Grupo TACA and AeroMexico are code sharing on the daily Mexico City-Lima route as of Jan. 1. TACA will operate four weekly frequencies and AeroMexico three. Separately, TACA Peru, a TACA affiliate, signed a marketing agreement with Bolivia's Aero Sur on the Bolivian domestic La Paz-Santa Cruz route. The flight originates in Lima. TACA's new hub in Lima played a role in its December load factor gains -- to 73%, or 8 percentage points higher than in 1999. TACA's capacity grew 24% and traffic rose 38%.
Rolls-Royce sold its Vickers Turbine Components, including U.S.-based companies, to Royal Bank Private Equity for $151 million. The deal, intended to help Rolls focus on its core business, included U.S.-based Trucast Inc., Newberry, S.C., and Certified Alloy Products, Long Beach.
FAA will hold the 26th annual Commercial Aviation Forecast Conference March 13-14 at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center. For registration information, contact co-sponsor Airports Council International-North America at 202-293-8500, fax 202-331-1362.
DOT competition policy is among topics DOT Secretary Rodney Slater will address in a speech before the Wings Club in New York tonight, sources have confirmed to The DAILY. Slater is expected to announce release of two studies -- one by two academics and the other an internal DOT effort -- that are critical of the current state of U.S. domestic competition. The reports would carry less weight than guidelines, which DOT proposed to formulate three years ago.
Atlantic Coast Airlines last week reached a tentative contract deal with its Air Line Pilots Association. The proposed four and a half year deal, which covers 1,100 pilots, agrees to improvements in pay rates, benefits, training and other airlines. It is subject to approval by membership.
Legend Airlines plans to announce a startup date this week, possibly as early as today. Legend today returns to bankruptcy court, where a judge is expected to give final approval to a $20 million debtor-in-possession financing that will enable it to resume service.
OPEC oil production dropped to 28.18 million barrels a day in December, down from 29.51 million in November, according to a survey by Platts, the energy market information division of McGraw-Hill. "On the verge of a meeting that will probably see a cut in its output, OPEC last month already saw a significant drop in production, led by a steep decline of Iraqi exports," said John Kingston, global director of oil at Platts.
Standard&Poor's, following the American-TWA merger announcement, placed AMR Corp. and American ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications. It lowered ratings on TWA to "D" following the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing Wednesday. TWA ratings are removed from CreditWatch where they were placed on Jan. 5. About $290 million of rated debt is affected.
National Air Traffic Control Association yesterday celebrated the 15th anniversary of its first organizational meeting. Executive VP Ruth Marlin said that "what started as a hostile labor-management relationship...has evolved into a relationship where air traffic controllers, engineers and other NATA members have unprecedented involvement in the development of systems to ensure the U.S. air traffic control system remains the safest in the world."
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) yesterday said it is seeking legislation to give travel agents protected collective bargaining power and ends preemption rights for airlines. ASTA is seeking a sponsor for its Air Transportation Competition Restoration Act.
TWA yesterday gained approval from a Delaware bankruptcy court to start drawing funds from American's commitment of $200 million in debtor-in-possession financing. The decision avoids a complete TWA shutdown, which American said this week would have occurred by the end of January. At the same time, the fallout of TWA's Chapter 11 bankruptcy is just beginning to surface, as some of the world's largest investment banking firms are expected to take a significant financial hit because of the airline's failure.
United, teamed with the American Petroleum Exchange (APE), claims to be the first airline to used Internet-based technology to buy jet fuel. United chose the APE, a "neutral marketplace" that has done more than 1,700 diesel fuel and gasoline transactions, to host The Exchange's largest deal to date -- a 140 million gallon get fuel auction early next month. Fuel purchased through The Exchange will flow into more than a dozen airport storage terminals, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Miami, starting March 1.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic, Second Quarter 2000 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % Carriers (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 3,167 (1.19) 866 2,742,745 1.04 America West 5,111 10.00 967 4,942,819 12.29
SAS this year will launch a new class of service in connection with the introduction of its new Airbus A340-300s. The new class, called Economy Plus, will enter service in September on long-haul flights and will offer more comfortable seats, increased legroom and in-seat power ports. The service will be the same for normal economy class. Like United with its Economy Plus product, SAS will target frequent flyers who are willing to pay "a slight increment for increased comfort."
A Lloyd Aereo Boliviano (LAB) Boeing 727 broke a wing and spilled fuel on the runway as it taxied for takeoff Wednesday night at Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport for a flight to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Some passengers suffered bone and ligament fractures, and most blamed inexperienced flight attendants for causing panic on board the aircraft upon evacuation.
KLM this week unveiled a new hotel booking service on its web site. This online expansion is in a preliminary phase and is first being offered to customers booking online in The Netherlands, France, and the United Arab Emirates. Accommodations can be found at all KLM destinations, with more than 35,000 hotels available for online booking. "This initiative is part of KLM's drive to widen online sales beyond airline tickets," the carrier said.
Owner countries of Air Afrique have agreed to a two-phase plan to turn around the struggling carrier, according to Madieyna Diouf, current chairman. Diouf, also Senegal's transport minister, spoke to The DAILY yesterday following the signing of the U.S.-Senegal open-skies accord. Transport ministers from the 11 nations holding an ownership stake in Air Afrique set out a 12-month program, to begin in February, that calls for "deep restructuring" followed by privatization, Diouf said.
Fortis Aviation sold three DC-8 freighters to National Aircraft Services on behalf of Kitty Hawk International. Fortis said it is remarking a range of DC-8s including seven Stage 3 hushkitted 60 series aircraft.
German industry, airlines and cargo companies have warned that the planned night flight ban at Frankfurt Airport would cause serious economic damage. Seven German organizations, including industry association Bundesverband Deutscher Industrie (BDI), airlines association Barig, Deutsche Post World Net, Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Worldwide Express, issued a joint statement stressing that Frankfurt Airport was "the backbone of the German exporting industry."
The Senate Commerce Committee is considering holding hearings on American's acquisition of parts of three airlines and the increasing concentration of the nation's airline industry, a committee spokeswoman said yesterday. The Senate Judiciary's antitrust subcommittee previously announced its plans for hearings on consolidation "at the earliest opportunity."
American's Association of Professional Flight Attendants yesterday voted to ballot its membership for strike authority. Strike ballots will be mailed this month and counted in February.
American stands to gain an enormous amount of foreign country route authorities if it acquires TWA, many of which TWA received in past decades. Among international authorities for which TWA holds authority, as of Nov. 15, are for service from the U.S.
