Regional airline revenue passenger miles grew by an average of 30.2% in March, based on a survey of 16 of the nation's largest regional carriers. Available seat miles increased an average 27.4% year over year. United Express Air Wisconsin, which assumed some of the Denver markets previously served by Mesa Air Group, was by far the leader, with a 93% jump in traffic and a 79.5% increase in capacity. The carrier has added Dornier 328 turboprops and CRJs to its existing 18 BAe 146 quadjets.
FAA yesterday issued its screening-based proposal to strengthen security of domestic checked baggage, a key recommendation of the Commission on Aviation Safety and Security. The proposal would require airlines to apply additional security to the checked baggage of some customers, but the agency said the Justice Department has determined that criteria for determining whose baggage is checked are not discriminatory.
Delta exceeded analysts' expectations yesterday by posting a net profit of $216 million for the first three months of 1999, up 10.8%, versus a $195 million profit in the March quarter of 1998. The airline saved $26 million in jet fuel expenses in the first quarter, and without the savings profits would have been flat. Still, Delta's operating margin increased 0.2 points to 10.2%, above that of many competitors. Without fuel benefits, the operating margin would have decreased to 9.2%.
The list of prerequisites identified by a Johns Hopkins study before satellite navigation can provide sole means/sole service is so extensive that it amounts to a "significant system redesign," according a Litton paper. For the Wide Area Augmentation System, "almost every major component is impacted - the number of ground stations, the number of satellites, the ground receivers, the avionics and the correction algorithms," according to Victor Strachan, director of strategic development, Litton Aero Products.
Some 87% of FAA's mission-critical systems - 370 of 422 - are ready for Year 2000 operations, and the agency has "consistently met or exceeded deadlines" for ensuring compliance of all National Airspace System components by its self-imposed deadline of June 30, DOT Deputy Secretary Mortimer Downey told the Special Senate Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem.
Malaysia Airlines is investing US$135 million to enhance its interactive inflight entertainment system (IFE) and its communications system facilities for its 777 and 747 aircraft. Senior VP-Marketing Services Shamin Ahmad said the upgrade will be carried out in two phases over eight years. The first phase, already started, involves 12 aircraft - eight 777s and four 747-400s - and the second seven 777s and six 747-400s. Another feature is an in-seat fax service that transmits keyed-in messages to fax machines in any part of the world.
Delta said yesterday it will defer delivery of four 777-200s scheduled to arrive between December 1999 and April 2000 because it has been unable to reach a timely agreement with its Air Line Pilots Association unit on pay for flying the aircraft. Delta said it was obligated to tell Boeing this week whether it would take delivery or defer.
Regional jets and small airports are "not exactly bread and butter," says analyst Michael Boyd. "In fact, RJs can have and will have, and will continue to cause reduced service at small airports." He was critical of consultant GKMG claims that small towns are missing RJ service because of union scope clauses. "That is sheer...nonsense." He said the intended RJ mission has not changed. They are used where their capacity and performance make sense to generate revenue. "Small airports that can barely support Saab 340s are not much in the picture," he added...
Improved operating margins in all operating units helped Boeing achieve "solid and clearly improving performance" during the first quarter, Phil Condit, chairman and chief executive officer, said yesterday. The company reported earnings of $469 million in the quarter on sales of $14.4 billion, versus year-earlier sales of $12.9 billion and profits of $50 million following a $219 million after-tax forward loss on the next-generation 737 program.
India's finance ministry has approved in principle a proposal from national carrier Air-India to raise up to $100 million through one or more securitization deals in foreign capital markets, Air-India sources said yesterday. The approval also confirmed that the B-plus rating assigned to the proposal by international credit-rating agencies is adequate. Roadshows for raising the funds will start in May, after Air-India receives formal approval from the ministry, carrier officials said.
A U.S. envoy will visit Europe next week carrying a promise to work with European Union nations on pushing a Chapter 4 engine noise limit through ICAO if the EU will back off its determination to ban hushkitted aircraft when its transport ministers vote on the issue April 29. The compromise is contained in a letter to European officials from the secretaries of Commerce, Transportation and State and the U.S. Trade Representative.
