Frontier Airlines yesterday posted net income of $30.6 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, the first time the five-year-old carrier has seen a full-year profit. During the previous fiscal year, Frontier lost $17.7 million. The airline had net earnings of $17.8 million in the March quarter. Fiscal 1999 revenue reached $220.6 million, up 50%, while operating expenses rose 18.2% to $195.9 million. Frontier added three Boeing 737s to its fleet - which now numbers 17 - and began service to four new markets during the past year.
Ranking House Transportation Committee Democrat Rep. James Oberstar (Minn.) plans to introduce legislation when Congress returns next week that would require U.S. carriers to conduct safety audits of foreign airline partners as a condition of any code-sharing arrangement. Oberstar will introduce the bill in the House on Monday, a spokesman said. With the growth of code sharing, "we need to take a hard look at whether safety has kept pace," Oberstar said. Since 1994, code-sharing alliances have increased from 61 to 163. "A passenger who buys a ticket from a U.S.
FAA named Barry Molar manager of its Office of Airports financial assistance division to oversee implementation of the Airport Improvement Program and Passenger Facility Charge program. He previously was manager of the airport compliance division.
Minority shareholders have rejected a proposal by Malaysia Airlines executive chairman Tajudin Ramli to create an aircraft leasing company, MAS Capital. The plan called for MAS to sell all its aircraft to the company, then lease them back. Shareholders said it did not make business sense because Tajudin proposed the company to be registered in his name. Tajudin owns 32.2% of the company, but has to get shareholder approval since MAS is listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
American Eagle this week launched regional jet service between Baltimore Washington International and Chicago O'Hare, operating five nonstops daily with new 50-seat ERJ-145 aircraft.
TWA and partner Royal Air Maroc this summer will offer booking capability from any city in TWA's network to Tangier and Marrakesh, Morocco. Under the second phase of the carriers' marketing alliance, Royal Air Maroc will operate six weekly roundtrips between New York Kennedy and Casablanca. TWA passengers will be able to book tickets on Royal Air Maroc's daily roundtrip beyond Casablanca to Marrakesh and several weekly flights between Casablanca and Tangier.
LanChile is considering an alliance with Aerolineas Argentinas, with cross-equity ownership a possibility.Both are new code-share partners with American Airlines. Sources say the three would form a marketing pact that would cover all of South America.
Industry supports contracting out oceanic air traffic control modernization and operation, and there are "at least three potential competitors for such a service," the Senate Appropriations said in its fiscal 2000 transportation appropriations report issued last week. The committee recommends approval of all components of the ATC en route automation line except the oceanic modernization request. The panel approved $113.2 million of a $198.1 million En Route Automation request and recommended contracting out the oceanic facilities and their operation.
Sunworld received quick approval from DOT for a two-year exemption to provide scheduled combination service between Newark and the co-terminal points St. Lucia and Antigua, which the carrier plans to operate weekly with 170-seat 727-200 aircraft (DAILY, June 1). (Docket OST-99-5731)
Three Taiwanese carriers - China Airlines, Trans Asia Airways (TAA) and Far Eastern Air Transport (FEAT) - have formed a joint venture to build a new flight kitchen at Kaohsiung airport in southern Taiwan. The company is called Kaohsiung Airport Catering Services and the 5,400-square-meter facility will turn out 4,000 meals a day for domestic services. It has a daily capacity of 12,000 meals. CAL and TAA each will hold a 45% stake, while FEAT will have the remaining 10%. Operations will start in October with first-year revenue estimated at US$31 million.
A DOT report issued yesterday said Northwest's poor internal communications and lack of emergency plan contributed to passengers' being stranded in aircraft for more than eight hours when a snowstorm hit the airline's hub at Detroit Metropolitan Airport Jan. 2-3. But DOT said FAA found neither Northwest nor the airport violated federal regulations during the incident. The report was written at the request of Rep.
Bombardier Aerospace will invest $30 million to reorganize its pre-flight and delivery facility and to build a new hangar adjacent to its aircraft manufacturing operation at Montreal Dorval Airport.
