%, compared to the same week in 2001. In the second week, it was down 4.7%. Intra-European traffic was down 3% and the decline on transatlantic routes was relatively stable at 11.8%, while demand to Asia decreased 3.1%, an improvement from a 6.5% drop in the second week.
America West next month plans to add capacity at Las Vegas to two new cities. On Feb. 27, America West Express will start flights to Colorado Springs and launch service to Salt Lake City on May 1. The airline will provide daily nonstop roundtrip flights to both markets using 50-seat regional jets operated by Mesa Air and Chautauqua Airlines.
American Trans Air parent Amtran reported an $81.3 million fourth quarter net loss, including special items, but officials vowed that its fleet renewal program remains on schedule. The airline posted a $22.6 million loss in the same 2000 quarter. Excluding non-cash impairment charges and the government grant, ATA posted a $24.9 million loss. "The events of Sept. 11 led to a 11.8% decline in scheduled service unit revenue for the quarter," said CEO John Tague.
American yesterday said it plans to add 41 roundtrip flights from Dallas Fort Worth to 37 cities by March. Most of the new flights will be increases in frequencies for existing markets. With the capacity additions, AA will restore its late evening connecting flights, which serve primarily westbound destinations, as well as some short-haul cities, such as intra-Texas flights.
American will start two daily nonstops between Oakland and New York Kennedy on March 2. AA's service will be competition for JetBlue's existing double-daily on the route. AA will operate 176-seat Boeing 757s. American currently offers daily flights from New York to San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles at higher walk-up fares. JetBlue will add a third daily on March 10 and a fourth in the spring.
DOT's conditioned approval of antitrust immunity for the proposed American/British Airways alliance -- rejected by the carriers on Friday within hours of its release by DOT -- was consistent with Justice Department and General Accounting Office recommendations but exacted a higher price than the two carriers expected, sources say. American and BA viewed the DOJ analysis that the two carriers would have to yield 126 slots -- for nine daily roundtrips in the New York- and Boston-London Heathrow markets, as well as slots for U.S.
Polish flag carrier LOT posted a net loss of 640 million zlotys (US$156 million) in 2001, compared with a 28 million zloty profit the previous year, the airline said yesterday. Revenue was 2.42 billion zloty ($590 million) last year, down from 2.4 billion zloty ($592 million). Load factor dropped three percentage points to 62%. LOT was hit by the collapse of Swissair, which owns 25% of its capital, and the aviation crisis that followed Sept. 11.
