Forrester Research reported the fastest revenue growth rate in its history as a public company last week as its second quarter net profit jumped 118%. Revenues increased 95% to $38.3 million for the quarter, up from $19.7 million in the second quarter of 1999. Net income for the quarter more than doubled to $4.9 million. "Forrester's unique position, successful introduction of new products, and geographic expansion continue to generate strong sales and earnings growth," said CEO George Colony.
Correction: Fuel surcharges have been rolled back in only the 20 U.S. leisure markets followed by Deutsche Banc Alex.Brown (DAILY, July 31). The surcharges remain in place on most business fares in the U.S.
U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Share of Service First Quarter 2000 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 38,172 America West 51,222 ATA 15,740 American 181,183 Continental 99,378 Delta 224,678 Northwest 136,630 Southwest 218,870
An investigation ordered by the Pakistani government into the failure of the country's aviation industry has brought to light startling shortcomings in its policies. Carried out by the Ministry of Transport (MOT), the weeklong investigation was initiated after six foreign carriers suspended operations to Karachi Airport, the most recent being Oman Air (OMA) on July 15. The others are SAS, KLM, Air France, Lufthansa and Japan Airlines, which had cited high parking, air bridge and handling charges, coupled with high operational costs and low yields.
Alitalia said KLM's decision to break up their alliance was "illegitimate," and it demands a compensation payment of 250 million euros (US$232 million), the Italian airline announced yesterday in Rome. Alitalia also refuses to pay back the sum of EUR100 million ($93 million) that KLM paid to help finance the creation of a new hub at Milan Malpensa Airport. The Italian airline said it will seek "recognition of the damages it has suffered" through an international arbitration procedure.
NTSB will consider the final report on the investigation into the crash of TWA flight 800 at a two-day meeting beginning Aug. 22 at its new boardroom and conference center in Washington. The TWA 747 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after taking off from New York on a flight to Paris. All 230 aboard were killed.
Great Lakes Aviation reported a 2% rise in operating revenues for the second quarter 2000, reaching a record $34 million. The airline also reported $4 million operating income, up 35.5%, and $1.8 million net income, down 13.1% from the same 1999 quarter. Operating expenses declined 1.3% to $30 million. Operating revenue for the first six months rose 3.8% to $65.9 million, and operating expenses went up 1% to $60.9 million. Operating income climbed 58% to $5 million. Net income for the first half-year dropped 54.2% to $590,000.
Northwest wants a waiver of dormancy condition on its eight one-way U.S.-Russia overflight frequencies. The carrier was not able to use the frequencies, allocated to it for flights between Europe and the Indian subcontinent while FAA's ban on overflying Afghanistan was in force.
World Fuel Services Corp. named Jerrold Blair as its chairman and CEO yesterday and Paul Stebbins as president and chief operating officer. Blair is one of the founders of World Fuel Services and has served 16 years as its president.
American plans to discontinue its four weekly nonstop flights between Orlando and Sao Paulo, Brazil, effective Sept. 6, due to "disappointing" load factors. American and American Eagle will continue to operate 31 flights daily between Orlando and destinations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Bahamas. Peter Dolara, senior VP for Latin America, said the airline was left with "no alternative" on the Orlando-Sao Paulo route because of its lackluster performance, but he said its other Orlando flights are doing well.
Sydney Airport's control tower suffered its second power outage in less than a month yesterday, grounding all flights for about an hour. According to the Associated Press, New South Wales Premier Bob Carr, the state's most powerful politician, was seeking assurances from the federal government the power outage would not occur during the Summer Olympic Games, set to start Sept. 15 in Sydney. Electricity to the control tower failed just before 8 a.m. local time and although a backup system started immediately, all flights were held on the ground for about an hour.
American said yesterday it has ordered six Boeing 777-200IGWs and three 737-800s for delivery in late 2001 and in 2002 for use in expansion and fleet replacement. The new aircraft will expand American's 777 fleet to 43 aircraft and its 737 fleet to 108. Don Carty, chairman, said the aircraft "are to be used for some modest growth and aircraft replacement that has been planned for the next two years."
