Orbitz will be the name of the new online Internet travel service currently in development-- formerly known as T2 -- which is owned by five U.S. airlines and claims it will offer an unbiased display of travel information. Alex Zoghlin, chief technology officer of Orbitz, unveiled the name in Washington yesterday and said Orbitz was selected after "thousands" of choices were reviewed. The company still has not committed to a launch date, only saying it will be "late summer" before it goes live with the site.
Japan Airlines and Air France expanded their code share yesterday to include daily flights between Paris Charles de Gaulle and Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Beginning June 19, Air France will put its code on JAL's Nagoya-Tokyo Narita service. The two airlines already have passenger code-share flights on routes between Osaka Kansai and Paris, which started in September 1994 and on the Tokyo-Noumea, New Caledonia route, which began in 1990.
Air Jamaica Chairman Gordon "Butch" Stewart said his carrier will start service between Kingston and Port-of-Spain in July at fares to equal to or better that its competition. "At no time will Air Jamaica be undercut," he emphasized. Local market analysts predict a fare war between Air Jamaica and BWIA in this heavy-traffic route.
The House Transportation Committee opens congressional hearings today into the proposed United-US Airways merger when it hears from United CEO Jim Goodwin and US Airways Chairman Stephen Wolf. Also testifying will be Robert Johnson, CEO of Black Entertainment Television Holdings, a member of US Airways board and the purchaser of most of US Airways slots at Washington National. Other witnesses are John Nannes, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Justice Department's antitrust division, and Nancy McFadden, DOT general counsel.
Despite the confidence of United's management that its proposed merger with US Airways will fly, the merger is not a done deal "by any stretch of the imagination," United Air Line Pilots Association Master Executive Council Chairman Rick Dubinsky told The DAILY yesterday. Although he declined to specify what steps the union could take, he emphasized there is a tremendous level of public concern over the merger proposal and pilots are ready to take advantage of that concern to kill or support the deal.
AeroMexico has requested authority from DOT to operate between Monterrey, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas, as well as to renew operational permits between Hermosillo and Los Angeles, Cancun and Dallas, and Guadalajara and Phoenix, plus continued code sharing with Delta on those three routes.
U.S. and Canadian carriers gained third-country code-share rights for services between the two countries under an agreement signed yesterday in Toronto by DOT Secretary Rodney Slater and Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette. The two leaders also signed an agreement furthering the reciprocal recognition of aviation safety programs.
Aviation Management Services (AvMan Inc.) named John MacDonald executive VP and chief operating officer. MacDonald has served as a long-time senior associate of the Miami-based company and will manage aviation consulting. He also will oversee sales and marketing representations, as well as technical and safety oversight.
Continued high jet fuel costs is an issue causing some concern on Wall Street about carriers who have not hedged fuel. Salomon Smith Barney analyst Brian Harris noted that his firm sees some "potential third quarter 2000 downside to unhedged carriers," which he cites as Continental, Northwest, US Airways, TWA and Alaska.
Northrop Grumman said yesterday it is selling its commercial Aerostructures business to The Carlyle Group of Washington, D.C., in a transaction valued at $1.2 billion, including $843 million in cash and securities and the assumption of more than $400 million in benefit liabilities. The Carlyle Group said headquarters for the unit will remain in Dallas and will operate under the fabled name Vought Aircraft Company.
LanChile plans to start new daily nonstop service between Santiago and New York Kennedy and new flights between Santiago and Madrid in the fourth quarter of this year. The airline will start the New York flights with Boeing 767-300 equipment and its Madrid flights will operate with new Airbus A340s scheduled to arrive in September and November. CEO Enrique Cueto told the Merrill Lynch transportation conference yesterday that the New York service will be included in its code share with American.
Horizon Air said yesterday it is accelerating the delivery of Bombardier CRJ-700s and will replace its entire jet fleet with the 70-seat aircraft by the end of 2001. Horizon increased its firm orders for the aircraft from 25 to 30. The five-aircraft order, which was unannounced and already included in its backlog of 104 firm orders, is valued at $130 million. Under the order agreement, 14 of the jets will now arrive between December 2000 and October 2001, well ahead of their initial 2002-2003 schedule.
