The SAirGroup board reported that it made no "wide reaching strategic decisions" at its scheduled meeting last week. Despite media speculation that Swissair's parent company was evaluating a possible sale of the airline, the board stated that its core airline strategy has not changed. "A sale of Swissair was not and is not an option open for discussion," said Chairman Eric Honegger. The group added, however, that it "consistently weighs strategic options and investigates the opportunities and risk of various alternative scenarios."
Virgin Atlantic this week will launch its redesigned $100 million Upper Class cabin in the U.S. Even though the product and sleeper seats were unveiled a year ago, roughly half of the fleet has the new livery and interiors, but only a handful of aircraft have the new seats. British Airways unveiled its first-class cabin last week.
About 60% of all tickets are bought 30-60 days in advance of the flight, and therefore, "airline revenue trends tend to lag the economic cycle," said Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Linenberg. This trend is especially true toward the end of an economic cycle, when consumers usually spend disposable income on travel, leisure and entertainment. One indication demand could be slowing is the number of enplanements, which fell 1.5% in October.
General Aviation Manufacturers Association elected Michael Smith, president of Honeywell Aerospace Electronics Systems, chairman and honored Charles Suma, president and CEO of The New Piper Aircraft, with its Distinguished Service Award as the association's chairman for the past 12 months.
South Korean government and company officials are banking on Inchon Airport to transform Seoul into a premier Northeast Asia hub, but classic battles over rates and charges and current economic problems in Korea complicate the airport's near-term future. The airport's grand scale, its advanced air traffic and support systems and a location officials believe is ideal for capturing Asian traffic flows for passengers and cargo alike and overtaking regional leaders such as Tokyo Narita.
Delta appointed Pat Wildenburg VP-e-Business-B2B, Steve Scheper VP-e-Business-B2C, Jud Brandt VP-e-Business-B2E and David Berney general manager-e-Business-small business.
Atlas Air violated the Railway Labor Act when it cut pilot benefits after they voted for Air Line Pilots Association representation in April 1999, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled. The decision overturns an earlier court finding that Atlas's actions were lawful.
Continental told FAA it strongly opposes the agency's plan for a slot lottery at New York LaGuardia airport, but TWA, despite suffering "great hardship" due to AIR-21 slot exemptions, supported joint efforts by FAA and the Port Authority of New York to set up a slot lottery for AIR-21 slots.
Cathay Pacific's traffic soared 14.5% for the first 10 months of the year, compared with 1999, far outpacing a capacity increase of 6.0%. As a result, the airline's load factor jumped 5.7 percentage points to 77.0%. Cathay transported a new record of 74,062 tons of freight in October, the highest amount ever in a single month, and it carried 9.9 million passengers in the first nine months, up 14.4%.
Lowestfare.com selected Logibro Inc. to provide software managing and selling travel packages on the web. Lowestfare.com offers individual travel products such as discount airfares and hotel rooms, but it claims that Logibro will allow Lowestfare.com to automate its product packaging, management, and online distribution.
Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), ranking Democrat on the House aviation subcommittee, said yesterday that staffing DOT at senior, experienced positions is a critical issue for the next administration -- "even more important than the Supreme Court vacancies." Addressing the International Aviation Club in Washington, Oberstar noted that DOT aviation experience has deteriorated. From international route decisions to Internet competition, "billions of dollars are at stake," he said. "We just seem to throw [experienced staff] overboard like fish."
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR AUG 10 - AUG 18, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Airbus Korean Air Korean Air Airbus A330-300/ PW4168A Airbus Premiair Airtours Airbus
US Airways this week was granted tentative DOT approval to launch a fourth wholly owned subsidiary airline that is slated to become DC Air if the United-US Airways merger gains regulatory approval. US Airways successfully purchased the operating certificate of a defunct small airline this summer to quickly establish a new carrier -- known as Potomac Air -- before the Justice Department makes a decision on the merger.
Equant signed a three-year deal to provide its e-commerce products to Global Vacations Group that will reduce the company's costs by about $500,000 yearly. Equant will provide its business-to-business program interface to the call centers of the GVG's Customer Vacations brand, with offices in Chicago and San Jose, Calif. Equant claims the interface will allow call center agents to process more transactions at faster speeds.
US Airways experienced widespread delays across its system yesterday after the terminals at Charlotte were shut down after a morning security breech. A security staff person at the airport saw an image of a weapon as a child went through the screening area, but the child could not be stopped by guards. The four concourses at the airport were evacuated, and passengers were later routed back through security. The item in question was later determined to be a toy gun and the airport resumed normal operations by midday.
The National Transportation Safety Board told FAA that its two-stage process for determining whether to put cameras in the cockpit as NTSB Chairman James Hall has proposed is an"unacceptable response" to the Hall proposal and could stretch implementation to 15 years. The NTSB earlier this year proposed requiring two video cameras in airline cockpits as early as Jan.1, 2003, for new aircraft and retrofitting older aircraft by Jan. 1, 2005.
Iberia's traffic grew 18.5% to 3.7 billion revenue passenger kilometers in October, and freight volume fell 2.2% to 77.1 million ton kilometers. The carrier transported 2.3 million passengers, up 12.6%, and achieved a 78.9% load factor.
Note To Readers: Because of observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday, Aviation DAILY will not publish an issue dated Thursday, Nov. 23 and Friday, Nov. 24. The next issue will be dated Monday, Nov. 27.
Amadeus and Terra Lycos, the world's third largest Internet portal, unveiled a deal this week to acquire a 55% equity stake in OneTravel.com. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed and the agreement remains subject to OneTravel.com shareholder approval. Amadeus first took a minority interest in OneTravel in April and plans to use its increased holding to boost OneTravel's share of the U.S. market. When the deal is completed, OneTravel.com will keep its headquarters in East Greenville, Penn., and retain its current management team.
DOT yesterday tentatively selected UPS for the U.S.-China designation available April 1, 2001, for U.S. carriers, while providing an opportunity for fellow market hopefuls American and Delta to serve China with their respective Chinese carrier partners China Eastern and China Southern. UPS will receive six of the 10 available frequencies, with market incumbents gaining the rest -- two to United and one each to FedEx and Northwest.
Senate aviation chairman Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), in the tightest Senate race this year, is holding a 1,765 lead over former Democratic Rep. Maria Cantwell (Wash.), the Internet millionaire executive who has largely self-financed her campaign. With some 60,000 to 70,000 absentee ballots cast, the counting is expected to resume today and be completed in time to be certified to the Washington state secretary of state's office tomorrow.
Sabre reached a partnership agreement Friday with Farelogix Inc., to provide a new program for managing negotiated air fares. Toronto-based Farelogix produces a web-enabled negotiated fares management program and booking engine for consolidators, retailers and online agents. The booking engine allows for simultaneous searching of both published and negotiated fares in a single display. The Farelogix software also includes a real-time reporting system for easy access to sales data.
