Air Canada and Mexicana yesterday formed a code-share and marketing partnership between Canada and Latin America, effective May 13. Seats will go on sale May 6. The carriers will link hubs in Montreal, Toronto and Mexico City, with plans in July to put Air Canada's code on Mexicana's flights to Guadalajara, Cancun, Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta and Mexicana's code on Air Canada service to Winnipeg, Quebec City, Vancouver and Calgary. They also plan to link their frequent flyer programs.
Tower Air said a flight attendant was fired for refusing a direct order from the company's VP-operations to work on a legal extension of a flight. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents Tower's cabin crew, claims the airline fired Tower AFA President Jason Weber for taking a stand against forced overtime. "This is a clear-cut case of retaliation and we won't stand for it," AFA International President Patricia Friend said. "For an airline teetering so close to the financial abyss, a major fight with one of its unions is a bad fight to pick."
U.S. National, Regional and Cargo Carriers Advertising Expense Fourth Quarter 1998 National Carriers % Of Total Advertising Operating Expenses AirTran Airlines 2,805,347 2.15 Aloha 1,772,840 3.31 American Trans Air 3,120,966 1.62 Frontier 1,221,804 2.52
Comair yesterday reported fiscal fourth quarter net income of $32.4 million and record fiscal 1999 profits of $132.9 million. Revenues for the March quarter grew 15.5% to $191.9 million. For the year ended March 31, Comair's revenue reached $763.3 million, up 17.2%. The company had an operating margin last year of 26.7% and carried 6.4 million passengers, about the same number as Air China and Finnair. The load factor rose to 59.2% from 57.8%, and the breakeven load factor was 44%.
United and KLM, the two largest shareholders of computer reservations system giant Galileo International Inc., and minority shareholder US Airways said yesterday they will sell shares in the CRS worth about $1.8 billion based on current market value. United will sell 17.5 million shares and gain $900 million from the transactions. Its holding would drop to 15% from 31.9% and its representation on the Galileo board would be two seats instead of three. KLM will sell all of its 10,639,200 shares in Galileo, a 10.2% stake.
The chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem said yesterday he still is concerned about individual airports' ability to handle computer-controlled functions, and he urged additional end-to-end testing, although FAA has no plans to do so. "I think they do need to do some more end-to-end testing," Robert Bennett (R-Utah) told The DAILY.
United will begin showing passengers a video May 1 as part of its campaign to improve awareness of its ambition to improve on-time performance. United, which began rolling out a campaign to employees recently, has been near the bottom of the industry in on-time statistics.
The government of Malaysia has given the green light to Air Asia, the No. 2 designated national carrier, to operate international nonstops from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport, near Kuala Lumpur. Air Asia will have to move its operations to outlying Kuala Lumpur International Airport, however, if the Cabinet approves Malaysia Airports Berhad request to close Abdul Aziz to commercial traffic Oct. 1. Abdul Aziz is 25 kilometers from Kuala Lumpur, while Kuala Lumpur International is 65 km away.
U.S. Carriers Interest Expense Fourth Quarter 1998 % Of Total Systemwide Operating Expenses Alaska 2,541,000 0.74 America West 7,814,637 1.69 American -- -- Continental 32,248,000 1.91 Delta 32,931,000 1.03
The Community of Savannah, Ga./Hilton Head, S.C., added its bid to those of communities and carriers vying for Chicago O'Hare slot exemptions that will be available when American Eagle terminates service June 1 to Shreveport, La., and Montgomery, Ala. (DAILY, April 15). The community, which received three O'Hare slots on an experimental basis (DAILY, March 18), seeks two additional slots to support three daily roundtrips. (Docket OST-98-3603)
SAS conducted sale/leaseback transactions on 26 aircraft last year, including 24 DC-9s as it phases out that fleet by next year and takes delivery of 737-600s.SAS Commuter will receive the first of 17 de Havilland Q400 70-seat turboprops in October as it replaces the rest of its short-haul fleet. SAS is considering 70-seat jets and more conversions of orders to larger 737 versions.
Atlantic Coast Airlines (ACA), operating as United Express, filed a joint application with the Mobile Airport Authority and another with Charleston County, S.C., Aviation Authority for Chicago O'Hare slots. The regional carrier's action takes it another step away from United, which has continued to raise legal and policy questions concerning the holding of slots by communities (DAILY, April 22).
IATA said yesterday it has not decided whether Year 2000 computer issues will curtail flight availability nor has it determined there will be inconveniences. In response to reports about Y2K technical and operational changes, IATA said each entity or airline will make its own decision.
