The Air Line Pilots Association has announced it's making a bid for representation of Air Canada's 3,600 pilots, of which about 2,400 are members of the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) and 1,200 former Canadian pilots belong to ALPA. The Canadian Industrial Relations Board is expected to announce a date for the representation election soon, ALPA said. ACPA spokesman Peter Foster said that arbitration is underway for merging the two pilot seniority lists and hearings are scheduled through the end of February.
TRAFFIC DATA FOR OCTOBER 2000 RPMs Change ASMs Change In From In From Load Airline Millions 10/99 Millions 10/99 Factor Frontier 234.1 +42.5% 369.3 +24.5% 63.3% Great Lakes 25.3 +8.2% 46.3 +9.7% 54.6% Midway 131.6 +38.6% 188.7 +32.7% 69.7%
Midway Airlines this week reported a $3.1 million net loss for the third quarter. CEO Robert Ferguson attributed the results to extremely high fuel prices and a hike in crew training costs during what is typically the company's weakest quarter. He noted, however, that unit revenues increased "modestly" and, excluding fuel and crew training, unit costs were essentially unchanged from the third quarter 1999. Total operating revenues reached $70.7 million, up 43%, and total operating expenses were $75.6 million, an increase of 55%.
Fairchild Dornier plans to open a business development office next month at Worldgate Plaza in Herndon, Va., near Dulles Airport. The 40,000-square-foot facility will house its customer business team, including sales, marketing, government programs, sales engineering, sales finance, contracts and corporate communication groups as well as some top product support functions. Barry Eccleston, executive VP-business development, will be senior corporate officer at the new location.
Northwest and Continental yesterday signed definitive agreements regarding Northwest's sale of Continental stock back to the Houston-based carrier. The two also extended their alliance through 2025. As part of the repurchase, Continental buys 6.7 millions shares of its stock from Northwest for $450 million in cash. After the sale and a stock reclassification, Northwest will retain 2.6 million shares of Continental Class B shares, representing less than a 5% stake.
Sen. Charles Schumer's (D-N.Y.) comments to the Justice Department that US Airways' 222 slots at Washington National should be awarded to low-cost carriers flying to upstate New York drew praise from AirTran yesterday and bafflement from DC Air CEO Robert Johnson. Schumer, in a letter to Acting Assistant Attorney General Doug Melamed, said Justice should distribute US Airways' slots to low-cost carriers rather than sell them to a new entity like DC Air (DAILY, Nov. 16). The US Airways/United merger should not go through unless the slots are reallocated, he said.
LanChile and Peruval will not renew their contract for joint venture LanPeru's operations to the U.S. Peruval, which owns 51% of LanPeru, has conflicted with LanChile on revenue, cargo and operational issues in recent weeks. LanChile said, "Regrettably, our vision of the future of the company differs substantially from that of our Peruval partners and we have been unable to reach an agreement on the increase of capital that LanChile considers vital to the welfare" of LanPeru. The pact allowed LanChile to wet-lease LanPeru a Boeing 767-300 for Peru-U.S. service.
United continues to experience flight cancellations which it attributes to a slowdown by its mechanics, even as the National Mediation Board is trying to schedule more contract negotiations. United spokesman Andy Plews said as of yesterday afternoon United had to cancel 72 flights, of which 57 were maintenance-related. Wednesday the airline had 82 maintenance-related cancellations. The International Association of Machinists, which represents United's mechanics, denies there is any union-sanctioned slowdown (DAILY, Nov. 16).
Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), Senate aviation subcommittee chairman, was holding a narrow lead of 3,500 votes yesterday over former Democratic Rep. Maria Cantwell in the Washington Senate race, the last unsettled Senate contest. The outcome is expected tomorrow, when 60,000-70,000 absentee ballots will be counted in King County, which includes Seattle. Gorton sources continue to believe et Cantwell's strength in Seattle. Both Gorton and Cantwell sources believe the margin will be close enough to trigger the state's automatic recount provision.
A Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-200 that had landed seconds earlier at Singapore Changi International Airport on a flight from Kuala Lumpur Nov. 14, was stopped in its tracks on the runway by several dogs. Flight SQ 115, bearing registration 9V-SRB, was taxiing to the gate when it was held up on the runway for 16 minutes until the dogs were driven away by ground workers. The incident resulted in the closure of the runway to other aircraft.
TWA yesterday signed a code-share deal with Air Europa giving customers at both airlines more access to destinations and the U.S. TWA this week also signed a code-share deal with its frequent flyer partner America West (DAILY, Nov. 16). TWA said yesterday it will expand its short-haul product TWQ to Atlanta and Boston, giving it products in eight markets, including New York LaGuardia.
