U.S. National Carriers Traffic December, 12 Months 1999 (000) December December % 1999 1998 Change Air Wisconsin Revenue Passenger Miles (000) 97,592 87,661 11.3 Available Seat Miles (000) 157,837 127,807 23.5 Load Factor (%) 61.8 68.6
US Airways reported a $47 million loss in the fourth quarter, the result of continually backed-up maintenance orders that led to chronic aircraft shortages and a "capacity imbalance." The airline warned yesterday it will likely post another loss in the first quarter as the airline was slammed with higher fuel prices and soft traffic over the New Year's holiday. "The year's financial performance clearly was below an acceptable level," said Chairman Stephen Wolf. Including extraordinary items, the carrier posted an $81 million loss.
Pan American Airways will begin offering Clipper Class Service in March serving Pittsburgh-Gary/Chicago and Portsmouth, N.H. Fares will begin at $109 each way for Gary/Chicago and $99 for Portsmouth.
Atlantic Southeast has taken delivery of the first of seven ATR 72-210 aircraft from Toulouse-based Avions de Transport Regional at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport. The aircraft is the first ATR delivered in the new ASA/Delta Connection livery.
DOT should not permit Legend Airlines to begin selling tickets, City of Fort Worth told DOT, in light of Texas state court action prohibiting the startup from offering scheduled services from Dallas Love Field beyond the four states contiguous to Texas. That decision is being reviewed in a consolidated appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which has "exclusive jurisdiction," Fort Worth said, over DOT's order on the Wright and Shelby amendments, under which Legend claims its right to fly.
TWA officials took delivery of the last aircraft built in the MD-80 series. TWA made history in 1933 by taking delivery of the first and only DC-1, the first twin-engine transport developed by Douglas Aircraft. The carrier's next aircraft from Long Beach will be the 717, now under assembly. TWA is wrapping up a year in which it received one new airplane every 10 days.
The reorganization of the French domestic market was completed yesterday, as Air France purchased Regional Airlines, France's last independent passenger airline. Some three years after the full liberalization of the European Union's air transport sector, there are now only three competitors left on one of Europe's largest domestic markets: Air France and its partners; Swissair, which controls AOM and Air Littoral, and Air LibertE, a British Airways subsidiary.
Jersey European Airways has selected Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics Head-up Guidance System for its fleet of Bombardier CRJ-200 regional aircraft. Jersey will be equipped with the HGSA equipment certified for full-flight-regime operations allowing Category IIIa approach and landing capability, low-visibility takeoff down to 300 feet runway visual range, lower minima on Type 1 runways and full-time head-up awareness in all phases of flight.
Prescription and over-the-counter medications are causing as many deaths in aviation as alcohol or more, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Priceline.com and similar Internet sites will help transform the balance sheets of airlines and soften the effects of economic downturns, according to Priceline.com founder Jay Walker. Speaking at the Wings Club in New York yesterday, Walker called the current Internet craze the "next great revolution," following such powerful commerce movers as electricity and the highway system.
America West Holdings yesterday reported record third quarter net income of $29.0 million, soaring 43.8% from $20.2 million in the same quarter last year, beating analyst expectations with strong revenues. The profit for America West Airlines and The Leisure Co. also was the highest fourth-quarter and full-year net income in company history. The fourth quarter results include $14.4 million of pretax income ($9.0 million after tax) related to the company's equity holdings in Priceline.com.
Former Central Intelligence Agency Director Stansfield Turner was critically injured last Saturday, when the Czech-built LET 410 in which he was a passenger crashed on takeoff from Tobias Bolanos Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, and struck a neighboring residence. Four other passengers died in the accident. The aircraft, operated by Taxi Aereo Centroamericano, was en route to Tortuguero National Park. Also in critical condition was the Costa Rican pilot, while several other passengers suffered less severe injuries.
Southwest reported a 6.6% fall in fourth quarter profits after fuel prices jumped 54.5% during the period, despite record loads and traffic. For only the second time since December 1996, net income was down -- to $93.8 million from $100.4 million in the year-earlier period. The results matched analysts' expectations. Revenues, however, rose 15% to $1.2 billion from $1.05 billion, and unit revenues grew 1.6%. Southwest still leads the industry with an operating margin of 12.8%, despite a roughly two-percentage-point drop from last year's 15.2% margin.
