Philippine Airlines Executive Chairman Lucio Tan has sold his property in Hong Kong worth US$2.2 billion to keep PAL in operation. The money will not be channeled into PAL immediately, however. Tan told The DAILY that he sold the property to send a message to the airline's creditors that he is ready to carry on the flight. "Selling my property means I am ready to see the airline through the storm. It is better to fight than not to fight," Tan said. He said his main aim is to put PAL back where it belongs. His assets are said to be worth more than US$5 billion.
Delta named Sharon Wibben senior VP-In-Flight Service, the carrier's flight attendant operation; Edward West senior VP-strategy and business development, and B.J. Smith director-pilot training and standards.
America West's Air Line Pilots Association unit Master Executive Council is tackling the issue of pilot fatigue with a new survey. The results will be used in ongoing talks with the company's crew resources about pairing construction. Members are preparing to mail back their Contract 2000 surveys, the results of which will be used for opening negotiations later in the year.
European Commission ruling on the United-Lufthansa-SAS alliance is more likely to be delayed until the new commission is seated, following the June 30 resignation of Martin Bangemann, EC commissioner for industrial affairs and information technology. Bangemann announced he would join Telefonica, a Spanish telecom company, and his defection makes the current EC's status appear more strongly as a "caretaker," according to European sources.
Failure of Congress to fund the $17 million FAA fiscal 2000 request for the Global Positioning System aeronautical band is "potentially serious" in that it could deny civil users, including airlines, the modernized service the satellites provide, an FAA spokesman said Friday. The money would fund the addition of two civil frequencies to the GPS. Both the House and Senate Appropriations committees zeroed out the $17 million request in the fiscal 2000 budget. The Senate committee did not explain its cut.
Europe's small independent carriers continue to thrive thanks in part to the "gross inefficiencies of the flag carriers," says Mesa Chief Executive and Virgin Express Chairman Jonathan Ornstein. He predicts that smaller independent airlines will have to consolidate to survive, and majors will be forced to improve operating efficiencies or go out of business. "So much of the inefficiency is deeply embedded in the system...the days of serving champagne and caviar and charging $800 for a one-and-a-half hour segment are gone."
American posted a 4.5% increase in June traffic, compared with the same 1998 period, and a 4.4% gain in capacity, but the results were hampered by problems with the nation's air traffic control system. "Our June traffic results spotlight a busy summer for the entire industry, but we would have seen stronger growth numbers in June had the nation's air traffic control system not had so many problems," said Chief Executive Don Carty. The airline's systemwide load factor edged up 0.1 percentage points to 73.8% last month.
Delta is offering double bonus frequent flyer miles on nonstop and direct flights between Orlando or Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood and Providence/Newport, R.I., Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, Pa., Raleigh/Durham, N.C., Washington Dulles or Hartford, Conn. The offer is good through Dec. 15. SkyMiles members can purchase tickets at www.delta-air.com or by calling the number on the back of their SkyMiles membership card.
American and its pilots union, the Allied Pilots Association, will resume mediated talks today on American's Reno Air acquisition today. The two sides met in mediated talks Monday-Thursday last week. APA spokesman Gregg Overman declined to describe the tenor of the meetings but noted they are "going forward." APA has not announced when it will file an appeal on a
Dean Borgman last week succeeded the retiring Eugene Buckley as president and chief executive of Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of United Technologies.
SAS has delayed a decision to purchase a new fleet of long-haul aircraft worth up to 15 billion kronor (US$1.8 billion) and instead will focus on cutting costs. The carrier said it wants to press ahead with a savings plan, introduced in March, before it orders the new airplanes. SAS wants to boost gross profit by 3.3 billion kronor within two years by cutting costs and boosting revenue from alliances. The carrier had planned to place the order in the first half of this year as part of its biggest revamp in 20 years to help expand traffic 5% over five years.
SAS and Air France filed at DOT for winter-season slot exemptions at Chicago O'Hare after hearing from FAA that it could not fulfill their slot requests. Each carrier seeks to continue service it now operates with a DOT-granted summer-season slot exemption. SAS wants one exemption for a daily controlled-hours arrival for its Chicago-Copenhagen service. Air France filed under its previous docket number, taking the stance that it seeks to renew its summer-season slot exemptions for daily Chicago-Paris service.
Spanair signed the first euro operating lease with GE Capital Aviation Services. GECAS says it launched a euro lease product in response to customer demand because many European airlines have non-U.S. dollar revenue and incur foreign exchange risks or hedging costs. The Spanish carrier says it plans more such leases with GECAS.
TAP Air Portugal's April traffic was unchanged from the same month last year but is down 1.8% for four months, compared with 1998 levels. April was the first month the airline did not report a decrease in revenue passenger kilometers. Freight volume dropped 17.1% in April to 15 million ton kilometers. The airline transported 412,998 passengers, up 3.8%.
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U.S. and French transportation representatives made "good progress" toward an agreement on intermodal code sharing in two days of discussions last week in Washington, according to a DOT spokesman. "Both sides endorse the concept," he said, and look forward to additional discussions. An example of the intermodal code sharing would be U.S. and French airlines holding out connecting service with, respectively, the French national railroad system or Amtrak.
The British Cargo Airline Alliance (BCAA) pressed the U.S. to put forward a "genuinely reciprocal agenda" in the U.S.-U.K. open-skies talks, delayed by the U.K. last week (DAILY, July 1). "Amending the current U.S. wet-leasing regulations to provide U.K. cargo airlines with an opportunity to compete on equivalent terms with U.S. carriers is an area where the U.S. side must move to eradicate existing imbalances," the alliance said. BCAA representatives, who met with DOT Acting Assistant Secretary Brad Mims in mid-June, report that Mims "still hopes the U.S.
Delta will drop its daily Atlanta-Vienna flight Oct. 1, instead placing its code on new Austrian Airlines flights, as the carrier slowly loosens its ties with its Atlantic Excellence partners. Delta said it made a "strategic business decision" to discontinue its Vienna service and believes it can serve the city better via its alliance with Austrian. Delta will place its code on Austrian's daily, nonstop Airbus A330/A340 flights between Atlanta and Vienna, effective Oct. 1, 1999.