U.S. National Carriers Traffic as of October, 10 Months 2000 (000) October October % 2000 1999 Change Air Wisconsin Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 124,568 98,868 26.0 Available Seat Miles (000) 187,964 153,793 22.2 Load Factor (%) 66.3 64.3
The House Republican Conference has refused to repeal its current six-year limit on chairmen and subcommittee chairmen, which has the practical effect of ensuring that House Transportation Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) will step down as in that role in January. By a lopsided vote of 27-141, the Republican Conference, which consists of all Republican House members, rejected an amendment that would have repealed the limit of three consecutive terms for committee and subcommittee chairmen.
Delta this week started to beta-test its new travel web site aimed at serving the needs of the small business traveler. The product was first unveiled in April and the airline hopes to have it live by the summer, but is now starting to test the product with 250 companies in Atlanta and Cincinnati. Named Mind Your Own Business Travel, or MYOB Travel, the new site targets businesses that have between five and 50 travelers. "The small business market has been underserved, undervalued and underloved," Delta Senior VP of E-Business Vince Caminiti told The DAILY.
The airline business has difficulty making a profit largely because the labor unions have a stranglehold over management, according to former TWA Chairman Carl Icahn. Speaking to the PhoCusWright conference this week in Phoenix, Icahn said many of the U.S. major airlines are "overleveraged and can't afford to take a strike." As a result, he believes the airlines often give in to union demands. "Union guys, underneath the veneer, are brighter than airline management," he joked.
United is accusing its International Association of Machinists of engaging in unlawful "disruptive conduct" and working to the rule while contract talks continue, resulting in flight delays and cancellations. IAM says the charges are an attempt to threaten and intimidate the union during contract negotiations and denies its members have acted illegally.
The German government announced this week in Berlin that it would lend 2 billion marks (US$875 million) to the European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) Company to develop the Airbus A3XX aircraft. "By granting this loan, the (German) federal government is setting the German locations on the same footing as the other Airbus production sites in France, Spain and Great Britain," EADS said. In those countries, the governments already agreed to give similar financial support.
TWA and America West yesterday extended their partnership launched earlier this year by signing a code-share alliance. The two signed a reciprocal frequent flyer pact earlier. Although the deal has long been expected, one analyst predicted that the code share is the first step in "a much deeper association." The deal gives travelers new connections to 145 cities in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Mexico. The deal gives TWA access to 23 new routes, and America West will gain marketing ability to reach 39 new routes.
Lufthansa expects to increase its operating profit for the full fiscal year by 40% after a very successful first nine months. Operating profit so far this year is up 50.7% at 794 million euros (US$680 million). CEO Juergen Weber predicted that "2000 will be one of the best in Lufthansa's history." Traffic increased 9.1%, resulting in a 71.9% load factor, up 0.9 percentage points. Revenue grew 20.2%. Weber told reporters yesterday in Frankfurt that the Star Alliance contributed more than 250 million euros ($215 million) to the result.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR AUG 10 - 18, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Airbus Korean Air Korean Air Airbus A330-300/ PW4168A Airbus Premiair Airtours Airbus
Delta CEO Leo Mullin yesterday recommended that the air traffic control system become a performance-based government-sponsored corporation separate from FAA. Mullin told The Wings Club in New York that there was an "absolute necessity" for fundamental changes to the ATC system, which is unprepared to handle this year's 650 million passengers and will not be able to serve the 1 billion annual travelers expected by 2009.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said yesterday he will oppose the proposed United-US Airways merger unless steps are taken to ensure that US Airways' 222 slots at Washington National are given to low-cost carriers that will fly to upstate New York. In a letter to Acting Assistant Attorney General Doug Melamed, Schumer called on the Justice Department to distribute US Airways' slots to low-cost carriers instead of selling them to a new entity like the proposed DC Air. He suggested slots go to JetBlue and AirTran.
The European Commission yesterday cleared Snecma to buy Hurel-Dubois' pod systems and thrust reversers activities. The EC concluded that the transaction "will not create or reinforce a dominant position on the relevant markets." In the pods market, the merged entity will have a 23% market share and BFGoodrich retains 40%. Boeing, which has more than one-third of the thrust reverser market, dominates world production, with BFGoodrich at 13-14% and Snecma/Hurel-Dubois with 25%.
US Airways told FAA that its New York LaGuardia Airport slot allocation lottery "strikes a fair and appropriate balance" between AIR-21 policy objectives and the airport's "serious congestion problem." LaGuardia "clearly cannot support the number of flights currently being operated there, and the situation must be addressed immediately," the airline said. The carrier pledged support for FAA's "voluntary solution to address on a temporary basis" the growing congestion problem.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic October 2000 (000) October October % 2000 1999 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 876,000 887,000 -1.2 Available Seat Miles 1,427,000 1,436,000 -0.6 Load Factor (%) 61.4 61.8 America West
