Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport (XNA) finally cajoled a second regional airline into switching to the new facility from Fayetteville Drake Field, but only after easing some of its high costs. Northwest Airlink Express Airlines I agreed to make the move after XNA agreed to waive a head fee on all passengers above the benchmark level established at Drake Field the previous year. As a result, Airlink carrier Mesaba will introduce 69-seat Avro RJ85 regional jet service from Memphis, joining American Eagle's Chicago O'Hare service with ERJ-145 regional jets.
Varig reported increases of 4.2% in January traffic and 7.9% in passengers carried, to 992,694. The airline's freight volume plunged 23.35% to 69.8 million freight ton kilometers. The passenger load factor was 71.7% on international flights and 67.4% for domestic service.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers Domestic Traffic August 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 1,283 4.09 866 1,110,677 6.26
U.S. Air Force pilots have concluded tests of an autonomous landing guidance system that could enable C-130 aircraft to land in zero visibility. In tests from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the AF said, test pilots used the system to fly a C-130H in increasingly challenging landings, culminating with a touchdown at a fog-bound, below-minimums airfield in Fresno where the ceiling was 50 feet and the runway visual range about 700 feet. The restriction for C-130s with current landing systems is a ceiling of 200 feet and RVR of about 2,600 feet.
TWA will launch daily service May 1 from St. Louis to Richmond, Va., and Portland, Maine. Richmond will receive two daily nonstops operated with DC-9s, with 16 seats dedicated to Trans World First, and Portland will have daily direct service with MD-80s, with 20 seats in TWA's domestic first class. Passengers on both routes will accrue double frequent flyer miles May 1-June 30.
US Airways and its International Association of Machinists unit, which represents about 6,000 fleet service workers, reached a tentative contract agreement. It is subject to ratification by the rank and file.
Continental retired its last 747 and 737-200 this week as part of a fleet renewal program and reduction in Pacific capacity. The carrier will retire 57 aircraft this year and place 60 new Boeing jet transports in service, bringing the average age of its fleet to 7.6 years by yearend. On Tuesday, the carrier launched daily 777 nonstop service between Gatwick and Houston.
Delta greatly increased the pressure on Atlantic Southeast leading up to the Feb. 15 buyout agreement. Since September 1997, Delta has attempted to recover costs related to ASA's operations and those of its other regional affiliates - including a royalty fee for ASA's use of the Delta code. At ASA's request, Delta withdrew the proposal in November 1997, when the regional said the new cost structure would make it uneconomical to continue service at Delta's Dallas/Fort Worth hub, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Delta.
Southwest yesterday officially announced it will launch daily nonstop service to five cities from Raleigh/Durham on June 6 - Baltimore/Washington, Nashville, Chicago Midway, Tampa and Orlando. Southwest will operate four daily nonstop flights to BWI, two to Chicago, four to Nashville, one to Tampa Bay and one to Orlando, plus connecting service to 28 other cities. The carrier will offer a $65 one-way unrestricted fare between Raleigh/Durham and BWI, a 78% savings from the $297 charged by its competitors on the route.
Commission overrides change travel agents from neutral sellers into distribution agents for specific airlines, a relationship passengers likely are unaware of , according to a report from the DOT Inspector General's office. Travel agents receive overrides in addition to commissions from some airlines in return for meeting sales quotas on particular routes or overall sales levels.
Delta made an offer Atlantic Southeast could not refuse in its $700 million buyout of the Atlanta-based regional. First, the senior partner gave ASA 45 days to "improve significantly" its customer service; it rejected ASA expansion into new markets; it proposed changes in revenue allocation that ASA estimated could cost it $40 million to $50 million per year, and it threatened to bring Cincinnati-based Delta Connection Comair into certain Atlanta markets. According to an SEC filing, Delta Chief Executive Leo Mullin Jan.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has joined EVA Air's frequent flyer program, Evergreen Club, enabling members to earn 500 bonus miles for each stay at a Shangri-La or Traders hotel at a corporate or higher rate. As a special offering through May 31, members can earn double miles on qualifying rates.
