ProAir has appointed two station managers, George Small in Atlanta and Steve Augustine at Chicago Midway, to be responsible for ProAir's operations in their respective cities and work with airport officials to help the airline develop and grow in the markets.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) still wants to pass S.82, his two-year FAA reauthorization, but he will work with Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) for a two-month extension beyond the current March 31 expiration if quick passage of S.82 seems unlikely, a McCain spokeswoman told The DAILY.Sources said Stevens and Appropriations transportation subcommittee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) proposed a six-month extension, like House Transportation Committee Chairman Bud Shuster's (R-Pa.), but McCain would not agree.
Bombardier Aerospace announced yesterday that Augsburg Airways of Augsburg, Germany, has placed a $65 million firm order for three new-generation, high-speed Q400 aircraft, plus options for two more. Augsburg previously ordered 10 Dash 8s, including the 37-seat Q200 and the 50-seat Q300. Bombardier's Q series aircraft features a Noise and Vibrations Suppression (NVS) system that provides a quiet, vibration-free turboprop cabin.
Cincinnati-based Comair, a Delta Connection carrier, reported a 23.3% jump in traffic on 22.3% more capacity for February 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which boosted the load factor 0.8 percentage points to 57.7%. Comair flew 163.2 million revenue passenger miles and 283.1 million available seat miles. Passenger enplanements climbed 18.1% to 477,411. Year-to-date RPMs grew 21.2% and ASMs 19.3%, raising the load factor 1.6 points. Passenger enplanements rose 16.2%.
Mesaba, which flies as Northwest Airlink, saw a 27% gain in traffic on 25.9% more capacity for February 1999 compared with the same 1998 month, which grew the load factor 0.4 percentage points. Mesaba flew 97.8 million revenue passenger miles and 174 million available seat miles. Boardings jumped 25% to 357,500. Year-to-date RPMs climbed 23.9% on 22.9% more ASMs, which boosted the load factor 0.4 points. Passengers flown 21.6%.
Unless and until the 1954 Aviation Act is amended by the Thai parliament, Thai Airways International's privatization plan to reduce eventually the government's stake of 93% to 49% will continue to hang in the balance. Without the amendment, the government's stake cannot be reduced to less than 70%. The privatization exercise started six years ago, when 7% of the airline's stock was floated to the public.
BFGoodrich Aerospace said yesterday it will produce wheels and brakes for Delta's fleet of Boeing Next-Generation 737s in what it described as its largest-ever order from a single airline. Delta has ordered 70 of the aircraft and took options on 60 and rolling options on 280.
American and LanChile have withdrawn their interest in acquiring a stake in AeroPeru, according to Bob Booth, president of Miami-based Aviation Management Services. The decisions come after Delta, AeroMexico and other board members decided not to invest further in financially troubled AeroPeru. The carrier has monthly losses of $4-5 million last year. But Chief Executive Jaan Albrecht has been cutting costs, improving on-time performance to 90% so far this year and reducing overhead to whittle the loss to $1.8 million in January.
Qantas received a strong ratings endorsement from Standard&Poor's for the airline's upcoming A$700 million debt securities program. Even though 30% of its capacity goes to Asia, Qantas posted record profits for the second half of 1998. "Qantas has minimized the adverse financial impacts through its rapid response, including significant capacity redistribution, ongoing cost savings and efficiency initiatives," S&P said.
Air France has reaffirmed its intention to operate its regular daily Concorde service between Paris and New York after the U.S. House vote to ban the noisy aircraft if the European Union enacts its new noise rules. Air France said it is confident a "diplomatic solution" will be reached.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic September 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 42 23.92 1,121 46,703 28.01
United and Northwest, anticipating a flight attendant job action at America West, are making some walkup fares non-refundable. United is taking the action in about 50 major markets, mainly in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Columbus, Ohio, where it competes with America West. United spokesman Joe Hopkins said the company is trying to prevent speculative booking by America West customers who are worried about a possible flight attendant strike. The fares are non-refundable March 18 through April 11. A Northwest spokeswoman confirmed that her carrier followed United's lead.
Jet fuel prices increased 4.8% since late February to 34 cents per gallon last week, according to BT Alex Brown. The price is down 25% from a year earlier.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic September 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 1,026 10.33 848 870,338 13.20
Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) expressed support yesterday for attempts by industry to permit the Boeing 777 to fly as much as 207 minutes from a suitable landing site, up 15% from the current extended-range twin-engine operations (ETOPS) limit of 180 minutes. ALPA officials said they are "concerned by a last-minute effort by one or two unaffiliated pilot groups to derail the carefully crafted agreement." ALPA said that, like the Independent Association of Continental Pilots, it too has placed conditions on the extension.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic August 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change AirTran Airlines 520 474.16 577 300,306 279.31
-- H.R.780 - introduced Feb. 23 by Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) - a bill to establish consumer protections for airline passengers and for other purposes. Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. -- .R.790 - introduced Feb. 23 by Rep. Vito Fosella (R-N.Y.) - a bill to require FAA to address the aircraft noise problems of Staten Island, N.Y. Transportation and Infrastructure.
General Accounting Office's new report on airfares and service quality says rising prices in key markets result from major hub domination and lack of access for competition. The report, Airline Deregulation - Changes in Airfares, Service Quality and Barriers To Entry, was requested by Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), Senate Commerce aviation subcommittee chairman Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), ranking House Transportation aviation subcommittee member William Lipinski (D-Ill.) and subcommittee member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.).
Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) , ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations transportation subcommittee, says airline delays reached the highest level for any month within the last four years last June - almost 40,000 flight delays of 15 minutes or more. In the New York/New Jersey region, congestion and traffic growth have caused Newark to be ranked "once again as the most delayed airport" in the U.S., he told DOT Secretary Rodney Slater at a hearing last week.
Colography Group forecasts an 11.5% increase in air freight this year but cautions that higher demand will not translate automatically into profit for carriers. "Overcapacity will compress carrier margins, but it will be good news for buyers of air freight services," it says.
Detroit-based ProAir, which made headlines last year by signing multi-million-dollar deals with GM and Chrysler (DAILY, June 12, 1998), is getting ready to announce more corporate agreements and hopes to go public this year, Chairman and Chief Executive Kevin Stamper told The DAILY. He said some of the agreements are with "major" companies that are slightly smaller than GM or Chrysler, and not all of them want their names made public. He said the five-year deals are structured like the GM and Chrysler agreements, with unlimited travel for a fixed monthly fee.
