FAA's 24th annual Commercial Aviation Forecast Conference, March 24-25, will have the theme "The Demand for Commercial Aviation Services in the 21st Century." The agency is switching from its traditional location of a hotel ballroom to the Washington Convention Center for the first day of the conference. The second day, which includes breakout sessions that will address demand and supply issues from the perspective of large air carriers, regionals and airports, will be held at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center.
Summary of U.S. National Carriers Systemwide Traffic September 1998 Revenue Average Revenue Passengers Length of Passenger Enplaned % Travel Miles % (000) Change (Miles) (000) Change AirTran Airlines 409 378.17 542 221,852 201.00
China Airlines' board of directors has approved a plan for the merger of CAL subsidiaries Formosa Airlines and Mandarin Airlines into one company that would retain the Mandarin Airlines name. A board spokesman said the merger will enable CAL and Mandarin to realize full efficiencies from the integration of routes and resources. The merger will be implemented formally following an agreement on stock swaps between Formosa and Mandarin and upon gaining the approval of the board of the ADI Group, another major shareholder in Formosa Airlines.
Eagle Canyon Airlines yesterday completed its purchase of Las Vegas-based Scenic Airlines, and the merged company has been renamed Eagle Scenic Aviation Group. All of the National Park flights will be flown under the Scenic Airlines banner. Scenic, the largest sightseeing airline in the world, operates 23 aircraft, including the park-friendly 19-seat de Havilland Twin Otter and five 44-seat Fokker 27s. The Twin Otter is the only aircraft permitted to fly over specially designated sections of the Grand Canyon after 2004.
Alaska Airlines says it is ready to provide a detailed rebuttal of a news report published last Friday by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer that claims the airline has avoided major FAA fines by bending and breaking the rules. The article states FAA treats the carrier with kid gloves and has transferred to other jobs inspectors who are too critical of the airline. Alaska Chairman and Chief Executive John Kelly and President Bill Ayer issued a joint statement to employees Friday saying "Safety first.
Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia have signed an open-skies agreement, the first among Asian countries. The agreement covers the northern states of West Malaysia - Perak, Penang and Kedah and Southern Thailand and Western Indonesia. The move, initiated by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, paves the way for airlines of the three countries to mount services within their respective boundaries with no restriction on capacity or frequency. The pact, which takes effect immediately, aims to promote tourism and trade.
Martin Shugrue, 58, former Pan Am, Eastern and Continental executive, died Sunday in his sleep at his home in Houston. Industry officials say he died of a brain hemorrhage. The funeral will be held Thursday in Providence, R.I., where Shugrue was born.
After a load factor drop in January, TWA's February load factor inched up 0.6 percentage points to 66.2%, its best February load factor since 1978. Traffic fell 0.2% on 1.1% less capacity. Domestic traffic rose 2.2% on 2.5% more capacity, lowering the load factor 0.2 points to 66.2%. International traffic dropped 13.3% on 19.7% less capacity, resulting in a load factor of 66.2%, up 4.9 points. TWA boarded 1.76 million passengers last month, up 1.6%. The international division carried 55,485 passengers, or 3.1% of the total.
Vivid Technologies said New Athens Airport and Birmingham Airport in the U.K. selected its explosives detection systems for screening luggage. The new Athens airport is installing the equipment as part of its initial construction.
Airlines on both sides of the Atlantic will fly 29 additional daily nonstop flights this summer, resulting in a 6%-7% capacity increase, according to an analysis by Airline/Aircraft Projects President Craig Jenks. Three carriers will drop four routes they flew last year - Delta's New York Kennedy-Warsaw, TWA's JFK-Barcelona and British Airways' JFK-Glasgow and JFK-Birmingham - resulting in a net addition of 25 daily flights. Counter to the trend during the early to mid-1990s, U.S.
Southwest traffic for February jumped 17.2% on 10.2% more capacity, forcing the load factor up 4.0 percentage points to 65.5%. The airline carried 4.1 million passengers, up 9.1%, and its average length of haul increased 7.3% to 618 miles from 576 miles. For the first two months, the load factor was up 4.6 points as traffic climbed 18.2% on 9.4% more capacity.
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.
