Fedex Pilots Association's merger committee is making plans on the possibility that rumors of a FedEx merger prove to be true. In a recorded message to members last week, FPA President Mike Weiland noted FDX Corp. has raised a billion dollars in cash and cited media reports that the company is going back into the heavyweight freight business "in a big way." That, plus a halt on new-hire training, has the union concerned.
The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted an on-time arrivals record of 78.9% in February, better than January's 67.7% and February 1998's 75.4%, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report. TWA was first, 83.2%, followed by Continental, 83.0%, Southwest, 82.8%, and Northwest, 82.4%. US Airways was eighth, 74.5%, American ninth, 71.5%, and Alaska 10th, 70.9%. The 10 carriers' February mishandled-baggage rate, 5.05 per 1,000 passengers, improved on the 8.08 posted in January but is higher than February 1998's 4.91. America West reported the lowest rate, 3.52.
Sabre has released a Frequent Flyer Automated Upgrade enhancement that simplifies travel agent requests for seat upgrades for frequent-flyer clients. Travel agents have had to call an airline to request an upgrade at the time of check-in. Frequent Flyer Automated Upgrade enables Sabre agents to request the upgrade with the passenger's reservation, and it updates the reservation automatically once the carrier has confirmed. Travel agents also can request special meals, specific seats and traveling-companion upgrades with a single entry.
Kiwi International Air Lines' new trustee, Charles Stanziale, has vowed to get the carrier back on its feet and says liquidation is out of the question. Stanziale, a former Kiwi board member and general counsel, was named trustee last week, and his appointment was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Rosemary Gambardella. Stanziale was with Kiwi from 1992, when it was formed, through 1995. He said he is familiar with the company, its employees and its unique problems.
In Federal Register dated March 26...Issued an airworthiness directive on Boeing 767 aircraft requiring inspection of the lugs of the diagonal brace of the nacelle strut...Issued an AD on Lockheed L-1011-385 aircraft requiring inspection of the elevator assembly...Issued an AD on certain British Aerospace 3201 aircraft requiring replacing the nose landing gear downlock actuator. -- In FR dated March 30...Proposed to revise an AD on Pratt&Whitney JT9D engines concerning inspections of certain high pressure compressor disks.
The U.S. and the U.K. "have not closed the gaps on any of the core open skies principles," David Marchick, assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs, said in a recent speech in Frankfurt."In my view, we have a window of opportunity this year that may narrow because of the U.S. political cycle. I hope we seize it, and I would think the British would want to as well."
FAA must recognize that aviation businesses are affected by a proposed amendment to the Airport Security Plan and should have an "equal opportunity to review and comment" on the amendment, according to National Air Transportation Association VP Andrew Cebula. The amendment would require an airport tenant to perform a limited five-year employment verification for persons seeking unescorted access privileges to areas of the Airport Operations Area controlled for security purposes. FAA has proposed making a 14-year-old "emergency" ASP employment verification a mandate.
A recent poll shows that Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee member John Ashcroft (R-Mo.) holds a close, early lead in his campaign for re-election next year against Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan (D). According to a poll taken late last month for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and TV station KMOV, Ashcroft held a 45%-37% lead.
American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American Airlines, posted a system-wide 14.7% increase in traffic on 11.1% more capacity for March compared with the same 1998 month, which pushed the load factor up 2 percentage points to 63.8%. The carrier flew 263.3 million revenue passenger miles and 413 million available seat miles, and it enplaned 1,196,054 passengers, up 9.1%.
China Southern is extending through May 31 its 25% commission to all Airlines Reporting Corporation travel agents in the U.S. for its Los Angeles-Guangzhou and beyond service. From June 1 to Dec. 31 the ARC travel agent commission will be 20%. China Southern said it plans no travel agent commission caps on its transpacific nonstop service. To qualify for the 25% commission, the entire passenger itinerary must be on China Southern.
Former DOT Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs Charles Hunnicutt will be the keynote speaker at the Seventh Annual International Airline Chief Executive Officers Conference. The conference, organized by Aviation-Latin America&Caribbean, will feature representatives from 26 airlines throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and the U.S., including 17 CEOs. The conference is scheduled May 2-4 at the Sonesta Beach Hotel, Key Biscayne, Fla.
Delta introduced hourly Atlanta-Philadelphia service yesterday and added frequencies between Atlanta and Austin, Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem and Norfolk. The carrier is operating 15 flights per day from Atlanta to Philadelphia and 16 from Philadelphia to Atlanta. It added one flight to Austin for a total of six daily, one to Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem for a total of nine and one to Norfolk for a total of seven.
InVision Technologies said Tim Black, chief operating officer, will be acting chief financial officer in place of Curtis DiSibio, who has left the company. Jim Robbins, controller, also will assume some CFO responsibilities temporarily.
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) said it is launching an aggressive grass-roots campaign with Congress in favor of an airline passenger rights bill. ASTA said it is asking travel agents to support a bill actively and encourage their clients to speak out about airline mistreatment.
Air New Zealand and Lufthansa applied jointly at DOT for blanket authority for code-share operations, consistent with U.S. open-skies agreements with New Zealand and Germany. Asking that the authority be made effective for at least two years, the carriers said they want to be able to add third-country beyond points quickly, in response to "service demands and changes in the marketplace," without having to seek DOT approval each time. They said they "anticipate further extension of their code-share network in upcoming seasons."
DHL Airways asked DOT for an exemption to provide all-cargo service between the U.S. and Bahrain, via Brussels, and to integrate the authority with its certificate authority. The carrier said it would operate five-times-weekly Cincinnati/New York-Brussels-Bahrain service in each direction by code sharing on existing services of other carriers - New York-Brussels with Gemini Air Cargo using DC-10 aircraft, and Brussels-Bahrain with DHL International E.C. on flights operated under wet-lease by Nordstress Australia Pty. with 757 aircraft.
Charlotte, N.C.-based US Airways affiliate CCAIR posted a net loss of $370,040, or four cents per share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31 but a $3,379,673 profit, or 36 cents per share, for 1998, the company announced this week. Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group in February announced it would acquire the carrier for $53 million but has not yet closed the transaction.
