Lufthansa on Jan. 14 will stop direct service from Bogota and Frankfurt after 35 uninterrupted years of operating between Colombia and Germany. Local passengers will have to fly first to Caracas or Miami to connect on Lufthansa to Germany and the rest of Europe. According to Claudia Delgado, spokeswoman for the carrier in Colombia, this "has nothing to do with the events of 11 September, 2001, and had been announced as far back as August of last year."
British Airways launched an advertising campaign to lure back business travelers. The airline will place television spots and offer a number of incentives to frequent flyers, such as free airport parking and upgrades. BA sold 27% fewer tickets in its premium classes in the last quarter of 2001.
Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday launched an advertising campaign for its new business-class product. The campaign was delayed from a planned late-September 2001 launch date due to the terrorist attacks. Introduction of the new cabin on the carrier's fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft has continued "unabated," Cathay said, despite the worldwide recession.
U.S.-Hong Kong negotiations, aimed at liberalizing the bilateral short of full open skies, are now scheduled to begin in Washington on Jan. 21, a U.S. federal holiday. The talks had been scheduled later that week but were moved up to clear negotiators' schedules for possible U.S.-U.K. talks, sources tell The DAILY.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR DECEMBER 2001 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Millions 12/00 Millions 12/00 Factor AirTran 375.7 +5.2% 570.5 +9.9% 65.9% Air Wisconsin 104.8 -3.3% 164.7 -3.1% 63.6% American Eagle 296.5 +3.8% 512.8 +2.7% 57.8%
U.S. Regional Carriers Top 10 Airports Ranked By Total Passengers 12 Months Ended June 2001 Average % of Stage Onboard Carrier % Change Length Passengers Total Yr./Yr. Air Wisconsin 1 Denver 371 1,105,207 27.0% -7.1% 2 Chicago, O'Hare 213 921,257 22.5% 50.4%
Teamsters union said that financially struggling Sun Country Airlines, faced with a lawsuit it filed, has agreed to provide COBRA health insurance coverage for laid-off workers. Ray Benning, director of the Teamsters' Airline Division, said that Sun Country also failed to give workers two-week notices of furlough or to pay two weeks salary in lieu of notice. A U.S. district court judge in Minneapolis has ordered that the two-week notice is a requirement, as well as the company's failure to pay accrued vacation time.
ARINC said the Federal Communication Commission has approved a new inflight communications system that achieves true broadband data rates in both receiving and transmitting, bringing aircrews and passengers a "full range of broadband data services, including live television, e-mail and two-way Internet access." ARINC said the technology is "groundbreaking because it includes an approved broadband return link, transmitting from a small mobile antenna up to a Ku-band geostationary satellite.
Now almost 50 years old, Mexico City Airport is entering the last phase of its projected useful life, according to analyst Fernando Gomez, and should close down within six years if demand does not exceed the terminal's capacity in the meantime. If such an increase occurs, air operations in the mid-term could be transferred to Texcoco, the site recently approved by the government for the alternate airport but still subject to political and legal controversy.
Northwest believes it is prepared for next Friday's federal deadline to begin 100% domestic baggage screening and, in fact, may already be a step ahead of its competition thanks to a new technology. CEO Richard Anderson told The DAILY that the carrier "will satisfy and meet all of its obligations under the security statute and its regulations." Northwest and the other Air Transport Association member airlines have been "working closely with DOT and the FAA in a cooperative way," he said.
FAA Flight Standards Service, responding to concerns following the suicide crash of a light aircraft by a 15-year-old student pilot, yesterday issued 11 suggested ways for enhancing security for flight schools and fixed base operators.
Continental has signed an online marketing partnership with Travelocity.com. Through the deal, the two companies will provide fare deals, marketing programs and other joint promotions. "Partnering with Continental lays the groundwork for strong revenue and profit growth in 2002," said Travelocity.com CEO Terry Jones.
Air France traffic fell 2.2% in December, heavily influenced by a two-day controller strike, which meant that many of the airline's European and domestic services had to be canceled. In November, traffic was down 7.2%. With capacity reductions in place, the load factor stood at 72.6%, down 0.3 percentage points. For the quarter, traffic was down 6.5%, while load factor was down 5 points to 70.6%.
Zulunet, Inc., a software company and parent of the cargo industry exchange, Cargoreservations.com has named Lawrence Hughes as its president and CEO. Hughes joins Zulunet from DHL, where he served most recently as Chief Operating Officer. Hughes will oversee all company operations from its Orlando headquarters.
SAS's traffic downturn since Sept. 11 seems to be flattening out. In December, the airline reported a traffic decrease of 3.1% on a capacity reduction of 4.7%. Load factor improved by one percentage point to 62.1%. The traffic downturn almost exclusively affected business class with a decline of 15.9%, while traffic in economy improved by 1.9% from December 2000.
America West next week will begin charging a $10 fee for customers who choose to have a paper ticket issued when the itinerary qualifies for an electronic ticket. In Canada, the fee is C$15, but in other countries, the fee is $10, converted into the local currency. The new fee will go into effect Jan. 16. "Nearly 80% of our customers use electronic-tickets so the paper ticket fee will affect a small minority of our customers," said Lloyd Parker Jr., VP-distribution.
World Airways announced that John Ellington joined the company as chief operating officer, replacing Andrew Morgan who left his post as president and COO. Hollis Harris, chairman and CEO, assumed the job of president. Ellington was World's VP operations.
DOT, which has been criticized by industry for not spelling out longer-term goals in its Federal Radionavigation Plan, is looking at doing just that, and one of the first beneficiaries could be backup systems for GPS. The White House, citing national security, has mandated that DOT and its modal agencies come up with alternatives in case of GPS signal failure. This requirement, coupled with security concerns after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, have given Loran a boost as aviation's backup system.
U.S. National Carriers Top 10 Airports Ranked By Total Passengers 12 Months Ended June 2001 Average % of Stage Onboard Carrier % Change Length Passengers Total Yr./Yr. AirTran 1 Atlanta 528 3,877,757 45.7% 17.5% 2 Orlando 474 386,191 4.5% 3.9%
Rosenbluth International and China Comfort, the largest business travel corporation in China recently signed a joint venture agreement. The new company will be named Rosenbluth-Comfort Business Travel Service Co Ltd. China Comfort has 51 wholly owned and managed locations throughout 27 provinces, making it China's largest travel company. Until today, travel management has not truly existed in China, according to Rosenbluth as only local booking services have been available.
American continues to repaint the 136 TWA aircraft operating in its system. As of Jan. 8, 15 aircraft have the AA livery and 36 have the TWA interim livery.
Orbitz generated $750 million in sales over its first six months of operation, The DAILY has learned, and has started 2002 on a strong note. The company over the past week has recorded several $6 million days. Last month, Orbitz started handing out booking fee rebate checks to its charter associate members. Northwest, for example, recently received its first check for $440,772.
GE Engine Services said it signed an agreement to buy Unison Industries of Jacksonville, Fla., a privately held company that sells and services turbine ignitions, wiring harnesses, alternators, piston ignitions, sensors and switches.
