U.S. National Carriers Traffic May, 5 Months 2000 (000) May May % 2000 1999 Change Air Wisconsin Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 101,876 88,130 15.6 Available Seat Miles (000) 167,880 144,482 16.2 Load Factor (%) 60.7 61.0
Continental will plan to launch a second daily nonstop to Tel Aviv from Newark June 20 due to increased demand. It began Tel Aviv service on Aug. 1, 1999, with Boeing 777s.
DC Air, to be created if United and US Airways merge, was envisioned originally as Capitol Air, according to a securities filing. The name is a slight variation on Capital Airlines, which United bought in 1961 to improve its East Coast presence.
American wants U.S.-India designation, planning to immediately implement code-share service with Swissair and Sabena via Zurich and Brussels. American would place its code on Swissair's Zurich-Mumbai/Delhi flights and on Sabena's Brussels-Chennai service, connecting with American, Swissair or Sabena flights between the U.S. and Zurich and Brussels. Service to Mumbai would be six times weekly, to Delhi five and to Chennai three. American requested a third-country code-share designation under the U.S.-India bilateral, which provides for four such code shares.
Ryanair's posted another year of record profitability yesterday with net income soaring 26% to 72.5 million euros (US$69.4 million) thanks to improved traffic and yields across its expanding network.
Rio-Sul, Varig's major domestic subsidiary, began a $3.5 million advertising campaign targeted toward business travelers. Rio-Sul's 36 Boeing 737-500s and EMB-145s carry 10,000 passengers per day, 70% of them business travelers.
BAE Systems says it will land 8,000 of the 22,000 jobs arising from the Airbus A3XX project, for which the U.K. government has pledged support and launch funds. It will get 3,400 of the 10,000 jobs created by the A400M military airlifter program.
Southwest confirmed yesterday that it will begin daily service from Buffalo Niagara International Airport Oct. 8 with daily nonstop flights to Baltimore/Washington, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Orlando. The airline will offer seven daily nonstops to BWI and one each to Orlando, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Southwest will occupy two gates at the airport and will employ 40-50 people when operations are fully staffed. With the addition, Southwest will serve 57 cities and 58 airports in 29 states.
DOT made final its decision to grant American an exemption for New York-Shannon/Dublin service and for Aer Lingus to display American's code on U.S.-Shannon/Dublin flights. Aer Lingus gained extrabilateral rights to operate Baltimore-Shannon/Dublin nonstops. United gained rights to place its code on British Midland's London Heathrow-Dublin flights. FexEx wants DOT to urge Ireland to eliminate the mandate that U.S. carriers stop in Shannon, adding that it would otherwise "strenuously object" to renewal of the authority being granted.
The average fare for passengers flying in the Northeast air corridor is $120, compared with $68 in the California corridor, according to a study by Roberts, Roach&Associates, airline consultants based in California. Individual comparisons show an even wider disparity among fares, a situation that low-fare carriers like Southwest and JetBlue are well positioned to exploit.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association President Phil Boyer's opposition to new aviation user fees -- a view he shares with nearly everyone in the general and business aviation community -- is driving Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) opposition to Boyer's appointment to FAA's Management Advisory Committee (DAILY, June 6).
Qantas passengers now may use dedicated express lanes at certain Australian international terminals following the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Immigration and the Australian Customs Service. John Anderson, executive general manager of airports, claims Qantas is the first airline to enter such an agreement with government. "The provision by the Australian Customs Service of dedicated premium customs/immigration lanes at Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane terminals provides an enhanced service for Qantas customers," he said.
Some 300 Aerolineas Argentinas workers picketed a Madrid-bound Boeing 747 last week and delayed its departure at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza Airport to protest Spain's involvement in reforming Aerolineas. The flight carried Juan Gurbindo, an officer from SEPI, majority Spanish shareholders in Aerolineas. SEPI unveiled its plan to revamp Aerolineas last week, a plan that included job cuts. In what they called a "symbolic and spontaneous" protest, Aerolineas maintenance workers intercepted the 747 taxiing between the hangar and the ramp.
United's International Association of Machinists wants some answers on why its chairman, John Peterpaul, supported the proposed merger between United and US Airways. "Normally, silence is golden, but in this case, silence is deadly. We want to hear from you," said Tim Gillespie, chairman of the IAM District 141 Grievance Committee. The committee wrote Peterpaul a letter asking for an explanation, and Gillespie stated, "This committee wants a written reply" to that letter.
Canada's Bearskin Airlines and its pilots union, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, reached a tentative agreement on a five-year deal over the weekend, narrowly averting a strike. The pact came after six months of talks, including three weeks with a federal mediator.
An unidentified group of Brit Air shareholders yesterday decided to sell its entire holding in the airline to Air France Finance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France. The deal will give Air France majority control of Brit Air, but keep Xavier Leclerq as CEO. Brit Air currently operates 38 aircraft, all seating fewer than 100 passengers -- 20 CRJ 100s, eight Fokker 100s, two ATR 72s and eight ATR 42s. Brit Air posted a net profit of 8.2 million euros last year on revenues of 257 million euros.
American will invest $11 million in more frequent recurrent training for pilots by bringing all line pilots in for refresher courses every nine months instead of once a year. Bob Kudwa, VP-flight and chief pilot, said direct feedback from American pilots prompted the new training program. "Pilots will spend more time in the simulator, and ground school will include expanded courses on critical flight elements like radar, weather and aerodynamics." The new program will start next January.
LanChile's May traffic fell 5.3% year-over-year on 7.9% less capacity, raising load factor 1.7 percentage points to 60.4%. The airline experienced a 5.4% drop in international traffic, while domestic traffic fell 5.0%. Cargo volume grew 20.5% to 167.5 million freight ton kilometers.
Flight Safety Foundation President Stuart Matthews added his voice to those in industry who have warned that "aviation accident-prevention programs are being endangered by government attempts to use information collected during the investigation of airline accidents to support the criminal prosecution of airlines, airline employees and others involved in those accidents." Matthews, speaking June 15 at the Fourth Global Aviation Information Network World Conference in Paris, said legal protection must be assured for confidential data gathered through commercial aviation
Aerospace Industry Association statistics show that the percentage of R&D scientists and engineers in the industry is at the lowest level on record, dropping 78,000 from a record 144,800 in 1986. Over the past seven years, employees between the ages of 25 and 34 have fallen from 27% to 17% of the work force.
America West plans to boost its international service this year with new flights to Toronto and Guadalajara, Mexico, and increasing service to Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta. The airline will launch one daily roundtrip between Phoenix and Guadalajara on Sept. 13. The flight will be operated by Mesa Airlines with a 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet. America West will offer the only daily nonstop between Guadalajara and Phoenix. On Oct. 30, America West will start daily roundtrips between Phoenix and Toronto with Airbus A320s.
