Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and Philippine Airlines (PAL), both weakened considerably by Asia's economic woes, have agreed to code share on regional routes, starting this month. Malaysia is one of several markets PAL abandoned last year. PAL's code will appear on 11 weekly MAS flights between Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu and Kuching and the Philippine cities of Manila and Cebu. MAS said the accord is PAL's first with a foreign airline since it restarted operations after last year's labor troubles.
Ansett Australia will lease two Boeing 747-400s from Singapore Airlines this year, after expiration of the leases of two SIA-owned 747-300s the Australian carrier currently operates. The move reflects economic reasons and Ansett's desire to counter Qantas's new fleet refurbishment.
Despite reported progress in FAA-Air Line Pilots Association negotiations on land and hold short operations, ALPA plans a LAHSO leaflet campaign beginning Feb. 17 at Boston, Charlotte, Miami, Chicago O'Hare, Philadelphia and St. Louis. ALPA has set a deadline of Feb. 19 to reach an agreement with FAA or call for a LAHSO embargo.
Helicopter Association International named John MacFarlane, Southern Airways of Texas, recipient of its Certified Flight Instructor Award; Thomas Craig, Evergreen Helicopters, Helicopter Maintenance Award; David Anderson, Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Aviation Repair Specialist Award; Thomas Robertson, Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Aviation Maintenance Technician Award; Matthew Zuccaro, Zuccaro Industries, Community Service Award; Michelle North, Rocky Mountain Helicopters, Joe Mashman Safety Award; Wesley Pearson, chief pilot for City of Lakewood, Calif., Law Enforcement Aw
The United Flight Center in Denver has received its Type 142 certificate from FAA, permitting the school to offer customers simulator-only flight training for pilots and engineers. The school offers simulator-only type ratings and recurrency training on most Boeing and Douglas aircraft, and on Airbus narrowbody aircraft.
U.S. domestic growth will be concentrated on the East Coast this year, and Northwest, Southwest and Alaska can expect "almost no impact on their operations," according to Merrill Lynch analysts. United and US Airways, expanding at Washington Dulles, "should see the most pressure on air fares and load factors." Above-average revenue growth is expected at Delta and Alaska.
Saying his bill "is not a vendetta against the airlines," Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) joined aviation subcommittee member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) Friday in announcing plans to introduce the Airline Passenger Fairness Act, a bill they said would establish basic rights for airline passengers. Another subcommittee member, Richard Bryan (R-Nev.), became a cosponsor.
The National Mediation Board on Friday threw out a challenge by Midway Airlines that attempted to overturn a representation election at the airline by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA). Joyce Sothoron, a flight attendant, said, "We won fair and square. Now it's time for the airline to sit down with flight attendants and bargain seriously." NMB's ruling certified AFA as the official bargaining representative for Midway cabin crew. Of 107 eligible voters, 82 cast votes for AFA.
Regional airline executives believe the next round of pilot contract talks will raise caps on regional jet growth at the majors. Atlantic Southeast Chairman George Pickett Jr. said last week he is confident that Delta will not put restrictions on the number of RJs a regional affiliate can acquire. Atlantic Coast Senior VP-Finance Paul Tate said United's pilot scope clause probably will "evolve over time" to ease the current RJ cap, and SkyWest is banking on it to increase its United Express flying.
American wants to use its seven weekly U.S.-Russia frequencies, granted for own-aircraft Chicago-Moscow service, for code-share flights with Finnair to Moscow and St. Petersburg. DOT granted American an exemption for service between points in the U.S. and Riga, Latvia, and Tallinn, Estonia, via Helsinki, and approved various reciprocal code sharing by American and Finnair, but deferred action on St. Petersburg service.
Rolls-Royce expanded repair and overhaul support for its AE3007 engines by opening a test and rework center at Rolls-Royce, East Kilbride, Scotland. The new facility is the third - and the first in Europe, after existing bases in Montreal, Canada and Sao Paulo, Brazil - certified to handle the engine, which powers Embraer RJ145, RJ135 and Citation X aircraft. East Kilbride already has test and rework capability for the Rolls-Royce AE2100 powerplant for Saab 2000 and Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft.
Sun Country flight attendants have reached a tentative agreement on their first contract. Under the deal, the airline's nearly 400 Teamster-represented cabin crew will gain "long overdue" wage increases and defined duty time limits, said Glenn Wisser, Sun Country flight attendant. Sun Country spokeswoman Lori Barghini said ballots will be mailed Feb. 10 and are due back Feb. 26. She said the ratification vote results should be announced by March 1.