Delta over the weekend said it was disappointed by the National Mediation Board's decision to rerun an election to determine whether the Transport Workers Union would represent Delta's ramp and cargo employees. The NMB reached its decision Friday based on three factors, Delta said. NMB said it erred in discussing the number of authorization cards submitted by TWU in support of the election and that it mistakenly mailed about 240 ballots of more than 10,000 to Delta employees meant for an election at United.
Highwire, a Seattle-based business-to-business Internet and travel technology services company, signed an agreement with ITA Software yesterday to integrate ITA's fare searching software with Highwire's suite of corporate travel products. Highwire markets its tools specifically for the mid-sized corporate travel market. Travel information from the ITA fare search engine will delivered through Highwire's product suite via a custom travel portal.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance July 2000 Closed Closed Monthly Change Majors Symbol 07/31/00 06/30/00 ($) (%) Alaska Air Group ALK 26.813 27.125 (0.313) (1.2) America West (Class B) AWA 15.813 17.125 (1.313) (7.7) AMR 1 AMR 31.375 26.438 4.938 18.7
China's highest policy-making body, the State Council, favors three airline groups for the 34 Chinese carriers instead of the four initially proposed by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Under CAAC's proposal, Air China, China Eastern Airlines (CEA), China Southern Airlines and one carrier from the China National Aviation Corp. (CNAC) would each lead one of the four groups. CNAC, the airline arm of CAAC, holds a majority stake in Hong Kong-based Dragonair, Air Macau (AMU) and a small equity in Cathay Pacific.
Atlantic Coast Airlines will upgrade its daily four United Express roundtrips between Providence, R.I., and Washington Dulles to regional jet service Sept. 6. The service will be aboard the 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jet.
Mesa Air Group is considering an offer from Raytheon to return immediately up to 20 surplus 1900D aircraft that serve mainly rural communities in a move that could save the company millions of dollars annually. Mesa also is considering refinancing up to 36 additional aircraft, and under the agreement with Raytheon could return an additional 11 aircraft over the next two calendar years.
United unveiled several enhancements to its United Update suite of communication services recently, including Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) capabilities that can be accessed through any WAP-enabled phone. Travelers looking for flight and travel information can access this wireless feature at either ua2go.com or mobile.united.com. United Update can now be accessed by WAP-enabled devices, allowing travelers to check on the status of a United flight, get flight availability, obtain real-time frequent flyer information and register for the carrier's paging service.
DOT should not find anything in Polar Air Cargo's opposition to the Northwest/Japan Airlines proposal for U.S.-Japan all-cargo code sharing to delay approval of the Northwest/JAL request, the two carriers told DOT yesterday, calling Polar's "reasoning...fallacious." Polar's "protestations" constitute an "assault" on the liberalized U.S.-Japan bilateral as crafted and supported under DOT policy, the carriers said.
Kuwait Directorate General of Civil Aviation awarded a contract to Qualimetrics for 22 Automated Weather Observing Systems that will be located throughout the state.
Lastminute.com plans to partner with Be Free Inc. to develop an affiliate marketing program designed to reach online consumers across Europe. The company plans to launch the program in the U.K. "imminently" and eventually in France, Sweden and Germany. Powered by Massachusetts-based Be Free, this "performance marketing system" claims to lower customer acquisition costs and extend Lastminute.com's brand reach. "The system is performance-based, encouraging affiliate partners to drive traffic to the Lastminute.com web site," the company said.
U.S. Major Carriers Systemwide Share of Service First Quarter 2000 DEPARTURE DATA Total Departures Alaska 41,192 America West 52,470 ATA 17,904 American 211,692 Continental 115,041 Delta 235,667 Northwest 144,392
LanChile lost $2.1 million in the second quarter as it suffered through fuel price increases that cost the carrier $15.3 million more than during the year-earlier period. The airline turned a $23.3 million profit for the first six months of 2000. Revenue grew 19.7% to $327 million, while expenses increased 14.1% to $314.7 million. LanChile recently was voted the most admired company within Chile. During a slower-than-predicted economic recovery for the region, LanChile still managed to raise unit revenues, which grew 12.5%. Yield increased 6.3%.
