Average U.S. business fares are up 6% since last year at this time, according to BT Alex. Brown analyst Susan Donofrio. "The recent 1% business fare increase is holding," she said. "We are also starting to see some upward price movement on routes out of Los Angeles."
National Airlines, which asked DOT to allow it to market and sell its services before it receives FAA operating authority (DAILY, April 8), applied to the department for exemption from slot restrictions at Chicago O'Hare Airport for five daily operations during slot-restricted hours.
Crossair will place Swissair's code on services from 18 points in Switzerland, Germany, France and Spain that offer connections at EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg with daily flights between Basel and Newark operated jointly by Swissair and Crossair.
Women In Aviation International named Jennifer Thomas manager of communications; elected Robert Francis, National Transportation Safety Board, Renee Martin-Nagle, Airbus Industrie of North America, and Debra McFarland, Aircraft Electronics Association, to the board; re-elected Cassandra Bosco, National Business Aviation Association, Mary Ann Elff, Purdue University, and Bobbi Roe, Woman Pilot Magazine, to the board; and inducted Arlene Elliott, Gloria Heath, Anne Morrow Lindbergh and June Maule into the Pioneer Hall of Fame.
Midwest Express Holdings reported continued increases in traffic and capacity for Midwest Express and Skyway Airlines in March. Midwest Express traffic jumped 21.5% to 168.7 million revenue passenger miles, but capacity grew 23% to 257.6 million available seat miles, which pushed the load factor down 0.8 percentage points to 65.5%. Passenger boardings were up 18.4% to 185,948. Skyway flew 9.9% more RPMs, 7 million, and 2.2% more ASMs, 14.5 million, growing the load factor 3.3 points to 48.1%.
Air Lanka traffic increased 29% in March to 446.6 million revenue passenger kilometers. The airline carried 118,829 passengers, up 20.7%. Traffic increased 25.8% during the first quarter.
Central American leader Grupo TACA, which is coordinating the schedules of six regional airlines with its own (DAILY, April 9), will finalize a fleet plan this summer that improves the efficiency and safety of the six carriers. The regionals have operated with a variety of aircraft types, and TACA is consolidating to two - the workhorse 19-seat Cessna Caravan, which can fly to unimproved fields, and the larger ATR 42. TACA has created the new position of VP regional airlines, naming Mark Kuhns to the role.
Southwest has increased jet fuel hedging since prices bottomed out early this year. The airline is hedging 77% and 74% of fuel needs in the first and second quarters, compared with 30% normally. Recently, for the first time in several months, U.S. jet fuel spot prices were higher than year-earlier levels - $0.46 per gallon, up 3%.
AirLiance Materials, the venture formed last year combining the spares inventories of Star Alliance partners Air Canada, Lufthansa and United, will become the exclusive surplus parts supplier to those carriers effective May 1, AirLiance reported during Aviation Week's MRO '99 conference in Atlanta. Since September, AirLiance has held an exclusive consignment agreement for surplus parts with its partner carriers while it built infrastructue needed to become their exclusive supplier.
Rockwell Collins combined its support, technical publications, training and rental exchange services to form Collins Aviation Services (CAS) in an attempt to satisfy customer demand for single-shop sources for avionics repair, training and related support services.
AeroMexico said it is the first Latin American carrier to offer electronic ticketing internationally. The option is available for its U.S. gateways, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, New Orleans, New York, Orlando and Phoenix. In Mexico, the airline offers automated e-ticketing with machines at all major airports.
General Electric's first quarter earnings increased 14% to $2.2 billion while revenues rose 7% to a record $24.2 billion, the company said. The operating margin was 16.3%, up from 15.1% and also a record. GE Aircraft Engines revenues dropped 2% to $1.2 billion while the segment's profit rose 15% to $481 million. Aircraft Engines won more than 50% of orders for large commercial engines in the quarter, GE said.
