Antigua-based and privately owned Caribbean Star Airlines (CSA) last week began scheduled service with de Havilland Dash 8 turboprops on two routes. From Antigua, the airline's southern route terminates in Trinidad with stops at various Caribbean islands. Its northern route ends in Tortola, also with intermediate stops. Route rights have been requested from St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Kitts/Nevis and Dominica.
Potomac Air, which US Airways wants to establish as a subsidiary to become DC Air following the United merger, will participate in an area career fair Nov. 10-11 along with US Airways, Colgan Air, US Airways Express and others.
AirTran is looking at three cities on the East Coast as candidates for its "focus cities" next year. Expansion would come after two years of slow or flat growth, CEO Joe Leonard told The DAILY Friday. He said AirTran is looking at one or two potential focus cities west of Atlanta, but he declined to reveal the points. "Our basic plan is to grow internally," Leonard said, noting, "In three years, we see ourselves growing either in every major market in the eastern U.S." or the southern U.S.
SkyTeam has officially invited Czech Airlines (CSA) to join the alliance early next year. CSA will become the fifth member of the alliance after Delta, Air France, Korean Air and AeroMexico. The group hopes to increase its presence significantly in Central and Eastern Europe by the move, which was announced at an event in Prague, Czech Republic. Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta confirmed that his company was prepared to take a stake in the airline in 2002 when CSA is due to be partly privatized.
American Trans Air parent Amtran's third quarter earnings plunged 78% to $3.0 million after it suffered a significant rise in fuel and maintenance expenses. Officials warned that the high costs are not expected to improve this quarter and could lead to a full-year loss. Despite the drop in net income, the company reported a 14.7% jump in total operating revenues last week to a record $347.3 million. Scheduled service revenues increased 19.6% to $206.5 million, and charter service revenues rose 15.5%.
Alaska Airlines plans to open a reservations service center in Boise, Idaho, to improve call handling capability. The center will have 14,400 square feet of floor space and employ more than 200 people when it opens in early spring.
Southwest will offer six daily nonstop flights from Palm Beach, its most recent new city, to Tampa, three daily to Orlando, two daily to Nashville, and two daily to Baltimore/Washington. It will operate direct or connecting service to 34 additional cities. Southwest unveiled plans to launch daily service from Palm Beach Airport Jan. 21.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic August 2000 Revenue Ton Miles (000) August August % 2000 1999 Change Domestic Freight 919,661 854,729 7.6 Mail 168,486 156,970 7.3 Total 1,088,147 1,011,699 7.6 International
The board of the Air Line Pilots Association yesterday overwhelmingly approved a resolution to work toward bringing all airline pilots in the U.S. and Canada "under one union roof." In a meeting in Miami, ALPA President Duane Woerth said "for the first time in the history of commercial aviation, we see the realistic prospect of uniting all airline pilots in the U.S.
American Eagle will convert most of its Rochester-New York LaGuardia service to regional jets Dec. 2, the airline said this week. American Eagle will upgrade four of its five daily turboprop roundtrips to 37-seat Embraer ERJ-135 aircraft.
Air Transport Association said it will sponsor a conference that will provide a "forum to discuss the latest scientific findings" concerning pilot fatigue, approaches to managing "this complex safety issue," and recent advances in alertness management. ATA said it hopes to hold the conference by early June. The Air Line Pilots Association repeated its assertion that "industry initiatives" fall "far short of the mark and can only be construed as a delaying tactic."
TWA posted a third quarter loss yesterday, blaming higher fuel costs, employee wages and aircraft rental expenses. TWA, which has not earned a net profit since the second quarter of 1998, posted a smaller-than-expected net loss of $34.8 million. It lost $53.7 million in the third quarter of 1999. "TWA reported further progress toward profitability despite the heavy burden of fuel price increases," said CEO Bill Compton.
