Airlines and airports in Western Siberia have reported dramatic decreases in passenger volumes in 1998. Total passenger enplanements fell by 25% and international travel was down by 32%. Cargo data were even worse - volume was down by 50% overall and nearly 70% internationally, reflecting economic crisis and changes in import duties introduced in the middle of the year. Air transport became chaotic in some quarters during the year.
Flight attendants at United are nervous about plans to drop the Osaka-Los Angeles route this summer and its job impact on Osaka-based cabin crew.United announced the plan in March but has yet to tell the Association of Flight Attendants about it. L.A. will be the third U.S.-Osaka route United has suspended in the past 10 months, according to United AFA President Kevin Lum, and only San Francisco-Osaka is left. The union is concerned that L.A. service eventually be resumed by Star Alliance partner ANA rather than United.
Kiwi International Air Lines will continue its appeal of FAA's withdrawal of its right to fly and has consented to court appointment of a trustee to oversee the company. The carrier said yesterday it believes its operating certificate was taken "without due process" and quoted DOT as saying FAA found that the airline could continue to operate safely despite problems. Kiwi said the next day, with no intervening incident, FAA suspended its operating certificate without prior notification. "Despite the claims of the FAA we believe we have a safe operation," Kiwi said.
Embraer likely will officially launch its new 70-seat ERJ-170 at the Paris Air Show in June. It hosted its first Airline Advisory Board in recent days with representatives from six airlines, showing off a mockup of the four-abreast "double-bubble" passenger cabin. The company declined to identify the six airlines; it is known, however, that one of them was Crossair, which, along with Lufthansa CityLine, was considered a prime launch customer for the Fairchild Aerospace 728JET family.
InVision Technologies received an $18.9 million FAA contract for 21 CTX 5500 DS explosives detection systems, the company said. "This order represents the first purchase of EDS made by the FAA using funds allocated to improve aviation security as part of the...fiscal 1999 budget," it said. InVision said it expects to complete shipments by Sept. 30. The order brings FAA's CT 5000 series purchases to 90 during the past four years.
Delta Air Lines is being sued by 12 minority skycaps in Los Angeles who claim they are being paid less than other Delta employees because of their race. Delta said the skycaps have chosen to remain in their jobs rather than accept standing offers of higher-paid jobs in the company.
U.S. Major Carriers Systemwide Share of Service Fourth Quarter 1998 Total Revenue Departures Alaska 41,918 America West 51,485 American 197,881 Continental 116,114 Delta 240,908 Northwest 144,493 Southwest 204,586 TWA 69,783
The jet-versus-turboprop debate has taken a new twist. Wayfarer Aviation, a White Plains, N.Y., aircraft management firm, advised companies considering fractional ownership in a Wall Street Journal ad Tuesday, "Don't waste your money on a jet." It said that for travel within 1,000 miles of Midtown Manhattan, the Wayfarer StarShares fractional ownership program, using Beech King Air turboprops, "wins hands down." The cost is far less and it provides direct access to a lot more airports.
United yesterday said it will initiate nonstop daily service Oct. 31 between Chicago O'Hare and Delhi, India. The route will be among the longest operated by United or other airlines, the company said. Stuart Oran, senior VP-international, said India "is a dynamic and fast-growing country which has been underserved from the U.S. These new flights will provide tremendous opportunities for both local and connecting customers." United will use a 747-400 with enhanced Phase Three Pratt&Whitney engines and expects the 7,484-mile trip to take about 15 hours.
FAA, alarmed by a series of NTSB decisions, yesterday issued an "interpretive rule" saying pilots are required "by regulation to comply with the clearances and instructions of air traffic controllers except in very narrow circumstances." In a Federal Register notice signed by Administrator Jane Garvey, the agency expressed concern that "a series of recent NTSB enforcement decisions has raised a question regarding the regulatory responsibility of pilots to hear and to comply with air traffic control clearances and instructions."
Atlantic Coast Airlines says in an SEC filing that if, by Jan. 2, 2001, United has not given the express carrier permission to operate regional jets of 44 seats or less in addition to its 50-seat CRJs, it may terminate the code-sharing agreement as of March 31, 2004. The carrier wants to retire its fleet of 28 19-seat Jetstream 32 turboprops by the end of 2001 and has been looking closely at replacing them with a fleet of around 50 Fairchild Dornier 328/428JETS. It has received 15 of 28 CRJs on firm order and has 27 options.
