Airline Reservation Network is cutting airline ticket prices up to 30%. The offer covers more than 80 destinations worldwide, including 25% off in the U.S. and Canada and 30% off to some European destinations such as London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome. The discount applies for travel completed by March 31.
The growing activity and investment surrounding alliance partnerships in the air transport industry makes clear that airlines are anticipating or already enjoying accrued benefits to their top line. And from alliance icons on frequent flyer cards to alliance-wide class-of-service upgrades, airlines are working hard to present a single alliance face to their customers.
Comair saw a 19% increase in traffic on 23.2% more capacity for November, which resulted in load factor of 58.9%, down 3.4 percentage points. Passengers carried gained 9.1%.
Greater Orlando Aviation Authority will host the 8th Annual International CEO Airline Conference May 7-9, 2000, sponsored by affiliate Aviation Latin America&Caribbean. The event will occur at the new Loew's Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Studios.
FAA, citing reports of two in-flight engine shutdowns, yesterday ordered Boeing 777 operators to inspect backup generators and replace any with sheared shafts within 14 days. If both left and right backup generators are replaced at the same time, operators must perform a non-ETOPS flight before resuming ETOPS operations, the agency said. FAA also ordered that flight manuals be revised to prohibit 777s with sheared shafts from flying. The order affects 233 airplanes, including 61 in the U.S. registry. FAA is trying to find the cause of the failures.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic Second Quarter 1999 Total Operating % Passenger Freight Revenues Change Revenues Revenues Alaska 30,010,000 13.48 28,814,000 416,000 Latin 30,010,000 13.48 28,814,000 416,000 American 1,259,785,000 (4.03) 1,089,870,000 86,000,000
Philippine Airlines will increase Manila-Los Angeles flights to 10 per week starting Dec. 12. It is an addition of three weekly services. The Manila-Osaka run also will be increased by three starting Dec. 13, making it a daily flight.
US Airways was forced to scale back additional MetroJet flights this week as it reduced frequencies to several U.S. East Coast cities due to lack of aircraft. The carrier has spent most of the second half of 1999 tackling a maintenance backlog that caused a large number of cancellations in the third quarter, leading to a loss for the period. A spokesman said the MetroJet cutbacks are consistent with the airline's announcement earlier in the year. "We planned to slow our growth until later next year," said spokesman David Castelveter.
Indonesia's Ministry of Civil Aviation approved two new carriers to begin service next year - Indonesian Airlines Aviapatria (IAA) and Mentari Airlines (MAL). IAA initially will operate 30 domestic routes using Boeing 737 aircraft beginning Jan. 15. MAL, a former charter operator, is in the process of finalizing its domestic route structure and fleet requirements. According to IAA President Rudy Setyopurnomo, the airline already has leased 10 aircraft and is currently negotiating with Merpati Nusantara Airlines to lease additional equipment.
GE Aircraft Engines' CF34-8C1, which will power the Bombardier CRJ700 jetliner, has received its type certificate from FAA. The engine is rated at 12,679 pounds thrust at normal takeoff. Other variants are in development for the Fairchild 728JET and the Embraer ERJ170.
U.S.-U.K. talks by year's end are "increasing unlikely," a State Department representative told The DAILY yesterday, despite optimism expressed by DOT Secretary Rodney Slater this week in Chicago."No dates have been fixed," a British Embassy spokesman said, "but we are still in a positive mode."
Aerospace industry sales rose 4.6% or $6.9 billion in 1999 to a record $155 billion, with the majority of the gain coming from civil aircraft, particularly commercial jetliners, but the outlook for next year is not as rosy, Aerospace Industries Association President John Douglass said yesterday in Washington. For example, AIA is projecting that civil transport sales will fall by over $10 billion in 2000. The aerospace industry posted a record $10.8 billion profit for 1999, the fourth year in a row of profits over $7 billion.
Wichita engineers, part of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, rejected a Boeing contract offer by a 99% majority. The vote came less than a week after SPEEA's bargaining units in the Pacific Northwest rejected nearly identical offers by similar margins, the union said. The vote to authorize a strike won by an 84% majority.