The chances for a new U.S.-U.K. aviation bilateral are "better than they've been in the last three years," said David Marchick, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state. But "chances still are not very good for an agreement," he cautioned. Marchick confirmed that U.S. and U.K. negotiators are planning to meet June 14, but that date is not set in stone. The U.S. is willing to provide full and unlimited access to its market in return for the same, he said, but the "speed and quality" of that access need to be worked out. The U.S. will continue its open-market push.
Australia has succumbed to pressure from Middle East carrier Emirates in approving another 14 services between Dubai and Australia. The airline will have a total of 21 weekly flights. Emirates, which currently operates a daily flight to Melbourne via Singapore, will use the additional rights to offer daily flights to Sydney, add four weekly flights to Perth and three to Brisbane. According to Emirates' Group Chairman Sheikh Ahmed Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline also has received the green light from U.S. authorities to fly to Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Air Canada will begin Canadair Regional Jet nonstop service every business day Aug. 3 between Ottawa and Washington Reagan Airport, the carrier's 50th new route under its open transborder agreement with the U.S. United will offer code-share flights on the route. The new service will complement Air Canada's service between Ottawa and Washington Dulles, which it said is the only nonstop business-day flight in the market.
FAA and Raytheon officials said yesterday that the software of the controversial Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) has successfully completed stringent tests that bring its operational deployment "closer." STARS is slated to replace the computer and display systems in 172 FAA terminal radar approach control facilities and as many as 199 Defense Department facilities.
Air France posted a net profit of 1.636 billion French francs ($261 million) for the fiscal year ended March 31, down by 10.9% compared with the previous year, the French airline said yesterday in Paris. The Group's revenues increased by 1.5% to FRF59.7 billion ($9.5 billion). French analysts were expecting a much sharper decrease in profits for 1998-99 - a year that was affected by harsh competition and a 10-day strike in the spring of 1998.
Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management announced a Y2K-compliant backup system for air traffic control automation. The product uses the company's SkyLine air traffic management system to give ATM service providers a worldwide network that can be used in conjunction with, or as a backup for, existing systems that may not be compliant, the company said. The system includes four radars and two controller work positions that can be expanded up to 14 positions without software changes.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic December 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (miles) (000) Change AirTran Airlines 467 38.29 544 254,180 21.78
TWA has made its "final and best offer" to employees represented by the International Association of Machinists (IAM), according to Chief Executive Bill Compton. But the two sides agreed to continue negotiations beyond the potential midnight June 9 strike deadline, lowering the chances of a work stoppage at the nation's eighth largest carrier. Details of the offer were mailed to employees yesterday, and a vote is expected within three weeks.
Delta yesterday began nonstop shuttle service between Washington Reagan and Boston Logan, with flights departing every other hour during business days. Due to slot limits at Reagan National, new service was launched with two dedicated 727s and one Comair regional jet. Future hourly service will be operated by Delta Shuttle aircraft.
For the first time, Japan Airlines began publishing on the Internet information on flight irregularities that occurred in its domestic and international services. Like all airlines, JAL did not previously publish the information for fear of causing unnecessary anxiety and misunderstanding regarding air safety. Despite strong opposition to the move inside the company, JAL's management said it believes that the days of concealing incident information are over and that openness will lead passengers to understand carriers better.
Flight trials are under way to test the Airbus Corporate Jetliner's (ACJ) extra fuel tanks in the cargo hold and operations at a cruise altitude of 41,000 feet. The trials began with a five-hour 55-minute flight May 31 during which normal functioning of the six extra tanks was verified. Airbus said the ACJ achieved a typical cruise speed of Mach 0.8 and a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet. This test aircraft was powered by IAE V2500 engines.
National Air Transportation Association said it has objected to a new Joint Aviation Authority rule that would make converting an FAA-issued license "nearly impossible because it mandates flight training to be performed in a JAA-registered aircraft." The new rule, effective July 1, applies to U.S. flight schools that train European students. NATA said any pilot able to meet JAA conversion standards in a specific country still faces difficulty because no other JAA member would be obligated to recognize a converted license.
