National Air Transportation Association President James Coyne launched a "grassroots" effort to gain support for legislation now before Congress to make the Visa Waiver Program permanent and to extend its coverage to Part 91 and Part 135 operators. The program was established in 1988 to allow foreign nationals from 26 specified countries to visit the U.S. by commercial airlines for up to 90 days for business or personal reasons without a visa. Business aviation and on-demand air charter operators have been excluded from participating in the program. Under H.R.
DOT's monthly consumer air travel report for June does not include data on on-time arrivals and flight delays due to a switch in computers used to process the data received from carriers. A congressional requirement in DOT's FY 2000 appropriation required that DOT close its in-house computer and have the data processed elsewhere. The report will be revised when the information is available.
Teamsters Union joined five other flight attendant union yesterday in asking FAA to deny a petition by Airbus for an exemption from a rule requiring no more than 60 feet between exits on an aircraft. Ray Benning, airline division director of the Teamsters, said that "limiting the distance a passenger has to travel to an exit is a critical factor in saving lives in an emergency evacuation." Airbus wants to increase the distance between two exits on its new A340-600 to 74 feet.
WestJet Airlines' earnings for the second quarter rose to C$7.4 million from C$2.9 million in the same quarter 1999, up 154%. WestJet posted an increase in revenue per available seat mile from 13.7 cents (Canadian) to 14.7 cents in the quarter, partly due to the airline's changing accounting estimates and increased depreciation of its fleet to accommodate early retirement of Boeing 737-200 aircraft as it transitioned to the new-generation 737 fleet.
FAA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding under which OSHA will take control over workplace safety for flight attendants. The Association of Flight Attendants, which has been trying for nearly 25 years to gain workplace coverage for cabin crew, noted that FAA lacked funds and manpower for the task.
DOT Secretary Rodney Slater will attempt for the first time to reach consensus on major world transportation infrastructure issues as part of a high-level, global and ambitious transportation event in October in Washington. DOT has assembled aviation and transportation leaders from 120 countries, with more than 40 transportation ministers represented, according to DOT Assistant Secretary For Aviation and International Affairs Brad Mims. Airline, airport and other transportation CEOs will be among the 147 speakers.
On-again, off-again plans to build a Northern Region International Airport (NRIA) for the Malaysian states of Penang, Kedah and Perak is now off for good, officials said. Though the initial plan for the facility was called off during the height of Asian financial crisis in 1998, it was resurrected again early this year. Targeted for completion in 2008, NRIA was to replace Penang Airport, cover the other two states and be the gateway to the Northern Region.
Ryanair reported strong growth and record financial results for its fiscal first quarter thanks to a 32% increase in passenger volume across its network. Revenues grew 37% to 115 million euros (US$104 million), boosted by an increase in yields due to a longer stage lengths and the strength of the sterling compared to the euro. The airline took delivery of five Boeing 737-800s and launched 10 new routes. "These routes are performing well, with strong load factors despite the fact that they are in their first months of operation," said CEO Michael O'Leary.
Cathay Pacific highlighted Asia's economic strength yesterday as the airline revealed strong first-half profits. Earnings soared to HK$2.2 billion (US$280 million), up from HK$108 million ($14 million) in the first half of 1999. Revenue swelled 23.1% to HK$16.1 billion ($2.1 billion) and load factor jumped 8.6 percentage points to 75.7%. The airline believes its financial recovery was largely due to the continued economic gains of the region, especially in a number of North Asian markets.
Delta's Air Line Pilots Association unit Master Executive Council yesterday met in a closed session with the union's merger committee to talk about the Comair ALPA's request to merge with mainline's seniority list. Delta ALPA spokeswoman Karen McGuffey said the union's executive council will hear petitions on the issue next week, and she doesn't expect the MEC to end this week's meeting with a formal position.
Several regional and domestic Chinese carriers are troubled by the uncertainty of their future under the proposed grouping of the country's airlines by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). CAAC has proposed to place the 34 international, regional and domestic carriers into four groups. China's policy-making body, the Supreme Council, which is in studying CAAC's implementation plans, has proposed only three, however. According to an official at CAAC, the possibility also exists that the smaller carriers would be merged.
Mesa Airlines yesterday reported a fiscal third quarter net income of $8 million, up from $4.8 million during the same period in 1999, on revenues of $121 million, a 14.9% increase. Expenses jumped 12.1% to $109 million. Revenue per available seat mile climbed 8.3% to 17 cents. CEO Jonathan Ornstein said he is pleased with the progress Mesa is making in introducing new regional jets. In addition to Canadair RJs, Mesa now flies five Embraer 145 RJs for US Airways Express and will take delivery of two more this month.
