American will be upgrading its hot towels on domestic and international service soon, using cloth towels instead of disposable. The airline has found that the average lifespan of a cloth hot towel is eight uses.
Introduced May 27 by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) - a bill to amend Title 49, U.S. Code, to reauthorize FAA programs and for other purposes. Referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
United yesterday canceled plans to launch a daily nonstop Chicago-Delhi route that would have been its only service to India. Officials said the decision was based on an assessment of the "economic viability" of flying such a long route. In April, United suspended its unprofitable Delhi-Hong Kong and Delhi-London routes. Airline officials in India said the carrier told its Delhi-based employees of the change but does not plan layoffs, offering instead to discuss "a number of different options with them."
America West is offering an Internet-only fare sale on travel to and from Los Angeles through its web site at www.americawest.com. Bargains are available through Saturday for travel June 24-Sept. 30. Sample roundtrip fares are $58 Las Vegas-Los Angeles, $250 Denver-Los Angeles and $338 Baltimore-Los Angeles.
U.S. carriers transported 614.2 million passengers in 1998 without a fatality, according to Air Transport Association data.The figure was up 2.5%. Traffic rose 2.3% and capacity 1.6%, while the load factor increased to an average of 70.9% from 70.3% in 1997. U.S. airline profits dropped to $4.9 billion from $5.2 billion.
Midwest Express will resume its winter seasonal service to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers and Tampa, beginning Saturday, Dec. 18. Seasonal service runs through April 30, 2000.
Mesa Airlines, which recently completed its acquisition of CCAIR, will announce its decision next week to acquire 30 to 40 regional jets worth $500 million. The company, which has been talking with both Canadair and Embraer, is very close to a decision, a source told The DAILY. In the past, Mesa said the new aircraft probably won't come from Bombardier because the company is looking for early deliveries, which Bombardier cannot meet.
Cathay Pacific Airways reached a wage agreement with its pilots yesterday, hours before management had vowed to begin layoffs. Analysts estimate the carrier lost at least HK$30 million (US$3.9 million) a day during the two-
Northwest and its flight attendants, represented by the Teamsters, reached a tentative deal on a five-year contract early yesterday morning, averting the possibility of a strike. The union had said it would seek release from mediation from the National Mediation Board if the current round of talks failed to end in an agreement, and flight attendants last weekend voted overwhelmingly to strike. The union will recommend ratification, said Teamsters Local 2000 President Billie Davenport.
Air Lanka's revenue passenger kilometers for May jumped 26%, and year-to- date RPMs rose 25.9%. Freight volume showed the first growth of the year with a 7.5% gain last month. Air Lanka carried 105,292 passengers in May, up 20%.
Air Transat leased an Airbus A330-300 from International Lease Finance Corp. The Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft will be delivered in October to the Canadian carrier, joining two A330-200s and three Boeing 757s also leased from ILFC.
FAA's lawyers, expressing fear that big salary increases to unions and management will "fill their wallets" at the lawyers' expense, yesterday took the unprecedented step of voting to join a union. The Office of Chief Counsel (AGC) said the decision follows a June 7 announcement by FAA Administrator Jane Garvey that a "new core compensation system" would be imposed on "all non-bargaining unit FAA employees." FAA said it had not been informed of the results and had no immediate comment.
WRC-2000 Advisory Committee will meet June 24 at the Federal Communications Commission to continue preparations for the 2000 World Radiocommunication Conference. The advisory committee will consider final consensus views and proposals for the world conference.
Top 25 Domestic City-Pair Markets Over 750 Miles O&D Passengers Fourth Quarter 1998 1998 1998 Nonstop Average Lng Hl Mkt Mileage Pax Top Carrier Rank Rank City-Pair Per Day (% Share) 1 1 Los Angeles - New York 2,467 8,486 American (33.3) 2 5 Atlanta - New York 756 6,432 Delta (59.3)
B/E Aerospace received a contract for cabin interiors from Boullioun Aviation Service's fleet of 30 new Boeing 737-700 and 737-800 aircraft. BEA valued the initial contract at $14 million but said it could grow to $30 million if Boullioun exercises options on another 30 of the aircraft. Boullioun is configuring some of the aircraft for all-economy seating and others for two service classes.
Continental Express began daily nonstop service between Houston and Chihuahua, Mexico, yesterday with a 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145. With the addition, Continental operates 234 weekly departures to 14 Mexican destinations. Before Continental's launch, Aerolitoral was the only carrier operating nonstop service to the U.S. from Chihuahua, with two daily flights six days per week. Aerolitoral has a code-share agreement with American from Dallas/Fort Worth. Continental will further increase its service to Mexico later this year with new service to Saltillo Aug.
DOT granted United's request to postpone action on the carrier's complaint against the European Commission, which proposed conditions on bilaterally approved U.S.-Europe carrier alliances (DAILY, May 28). United requested the waiver to provide the EC additional time to review recently submitted information and "afford a further opportunity for negotiations to resolve the matter." The statutory deadline is deferred through July 29. (Docket OST-98-4030)
Midwest Express reported a 25.1% increase in traffic and 26.5% more capacity for May, depressing the load factor 0.7 percentage points to 65.3%. Passenger boardings jumped 20.5%. Subsidiary Skyway flew 5.8% more passengers and reported a 4.6% jump in traffic on 2.2% more capacity, which grew the load factor 1.1 points to 50.3%. Year-to-date, Midwest Express traffic gained 22.5% and capacity 21.6%, boosting the load factor 0.4 points. Passengers flown increased 18.7%. Skyway's traffic climbed 9.6%, while capacity dropped 0.1%, pushing the load factor up 4.2 points.
New Air stands behind its projection that it will fill 65% of seats despite union assertions to the contrary, the startup told DOT. The airline's market analysis showing the potential to serve 44 cities from New York Kennedy stands also, New Air said. The International Association of Machinists (IAM) blasted New Air's certificate application as fundamentally flawed (DAILY, June 3) and raised concerns over compensation the carrier would provide its employees.
DOT should halt the "slot hoarding by a few large carriers" at high-density airports and withdraw slots from those carriers that "are increasing their stranglehold on high-density airports through alliances and mergers," AirTran said in a letter this week to DOT Deputy Assistant Secretary of Aviation and International Affairs Brad Mims. AirTran needs slots immediately "to operate seven roundtrips at Washington Reagan and one at LaGuardia for existing service if it is going to continue to serve communities on the East Coast and Midwest," the airline wrote.
ARINC signed a $5 million contract for the China Phase II Aviation Communications project with the Civil Aviation Authority of China. Phase II includes installing network management data processing system upgrades and 55 more remote ground stations and providing VHF data-link coverage for central and western China, Hong Kong and Macau. Phase II will be completed within one year. The project also will ensure that the existing data-link system is Y2K-compliant.
An expected agreement between U.S. airlines and Congress on voluntary upgrades in passenger service collapsed yesterday. The Air Transport Association abandoned release of its "voluntary passenger rights plan" yesterday because not all players in Congress had seen the final version and were reluctant to agree without seeing it. Congressional sources expected to have clearance from Capitol Hill next week.
Thailand's Civil Aviation Board has approved Thai Airways International's application to raise business-class and child fares to the Middle East and the U.S. 5-30%.
UAL Services will provide routine engine maintenance to TAESA, a private airline based in Mexico City. Work on the CMF56 engines that power TAESA's Boeing 737s will be performed at United's maintenance center in San Francisco.