Daystar Airways d/b/a Nevis Express applied for a DOT certificate to operate scheduled interstate combination service. The airline, based in Charlestown, Nevis, West Indies, is a U.S. carrier organized under the laws of Alaska and holds an FAA operating certificate. It wants to arrange interline agreements with carriers serving St. Kitts, which requires DOT economic authority. Daystar was formed by owner Allen Haddadi to provide scheduled service between Nevis and St. Kitts, which comprise the Federation of Nevis and St. Kitts.
Travel agent commission cuts, smart regional jet financing and attractive interest rates helped Atlantic Coast Airlines - one of the nation's fastest growing and most successful regional carriers - lower its unit costs 18% year over year, ACA Senior VP-Finance and Chief Financial Officer Paul Tate said. Tate, addressing airline financial analysts and executives at the Robinson-Humphrey Regional Airline Conference this week in New York, said ACA financed its first 15 RJs using low-cost lease and debt structure.
AirTran yesterday posted another quarterly loss, this time $30.5 million in the fourth quarter, including a $27.5 million charge to write off its Boeing 737 fleet. The net loss for 1998 was $40.7 million. Both quarterly and annual deficits were improvements over earlier losses. Fourth quarter revenue jumped 50.3% to $105.7 million, and revenue more than doubled last year, to $439 million from $211 million in 1997. AirTran currently operates 10 Boeing 737s, and five of them will leave the fleet during the third and fourth quarters.
FAA ordered U.S. operators to provide shielding and separation of fuel system wiring from adjacent wiring and installation of flame arrestors and pressure relief valves in the fuel vent systems of 1,140 737s at an estimated cost of $24 million, or $21,180 per airplane. Some 2,780 737s are in the worldwide fleet. The agency said its order includes all electrical circuits associated with the control or indication of the fuel quantity on the airplane. It turned down requests to withdraw or delay the rule pending further testing.
Northwest and Malaysia Airlines agreed yesterday to a code-share and marketing alliance covering a variety of destinations. Northwest will become the only U.S. airline to fly to Kuala Lumpur Feb. 25, when it begins three weekly DC-10 flights from Detroit via Osaka. MAS operates Los Angeles-Kuala Lumpur via both Tokyo and Taipei, and it serves the unique Kuala Lumpur-Dubai-Newark routing. The two carriers will merge frequent flyer programs and airport lounges and initiate joint marketing and sales programs.
Atlanta-based Atlantic Southeast Airlines last year earned a record net income of $66.1 million, or $2.22 per share - up 21.3% and 22.7%, respectively, from the comparable 1997 figures of $54.5 million and $1.81 per share. Total revenues for the year rose 6.4% to $409.9 million as traffic improved 12.6% to 1.04 billion revenue passenger miles and yield dropped 5.9% to 38.5 cents per revenue passenger mile. Quarter Quarter 12 Mths 12 Mths
Price of jet fuel in the U.S. has averaged 33 cents per gallon during the past two weeks, according to BT Alex Brown. Although prices rose 5.5% from the beginning of this week, the rates during the past two weeks are down 33% year-over-year.
Stock prices for eight publicly held regional airlines jumped 9.2% to $21.34 per share on Jan. 29 - up from an average of $19.54 per share at the December close. The average hit a high for the month of $22.14 per share on Jan 19 and a low of $19.70 on Jan. 4. The big gainer was United Express Atlantic Coast Airlines with a $6.38 increase, or 25.5%, from $25 to $31.38 per share. The next big gainer was United Express/Delta Connection SkyWest, up 10.3% to $36.06 after a high for the month of $38 Jan. 19. Delta Connection Comair climbed 33.8% to $36.69 per share.
American Eagle Airlines posted a 7.6% increase in systemwide traffic on 0.3% more capacity for January 1999, compared with the same month in 1998, boosting the load factor 3.9 percentage points to 57.7%. American Eagle systemwide flew 211.4 million revenue passenger miles and 366.6 million available seat miles. Passengers boarded grew 3.1% to 968,279.
The Associations of Star Alliance Pilots (ASAP) leadership will meet in Copenhagen in June to vote on establishing a working group that will meet frequently to address pilot and industry concerns in a timely fashion. ASAP, meeting last month in Toronto, agreed to consider creating the group, which would prepare meeting agendas and report on issues important to pilots at the nine ASAP member airlines - United, Lufthansa, SAS, Varig, Thai Airways, Ansett Australia, Air New Zealand, All Nippon and Air Canada.
