Austrian Airlines introduced a 3% fuel surcharge on all tickets for flights out of Austria. The measure takes effect April 1. The airline cited both the high fuel prices and an unfavorably high dollar exchange rate with the Austrian schilling as reasons for the move.
JetBlue Airways is introducing a "Friends&Family" fare on the Buffalo-New York Kennedy that allows parties of two or more to travel at the lowest fare with a one-day advance purchase. The fare per person for off-peak flights is $49 and $69 for peak flights. The deal is available for up to 14 people per party, and all passengers must book and fly on the same itinerary.
Aviation Industry Stock Performance February 2000 Closed Closed Monthly Change Symbol 02/29/00 01/31/00 ($) (%) Alaska Air Group ALK 26.500 31.875 (5.375) (16.9) America West (Class B) AWA 13.375 17.875 (4.500) (25.2) AMR 1 AMR 52.875 53.813 (0.938) (1.7)
Virgin Atlantic is giving away a Handspring Visor Deluxe hand-held computer to customers who join its frequent flyer club and fly roundtrip once in Upper Class or twice in Premium Economy to London March 1-June 30. The Handspring offer is available to passengers traveling from Virgin's U.S. gateways to London and is open to new and existing frequent flyer members. Customers who fly a second time in Upper Class or a third time in Premium Economy March 1-Aug. 30 will receive a free Springboard modem.
House and Senate negotiators are working on a compromise package on the stalled FAA fiscal 2000 reauthorization that would include a combination of trust fund and general revenue, congressional sources said yesterday. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) is directing the negotiations. The total funding would amount to $40 billion over three years, comprising of $33.3 billion in trust fund dollars and $6.7 billion in general fund money. Congressional sources said there is a growing feeling of optimism among some key lawmakers.
Priceline.com this week finalized an equity deal to launch a new company to offer its services in Australia and New Zealand. The new company, called MyPrice, will offer priceline.com's form of buyer-driven e-commerce to the two countries and will be led by local telecommunications veteran, Frank Blount and Peter Shore. Priceline.com will share the investment in MyPrice with SFN Investments, a consortium of Australian and international business executives and investors.
Federal Express Corp. yesterday said it would add 1% to its current 3% fuel surcharge on most domestic and international services effective April 1. Alan Graf Jr., executive VP and chief financial officer, attributed the additional charge to the rise in fuel costs.
United, which scrapped the daily Seoul-San Francisco service in May 1998 due to the sharp decline in passenger loads caused by the regional financial crisis, will resume the flights April 2. According to United spokesman Lee Moon-Jong, current passenger loads have returned to pre-crisis levels. In another development, Continental which pulled out four months earlier for the same reason is considering flying four times a week on the Seoul-Guam route.
The 11 Qualiflyer Group airlines include Swissair, Sabena, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, AOM, Crossair, Air Littoral, Air Europe, LOT Polish Airlines, PGA Portugalia Airlines and Volare Airlines. A recent DAILY story did not provide a complete list of all members (DAILY, Feb. 28).
FAA proposes to fine AAR Airframe&Accessories Inc. $1 million for failing to properly package and mark a shipment of chemical oxygen generators, following a 29-month investigation. AAR, formerly known as AAR Allen Group, offered a shipment of 41 freight boxes of excess aircraft parts that included 16 boxes containing 808 such generators to Air France on Jan. 31, 1997. Chemical oxygen generators are regulated in a hazardous material classification and have been prohibited from U.S. passenger-carrying flights since May 1996.
WestJet, celebrating its fourth year of service, will begin nonstop Hamilton-Moncton and one-stop Winnipeg-Moncton service April 19. One-way fares from Hamilton start at $129 and from Winnipeg at $249.
To expedite its listing on a public stock market, Travelbyus.com signed a letter of intent this week to merge with Dallas-based Aviation Group Inc. The combined company next plans to acquire the 100% holdings of Global Leisure Travel Inc. The newly combined Nasdaq company will have annual revenues of more than $120 million. Gross travel bookings through the combined company's web portal, 2,000 North American travel agent affiliates, call center and tour operators are expected to exceed US$4.2 billion this year. Aviation Group Inc.