A technical mission from the FAA will visit the Dominican Republic from June 19 to 25 to ascertain what advances in safety oversight have been implemented that would allow aircraft registered in that country to fly again to the U.S. The inspection could pave the way for the Dominican Republic's recertification from Category 3 (now called Cat 2), where it has been since 1993. Other concerns refer to the government constructing a new airport for the capital in Santo Domingo, while privatizing all other airports.
Crossair revealed a net profit of 50.7 million Swiss francs (US$31 million) for fiscal 1999, a decline over last year because of higher fuel prices and an unfavorable exchange rate with the U.S. dollar. The airline expects the negative pattern to continue into Fiscal 2000. Crossair said that significant increases in passengers and operating revenues occurred last year, but it considered the lower profits still "remarkable" considering higher jet fuel prices and the Swiss franc's weakness against the dollar.
Starting in November KLM will operate from Amsterdam to St. Maarten twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The return flight on Wednesdays will make a stop in Aruba, while the Saturday flight will stop in Curacao. KLM also will operate from Amsterdam to Bonaire on Friday and Sunday with stops in Curacao. Frequencies also are being increased to seven each on Amsterdam-Curacao-Guayaquil/Quito and Amsterdam-Aruba-Lima.
Aeromar Airlines, a startup, will inaugurate twice weekly service in July from Miami via Santo Domingo to Punta Cana, gateway to the eastern resort area of the Dominican Republic.
Although they have discarded all talk about future mergers, Varig and TAM formally agreed to launch within 90 days a joint Internet portal on travel and tourism targeted to consumers in Latin America, with an initial investment of $50 million. Named Plata (Portal Latinoamericano), it is open to other airlines for equity investments, as well as for hotels, tour operators and related businesses. The joint project had been under discussion for over a month, when Fernando Pinto was still at the helm in Varig.
An FAA evaluation team will begin meeting tomorrow to go over a plan submitted Friday by Alaska Airlines to avoid a shutdown of its heavy maintenance program. FAA says the evaluation could take several days.
American and TAP Air Portugal signed a code-share agreement yesterday that the two airlines anticipate implementing this fall. The agreement involves American putting its "AA" code on TAP's flights between the U.S. and Portugal. TAP's "TP" code will be put on American's domestic flights beyond TAP's gateway airports -- New York Kennedy, Newark and Boston. The carriers did not release a firm date for implementing the code share, as they awaiting U.S. and Portugal governmental approval of the partnership. In December 1999, the U.S.
American has chosen Airline Automation Inc.'s automated flight firming services that the airline hopes will allow it to better manage inventory and reduce oversales. American signed a 3.5-year contract with Tucson-based AAI. The product reduces no-show variability and gives an airline the ability to customize rules for bookings. Rules can be based on flight number, market, class of service, date of travel, date of booking frequent flyer status and other factors.
Aerolineas Argentinas labor unions in Buenos Aires made public their opposition to the master salvage plan submitted by majority Spanish shareholders SEPI to rescue the airline and subsidiary Austral from possible bankruptcy. "We will not allow it," said a spokesman for the Argentine Airline Pilots Association. According to the unions, copies of the plan presented to the Argentine government reveal that besides financial restructuring for over $1 billion, it calls for early and voluntary retirements for 1,200 workers.
Sabre Holdings named Eric Speck group president of the Travel Marketing and Distribution Group; Bradford Boston president of the Outsourcing and Software Solutions Group; Thomas Klein president of the Emerging Business Unit; Sam Gilliland chief marketing officer: Craig Murphy chief technology officer; Ellen Keszler VP-travel agency solutions for U.S. and Canada, and Nancy Raynor general manager-Sabre Virtuallythere.
Aerocaribe is planning to extend its route network beyond Mexico to Havana in July. The airline now serves Oaxaca, Acapulco, Guadalajara and Monterrey.