Southwest said yesterday it will begin daily service from Albany International Airport May 7 with 10 daily nonstop flights to Baltimore/Washington, Las Vegas and Orlando. Southwest will offer seven daily nonstop flights to BWI, two to Orlando and one to Las Vegas. It also will offer direct or connecting service to 31 additional cities, including Phoenix, Los Angeles and Tampa. Southwest is offering a full, unrestricted one-way fare of $65 between Albany and Baltimore, or $44 for a seven-day advance purchase fare based on roundtrip travel.
United, American and Delta -- the three largest airlines in the world in terms of capacity -- all grew last year but lost domestic market share (see chart on Page 8). This indicates that smaller carriers are growing more quickly than larger airlines.United remained the largest U.S. carrier, with a 20.7% share, with American second at 18.8%. Northwest filled the most seats, with a 74.6% average load factor, up from its industry-leading 73.1% in 1998.
DOT granted Challenge Air Cargo a two-year exemption to operate service between points in the U.S. and points in Argentina and beyond, via intermediate points. The carrier plans to add service to Buenos Aires to its Miami-Sao Paulo, Brazil, operations. Challenge, which, together with United Parcel Service, has applied to transfer its Latin America route authority to UPS, will operate the Miami-Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires service until UPS gains U.S.-Brazil rights. DOT granted UPS's application to serve Argentina. (Docket OST-99-6582)
Air France plans to expand its link with regional carrier Proteus Airlines by increasing its stake in the carrier to 42% through the issuance of convertible bonds. Each bond can be converted into one Proteus share over the next five years. It also signed agreement with Proteus shareholders allowing for the purchase of the remaining capital by Air France "under certain conditions." Proteus last year purchased 100% of competitor Flandre Air (DAILY, Oct. 20).
Trade officials from the Commerce Department left yesterday for ICAO headquarters in Montreal to take the first step of what is to be a formal complaint over European Union regulations they say discriminate against U.S. aircraft equipped with hushkits. Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade David Aaron and Under Secretary of State of Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson were to meet with ICAO Council President Assad Kotaite to discuss the U.S. decision to file the complaint under Article 84 of the Chicago Convention.
DOT awarded United Parcel Service initial exemptions for Italy, Mexico, Caribbean and Central and South America service. UPS received a two-year exemption for service between points in the U.S. and Argentina, Belize, Panama, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, Paraguay, Uruguay and Suriname via intermediate points.
Excluding one-time gains and charges, Delta earned $175 million in its fiscal second quarter, a drop of 9.7% from the 1998 period but still ahead of analyst expectations. Including the sale of its investment in Priceline.com, Delta posted December quarter net income of $352 million, up from $194 million a year ago. The results included pretax gains of $596 million from selling some Priceline.com holdings and a charge of $320 million for the early retirement of 16 MD-90s and eight MD-11s. Operating revenue rose to $3.71 billion from $3.45 billion.
DOT granted Hawaiian Airlines a one-year waiver, through Jan. 1, 2001, of the 90-day dormancy condition for its planned Maui-Tokyo service. The carrier had requested a two-year dormancy waiver (DAILY, Dec. 22, 1999). It received seven U.S.-Japan frequencies for daily service that it proposed to begin Jan. 1, 2000.
Latest IATA freight forecast shows a slowdown in the growth of the industry. Freight traffic is estimated to have exceeded 6% growth in 1999, but annual growth rates are now expected to decline slowly to a 2003 level just above 5%, IATA says.
Continental posted a 50% drop in fourth quarter profits in the face of drastically higher fuel prices, but traffic remained strong, leading the carrier to its fifth straight year of profits. Easily surpassing analysts' estimate, net income totaled $33 million, compared with a $66 million profit last year, excluding previously announced gains and charges. Including one-time items, Continental posted a fourth quarter net income of $167 million. Revenue jumped 11.0% to $2.16 billion from $1.94 billion, but yields fell 3.4%.
