The Association of European Airlines (AEA) said it will continue to try to persuade the U.S. of the advantages of a Transatlantic Common Aviation Area (TCAA). The AEA members' CEOs met in Madrid to discuss industry topics and come together with European Union Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. AEA Chairman Xabier de Irala said, "The task remains to convince the U.S.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR AUGUST 23 - 24, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Laker Emery Polaris Douglas Airways Worldwide Holding DC-10- Company 30(F)/ CF6-50C2R
Amsterdam Schiphol Group and Flughafen Frankfurt/Main yesterday unveiled the name "Pantares" for their broad alliance, which initially was announced December 1999. "This is the first alliance between two major international airports," Schiphol said. Both companies will cooperate in passengers, retailing, ground-handling, cargo, real estate development, facility management, information technology and international activities.
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation members Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and the U.S., scheduled to wrap up meetings yesterday in Hawaii, were hopeful that their efforts would result in the first "beyond open skies" multilateral accord, according to U.S. and industry officials tracking and observing the talks. Late U.S. East Coast time yesterday, the parties were working through ownership and control issues that "would require the U.S. to be more flexible," a former U.S. official told The DAILY.
Negotiations yesterday for a settlement between Continental and Northwest appear to have reached a stalemate, as both sides appear to have dug in their heels waiting for counterproposals. Even after opening arguments were made by the two airlines and the Department of Justice at the government's trial against the carriers, Continental CEO Gordon Bethune penned a Nov.
An Antonov An-26 exploded shortly after takeoff Tuesday in northern Angola, killing all 42 passengers and six crew members. According to the Associated Press, the flight was leaving Saurimo, a small town 500 miles east of the Angolan capital of Luanda.
The CEOs of Northwest and Continental failed to reach a stock buyback agreement earlier this week, leading to the start of the long-awaited federal trial yesterday in Detroit. On Oct. 26, Northwest succeeded in delaying the trial about its proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in Continental, while Northwest prepared a settlement offer. The carrier could not delay the case any longer, however, after the airlines failed to agree on a deal.
Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.), a member of the Senate aviation subcommittee who last month was considered ahead by about 10 percentage points in his campaign for re-election, is now locked in a close battle for his seat as two major statewide polls released last weekend showed essentially a dead heat between him and his Democratic contender, Rep. Debbie Stabenow. As many as four of the 10 Republicans on the aviation subcommittee are in very competitive races that could go either way.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR AUGUST 22 - 23, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Embraer Mesa Airlines Wells Fargo Embraer Bank ERJ145/ AE3007A1 Hainan Alta Flights Alta Flights Fairchild
Sector Market Value Trends: Market Value Percentage Change By Month November 1999 through October 2000: Majors; Nationals; Regionals; Cargo; Lessors/Finance; Manufacturers/Suppliers
Seven years after beginning operations, Air Caribbean, the smaller of Trinidad&Tobago's two airlines, went into receivership for alleged debts of millions of dollars to the local state-owned First Citizens Bank. The announcement created a crisis in the Trinidad-Tobago "air bridge," over which Air Caribbean once held a monopoly but more recently encountered stiff competition from No. 1 BWIA.
DOT is not expected to issue a decision awarding U.S.-China rights until after the Nov. 7 U.S. elections, several sources told The DAILY yesterday. At this late date, DOT does not want the long-delayed announcement linked to the election, sources said, noting that earlier this week they thought the award would come by yesterday.
DOT granted America West's request to slide, to 10 a.m., a 7 a.m. Washington National slot leased from American in order to continue its DCA-Columbus, Ohio, nonstops. DOT noted that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority does not object to the slot shift so long as the number of slots in the 7 a.m. hour is reduced by one and the 10 a.m. hour does not get two additional slots prior to action on America West's application. DOT recently approved a temporary slot slide to the 10 a.m. hour by Midwest Express (DAILY, Oct. 30).
The Belgian government has ordered four Embraer aircraft configured as VIP transports. The aircraft, two ERJ135s and two ERJ145s, will be delivered in April 2001. The contract is valued at $78 million.
Frontier Airlines will add flights from Denver to Orlando and San Diego Dec. 14, expanding daily nonstops to Orlando from one to two and to San Diego from two to three.
Mesa Air reached an agreement with US Airways yesterday to provide additional regional jets and extend the term of its code-share agreements. US Airways exercised an option to add four regional jets to the agreement and extend the term of the contract 18 months, from 2007 to 2008. Under the expanded deal Mesa will have 32 RJs under contract with US Airways to 32.
Copa Airlines and EDS yesterday reached a $27 million information technology services agreement. Under the eight-year contract, EDS will manage the bulk of the Panamanian carrier's information network to help improve the information connectivity between the cities it serves. EDS also claims it will help Copa gain "significant" cost savings by acting on its behalf in the selection of a new telecommunications vendor. The new deal provides "the foundation for integrated product offerings" between Copa and its equity partner, Continental.
Delta plans to consolidate most its reservation sales offices in Central and South America into one center based in Santiago, Chile. Beginning next year, all reservation calls originating in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, El Salvador and Venezuela will be processed through the new Santiago-based Customer Contact Center, where customers throughout Latin America will have toll-free access to Delta customer service representatives.
American and Swissair filed a 30-day notice at DOT that Swissair will begin displaying American's code on flights between Zurich and Bucharest, which American holds rights to serve. Once American gains DOT approval, it would place its code on Swissair's Zurich-Larnaca, Cyprus, and -Tbilisi, Georgia, flights. Separately, the carriers notified DOT that Swissair would display American's code on flights operated beyond Zurich to Paris, but not in the reverse direction. (Docket OST-00-5944)
SkyWest reported a net income for the third quarter 2000 of $17.8 million, up 11.7% from the same 1999 quarter. Operating revenues jumped 13% to $138.6 million, and operating expenses rose 14.2% to $111.6 million; operating income was up 8.2% to $26.7 million.
Morten Beyer&Agnew canceled next week's European Noise Conference in London for lack of interest. "Despite having an outstanding roster of speakers from the industry and governments, we were unable to attract a sufficient number of attendees to justify the conference," MBA said.
Boeing CEO Phil Condit yesterday elaborated on plans to get the company involved in a massive air traffic management (ATM) program in announcing the creation of three new business units and appointing executives to head them. Condit said the new units will "maximize the value of three exciting growth opportunities." The new ATM unit will be headed by President John Hayhurst, who was VP-business development for Commercial Airplanes.
TWA, along with six tour operators, unveiled plans to launch 30 seasonal flights to destinations in the Caribbean. The new frequencies are in addition to more than 60 previously announced flights that TWA operates for tour operators. All the new flights are to existing TWA cities with the exception of Antigua, Leeward Islands. Under TWA's agreement with the tour operators, the tour company is responsible for marketing the flights, but the airline will make seats available through its own reservations system.
