Airport and Airway Trust Fund -- Income Statement October 1, 1999 - June 30, 2000 RECEIPTS (Revenues) June 2000 Revenues: Excise Taxes (Transferred from General Fund): Liquid Fuel other than Gas 60,035,000.00 Transportation by Air, Seats, Berths, etc. 714,218,000.00 Use of International Travel Facilities 124,989,000.00
Amadeus Global Travel Distribution, the European computer reservations system, posted a net profit, excluding exceptional items, of 90.7 million euros in the first half of 2000, up 41% compared with the previous year. The company said revenue from total bookings rose to EUR783.3 million, up 15.7%, "primarily driven by volume growth and price increases applied from Jan. 1, 2000. Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific performed particularly well, while bookings in South America recovered, reflecting improved economic conditions within that region," Amadeus said.
American Trans Air plans to start year-round, nonstop service to Honolulu from both New York Kennedy and Chicago O'Hare, beginning in December, in partnership with Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays. ATA will operate the scheduled roundtrip flights from New York and Chicago O'Hare twice weekly, using L-1011-500 equipment. The flights from Chicago will begin Dec. 22 and the JFK service Dec. 17.
Alaska Airlines Friday released all its MD-80s for service after maintenance crews uncovered no problems related to jackscrew endplay. The carrier late last week grounded 17 aircraft while the inspections were conducted. It said late Friday that no problems had been found during the reinspections. Alaska may have done other operators a favor by discovering, through its new safety program, that the endplay measurements on the jackscrews of its MD-80s could vary under certain circumstances.
National Airlines Friday said it would begin new service between Washington National and Las Vegas Oct. 26 with one daily nonstop round trip. National was awarded two perimeter slot exemptions at Washington by DOT.
Continental exercised five additional options on Boeing 737-800 aircraft, bringing the total options exercised on the aircraft this year to 15. By yearend, Continental will have grown its fleet to 371 aircraft from 303 in 1995, a 22% increase. The average number of seats per airplane in Continental's fleet will have increased from 137 five years ago to 148 by the end of this year. Average fleet age will have been reduced from 13.6 years in 1995 to 6.8 years.
Transport Canada next year will review its international transportation policy that is intended to be a "liberalizing initiative" for the industry, according to Brian Carr, director of international air policy. He noted the vibrant international services operated by charter carriers now interested in scheduled service that could provide competition.
A U.S. District Court judge rule that Airborne Express violated its contract with union flight crewmembers when it imposed a policy of conducting random searches, the Airline Professionals Association Teamsters Local 1224 said yesterday. Judge Sandra Beckwith overruled an earlier arbitration decision in favor of the company.
Swissair and American will code share on 14 daily transatlantic flights between Switzerland and the U.S. under antitrust immunity between the two carriers and Sabena that took full effect on Aug. 6. Sabena additionally introduced a daily Brussels-Dallas/Fort Worth service Aug. 6 operating an Airbus A330-200. American will put Sabena's code on its own flights to 81 destinations beyond New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago and Dallas/Fort Worth.
Worldspan named Niel Bainton director e-commerce marketing and promoted Bratati Ghosh to director-e-commerce strategic alliances and Michael Mabrouk to director-e-commerce corporate sales.
Airport and Airway Trust Fund -- Balance Sheet As of March 31, 2000 ASSETS June 2000 Undisbursed Balances: Available for Investment 1,033.72 TOTAL UNDISBURSED BALANCE (Cash in Account) Receivables: Interest Receivables 0.00 TOTAL RECEIVABLES Investments:
Air France, one of the founding members of the new alliance SkyTeam, is courting Thai Airways International to join the group. Air France has offered to make Bangkok Airport its Asian hub, on condition that Thai break away from Star Alliance and join SkyTeam, which includes Korean Air, Delta and AeroMexico.
KLM traffic last month increased 2.2% on 1.4% less capacity, which improved load factor 2.9 percentage points to 80.3%. The strongest overall traffic growth -- 11% -- occurred on the carrier's European routes. Passenger traffic was up 3.7% and capacity fell 1.9%, as the load factor soared 4.6 percentage points to 85.4%. Business class traffic increased by 21%, exceeding economy class traffic growth of only 2%. Cargo traffic to Asia/Pacific jumped 13%.
Pilots at Hawaiian Airlines, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, last week said they were disappointed that management requested federal assistance for contract talks that began last November. "This is the first time in decades that either party has requested the intervention of a federal mediator in pilot contract negotiations, and it comes at an extremely unusual midpoint of negotiations rather than at the end of the process," the pilots said.
KLM is modifying its conditions of carriage in response to the ruling of a Dutch judge who imposed penalties on the airline for delayed luggage. Last Tuesday, the District Court of Haarlem imposed a penalty of 5,000 Netherlands guilders (US$2,100) on KLM for each suitcase that does not arrive at its destination at the same time as its owner. The court's ruling was prompted by a complaint from Dutch tour operator Opera Select, which organizes short trips in Europe for opera lovers.
