Boeing said yesterday that it is offering new, 777-like interiors on its 767 series aircraft. The new interior is standard for new 767-300 orders and as an option to convert on existing orders. It includes deeper stowage bins and increased flexibility in positioning and maintaining lavatories. About 70% of the lavatory components are the same as those in the 777, easing maintenance and reducing the number and types of spare parts, Boeing said. There also is an improved in-flight entertainment interface, the company said.
Northwest plans to resume nonstop daily service between its Minneapolis/St. Paul hub and Osaka, Japan, during the summer season beginning June 1 with Boeing 747-200s. Northwest inaugurated Twin Cities-Osaka service in 1997 and operated the route during the 1999 summer. The service is timed to connect at Osaka with Northwest's flights serving Manila, Philippines; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. From Osaka Kansai Airport, Northwest also operates code-share service with Japan Air System to Fukuoka and Okinawa, Japan.
Cabotage, still prohibited between the U.S. and Canada, might be considered by the Canadian transport minister if Canadian carriers cannot satisfy competition concerns following the Air Canada/Canadian merger, Richard Annan, senior commerce officer in the competition bureau for Industry Canada, said last week. Annan, voicing his own opinion, advocated cabotage in North America now, under NAFTA, saying he fails to "see the economic rationale for not having it."
Varig is considering a new domestic airline based on its subsidiary Rotatur, now inactive, which would operate at lower costs and lower fares, according to local press reports. The move is intended to compete with TAM and Transbrasil, which recently signed an operational arrangement to join domestic flights and cut redundant service. TAM, which has 25% of Brazil's domestic market, expects to reach 40% by 2005 through the Transbrasil agreement.
American yesterday announced plans to install new luxury seats in its first-class cabin. Its "Flagship Suite" service will be available initially on European and South American routes flown by Boeing 777s. The seats swivel to enable passengers traveling together to meet for dining or conversation. The space also contains two oversized fold-out work stations or dining tables, individual phones, satellite communication and a modem connection. Center suites can hold as many as four people. The first 777 will be outfitted with the seating in August.
Delta will modify its entire fleet of Boeing 757s and MD-88s with overhead bin extensions this year but will not change its baggage policy. "While our baggage policies will remain the same in terms of the size and number of carry-ons we allow, our aircraft will be far better equipped to handle those bags," said Vicki Escarra, executive VP of customer service.
San Francisco Airport, in a recent report, outlined arguments supporting its attempt to force airlines to fly larger aircraft and fewer frequencies to reduce capacity; however, carriers continue their opposition. The report was compiled by Charles River Associates and John F. Brown Company. The airport has unusual capacity hurdles due largely to the fog that frequently blankets the airport or crucial approaches and cuts operations severely. Top airline groups strongly oppose the plan, believing it violates the Airline Deregulation Act.
JMC Airlines was named by Boeing as the previously "unidentified" customer for two 757-300s. JMC is a leisure airline based in England. The 757-300 is now in service with Condor of Germany and Arkia Israeli Airlines. Icelandair has two on order, and American Trans Air plans to acquire 10, Boeing said.
Brazil's financially troubled VASP has reached an agreement with Golden Gate Leasing, a Boeing subsidiary, to lease four MD-11s for delivery this week. This would allow the airline to renew long-haul flights from Brazil to Europe and the U.S. VASP aircraft that are being returned to creditors or lessors have drawn interest from Varig, TAM and Transbrasil.
American and wireless Internet access provider MobileStar Network Corp. signed a deal yesterday to provide Internet access to American's passengers at 32 Admirals Clubs in the U.S. An additional 17 locations in Europe and Asia are scheduled to join the network by yearend.
Frontier Airlines yesterday unveiled a newly designed web site at www.frontierairines.com. The site has real-time flight tracking and access to exclusive deals offered by Frontier's travel partners. Frontier signed a letter of intent to purchase EDS' Versatile Internet Booking Engine and will implement the system by yearend.
IATA said yesterday that Copenhagen, Singapore Changi, Helsinki Vantaa and Vancouver head the list of passengers' favorite airports, according to its latest Global Airport Monitor. The report measures passenger satisfaction through 60,000 interviews at 57 major airports worldwide for a wide range of customer service attributes, IATA said. The gap between the best and other top performers is closing, and the "top end of the scale is becoming notably more clustered," IATA said.
Tahoe Air, which filed Chapter 11 recently, plans to launch an all-turboprop service using de Havilland Dash 7 and Dash 8 aircraft at the end of the summer. The company must raise $1.5 million to get the operation going and will eventually require an additional $4 million-$5 million. Tahoe Express, created as a turboprop operation, will "go away now that we've decided to reorganize under Tahoe Air Corp.," CEO Bruce Wetsel said last week. Some of the airline's original investors still are on board and willing to help finance a turboprop operation, he added.
Iberia's traffic grew 11.0% to 3.2 billion revenue passenger kilometers in March, and freight volume rose 6.3% to 77.6 million ton kilometers. The carrier transported 2.0 million passengers, up 9.4%, and achieved a 71.4% load factor.
Grupo TACA named Alfredo Schildnecht its chief operating officer. Schildnecht previously was fleet maintenance VP and president of the board of Aeroman, TACA's maintenance facility in El Salvador. Grupo TACA's April traffic was the best for the month in company history, according to Scott Dickson, VP-planning and revenue management. Load factor was 71.4% and on-time performance exceeded 85%.
Air Canada yesterday said it reached an agreement with the Canadian Competition Bureau on a process and method for selling subsidiary Canadian Regional Airlines. The parent company appointed investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette to handle the sale, which should be completed by the third quarter. Air Canada spokesman John Reber said Canadian Regional will be on sale for 60 days. If Air Canada cannot sell the regional carrier, it will integrate it into the new consolidated regional, which already includes Air Ontario, Air Nova and Air BC.
Delta signed a deal with e-Travel Inc., provider of Internet business-to-business travel management software yesterday to further boost its online presence in the corporate travel market. As a result of this agreement, e-Travel corporate customers will be able to book airfares directly with Delta via the Internet.
Ebookers.com, one of Europe's largest online travel Internet sites, acquired 100% of the share capital of Spanish wholesaler and tour operator Viajes Dimensiones. The Madrid-based company had revenues of $10 million in 1999 and sells negotiated and last-minute holidays.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic April 2000 (000) April April % 2000 1999 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 985,000 968,000 1.8 Available Seat Miles 1,401,000 1,386,000 1.1 Load Factor (%) 70.3 69.8 America West
TWA will expand service Friday between St. Louis and Vancouver that complements seasonal service. "Last year, we were very pleased with the performance of our seasonal service to Vancouver that is timed to meet the demands of cruise passengers," said Randy Smith, VP-scheduling.
Continental on Friday touched off another round of fare hikes on structured business fares that as of late yesterday appeared to be sticking. Delta yesterday raised its fares and Northwest capitulated Monday afternoon after stating Friday it would not match the $10-$30 increase.
Air France launched its own daily service from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Delta's Cincinnati hub yesterday, operating a Boeing 767-300 in a two-class configuration. The flight will operate under code share with partner Delta. Air France has its code on Delta's existing daily service on the same route with the same type of equipment.
