Comair will begin seasonal regional jet service from Myrtle Beach, S.C., to five destinations, beginning April 1. The Delta Connection carrier also will add more service from Myrtle Beach to Chicago O'Hare and its Cincinnati hub on March 1. Comair will begin one roundtrip jet flight each from Myrtle Beach on Saturdays and Sundays to Columbus, Ohio; Hartford, Conn.; Orlando; Toronto, and Washington National. Comair's seasonal jet service from Myrtle Beach operates April 1 through Oct. 31.
Airbus said it took in 476 firm orders in 1999 to capture 55% of the large-jet transport market. It was the second-best year in terms of orders and its best year in terms of market share, Airbus said. The consortium said it delivered 294 aircraft last year, bringing in record sales of $16.7 billion. "With a 55% market share in 1999, after a 50% share in 1998, Airbus Industrie has confirmed that it is now established on a par with its competition," said Noel Forgeard, chief executive.
Alas Doradas, a new feeder airline operating between San Rafael and Mendoza in Western Argentina, plans to increase its fleet by adding a Swearingen Metro or a British Aerospace Jetstream to its Piper Navajo, used mainly on behalf of Dinar.
Southwest will add 10 new daily nonstop flights to its schedule March 12. The new flights include a second nonstop Hartford-Nashville roundtrip, new service between Ontario and Nashville, one new Chicago Midway-Kansas City roundtrip, new nonstop Kansas City-Sacramento service and an 11th roundtrip between Sacramento and Ontario, Calif. Southwest is offering introductory Nashville-Ontario and Sacramento-Kansas City fares for $89.
Henry Harteveldt recently joined Forrester Research as a senior analyst to lead the company's Technographics Travel research group. Harteveldt joins Forrester from GetThere.com, where he was the director of marketing. Harteveldt was a co-founder of Sierra Expressway Airlines, a commuter airline linking Oakland, Calif., with other West Coast communities. He has also held senior management positions with Fairmont Hotels, The Trump Shuttle, Continental and TWA.
Gulfstream said its GV has become the "first ultra-long-range business aircraft" to receive reduced vertical separation minimum approval. This makes it the only aircraft in its class that can fly without altitude restrictions across the North Atlantic, and in the future, across Europe and the Pacific, the company said.
Continental will launch service to two South America destinations -- Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Santa Cruz, Bolivia -- with new Boeing 767-400s, and it plans to add a second daily flight from its Newark hub to Tel Aviv this summer. The new routes are subject to government approval. Continental also will increase to daily its service between Newark and Santiago, Chile, with a stop in Lima, Peru, from four flights a week.
U.S. major airlines will begin reporting fourth quarter financial results this morning, led by Continental, Delta and Southwest.Industry operating profits declined 22% in the December quarter to $970 million from $1.23 billion, according to PaineWebber estimates. Net profits are predicted to fall 33%. "Higher jet fuel prices and soft December results were the obvious pressure points on profitability," said analyst Sam Buttrick. Higher jet fuel prices cost the industry a forecast $400 million during the quarter.
DHL Airways announced that its chief executive officer and president, Victor Guinasso, has been named chairman and that William Smartt, chief financial officer and senior VP, has been named executive VP, CFO and chief administrative officer. Lawrence Hughes, senior VP, has been named executive VP and chief operating officer.
Vanguard will begin one nonstop flight between Chicago Midway and Myrtle Beach, S.C., April 15. It also will add one daily Myrtle Beach-Atlanta roundtrip for a total of three daily flights, and two daily Pittsburgh-Atlanta flights for a total of four.
Sabena's growth "exceeded the European average" in 1999, Chairman Paul Reutlinger said last week in Brussels. The Belgian carrier flew 10,034,463 passengers last year, up 13.9% from 1998. The growth of other European airlines averaged about 8% in the first 11 months of last year. Since 1996, Sabena has almost doubled its passenger numbers. The Belgian carrier, which had a load factor of 66.5% last year, "hopes it will confirm this growth in 2000."
LanChile's December traffic rose 1.1% year-over-year on 1.4% less capacity, raising load factor 1.6 percentage points to 65.6%. The airline experienced 2.9% growth in international traffic, while domestic traffic fell 4.7%. Cargo volume jumped 44.0% to 180 million freight ton kilometers on 42.1% more cargo capacity. For the year ended Dec. 31, the airline's systemwide traffic gained 11.7%, topping the 4.6% capacity increase. LanChile's load factor for 1999 was 64.9%, up 4.1 percentage points.
Singapore Airlines posted a 13.9% increase in November passenger traffic on 6.2% more capacity, which boosted the load factor 5.1 percentage points to 76.5%. SIA carried 1.2 million passengers, up 12.9% from the year-earlier period. The airline's departures and arrivals were 85.6% and 81.5% on time, respectively.
TWA executives are working this year to improve communication with employees and reduce absenteeism, which has been higher than the industry average. Chief Executive Bill Compton had "informal chat sessions" with front-line employees at St. Louis last Thursday and plans similar monthly meetings with staff around the country.
Air France named Christopher Korenke VP and general manager-USA, replacing Jean-Louis Pinson, who was promoted to executive VP and chief operating officer-the Americas.
Condor will start four weekly roundtrips from Hamburg, Berlin, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt to Pescara, Italy, with the beginning of the summer schedule. Lufthansa's charter subsidiary also introduces a new weekly flight from Frankfurt to Fort Myers, Fla., using Boeing 767-300ERs. The airline also will expand its market presence in Switzerland with twice-monthly flights from Basel to Puerto Plata, and from Geneva to Punta Cana, both Dominican Republic points. It more than doubles frequencies to Hurghada, Egypt.
Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Senior VP-Products and Services Karen Detert will manage programs providing special membership benefits and technical services.