The Communities of the Virginia Peninsula, whose application for Chicago O'Hare slots was dismissed in DOT's order awarding experimental allocations to Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C., and Savannah, Ga./Hilton Head, S.C., asked DOT to reconsider their application and award them slots if more become available. The communities said they seek two or three daily roundtrips and would return slots for them to FAA if they were not used within 120 days. They said service to small and medium-sized U.S. markets should have higher priority than more international flights.
United's Association of Flight Attendants says the company's current plan to fly the 7,400-mile, 15-hour Chicago-New Delhi route involves a fuel stop in Frankfurt, even though United describes the service as nonstop. The union still is miffed that it found out United was canceling daily Los Angeles-Osaka service only through a translation of the carrier's Japanese ground staff newsletter.
China's two largest airlines, China Southern and China Eastern, saw their stock value shoot up 30% and 26% on the Hong Kong exchange, respectively, after Thursday's signing of the new U.S.-China bilateral. Cathay Pacific's stock increased more than 7% on news that frequencies between the countries will double over three years. China Eastern's New York listing rose more than 30% last week.
British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and DOT Secretary Rodney Slater will meet April 20 in Washington to follow up on their March 26 discussions in London on moving forward toward a new U.S.-U.K. bilateral, according to a DOT spokesman. Prescott's visit to the U.S. will include talks with Vice President Gore on environmental and sustainability issues, and he is scheduled to attend the Earth Day Summit in New York, according to the British Embassy.
Continental initiated 3% leisure and 1% business fare increases Thursday. The fate of the increases industry-wide was not decided Friday, but as of close of business United and Delta had matched them. The fact that the increase was floated "does reflect strong demand in some regions of the country," said Merrill Lynch. There have been two fare increases so far this year.
DOT - Approved a Vacation Express charter using an Allegro MD-83 or 727 for eight roundtrips carrying 165 passengers on a Cancun-Nashville/Memphis-Cancun routing May 18-July 6...Approved a British Ministry of Defense charter using a Royal Aviation A310 for two one-way flights carrying 175 to 188 passengers on Seattle-Goose Bay, Canada-Brize Norton, U.K., and Seattle-Goose Bay, Canada-Brize Norton, U.K.-Calgary routings April 7-9...Approved in part, with the remainder deferred, an Aerolineas Uruguayas charter using a Fast Air DC-8 or 767 for 52 roundtrips carrying general c
FAA - In Federal Register dated April 2...Issued an airworthiness directive on Boeing 737-600/700/800 aircraft requiring inspection of the power distribution panels. -In FR dated April 5...Issued an AD on Allison AE 3007 series engines concerning engine ground starts...Proposed an AD on General Electric CF34 series engines to require new life limits for certain high pressure compressor spools...Proposed to supersede an AD on Bombardier CL-215 aircraft concerning inspections of the wing to fuselage frame angles.
Comair Holdings Inc. reported a 27.1% rise in traffic on 22.7% more capacity for March, which grew the load factor 3.6 percentage points to 63.6%. The Cincinnati-based carrier flew 207.4 million revenue passenger miles and 326.1 million available seat miles. Enplanements increased 18.8% to 589,767. Year-to-date RPMs gained 23.4% and ASMs 20.5%, boosting the load factor 2.4 points. Passenger boardings increased 17.2%.
City Bird of Belgium has added online booking capability to its web site at www.citybird.com. Passengers may reserve and pay for seats and are given 24-hour electronic access to flight schedules and availability and price information.
Engineers with Pratt&Whitney, Boeing and FAA are working out a test and inspection program for high-cycle PW4000 engines with 94-inch fans to identify which ones have enough high-power stability to be at low risk for surges, P&W confirmed. FAA officials are close to putting out an airworthiness directive making the testing regime mandatory and requiring overhauls for engines that do not pass. The work is part of a continuing program to address compressor surges on engines with 1,200 or more cycles.
Frontier Airlines' profitability has translated into a mushrooming stock price. Since September, when it traded at $2.88 per share on the NASDAQ exchange, the value has almost quadrupled. Shares traded at their 52-week high last week, closing Friday at $10.94 per share.
