Northwest will make several changes to its Priority Pet Program, effective after July 18, and increase fees for pets traveling as checked baggage. Enhancements include the addition of 18 dedicated Priority Pet staff positions at its Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit and Memphis hubs, three new air-conditioned vans to transport pets and a dedicated Priority Pet Center and toll-free number for assisting pet owners with handling policies and documentation requirements.
Virgin Atlantic plans to launch Virgin Blue -- its low-cost Australian airline -- on Aug. 3, serving the Brisbane-Sydney route. Chairman Richard Branson said the carrier will start operations with daily service on the high-volume route and expects to start Sydney-Melbourne flights this fall. Virgin Blue starts with two Boeing 737-400s but plans to have a fleet of five aircraft by yearend. Despite its name, Virgin Blue's aircraft livery features a red fuselage with a white tail.
BAA last week obtained the retail and catering contract at Boston Logan Airport for its two main terminals. The 10-year contract starts in January 2002. The U.K.-based airport company will develop and manage retail concessions covering more than 83,000 square feet. BAA's existing U.S. operations comprise airport management contracts at Indianapolis, Ind., and Harrisburg, Pa.; the concessions operation at Pittsburgh's midfield terminal, and the concessions at Newark Terminals A and B.
FAA's extensive safety audits of United, America West and Continental next week will be followed by six more audits.Delta, Northwest and TWA will be audited July 25-Aug. 1, while American and Southwest will receive inspections Aug. 8-15. US Airways will be visited Aug. 15-22. Airline sources expect some negatives to come from each audit.
A leading executive for Orbitz, the multi-airline web site that will debut in early September, said the privately held company is prepared to spend $75-$125 million on the venture before it becomes "cash positive." At the same time, Carl Ruthstein, chief financial officer for Orbitz, would not disclose the financial investment the five major airlines -- United, American, Delta, Northwest and Continental -- have made in the new venture. The travel portal will operate independently of the airlines, and there are plans to take it public in late 2001.
Lufthansa Cargo and DHL Worldwide Express have joined forces they said will benefit cargo and courier customers in three Central American nations. DHL has agreed to take over the responsibilities as general sales agent for Lufthansa Cargo in San Jose, Costa Rica, Panama City, Panama and Guatemala City, Guatemala. Lufthansa Cargo is a 25% shareholder in DHL.
Ebookers.com said yesterday that it does not have cash difficulties, contrary to media speculation in Europe last week that the travel site ran out of funds. U.K.-based Ebookers.com revealed that it is in "advanced discussions with a number of parties" over its long-term financing. This is not a change of plans, it said, noting that at the time of its initial public offering in November 1999, the company stated it would seek additional capital in the second half of 2000.
Postponement of the planned 23% Thai Airways International divestment came as no surprise as several issues pertaining to the airline's presence in Star Alliance continue to hang in the balance. While Thamnoon Wanglee, president of Thai, said the postponement is due to the low stock price, The DAILY understands that there is more to this. A board member said several concerns remain unresolved. "As long as this remains so, the divestment would be on hold for some time, and this would also delay the selection of a strategic partner.
Congressional appropriations sources say the House and Senate transportation appropriations subcommittee staffs will probably discuss this week when they are likely to go to conference on their respective appropriations bills. With overlapping memberships on several subcommittees, House and Senate appropriators have been giving priority to getting all the money bills moving in the legislative process with the conferences taking a secondary role.
Port of Seattle commissioners last week approved a $375 million terminal expansion project that will double the length and width of the existing A Concourse at Seattle-Tacoma Airport. The new 2,100-foot-long concourse will have seven new gates, first-class lounges, baggage carousels, moving walkways and additional food concessions. Plans also call for building a five-story office tower on top of the concourse. Passenger traffic at SeaTac is expected to reach 29 million this year, up 6% from last year.
Northwest's web site was awarded best airline Internet honors in the Gomez Advisors Summer Airline Scorecard, but the report notes that most airline sites still need a great deal of online customer service improvements. New site developments and technology enhancements are the hot trend, Gomez said, as U.S. airlines compete to attract and retain customers through their own web sites. Many airlines have improved telephone customer service centers for passengers booking through their web sites, but many online inquiries went answered.