FAA yesterday opened "without endorsement" a docket (29547) on the Air Transport Association's request for 207-minute extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) and asked for comments. But the agency also said it "found it appropriate" to release for discussion a proposed policy letter allowing 207-minute ETOPS authority.
Sabena is seeking 350 million Belgian francs (US$9.2 million) in damages from CityBird for an alleged breach of contract, CityBird said yesterday in Brussels. The low-cost Belgian airline said it was notified Monday that Sabena launched arbitration procedures that day, threatening to terminate all of the carriers' commercial agreements. Following an agreement signed in October 1997, Sabena took an 11.2% stake in CityBird and leased two MD-11 aircraft from the small airline.
Reserve Bank of India said foreign airlines will no longer be required to obtain prior approval from the bank to conduct business in India through local agents. They still must obtain permission from India's director general of civil aviation for online operations, however. The policy, which takes effect immediately, applies only to carriers whose offline service headquarters are in countries that have air agreements with India, RBI officials added.
An IBM study of 119 world airlines found that 36% favor outsourcing all information technology (IT) and 86% consider outsourcing IT in line with their business strategies. In addition, airlines are using IT increasingly as a way to boost market share, improve customer service and loyalty, and strengthen alliance ties. Results of the study, conducted independently by IDL last year, were issued by IBM in Singapore, where several IT advances have been put into practice at Singapore Airlines.
Federal Express asked DOT for an exemption to operate scheduled all-cargo service between the U.S. and the Dominican Republic, offering flights between Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo and Santiago, Dominican Republic. (Docket OST-99-5575)
Delta's decision to use Comair aircraft and pilots to launch its Washington-Boston Delta Shuttle service June 1 is an act of "bad faith" and violates the status quo under which pilots agreed to let Delta start the Shuttle, according to a lawsuit brought by Delta's Air Line Pilots Association unit. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of New York, seeks an injunction and declaratory judgment under the Railway Labor Act, saying ALPA agreed to accommodate Delta's plans for Shuttle in 1991 with the understanding that it would be operated exclusively by Delta pilots.
Airbus Industrie is considering development of several derivatives after it introduces the basic 550-seat A3XX-100 to the market, Jack Schofield, chairman, Airbus Industrie of North American, told the Aero Club of Washington yesterday. Derivatives under consideration include the A3XX-200 with 656 seats and a 7,650-nautical-mile range, the A3XX-50 with 480 seats and a 7,650-nm range, and combi and freighter variants, Schofield said.
The Allied Pilots Association will appear before Judge Joe Kendall today in U.S. District Court to file a brief on how to divide liability for the $45 million fine Kendall imposed on the union because of the February pilot sickout against American. Kendall gave the union until today to post its second $10 million installment toward damages. American claims the 10-day sickout cost it more than $50 million. APA spokesman Greg Overman said the union has not filed its appeal yet because it has not seen Kendall's written ruling on the fine and finding of contempt.
The Korean Air MD-11 that crashed April 15 near Shanghai appeared to strike the ground nearly wings level in a 35- to 45-degree angle of descent, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said yesterday. The board was quoting information issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which is investigating the accident. The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Shanghai, killing two pilots and one mechanic on board and five persons on the ground. NTSB and the Korean Civil Aviation Bureau are assisting in the investigation. The findings thus far:
Philippine Airlines, facing threats from creditors who want to scuttle its rehabilitation plan after majority shareholder Lucio Tan took back control, has resumed services to Xiamen, China. After a nine-month suspension, PAL is offering four weekly Xiamen flights, using A320 aircraft instead of aging A300B4s. PAL now operates to 12 international destinations in seven countries. The others are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, Seoul, Fukuoka, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dhahran and Riyadh. Bangkok and Shanghai will come on line in July.
Thai Airways International aims to reap additional revenue of 1.28 billion baht (US$33.7 million) in the 1999-2000 fiscal year by raising fares 10-15% on 34 domestic routes, effective May 1. Thai expects the increase to bring in a profit of US$1.32 million. According to a TG official, the airline will lose US$45.82 million if it stays with current fares. TG has a monopoly on domestic routes, and apart from startup Angel Airlines, domestic private carriers are prohibited from competing with the national carrier.
All Nippon Airways will be linked July 1 with Air New Zealand, Ansett Australia and Varig, as part its entry into the Star Alliance. The ANA Mileage Club has 3.5 million members, and the Japanese carrier already has operating agreements with Ansett and Varig.