Lufthansa Technik named August-Wilhelm Henningsen, 49, chairman of its executive board. Henningsen, who was in charge products and services, succeeds Wolfgang Mayrhuber, who is taking charge of the passenger business division of Lufthansa. Gerald Gallus, in charge of finance, is now responsible for products and services. The new chief financial officer is Peter Jansen.
Democratic and Republican presidential candidates both advocate public-private partnership and increased targeted investment in transportation but differ on how achieve these goals, according to industry officials representing their transportation platforms.
Raytheon reported that third quarter sales rose to $4.16 billion from $4.12 billion and net income was $105 million, compared with a loss of $163 million. Operating income jumped to $433 million from $69 million. The company reported that cash flow was stronger across all continuing operations.
China selected Raytheon to supply a turnkey air traffic control system for the Shenyang Airport. The contract includes a solid-state S-band primary surveillance radar with co-mounted monopulse secondary surveillance radar and an AutoTrac ATM system.
AIRCRAFT TRANSACTIONS FOR AUGUST 7 - 8, 2000 Seller/ New Type / Previous Operator Owner Engine Operator Boeing Southwest Southwest Boeing 737-700/ CFM56-7B22 Boeing Continental First Security Boeing
Lauda Air's board meets today to save the struggling carrier. A report by Deloitte&Touche leaked this week says Lauda will lose $68 million this year, twice as much as founder Niki Lauda publicly admitted and a level that would bring the airline to the verge of bankruptcy. Sources say Lauda needs at least $15 million in the next few weeks to avoid going out of business. Lufthansa, which owns 20% of Lauda, was not expected to attend today's board meeting.
In a bid to strengthen its position as a leading cargo carrier, Singapore Airlines placed an order for six Boeing 747-400 freighters with nine options. The options are for either freighter or passenger versions, indicating that SIA is giving itself fleet flexibility if its recently ordered A3XX super-jumbos do not arrive on time. The 747Fs, dubbed the "Mega Ark" by SIA, will be powered by Pratt&Whitney PW4000 engines. Delivery is slated for September 2002 through to 2005. The deal including spares and spare engines is worth US$1.3 billion.
FAA's mainframe computer at the Los Angeles Center crashed at 9:58 a.m. EDT yesterday as technicians were attempting to load new software. FAA said partial service was restored by 11:15 a.m. and full service by 1:05 p.m. While hundreds of flight were grounded, FAA said it would not know the exact number until today. The agency also said it did not know what caused the computer to crash.
Northwest, boosted by strong demand in passenger and cargo operations, reported a third quarter profit of $207 million, a jump of 15% from the 1999 period. Without the gain from a Worldspan arbitration ruling, the airline's profits still grew 6.1% to $191 million. Fuel costs, up 58.7%, boosted expenses 14.2% to $2.8 billion. The carrier had none of its fuel requirements hedged last quarter but is 75% hedged through yearend. Northwest had a stronger-than-expected 5.9% improvement in yield, however, and an 8.6% gain in unit revenues.
GKN of the U.K. said it intends to buy Boeing's St. Louis fabrication operations, establish administrative offices in the city and transfer non-Boeing manufacturing work to St. Louis. About 1,500 Boeing employees now work at the facility, and GKN said it will employ about 1,200 of them.
FAA yesterday issued directives on how public agencies may conduct annual audits of passenger facility charges they collect from airlines. FAA said that while the guidance is "voluntary," it will have "greater confidence in audits conducted in accordance with the guide." Public agencies approved by FAA to collect PFCs are required to provide an annual independent audit of revenue collected. The guidance describes the receipt, holding, use and reporting requirements, FAA said in the Oct. 19 Federal Register.
United's nightmarish summer was worse than expected as the carrier posted a $116 million loss yesterday, nearly double what many analysts had predicted. The airline's operational problems and dramatic capacity reduction cost the carrier as much as $500 million in revenue at the same time that its fuel and wage expenses soared. "It was clearly a difficult quarter for us," CFO Doug Hacker said in an understatement.