The Sabre Group and Trilogy Software are developing plans for the first integrated travel and purchasing product for small to medium-sized companies. By integrating the corporate travel purchasing system of Sabre Business Travel Solutions with Trilogy's Buying Chain software, companies can align all purchasing functions into an Intranet-based application and help drive down operating costs. Sabre and Trilogy are developing the Sabre BTS/Buying Chain application to provide corporate employees with one-stop shopping for goods and services with unprecedented control.
The National Mediation Board approved an Association of Flight Attendants representation election at Midwest Express. Ballots will be mailed March 25 and counted April 29.
A General Accounting Office report released yesterday "validates the need" for proposals to lower competitive barriers by measures that include adding slots to high-density airports and adopting exemptions to the perimeter rule at Washington Reagan Airport, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) and aviation subcommittee Chairman Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) said.
Shuttle America will begin nonstop service between Buffalo and Albany Airport April 6, the company announced. Shuttle America, an airline started by former Continental executives that launched service in the Hartford-Buffalo market last November, will operate three nonstops on the Buffalo-Albany route, using 50-seat Dash-8-300 aircraft (DAILY, Nov. 9 and Nov. 13). The startup also also will boost its weekday service between Hartford/Springfield and Buffalo to seven daily nonstops from three.
United is fitting some aircraft with seats that convert into beds. The seats, marketed as United First Suite, recline to 180 degrees to convert into six-foot, six-inch-long beds, and the seating area is large enough to use as an office work space. United will install the reclining seat in first class on some international Boeing 777 and 747-400 airplanes, with plans to convert the first 20 aircraft by yearend.
Air Jamaica is restructuring nearly every element in its operation except the sandy beaches it flies to in an effort to improve connections and return to profitability. The airline yesterday announced plans to restructure its fleet further, add U.S. service and increase frequencies in international markets. It also is considering acquiring regional jets to serve island destinations in the Caribbean. The airline survived Jamaica's Category 2 safety rating by FAA, which precluded adding service to the U.S. for nearly two years.
End of an era? The acquisition of Chicago Express by code-sharing partner American Trans Air could spell the end of an era in regional aviation. Express is owned by Michael Brady and family, owners of Express Airlines I before it was acquired by Northwest. Brady has been a controversial figure since his tenure as president of Eastern Metro Express in Atlanta, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Metroflight. Brady was accused of establishing Express I and its parent Phoenix Airline Services while on the Eastern Metro watch, leading to a protracted legal battle.
...ASA hired Morgan Stanley Dean Witter as financial adviser and the firm put together a number of alternatives to the Delta buyout, according to a second SEC filing. One was the leveraged acquisition and recapitalization of "Asteroid," deemed to be ASA's low-cost neighbor AirTran in Atlanta's Terminal C, which it said was rumored to be for sale. Dean Witter also suggested a merger with "Comet" and/or "Star," deemed to be Comair and Delta affiliate SkyWest. The filing did not state whether any of these alternatives was seriously considered by ASA.
Summary of U.S. Major Carriers International Traffic August 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change Alaska 61 28.82 1,124 68,222 35.18
American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American, reported an 8.7% growth in system-wide traffic and 9.5% more capacity for February 1999, compared with the same 1998 month, which depressed the load factor 0.4 percentage points to 56.2%. The carrier posted sys-temwide 205.8 million revenue passenger miles and 366.3 million available seat miles. Passengers flown grew 3.6% to 938,977. American Eagle Sees Boost In Traffic, Capacity Feb 99 Feb 98 2 Mths 99 2 Mths 98
Chautauqua Airlines, a US Express carrier based in Indianapolis, on Wednesday launched nonstop service between Buffalo and Washington Dulles. The carrier operates three daily nonstop flights every business day and one on Sunday, using Saab 340 aircraft.
