Revised* - U.S. Major Carriers Traffic June 2000 (000) June June % 2000 1999 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 1,071,000 1,069,000 0.2 Available Seat Miles 1,408,000 1,495,000 -5.8 Load Factor (%) 76.1 71.5
The proposed United-US Airways merger gained the endorsement of several key members of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation yesterday following United's decision to invest $160 million in US Airways' Pittsburgh maintenance and overhaul facilities. United said it has been studying the feasibility of expanding the maintenance base since the merger was announced May 24. Before that date, US Airways had been talking with Pittsburgh officials about a new base that would focus on Airbus maintenance work.
GE Aircraft Engines and Techspace Aero of Belgium have signed a pact under which Techspace will participate in the design, development and manufacture of the CF34-10 turbofan, which will power the Fairchild Dornier 928JET and the Embraer ERJ 190.
Rockwell Collins and Hamilton Sundstrand created an alliance to provide global service for avionics, instrumentation and utility systems. Customers will benefit from the convenience of a "single-stop-shop solutions," the companies said.
TWA remains ready to use its U.S.-India designation for code-share service with Royal Jordanian via Jordan, TWA told DOT, countering calls by American to strip TWA of the designation for reasons of dormancy. TWA "should not be deprived of the opportunity...because of an ongoing bilateral dispute between Jordan and India." The carrier said it has "actively pushed" for the necessary government approvals to implement its code share. India and Jordan continue to negotiate the terms of access to the market for Royal Jordanian to operate code-share service with TWA.
Orbitz, the yet-to-start online travel web site owned by five U.S. airlines, needs tighter regulatory controls to ensure it sticks with its claims offering unbiased fare information to consumers and doesn't use its position to push competitors out of the market, opponents of the site told the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday. Orbitz plans to launch this fall. Orbitz CEO Jeff Katz argued that his site faces a "duopoly" from Travelocity.com and Expedia.com, which he said control 70% of the online travel market.
Initial investigations seem to support the theory that the Hapag-Lloyd jet ran out of fuel while still in Hungarian air space en route to Vienna, where it made an emergency landing last week. The head of the Austrian air accident investigation committee, Guenther Raicher, said that although he does not yet have positive proof, he would not dispute that theory. A transcript of the ACARS messages between the crew and Hapag Lloyd's operations center obtained by The DAILY indicates that fuel consumption was an issue of concern early in the flight.
Boeing 767-400ER yesterday received FAA certification as well as type design approval for 180-minute ETOPS. It shares the same type rating as other 767s and a common type rating with the 757 series.
Istanbul Airlines, the biggest private airline in Turkey, has denied reports in the Turkish and German press about an alleged imminent bankruptcy. According to the reports, Istanbul Airlines has debt of more than $200 million. The airline is operating only a fraction of its original fleet of Boeing 727s, 737s and 757s and is struggling to keep up its busy summer holiday schedule between Turkey and Germany primarily. Last weekend, the airline left 800 passengers stranded at Duesseldorf Airport when three flights were canceled.
Fuel Cost and Consumption U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals May 1999 to April 2000 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 1999 May Domestic 1,190,551,845 560,908,778 47.113 International 433,205,727 226,875,820 52.371
Embraer will reveal Sunday at the Farnborough Air Show that it will enter the corporate jet market. It will create the Embraer Corporate Jet division and disclose a first firm order from a major U.S. corporation. Sources report that at least three models of regional jets will be configured as executive aircraft -- the 37-seat ERJ-135, 44-seat ERJ-140, and 98-seat ERJ-190. Embraer has been working on this new line since last year, when it presented the Brazilian air force with a corporate version of the ERJ-135.
American told DOT that, beginning Aug. 16, it plans to display its code on flights operated by Sabena or its subsidiary Delta Air Transport (DAT) between Brussels and Bordeaux, Prague, Stockholm and Vienna following DOT approval of code sharing with DAT. DOT had deferred action in November 1999 on American/DAT code sharing pending FAA notification, now received by DOT, that it does not object to the request.
Air Carrier Association of America is petitioning FAA to recall temporary slots that have been allocated over the past seven years at Washington National. Eight slots are targeted initially, representing eight new daily flights. The slots would be redistributed via a lottery process. No slot lotteries have been held since 1984.
LanChile yesterday unveiled its new first- and business-class service, including completely flat sleeper-style seats. The airline introduced new first- and business-class seats two years ago, but the carrier plans to complete another series of enhancements, including reconfiguring its first- and business-class cabins and upgrading its seats with additional pitch and recline.
Alitalia has denied that it is talking to American about a potential alliance deal. Italian daily La Repubblica reported that American and Alitalia executives had secretly met in Dallas for initial talks. Alitalia said in a statement that there have not been any meetings between its directors and American. "The priority as far as choosing a new partnership is concerned is a strong link in Europe, which would then lead towards a closer collaboration with an American partner," Alitalia stated.
Sabre Holdings' second quarter revenues reached $662 million, up 3.8% from the same 1999 period, the company reported. Net earnings, excluding special items, dropped 1.2% to $76 million and operating income gained 1.4% to $119 million. The slowdown of growth in operating income and earnings resulted from increased investments in promotion and advertising at Travelocity.com, which merged with Preview Travel in March.
American yesterday asked DOT not to accept Delta's late-filed supplement for DOT's proceeding to allocate 15 U.S.-France frequencies, saying allowing Delta to precipitate a slip in the established due date in the expedited proceeding would "set a terrible precedent." Delta filed one day late, according to DOT's docket management system. "Delta's late filing is inexcusable and causes irreparable harm to other applicants," American said.
DOT granted, at United's request, an eighth waiver of the deadline for DOT action on the carrier's complaint against the European Commission and Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden concerning the EC's proposal to impose conditions on United's alliances with Lufthansa and SAS. The 45-day waiver runs through Sept. 6.
Delta earned $376 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, excluding one-time issues, up 3.3% from the year-earlier period due to strong revenues and savings from its fuel hedging strategy. Counting the unusual items, Delta's net income of $460 million was up 26.4%. The airline took a $228 million non-cash, pretax gain from the exchange of Priceline.com stock for convertible preferred stock, plus a non-recurring $86 million charge for an early retirement medical option program, and a change in frequent flyer accounting.
Emirates has ordered three more Airbus A330-200s, bringing its total on firm order to 21 with three more options remaining. The three new orders will delivered late this year and next spring.
Northwest yesterday reported a second quarter profit of $115 million, a 4.2% drop from the 1999 period that included a one-time $17 million gain. Without the gain, the airline's profits jumped 11.7%. Fuel costs, up 61.5%, boosted expenses to $2.7 billion. Northwest had a stronger-than-expected 4.2% improvement in yield and an 8.9% gain in unit revenues. "We experienced significant improvement in second quarter performance as a result of our record passenger load factors," said Chief Financial Officer Mickey Foret.
Swissair will no longer fly from Geneva to Paris Charles de Gaulle, beginning with the winter timetable. Instead, it will transfer its flights to Paris Orly in a first move to integrate the soon-to-be-set-up new French airline, which is under SAirGroup management. The airline will consist of AOM, Air Liberte and Air Littoral with hubs in Nice and Orly. Swissair says it will continue to serve de Gaulle and Orly from Zurich.
Airlines Reporting Corp. is making TravelConnect, the international and domestic prepaid calling card from SmartCall, available to ARC-accredited agents through its Travel and Destination Vendors Program. TravelConnect cards are available in denominations of $15, $25 and $50 and provides toll free access to and from most countries with no connection or termination fees.