FAA does not have an implementation schedule yet for the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) but expects to announce one soon, an FAA spokesman said yesterday.
DOT said all parts of the department except FAA, the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics have made their computer systems fully compliant with requirements for the Year 2000 date change.
Eight regional-airline stocks, on average, lost $1.23 per share during March. Total market value of the eight issues slipped by $301.8 million to slightly more than $5 billion. Only two of the eight ended the month Wednesday in positive territory and not by much. US Airways Express CCAIR, soon to be acquired by Mesa Air Group, was up 13 cents to $3.38 per share. Delta Connection Atlantic Southeast, which is being acquired by Delta, was up six cents to $33.63. United Express Atlantic Coast led all decliners, losing $3.88 to $28.13 per share.
SkyMark Airlines of Japan is reducing fares dramatically on two of its domestic routes, starting April 24. One-way prices on the seven-month-old carrier's heavily traveled Osaka-Sapporo service will be US$175, 31% below current fares. Osaka-Fukuoka will be discounted 36% this month to $83 each way. The Shinkansen bullet train to Fukuoka costs about $125. SkyMark also operates its original route of Tokyo-Fukuoka, one of the highest-volume routes in the world.
Mesa Air Group is offering employees a cash bonus of $150 for perfect attendance over a four-month period. Employees then are eligible to trade in part of their bonus for chances to win a 1999 Jeep Wrangler. It is similar to a scheme CEO Jonathan Ornstein launched several years ago while president of Continental Express, where the vehicle was an Eddy Bauer edition of the Ford Explorer. It proved so successful that mainline Continental adopted it and continues it today. "Perfect attendance goes a long way towards running an on-time airline," Ornstein said.
United Express affiliate Atlantic Coast Airlines May 4 will launch a schedule of 16 daily flights between Washington Dulles and Norfolk. Currently, ACA operates nine daily flights. The new schedule calls for a first flight between 6 and 7 a.m., continuing hourly until after 9 p.m. each evening. Flights to Washington from Norfolk will depart at 45 minutes past the hour, with flights from Washington to Norfolk scheduled at twenty minutes past the hour.
DOT made final its selection of Delta, Northwest and United for three U.S.-Romania third-country code-share opportunities that became available yesterday, and it affirmed its award of a fourth, available Nov. 1, to Continental. The department said it made its award to the airlines offering the most gateways. Continental objected, saying that an award based on this premise "would perpetuate the dominance of the largest airlines and the largest alliances and inhibit the immediate entry of a new competitor (Continental) between the U.S.
America West, gaining more from American's labor troubles than it lost from its own, said the net result will be positive and the company will post record first quarter profits. Earnings per share will reach $0.60 for the quarter, versus $0.53 in last year's record first quarter. America West said passengers have booked away from it due to last month's threat of a flight attendant job action. The airline cited a strong economy, stable pricing, improved revenue management and operational reliability for the expected record profits.
Cape Air, Hyannis, Mass., has begun service between Norfolk, Va., and Manteo (Dare County Regional Airport) in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Cape Air, which uses Cessna 402s, will operate the three roundtrips per day year-round.
British Regional Air Lines Group plc announced record turnover, profits and passenger volume for 1998, its first full year since its introduction to the London Stock Exchange. Turnover was up 14.4% to #5,165 million and profit up 33.9% to #189 million, and earnings per share increased 35.6% to 8 pence. Chairman Michael Bishop said the carrier's Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet fleet buildup "is significantly changing the operational profile of the group with its route network expansion into Europe.
Amadeus is launching Amadeus Impact Program, its first collaboration with specific airlines and cruise, hotel and tour providers, in an attempt to help travel agents capitalize on the U.S. leisure travel market. The Impact Program creates incentives exclusively for Amadeus agents using leisure travel products such as Amadeus Air, TourSource and CruiseMatch 2000. The first Impact program runs through June 15 and features Alaska Airlines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Funjet Vacations and GOGO Worldwide Vacations.
American's Allied Pilots Association leadership is angry over a letter from VP-Flight Cecil Ewell telling pilots involved in the February sickout that attorneys for passengers in at least one consumer class action suit intend to subpoena the carrier's pilot attendance records.
Vnukovo Airlines, the second-largest carrier in Russia, reported that its traffic declined by 6% in 1998. The carrier did better than overall results for the sector - down 10% - but may have paid a price in profitability in doing so. Late in the year it tried to counteract the downturn in passenger volume, first by fixing its prices in depreciating rubles and then, in November and December, reducing prices in ruble terms.
