Air Transport Association Cargo Traffic, March 1999 Revenue Ton Miles (000) March March % 1999 1998 Change Domestic Freight 865,492 858,565 0.8 Mail 173,395 177,696 (2.4) Total 1,038,887 1,036,261 0.3 International Freight 889,151 862,927 3.0
British Airways and Starwood Hotels&Resorts have begun their marketing partnership with a bonus mile promotion that runs through Aug. 31. BA Executive Club frequent flyer members who stay at any of 600 Starwood hotels will earn 1,000 bonus miles for every visit. The miles are in addition to the two miles per eligible dollar spent during the visit.
Cade Industries said it was awarded contracts totaling $11.3 million from airlines, aircraft engine manufacturers and the U.S. government. The contracts call for engine test hardware, aircraft components and Y2K support for engine test equipment.
Ansett International received approval from the International Air Services Commission (IASC) to supplement its code-share service to Singapore and offer new access to points in Europe and Asia. IASC approved the extension of Ansett's code share with Singapore Airlines on all services between Australia and Singapore, effective July 1. The code share covers up to four daily services between Singapore and Bangkok and seven weekly SIA flights in each direction between Australia and the U.K. Ansett also intends to offer code-share service shortly to Frankfurt with SIA.
Southwest has declared a three-for-two split of its common stock that will be distributed July 19 for shareholders of record June 30. As of May 18, there were 335.9 million shares outstanding, and this figure is expected to increase 50% with the split. In addition, Southwest's board increased its regular dividend 10% to $0.00825 per share. Southwest's 91st consecutive dividend will be paid June 29. After the July 19 stock split, the dividend will be adjusted to $0.0055 per share.
EasyJet is holding an Internet competition to see if anyone can guess how much British Airways lost in its investment in the low-fare Go operation. "The 50 entrants nearest the correct figure will win themselves a pair of easyJet flights," the airline said in an advertisement yesterday. BA will reveal its financial results today.
US Airways, using British Midlands' London Heathrow-New York application as a platform for its own pending U.S.-London request, said competitive London service is a "vital and necessary component of any viable transatlantic network" and it is "incumbent upon the U.S.
Sri Lankan national carrier Air Lanka has begun talks with India's Director General for Civil Aviation about increasing "by at least 50%" its capacity to India, Air Lanka officials said yesterday. Air Lanka operates 27 flights to and from India in order to take advantage of the 4,029 weekly seats designated by the DGCA in each direction. Anticipating the sanction of additional capacity, the carrier plans to introduce four more flights to New Delhi, Mumbai, Trichy and Thiruvananthapuram, and start operations to destinations in southern India, officials pointed out.
SkyWest reported a 96.8% jump in income from continuing operations of $42.6 million for the year ended March 31. Net income, after accounting for a loss on the disposition and operations of Scenic Airlines, totaled $41.8 million, up 90.6%. Operating revenue rose 46% to $388.6 million, while operating expenses climbed 39% to $324.3 million. Other income gained 132.6% to $5.6 million. Yield per revenue passenger mile rose 7.7% to 37.5 cents, and revenue per available seat mile (RASM) jumped 16% to 21 cents.
Kicking off what could be Congress' busiest week of the year in aviation legislation, the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee will mark up the fiscal year 2000 appropriations bill today. The full committee will mark up the bill on Thursday, a spokeswoman said. Also on Thursday, the House Transportation Committee will re-mark AIR-21, the five-year, $89 billion FAA reauthorization that cleared the committee without dissent earlier this year. Chairman Bud Shuster (R-Pa.) is expected to reduce funding in the bill by about $20 billion over five years.
Fuel Cost and Consumption, U.S. Majors, Nationals and Regionals March 1998 to February 1999 Total Total Cost Cents Per Gallons (Dollars) Gallon 1998 March Domestic 1,178,267,670 602,531,663 51.137 International 429,063,752 239,431,676 55.803 System Total 1,607,331,422 841,963,339 52.383
College of Aeronautics in New York announced that beginning next September it will offer a Bachelor of Science degree in airport management. Commencement speaker Robert Crandall said, "Airport management is an emerging profession throughout the United States and around the world." Susan Baer, general manager of Newark International Airport and a member of the college's Airport Management Advisory Council, said, "Graduates of this program will have myriad opportunities in the aviation industry."