Faced with an unprecedented domestic carrier workload, Australia's aviation regulators have beefed up staff and created a special four-person audit team assigned specifically to foreign carrier oversight. "The setting up of a new team to concentrate on foreign airlines means CASA [Civil Aviation Safety Authority] will gain a better knowledge of these operators and build stronger relationships with other government air safety regulators around the world," said CASA Safety Director Mick Toller.
Aerolineas Argentinas will renew three-times-weekly Airbus 340 service from Buenos Aires to Los Angeles via Lima that had been suspended for two and a half years as an unprofitable route, according to DAILY affiliate AvNews Latin America&Caribbean. Industry analysts were surprised by the timing of this announcement because SEPI's rescue plan for the deeply troubled carrier, to be submitted to the shareholders July 24, provides for elimination of unprofitable flights.
Northwest and Japan Airlines filed at DOT for reciprocal U.S.-Japan code sharing for all-cargo flights. The carriers want authority to begin blocked-space and code-share services Sept. 1 under a cargo alliance inked last month (DAILY, June 20). Northwest and JAL requested rights to block space for and display each other's code on freighter flights between any points in the U.S. and Japan via intermediate points.
United needs to get its own financial house in order and address "festering labor problems" before asking pilots to support a merger with US Airways, United Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council Chairman Rick Dubinsky said in a recent letter to rank-and-file. United's MEC will meet the week of July 25 in Chicago to discuss the proposal further. The proposed merger, which surprised pilots, will not have the union's support without assurances pilots will not be dumped to the bottom of the seniority list.
Air Canada and its pilots union remained in contract talks yesterday. Air Canada Pilots Association spokesman Peter Foster said the fact that talks continue is a sign progress is being made. "They're obviously very detailed and complex negotiations," he said. Pilots under law must give the company 72 hours' notice before walking off the job, and the union has said it would hold off on any job action as long as the two sides remain in negotiations.
Air Transport Association reported an 8.7% systemwide increase in traffic and 2% more capacity for May, compared with the same 1998 month. International traffic climbed 11.4% and domestic traffic 7.7%. Load factor grew 4 percentage points to 77.4%, and passenger enplanements were up 6.6%.
Emirates plans to add a fourth U.K. destination in December when it launches daily nonstop flights between Dubai and Birmingham. The airline already operates three times daily to London Heathrow, once daily to London Gatwick, plus Manchester. Flights to Birmingham will start Dec. 18 and will be operated with Airbus A330-200s in a two-class configuration.
Ansett subsidiary Kendell Airlines hasn't begun to count the benefits from being linked to Star Alliance, but CEO Ron Rosalky said the carrier plans to double its size in about two years. Kendell expects to post $266 million in revenue in fiscal 2000-2001 and fly 2 million passengers. The airline has 12 CRJ-700s on order and options on 12 more.
Europebyair.com launched its new, expanded web site last week that guarantees the lowest European airfares on the Internet. The company began promoting its "Double the Difference" guarantee, which ensures customers the lowest available online intra-European fares or they receive double the airfare difference. The company said it has negotiated special airfares with the "major" European carriers to offer the lowest rates on the web.
Crude oil futures for August plunged about 9% last week after Saudi Arabia surprisingly announced it may boost its total output by an extra 500,000 barrels a day. Crude futures were trading at roughly $29.60 a barrel on Friday. New York jet fuel spot prices have not come down, selling at $0.87 per gallon last week.
The fiscal 2000 supplemental appropriations bill that cleared Congress June 30 provided $19.7 million for National Transportation Safety Board emergency expenses associated with the investigations of EgyptAir Flight 990 and Alaska Airlines Flight 261 accidents. These funds, the conference report said, will compensate for wreckage location and recovery facilities, technical support, testing and wreckage mock-up. Since enactment of the bill, the report noted, Egypt has agreed to reimburse NTSB for wreckage location and recovery.
Swissair plans to integrate a "substantial amount" of its training services in a newly created subsidiary, Swissair Training Center AG. The new company will begin operations Jan. 1, 2001, and will focus on pilot and flight attendant training. The new firm also plans to lease out aircraft simulators and become "a leading provider" of training services in Europe. During the first year of operations, Swissair Training plans to generate revenue of 60 million Swiss francs with a total staff of 160.
SkyMall has secured equity funding of approximately $5 million through a private placement. The funding will be used for working capital requirements. SkyMall will issue approximately 2.5 million shares of common stock at $2 per share. SkyMall is best known for its inflight catalog, which is available on more than 70% of all U.S. domestic airlines.