...Boyd points out that American Eagle is dropping all turboprop service from Chicago O'Hare to Wausau, Wis., and those O'Hare slots and other turboprop slots are being used to initiate long-haul RJ service to Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and other larger markets. American Eagle also is abandoning O'Hare service to Montgomery and Shreveport, points it has been serving with exemption slots. "Small airports are not going to be saved by RJs, with or without legislation or studies on union scope clauses.
Great Lakes Aviation received a 146% boost in essential air service (EAS) subsidies during 1998 and a 328.6% increase from 1996, according to the carrier's annual 10K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 1998 amount was $15 million, compared with $6.1 million in 1997 and $3.5 million in 1996. As of Dec. 31, Great Lakes served 29 EAS markets with subsidy.
Continental yesterday posted a first quarter net profit of $84 million, up 3.7% from the year-earlier period, as both domestic and international revenue outpaced its capacity-adjusted growth. The airline's 16th consecutive quarterly profit grew out of a revenue gain of 10.9% to $2.1 billion. Operating income increased 6.7% to $160 million. Continental gained $19 million in the quarter from American's labor troubles, $15 million domestically and $4 million from Latin America. "I think we got some long-term benefit from this," said Chairman Gordon Bethune.
National Air Transportation Association has named Clif Stroud director of communications at the organization. Stroud, currently editor of DAILY affiliate ATC Market Report, will begin with the association at its annual convention next week in Phoenix, April 20-22. A successor to Stroud at ATC Market Report has not been named.
Embraer has confirmed that it is in negotiations with Crossair of Switzerland and Regional Airlines of France for as many as 210 regional jets with up to 108 seats. Crossair is talking 200 alone, including up to 40 50-seat ERJ-145s, 160 70- to 108-seat ERJ-170s and -190s. The carrier also is in discussions with Fairchild Aerospace for 728 and 928 jets. Regional Airlines, already an ERJ-145 operator, would take 10 ERJ-170s priced at $21 million each.
Canadair RJ manufacturer Bombardier posted a net profit of C$193.7 million (US$129.9 million), or 27 cents per share, for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, an increase of 28.6% from the same period one year earlier, when the company earned C$150.6 million (US$101 million), or 21 cents per share. The Montreal-based manufacturer this week also announced sharply higher annual profits and revenues (DAILY, April 14).
Rep. James Oberstar's (D-Minn.) speech to the International Aviation Club in Washington will be the focus of this week's Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and British Aerospace signed an agreement under which MHI will assemble main wing parts of two Airbus aircraft, the A319 and A320, as a subcontractor to the British manufacturer. The contract is valued at about $2.5 million a year. Mitsubishi is the second Japanese company to participate in an Airbus program - Kawasaki Heavy Industries assembles A321 fuselage panels - and the European consortium apparently expects MHI to become involved in other projects, including development of the A3XX superjumbo.
European Regions Airline Association is encouraging the European Commission and its next Transport Commissioner, not yet named, to spread their liberalized air regime - and the growth they could bring - to several countries in Central Europe. The EC is negotiating with 10 Central European Countries (CECs) to expand the current liberal air transport area comprising the 15 European Union states, Norway and Iceland.
Delta will begin code-share service from Zurich to Bucharest, Romania, on May 1 on Swissair's aircraft. The airlines recently received approval to code share on the route.
DOT issued a notice yesterday inviting the three U.S. carriers currently designated for U.S.-China services to apply for additional frequencies available under the liberalized U.S.-China aviation pact. United, Northwest and Federal Express, which currently operate a total of 27 weekly roundtrips, may apply for the eight additional frequencies that became available following amendment of the U.S.-China bilateral (DAILY, April 9) and for nine more frequencies that become available April 1, 2000, DOT said.
FAA said yesterday that Japan complies with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization and has been rated as Category I.