El Al signed a firm deal yesterday to purchase three Boeing 777-200s to replace 747-200s on its longhaul routes. El Al first announced in October its intention to buy the 777s, scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2001 (DAILY, Oct. 29). The airline, however, continues to delay its controversial decision to purchase three or four Airbus A330-200s. The carrier's board asked for a cash-flow analysis of Airbus aircraft but the group has delayed the final decision on several occasions. Israel still is being pressured by the U.S.
Air Canada and AMR Corp. yesterday inked a deal that all but assure that Air Canada will acquire Canadian Airlines. The agreement calls for Air Canada to spend C$55-$60 million to buy AMR's stake in Canadian. In exchange, AMR will relinquish all rights in the airline. Negotiations took several weeks and cover code-share and frequent flyer programs that American currently has with Canadian.
Negotiations between the European Union and the U.S. on hushkits are "better today" than yesterday, said the spokesman for EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio. The commissioner will report on the talks at a meeting with the Council of EU transport ministers on Friday in Brussels. A trade dispute over Europe's plans to ban hushkitted aircraft was defused in October, when Washington said it was willing to work toward more stringent noise standards by Sept. 2001. Europe still will start phasing out hushkitted aircraft after May 4, 2000.
Uplift International, Korean Air and Project Hope will airlift 25 tons of medical supplies to Vietnam following last month's hundred-year flood. Korean Air has offered free freighter service for the medical airlift.
FAA's inability to fund all of the installation cost of some air traffic control and navigation equipment it has bought is an ongoing problem for the agency and probably one of its own creation, several congressional sources said. FAA as recently as last week acknowledged that it has $74.6 million of surveillance, communications and navigation and landing equipment stored in warehouses because of a lack of funds to pay for the installation cost, which was put at $173.1 million (DAILY, Dec. 3).
With good weather in the U.S. in November, on-time performance by the 10 largest U.S. carriers improved in October to 80.1% from 79.3% in September. DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report noted that the rate was not as good as October 1998's 81.7%. TWA was first, 89.5%, followed by Northwest, 85.2%, and Southwest, 83.4%. TWA and Southwest, which each posted 80.0% for the 12 months ending in September, achieved a record-tying 80.2% for the 12 months ending in October, with Southwest now statistically first.
Virgin Atlantic was awarded two more weekly frequencies between London and Shanghai by the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority yesterday. Shanghai is "the first time we've beaten British Airways to a new destination," said Chairman Richard Branson. Virgin Atlantic started twice weekly A340 flights on the route on May 22. Virgin will add flights in summer 2000, subject to slot availability.
All Nippon Airways applied to the Japanese Ministry of Transport for the opening of a new service between Osaka Kansai and Honolulu. Flights on the route, planned for summer 2000 start, will be operated daily using a Boeing 767-300ER. Each year over two million Japanese travelers visit Hawaii, ANA said. ANA currently operates four flights a week between Tokyo and Honolulu and daily Nagoya-Honolulu service.
Merpati Nusantara Airlines, which grounded 38 aircraft during the regional economic crisis between June 1997 and Jan. 1999, is in a quandary because it does not have the funds for ongoing maintenance or even the resources to recondition them for sale or lease. To rub salt into the wounds, the government has rejected Merpati's application for a US$200 million loan to overhaul and sell the aircraft. At its peak in early 1997, the airline had 68 aircraft, including Boeing 737s and Fokker 100s, 50s, 28s and F27s.
Airbus Supervisory Board, as expected, yesterday authorized management to approach carriers about the A3XX family "to get clear indication about the commitment of the airlines to the A3XX versions, quantity in demand and timing." Airbus, which met yesterday in Toulouse, said the "economical viability" of its huge A3XX "has been confirmed." The board said "further decisions" will be made in the first half of 2000 "as a consequence of the information and guidance received form the market, with a view to confirming EFIS (entry into service) in 2005." Agreements have to
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic Second Quarter 1999 Total Operating % Passenger Freight Revenues Change Revenues Revenues Alaska 400,917,000 5.85 348,785,000 16,127,000 America West 547,525,329 6.83 513,110,016 5,600,162
