A Cathay Pacific Airbus A340-300 completed a special flight from Toronto to Hong Kong last week using a northern polar route. The flight opens the first nonstop commercial service between the two cities. The flight was organized by the airline as part of a program to prepare for the future opening of new, more direct polar routes between North America and Asia, significantly reducing travel times.
US Airways is "determined not to hedge" its fuel requirements going forward "especially at these price levels," Chairman Stephen Wolf told shareholders last week. He referred to hedging as a "refined art of gambling" and expressed some regret at its strategy not to lock in some of its fuel needs at lower prices. The airline's fuel costs soared 105% in the first quarter.
Continental Micronesia will launch twice-weekly nonstop service between Guam and Seoul starting July 16. The flight will be operated with a 155-seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft on Thursdays and Sundays.
Delta is making progress integrating Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Comair into markets where it previously hadn't been strong, using regional jets to do it, observed consultant Doug Abbey, president of AvStat Associates. Delta gave Comair the Dallas/Fort Worth-Mexico City, Pueblo and Guadalajara routes and ASA now flies DFW-Monterrey. Comair also is flying LaGuardia-Manchester and -Buffalo.
Alaska Airlines plans to reintroduce service to Tucson Airport this fall with two daily nonstops between Seattle and Tucson plus a third daily flight through San Jose, Calif. The service, slated to begin Oct. 1, marks the first time the airline has provided nonstop service to Tucson from Seattle. Previously, the carrier served Tucson from 1985 until 1993 through intermediate stops in Phoenix and Los Angeles. The new service also will mark the only nonstop service between San Jose and Tucson, and the only nonstop service to Tucson from the Bay Area.
United, seeking New York-Paris rights formerly operated by Tower Air, noted that its 3% New York-Europe market share is smaller than many European carriers, including British Airways, Virgin and Swissair. Continental and Delta each have 16% of the New York-Paris market and American 8%. United said it is a "distant fifth" in the domestic New York-U.S. market with 9%, behind Continental's 24% and Delta, American and US Airways at 17% each.
After suspending regional service for almost a month, Angel Air will resume flights on June 1 with two Boeing 757s wet-leased from a Chinese carrier. To start, it will fly from Bangkok to Chengdu, Guangzhou and Xiamen in China, plus Singapore. Service to Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos will resume in July. According to flight operations official Boonrang Paloyutip, the airline has to lease aircraft from China, as it is unable to repatriate its revenue earned on routes originating from China.
Continental will launch a fifth daily nonstop flight from its Newark hub to Phoenix, beginning Oct. 1. Continental will operate a Boeing 737-700 equipped with 12 first-class and 112 coach seats on the route.
Air Canada and Delta signed a letter of intent Friday that will lead to code sharing in North America and expansion of service between each other's hubs. A Delta spokesman said the deal, which crosses alliance borders, is "strictly bilateral" and would not involve other alliance partners. The proposed commercial agreement would begin Oct. 29 in conjunction with Air Canada's winter schedule.
China Southern Airlines launched scheduled daily service between Hong Kong and Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei Province. The airline is using a Boeing 737-300 for the 567-mile flight. China Southern has been operating the route as a charter service for the past decade "but could not keep up with the increasing market demand."
American Trans Air is counting the days until it replaces its aging, gas-guzzling Boeing 727-200s with new 737-800s. Due to current high fuel prices, if ATA put the 737s into service today, fuel savings over the 727 would be $165,000 per aircraft, per month, according to Chief Financial Officer Ken Wolff. The airline will take delivery of the first -800 in May 2001.
The chief technology officer of the so-called T2 travel web site being created by United, Delta, American, Continental and Northwest said the company welcomes the Justice Department's investigation and will cooperate fully. Justice announced its plans to investigate after the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) filed a petition claiming the site is anti-competitive (DAILY, May 19).
DOT granted Evergreen International Airlines broad U.S.-Argentina rights, including intermediate and beyond service. The exemption is effective for two years, or until DOT action on Evergreen's corresponding certificate application should that occur earlier. Operations in the market are being permitted by both sides under comity and reciprocity, as agreed to by the U.S. and Argentina "pending the conclusion of amendments by the governments," DOT noted.
All Nippon Airways will introduce several new inflight amenities in its rebranded "ANA Super Style" product, a service featuring an audio and video-on-demand system, a bar counter and an inflight rice cooker. The service will be introduced on Pacific routes to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco by November. ANA Super Style is an expansion of the an existing service, known as ANA Chicago Style, which is only on Tokyo-Chicago. ANA plans to operate six Super Style-equipped aircraft -- three Boeing 777-200ERs and three 747-400s -- by yearend.
Southwest's market value of its stock grew 920% over the last 10 years, while the market cap, or aggregate value, of Southwest grew from $757 million to more than $8.6 billion, according to CEO Herb Kelleher. On Friday, the airline's market cap stood at $10.1 billion, which he claimed is the highest of any U.S. airline. From 1989 to 1999, the airline's total passengers more than tripled from 18 million to 57.5 million.
U.S Major Carriers Productivity, In Revenues and Expenses Per Employee Fourth Quarter 1999, In Dollars Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Total (000) (000) Employees Alaska 409,657 390,873 9,310
British Airways will report fiscal 2000 losses tomorrow that are expected to be the worst since the early 1980s.Earnings are likely to be down more than #350 million, according to Schroder Salomon Smith Barney analyst Andrew Light, largely due to poor yields, transatlantic overcapacity and rising costs. Market watchers will focus a lot of attention on whether or not BA "bites the bullet" and cuts its dividend for the first time in its stock market history, Light said.
On his first day in office, Ozires Silva, 69, Varig's new president and CEO, said one of his first tasks is to approach Brazil's Bank of Economic and Social Reconstruction (BNDES) in order to negotiate longer repayment terms for the estimated l billion Reis (about US$175 million) owed by the carrier. This arrangement would cover minor short-term debts that cannot be financed abroad. Silva also spoke of the need to liberalize domestic airfares and to exercise better control of access to Brazil by foreign carriers.
Thai Airways International has narrowed its long-haul new aircraft choice to the Boeing 777-200X and the Airbus A340-500. Thai President Thamnoon Wanglee told The DAILY in Bangkok that Airbus already has made its presentation, while Boeing has yet to do so. Thamnoon said the aircraft would be used on nonstops to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The decision to opt for ultra long-range aircraft is part of the airline's objective to offer more point-to-point flights and develop the efficiency of its fleet.