A planned Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing into anti-competitive practices will show that the airline industry is "a highly competitive industry" that "plays by the rules," an Air Transport Association spokesman said yesterday. The spokesman made the assertion in responding to The DAILY's request for comment on the antitrust subcommittee's planned hearing next month. A spokesman for subcommittee Chairman Sen. Mike DeWine ((R-
Japan's Ministry of Transport will construct a second runway at crowded Tokyo Narita Airport that likely will be 2,200 meters (7,216 feet) long, shorter than one it pursued for decades. Several landowners still have not agreed on a 2,500-meter (8,200-foot) runway proposal, though local leaders near the airport have "strengthened their movement to seek cooperation from the landholders," MOT said. "The expansion of airport capacity for international aviation in the Tokyo metropolitan area has been an urgent issue for the nation." Lately, it has been more urgent.
Vanguard stockholders approved an amendment to the company's certificate of incorporation to effect a one-for-five reverse stock split of all outstanding shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share. The stock split became effective May 20. The Kansas City-based company's common stock will trade under the ticker symbol "VNGDD" for 30 calendar days. Stockholders also re-elected Chairman, Chief Executive and President Robert Spane and approved Ernst&Young LLP as Vanguard's independent auditors for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 1999.
Alitalia, KLM and Northwest will have to submit "certain relevant information" not included in their joint application seeking antitrust immunity for their "proposed tripartite alliance," according to a new DOT order (DAILY, May 13). The department wants the carriers to detail corporate data on their potential combined market and its effect on competition and labor forces. The airlines also must provide: -- Corporate documents from the last two years addressing competition on the U.S.-transatlantic markets;
Northwest Airlines Cargo has acquired a ninth 747-200 freighter that will enter service on transpacific markets Sept. 1. With the addition, the carrier will offer the New York and Chicago markets full aircraft capacity on Monday going westbound, Northwest said yesterday. These markets currently share capacity on a single freighter. The Los Angeles and San Francisco markets will get dedicated freight capacity on Thursday and Saturday, and Seattle will gain additional capacity westbound on Thursday and Saturday.
Orient Thai (OT), a Thai-owned regional carrier, wants the government to speed up deregulation of the aviation industry, which has been promised for six years. The last time the government considered liberalizing the aviation market was in December 1997. OT Managing Director Udom Tantiprasongchai said it is time to deregulate the industry so private carriers can move forward and operate domestic routes without restriction. The government also told private carriers that it wants them to participate more aggressively in the aviation industry.
Grupo TACA will offer nonstop service from New York Kennedy to both Guatemala City, Guatemala, and San Pedro Sula, Honduras, June 19. The seasonal service will continue through September. JFK-Guatemala will operate three times per week nonstop and on a one-stop basis the rest of the week via San Pedro Sula. JFK-San Pedro Sula will operate four times per week nonstop. Grupo TACA will use Airbus A320s on the routes, configured for 12 business- and 138 economy-class seats. TACA also serves San Salvador, El Salvador, and San Jose, Costa Rica, from JFK.
Cathay Pacific has entered a promotional licensing agreement with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to use Looney Tunes characters. The promotion features six familiar faces - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester, Tweety, Marvin the Martian and Tasmanian Devil - will be used in children's amenity kits and meals, starting June 1.
United has asked its Air Line Pilots Association unit to modify its letter of agreement regarding regional jet flying, but some pilots want restrictions to be included in any new agreement to prevent expansion at the expense of ALPA. Pilots in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago domiciles said they want changes to the current RJ agreement to be part of a collective bargaining agreement. Pilots in San Francisco and other domiciles have stipulated that a new agreement must result in United's complete ownership and control of its regional feeders.
An FAA official has assured American pilots that the agency would "pursue a vigorous enforcement strategy" on pilot rest rules, Richard LaVoy, Allied Pilots Association president, said yesterday. The Air Line Pilots Association earlier called for FAA to enforce rules on preventing pilot fatigue, particularly for reserve pilots. LaVoy said, "This is a very positive move on the part of the FAA.
