Spirit Airlines, Detroit, flew 162.1 million revenue passenger miles and 198.3 million available seat miles last month, up 114.4% and 96.4% from the same 1998 period, resulting in a load factor jump of 6.8 percentage points to 81.7%. Passengers carried rose 86.9% to 171,190. Year-to-date RPMs soared 110.6% and ASMs 109.8%, boosting the load factor 0.3 points. Passengers were up 85.4%.
AirTran Senior VP-Marketing and Planning Jeff MacKinney is leaving the company this month to assume a similar position at TransMeridian Airlines in Atlanta. AirTran has not named his successor.
Alitalia has contracted with IBM to install 42 self-service kiosks in 10 Italian airports by mid-year. The kiosks enable passengers to check in within one minute and select seats, and make further reservations using a credit card. Members of Alitalia's frequent flyer program also can check their account status and obtain awards.
Varig received DOT authority for one year to carry All Nippon Airlines' passengers, property and mail on its single-plane Japan-Brazil flights via Los Angeles. Brazil, Varig's homeland, is not a signatory to the International Air Services Transit Agreement and so must request such authority specifically. Varig told DOT it understands that Brazil would grant "similar privileges" to U.S. carriers. ANA is designated by Japan for Japan-Brazil service. The carriers want to start the joint operations March 28.
The latest news of job cuts for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group is a sign that the unit "has made the turn" from recent production problems based on measurements used to gauge the health of the commercial production lines, a Boeing spokesman told The DAILY yesterday. "We're seeing significant improvement to where we will need fewer people," the spokesman said. "We're getting back to the health they've been working hard to regain," when measured in terms of reduced overtime, fewer parts shortages and less out-of-sequence work.
Sabena traffic for January rose 24.1% to 1.17 billion revenue passenger kilometers. The airline's passenger count grew 18.9% year-over-year to 625,407.
Frontier Airlines is leasing two 737-200s from Triton Aviation Service and plans to lease two 737-300s from Indigo Aviation. Three of the aircraft will be used to replace three leased 108-seat 737-200s that do not comply with noise regulations. The fourth will be a fleet addition.
Fares at three of four major airports in South Carolina have decreased "slightly" since 1990 but increased during the past few years, the General Accounting Office reported at last week's Senate Commerce Committee field hearing at Charleston (DAILY, March 15). The overall quality of service has declined at two of the airports, Charleston and Columbia, and business fares were up "significantly" at Charleston.
Hawaiian Airlines launched daily nonstop widebody service between Los Angeles and Maui last Thursday, and on Friday started continuing direct service to Kona, to be operated three days a week. The new route is expected to add about $30 million in annual revenue.
U.S. Major Carriers Traffic February, 2 Months 1999 (000) February February % 1999 1998 Change Alaska Revenue Passenger Miles 832,000 762,000 9.2 Available Seat Miles 1,270,000 1,174,000 8.2 Load Factor (%) 65.5 64.9
United said yesterday its first quarter earnings will be in the $1.35-per-share territory, above the $1.12 First Call consensus estimate of Wall Street. United reported reversal of weak domestic unit revenue trends that were visible in the fourth quarter and early 1999. The carrier also expects stronger earnings benefits from the pilot sickout at American.
Canadian Airlines says its code-share arrangement with Alaska and Horizon Air, effective April 4, will greatly expand its route network on the West Coast, from Alaska to southern Mexico. Canadian will place its "CP" code on Alaska and Horizon flights from points in Canada to selected points in California, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska and Washington, and from the U.S. to five Mexican resort destinations. Alaska and Horizon will place their "AS" code on more than 25 Canadian transborder and domestic flights.
Belgian carrier Sabena will expand its Brussels-Jersey service to three flights a week from two, starting March 28. The decision came in response to public demand, said Marc Nelis, general manager for the U.K. and Ireland. The Jersey flights will operate on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Also on March 28, Sabena will increase services from Brussels to Johannesburg to daily flights from five a week, with introduction of a connecting service to Cape Town on the carrier's South African partner airlines, Sabena Nationwide.
The new U.S. fare increase (DAILY, March 15), which took root over the weekend, will not be a panacea for carriers.The price hike "does not change our selective view of the [airline] group because we are still faced with a looming overcapacity problem" in the third quarter, according to BT Alex.Brown analyst Susan Donofrio.Weak unit revenues and higher fuel prices also are tempering the earnings outlook.
Continental is expanding service to Mexico, with new flights to Chihuahua June 10, followed by service to Saltillo and Torreon in August and November, respectively. Flights from Houston will use 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 regional jets. Continental is the only U.S. carrier to serve the three northern Mexico cities. Once service begins, Continental will offer flights to 16 points in Mexico. The routes eliminate the current transfer via Mexico City.
TWA met last week with representatives of International Association of Machinists (IAM) units that are negotiating contracts and offered improvements to which the IAM has not yet responded, a TWA source said. IAM said it might not respond until the next round of talks, beginning next Monday. The source said all offers contain higher wage proposals as a result of TWA's adjustments to its 90%-of-industry wage targets. The amount of wage increase for mechanic and related and passenger service employees was increased about 31%.
The Philippine transport department has approved an application by domestic carrier Air Philippines (APL) to start scheduled international services to 10 destinations - San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Seoul, Taipei, Pusan, Osaka and Fukuoka. Transport Secretary Eduardo Espiritu said APL will have to negotiate landing rights with the respective foreign governments. Philippine Airlines' rights will not be shared with any other Philippines carrier. APL President Sherwin Gatchalian is confident that his carrier will be able to secure the rights.
Boeing has delivered its first two 757-300 derivatives to launch customer Condor Flugdienst, which will put the aircraft in revenue service immediately. Condor is scheduled to receive five more 757-300s by July, and Dieter Heinen, managing director, said the company is glad to have the first two in time for Easter charters and the rest for the summer season, which begins in June. Condor currently operates 18 757-200s and nine 767s.
TWA is getting better utilization out of its newer aircraft by adding tag flights at the end of new scheduled service. Two examples are point-to-point Hartford-Portland, Maine, and Austin-McAllen, Texas, service, both tagged onto flights from St. Louis. TWA is expected to announce additional tags shortly.
Worldspan Chief Executive Mike Buckman will leave the company at the end of March to become chief executive of Real Select, an Internet-based real estate service firm in California. Buckman launched Worldspan's three major businesses - computer reservations, airline services and electronic commerce.
Sabre President and Chief Executive Michael Durham will be in Houston next week to talk with Continental Chief Executive Gordon Bethune and Chief Financial Officer Larry Kellner about a possible 10-year agreement to handle Continental's information system needs. Continental is considering switching from EDS to Sabre, a source told The DAILY yesterday. Continental's contract with EDS expires May 1, 2001, and the next deal will be worth about $1 billion.
United, Delta, American, Continental and America West raised their leisure fares 3% and business fares 1% Thursday night. The airlines tried to raise fares last weekend but rolled them back when Northwest failed to follow. Northwest said it is studying the situation.