Legend Airlines still is working on FAA galley certification for its DC-9s and postponed its launch date until later this month. President and Chief Executive Allan McArtor told The DAILY he was "disappointed that we had to slip the start date," but the carrier needs to add some strengthening for the galleys or find a substitute galley that's been certificated. "We will have it solved very shortly."
Hewlett-Packard and IBM will supply computers for Delta's Wired Workforce program, available to all Delta employees at a discount. HP will provide multiple configurations, and IBM will offer its ThinkPad I Series notebooks.
JetBlue Airways selected ACG Inc. to provide payroll and human resources software systems for the new carrier, which began flying Feb. 11, with service to Fort Lauderdale from its New York Kennedy base. AGC, based in Dayton, Ohio, installed Best! Abra software for the carrier's startup and in the next few months will transition JetBlue to Imperativ, a new Best! system that uses an Internet browser for user interface and is based on Microsoft technology. JetBlue started service to Buffalo Feb. 17 and will begin flights to Tampa March 16.
Midwest Express Connection carrier Skyway Airlines will launch nonstop regional jet service from Washington National to Grand Rapids April 17, the first nonstop in the market. Service will use Fairchild 328JET aircraft with leather seats and 31-inch pitch, Skyway said. Inflight amenities will include light meals, a full beverage service and complimentary champagne.
Venezuela's Ministry of Infrastructure, complicating the country's troubled airline outlook, will take routes assigned to Aeropostal and Aserca that came from now-defunct Viasa. The government said Aeropostal and Aserca have not met deadlines that were agreed upon, according to affiliate Aviation Latin America&Caribbean. Both carriers counter, saying errors in the government's interpretation prevented operations. The authorities set a deadline of last December for new flying on the Viasa routes.
American has opened its arrivals lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle. The lounge, for first- and business-class travelers, features green marble, oak and glass decor. It contains a small gym, 10 shower facilities with valet doors that let passengers pass their clothes through for steam pressing, telephones and a lounge area offering light breakfast selections.
LanChile posted a fourth quarter net profit of $18.6 million, up 67.7%, even though jet fuel expenses rose 47% to $47.6 million. The cost was $15 million higher than in the fourth quarter 1998, but LanChile offset it by selling Equant shares for a $12.9 million one-time gain. Discounting the share sale, operating profits grew 10.7% to $12.4 million. LanChile also took a $1.8 million non-operating loss due to the startup of subsidiary LanPeru and a $1.5 million charge as it adopted the industry-standard practice of accounting for frequent flyer award costs.
Sabre Holdings and Ariba Inc. yesterday agreed to create Sabre e-Marketplace, an Internet business-to-business (B2B) venture that executives say could save transport and travel firms 10-15% on purchases. "The expectation is this will support suppliers and intermediaries in gaining economies of scale in their purchasing and selling across all purchases," said Sabre Chief Executive Bill Hannigan, noting that airlines spend $50 billion each year on purchases. The company expects to launch the site in the third quarter.
Boeing officials yesterday said the talks with the striking Society for Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace are at an impasse and it is awaiting word from the union as to whether it agrees. If the union accepts the impasse, Boeing could impose an agreement, a move SPEEA officials call a tactic to scare striking workers. More than 17,000 employees have been on strike since Feb. 9. Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said the company sent SPEEA a letter communicating the impasse, saying the two sides faced irreconcilable issues and were deadlocked.
United is in discussions with Walt Disney's GO.com Internet company to link the airline to GO's network of web sites, including ABC News and Disney.com. United's Distribution Strategy Manager David Brown said that large Internet partnerships bring higher risks, but "the profit potential is great." GO.com is the result of a November merger between Infoseek and Disney's online unit, Buena Vista Internet Group.
