Air France and Delta will unveil the name of their global alliance June 22 at an event in New York, officials at both airlines confirmed last week. AeroMexico and Korean Air executives also are expected to be present at the news conference.
Delta plans to begin code-share service between Las Vegas and Hermosillo, Mexico, on AeroMexico's daily nonstop MD-80 service, beginning June 15. With the new service, Las Vegas becomes Delta's 11th gateway to Mexico.
House aviation subcommittee Chairman John Duncan (R-Tenn.) has introduced a bill that would expand the list of crimes that would disqualify someone from becoming an airport security screener. Introduced in the House on May 24, the expanded list includes burglary, felony, drug possession or crimes that would compromise security for money.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has filed a complaint with FAA alleging that the city of Austin violated federal agreements in the operations of the new Austin-Bergstrom Airport, particularly as concerns services for general aviation. AOPA alleges the airport has exclusive agreements with two FBOs that violate federal regulations.
Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic April 2000 Revenue Ton Miles (000) April April % 2000 1999 Change Domestic Freight 849,865 832,407 2.1 Mail 176,245 169,504 4.0 Total 1,026,110 1,001,911 2.4 International
Mesaba Airlines will launch its new regional jet service between Memphis and Des Moines, Iowa, today. This new route, which will operate with British Aerospace AVRO RJ-85s, is a result of the recently announced Memphis service expansion plan.
Atlantic Coast Airlines will add new regional jet service from Tulsa to United's Chicago O'Hare hub on August 1. The carrier will start with three daily flights serviced by the 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jet and plans to add a fourth daily flight on Sept. 6.
British Airways confirmed Friday that, by mutual agreement with the Greek government, it will not purchase a 20% stake in Olympic Airways. BA's Speedwing management consultancy, hired by Olympic last year, surprisingly will close its deal with the airline prematurely, ending the contract on an unspecified date in the near future. Speedwing was awarded an initial 30-month contract on June 28, 1999, to manage Olympic in preparation for its partial privatization.
American plans to buy 100% of Northwest, The DAILY has confirmed. Neither side will comment on the matter officially, and an anouncement may not come immediately, as no agreement between the two has been finalized, sources say.The two carriers together would be smaller and have less overlap than United-US Airways. After the rumors began Friday, Northwest stock shot up $6.38 per share or 22%, closing at $35.44.
Skyservice Airlines CEO Russell Payson unveiled plans last week to create a new full-service airline targeted to Canadian business travelers. The carrier, to be named in the next several weeks, will provide "superior service without paying the price normally associated with traditional multi-class carriers," he said. In addition to Air Canada, Payson also claims the airline will be the only other carrier in Canada to provide interline service with other international carriers.
ICAO said the world's scheduled airlines, as a whole, experienced an operating profit of 4.1% in 1999. Operating revenues are tentatively estimated at $306.5 billion and operating expenses at $294 billion. Operating revenues per tonne-kilometer dropped from 80.6 cents in 1998 to an estimated 78.9 cents in 1999. Operating expenses per tonne-kilometer fell to an estimated 75.6 cents in 1999 from 76.2 cents in 1998. ICAO said the net result is expected to be lower than in 1998, when it was 2.8% of operating revenues.
Boullioun Aviation Services unveiled a multi-year deal to lease an additional new Boeing 737-800 to CityBird beginning next year. The transaction is the second for Brussels-based CityBird with Boullioun, which claims to be one of the world's top three aircraft operating lessors. Last year, CityBird began leasing two used 737-400 aircraft from Boullioun, and signed leases for two new 737-800 aircraft scheduled for delivery in 2001.
Messier-Bugatti, in what it calls a first for its market, has posted all service bulletins issued since Jan. 1, 1998, on its web site, www.messier-bugatti.com. This year it plans to post all documents concerning Airbus, Boeing and AIR equipment using its equipment for its 145 airline customers.
Atlas Air is offering three million shares of common stock at $31.75 per share. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter is the sole bookrunner for the offering, in conjunction with which an unidentified senior executive will sell 100,000 additional shares.
Little more than week after the industry was hit with the United-US Airways merger, Wall Street analysts expressed further skepticism the deal would not be approved as proposed. Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown analyst Susan Donofrio is "doubtful" the merger will pass the intense scrutiny the deal will face by the Justice Department. Regulators will take notice of its overall size, she said, noting that "recent rulings indicate that big is bad" in addition to the likely "backlash" from consumers over fares and service issues.
American completed nearly 70% the conversion of its domestic fleet outfitted with additional legroom throughout the coach cabin. The 400th aircraft, a Boeing 757 with 12 coach seats removed to add extra seat pitch, rolled off a special maintenance line at American's Fort Worth-Alliance maintenance base yesterday. Since beginning the $70 million "More Room In Coach" program in early February, American has removed nearly 4,400 coach seats from 227 MD-80s, 59 Boeing 727s, 84 757s, 25 Fokker 100s and five MD-90s.
Continental Express yesterday launched its service between Dallas Love Field and its Cleveland hub after a long legal battle. The airline first announced plans to fly the route in May 1998 but could not proceed until a judicial court ruling in February that lifted an injunction against the carrier. The airline started its service with three daily flights, operating 50-passenger Embraer ERJ145 regional jets, and plans to add a fourth frequency June 14.