United's ongoing operational problems will cost the airline between $120 million and $150 million pretax in the third quarter, according to PaineWebber estimates.Analyst Sam Buttrick believes management's hope for a new pilot contract by early September is "excessively optimistic," but he predicts operations will improve slowly. Passengers will continue to book away from United over the next two months, however, as "sufficient damage has been done."
Japan's three major domestic airlines -- Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Air Systems -- signed an agreement yesterday to establish a company this year that will launch a cooperative web site for domestic ticket sales. The three carriers predict the site will handle sales of up to 10 billion yen (US$92 million) in its first year of business. Within five years of startup, the carriers expect the site to handle 5% of their domestic ticket sales business.
US Airways plans to resume daily nonstop service between its Philadelphia hub and Amsterdam Schiphol, effective April 11, 2001. The airline temporarily suspended the route in June 1999 but will restart the route as its eighth transatlantic destination next spring thanks to the addition of several new Airbus A330-300s to its fleet this year. US Airways will operate Philadelphia-Amsterdam, however, with Boeing 767-200s in a two-class configuration.
FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment program provides countries with an evaluation of their air service safety regime, but how the results of that assessment are used to allow or prevent flying to the U.S. was the topic of sharp disagreement at the American Bar Association's Air and Space Forum last week in Montreal. The program is "voluntary and reciprocal," said Michael Jennison, FAA international affairs assistant chief counsel, noting that member countries could challenge FAA's adequacy as a civil aviation authority through the ICAO oversight process.
Capital requirements for aircraft development are "so huge" that manufacturing cannot be accomplished without direct or indirect government subsidies, Airbus Counsel Renee Martin-Nagle told the American Bar Association last week in Montreal.Lack of such support "would create a duopoly," she said, asking, "Is that fair?" Boeing and Airbus spur each other on, and "more competition would be better."
Sabre is quietly demanding that airlines allow Travelocity.com to post airline web-only fares and is threatening to raise computer reservation fees by about 7% if the carriers refuse, according to statements from airline sources and officials from rival Orbitz. The fee hike would be Sabre's second this year. A Sabre spokeswoman called the allegations "not true." She added, "We continue to work with our airline customers to implement methods to reduce their distribution costs.
Pro Air has contracted with Lufthansa Technik to provide turnkey spare parts support for five years. LHT will immediately position a substantial spare parts inventory at Pro Air and to repair and overhaul aircraft components. The deal was called the "first of its type between Lufthansa Technik and a U.S. passenger airline." Pro Air, three years old, operates Boeing 737s out of Detroit City Airport.
United said this week that it plans to cancel 1,944 more flights in October due to ongoing operational problems. It cut 4,812 flights from late April through August, mostly on its domestic network. President Rono Dutta said in July that the company canceled 1,983 September flights, roughly 3% of its monthly services (DAILY, July 20). Mounting pressure from shareholders, frequent flyers and corporate clients, led Dutta on Monday to apologize to the airline's customers who were inconvenienced over the weekend.
Fairchild Dornier has canceled the 428JET program in a surprise move that casts doubt on the company's future as a major player in the market for small regional jets. The manufacturer said in a statement that "due to changing market conditions," a viable business case could not be made for the aircraft. Fairchild Dornier claimed it had 113 firm orders and options for the stretched version of the 428JET. The decision was made on Friday internally, and the three customers were informed over the weekend.
Philippine Airlines' profit of US$9.5 million for April have prompted the carrier's creditors to allow it to retain two Airbus A340s that were supposed to have been returned to the lessors the following month. According to PAL President Avelino Zapanta, the creditors also agreed that two more A340s that were released during the height of the Asian economic downturn in 1998 will rejoin the airline's fleet. Four Boeing 737-200s have been leased from local carrier Air Philippines, boosting PAL's fleet strength to 32.
U.S. National Carriers Productivity, In RPMs And ASMs Per Employee First Quarter 2000 Revenue Available Passenger Seat Miles Miles Total (000) (000) Employees AirTran Airlines 1,014,616 1,674,046 3,882 Aloha 212,095 338,786 2,477 Frontier 553,630 950,279 1,640
LIAT, based in Antigua, and Windward Islands Airways (Winair) of St. Maarten have formed a new business alliance with "fully integrated schedules, minimum connecting times, wider choices and value fares." The alliance was undertaken to provide seamless travel for tourists and other visitors in the region. LIAT operates an all-de Havilland Dash 8 fleet in 37- and 50-seat configurations, while Winair uses 19-passenger Twin Otters. Through streamlining of their fleets, the carriers plan new service later this year between the French Antilles, St.
Bolivia, in the face of strong opposition to a plan to start TAM Bolivia, is now leaning toward a possible joint venture, alliance or merger of TAM Bolivia and financially troubled AeroSur, according to DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America&Caribbean. The plan would need support from Rolim Amaro, head of the entire TAM group.
