Amadeus says its first month of issuing Year 2000 bookings was a success. The computer reservations system processed more than 500,000 bookings for Year 2000 on nearly 300 airlines worldwide. It issued the first Y2K ticket Jan. 5.
America West's January traffic rose 11.8% to a record 11.8 billion revenue passenger miles, as capacity grew 6.7% and the load factor went up 2.8 percentage points to 59.2%. America West Chief Executive William Franke said yesterday that the company's major shareholder would support an acquisition by a third party if all shares were bought.
United traffic for January rose 1.9% on 0.3% less capacity, forcing the load factor up 1.5 percentage points to 67.2%. "Traffic continues to look good overall," said President Jim Goodwin in a statement. Domestic traffic increased 5.4% on 1.8% more capacity, which raised the domestic load factor 2.3 points to 66.4%. United's domestic capacity was 62.6% of systemwide capacity in January, compared with 61.3% a year ago. Pacific traffic fell 8.6% on 12.7% less capacity, raising the load factor 3.2 points to 71.5%.
Comair, a Delta Connection carrier, is expanding nonstop jet service from its Cincinnati hub to 10 cities and will upgrade jet service to three. Comair also will begin weekend jet service between Boston and Myrtle Beach, S.C., with one nonstop flight. From Cincinnati, Comair will increase jet service by adding daily roundtrip jet flights to cities in its network: four to Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, Pa., March 2; four to Harrisburg, Pa., March 2; seven to Toronto March 2; four to Wichita, Kan., March 2; one to Newark April 1; eight to St.
FAA and its industry-based Ice Protection Harmonization Working Group are crafting a new rule that would require ice-detection systems on all Part 25 aircraft operating under Part 121 of the FARs. Aircraft operating under Part 91 and other categories likely would follow. Included would be a warning system to "turn on" ice protection systems. "We cannot have another icing accident," said Eugene Hill, FAA inflight icing specialist, this week. "We are very concerned what it does to lower the public view, not only of propellers, but small regional jets as well."
Washington Dulles-based Atlantic Coast Airlines reported a 60.9% surge in traffic on 39.2% more capacity for January 1999, compared with the same month last year, boosting the load factor 6.5 percentage points to 48%. ACA flew 61.4 million revenue passenger miles and 128 million available seat miles. Passenger boardings rose 45% to 193,139. January 1999 January 1998 Rev. Passenger Miles 61,432,000 38,186,000 Available Seat Miles 127,991,000 91,953,000
Relatively small aviation infrastructure enhancements can produce major improvements in the U.S. aviation system, according to a George Washington University Aviation Institute report to be published next week. Terming infrastructure problems "the biggest issues in aviation today," institute director Darryl Jenkins estimated that a 1% improvement in air traffic control efficiency would lead to at least $200 million in annual savings for the 10 major U.S. airlines. The institute will issue the report Feb.
Southwest traffic for January soared 19.3% to 2.47 billion revenue passenger miles on just 8.7% more capacity, resulting in a load factor jump of 5.2 percentage points to 59.2%. The airline carried 3.95 million passengers last month, up 340,000 or 9.4%. Southwest's average length of haul increased 9.1% to 625 miles from 573 miles, and it flew an average of 2,200 daily flights.
Senior members of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee responded cautiously yesterday to Clinton administration plans to turn FAA's air traffic control operations into a performance-based organization (PBO). Ranking Democrat James Oberstar (Minn.) pronouncing himself "highly skeptical" of the plan, which recast ATC into a service organization with measurable performance goals on which pay and promotion would be based.
Mesa Air Group may become the first regional to operate both the Canadair and the Embraer 50-seat regional jets. The DAILY has learned that the Phoenix-based company is negotiating to acquire 20 ERJ-145s as well as 20 of the smaller 37-seat ERJ-135. Mesa currently operates 20 Canadair Regional jets with an order backlog of 12. According to sources, the company would transfer its existing America West Express CRJs operating at Phoenix to its US Airways Express operations on the East Coast and equip America West Express with the new ERJs.
Aero Systems Engineering (ASE) , St. Paul, Minn., ended 1998 with its sixth consecutive profitable quarter and rebounded from a 1997 loss, $401,000, to net income of $665,000 for the year. Sales for the quarter were down from the year-earlier period, $7.65 million vs. $8.56 million, but increased 9% for the year, to $27.2 million.
Nearly five years of acrimonious negotiations ended yesterday when Federal Express pilots ratified their first contract with the company. The five-year agreement, which becomes effective May 31, was approved 2,516-395, a margin of 87%-13%. Fedex Pilots Association President Frank Fato called ratification "an historic occasion for FedEx's more than 3,600 pilots" and said scheduling improvements, pilot oversight and work rule changes have mitigated most of the problems of the previous tentative offer, which members voted down.
FAA issued a final rule revising emission standards for jet aircraft engines to meet the current standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization for oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide. The final rule also revises test procedures for gaseous emissions. The agency said this means an emission certification test that meets U.S. requirements also will meet those of ICAO.
Don Carty, chairman and chief executive of American Airlines, recently spoke before the International Aviation Club of Washington, D.C., and his speech will be the subject of Aviation News Today, to air Sunday on Washington's NewsChannel 8 at 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Chicago officials hatched plans yesterday to build two new terminals at O'Hare Airport, adding more than 20 large-aircraft gates at a cost of $1 billion. Mayor Richard Daley said Chicago must compete with improvements at other airports, including a new billion-dollar terminal at New York Kennedy. O'Hare's heating and refrigeration plant would be demolished and relocated to make way for one of the new terminals. The other new terminal would be built east of the current Terminal 5.
On-demand air taxis may be the "wave of the future" for small-community air service, predicts Michael Boyd of The Boyd Group. He calls it the "fourth tier of air service." Boyd said that passengers are willing to drive for jet service and that regional jets will be focused on "regional" airports. The demise of 19-seaters will eliminate service to many smaller communities, except EAS subsidy markets. "Small jets are expensive. They need more revenue than most small airports can generate." Cities served by 19-seaters are unlikely to see small-jet service, he added.
SkyWest and Midway Airlines revealed this week strategies that will take them through the next year despite a projected industry downturn. Speaking at the Robinson-Humphrey Regional Airline Conference in New York, SkyWest President and Chief Executive Jerry Atkin said multiple code shares with Delta and United, a clearly defined business strategy and strong earnings momentum, plus the sale of the Scenic Airways operation helped make 1998 a profitable year.
Boeing 727-200 and 737 Systemwide Aircraft Utilization Per Day Third Quarter 1998 B727-200 American Continental Delta Number of Aircraft Operated 78 31 129 Total Fleet Operations Departures 273 105 683
Honeywell's Space and Aviation Control, Phoenix, will combine its two commercial aviation businesses, Air Transport Systems (ATS) and Business and Commuter Aviation Systems (BCAS), into a single unit known as Commercial Aviation Systems, Honeywell said this week. ATS develops avionics and aviation services for the airline and air transport markets, and BCAS provides avionics and services to the corporate business jet and regional air carrier markets.
DOT and FAA were putting the final touches yesterday on the Clinton administration legislative proposal, previewed Wednesday by DOT Secretary Rodney Slater (DAILY, Feb. 4).Sources said DOT will send the package to Congress on Monday.
U.K.-based Brymon Airways' passengers rose 38% in the first nine months of the current financial year. Brymon, a British Airways subsidiary, operates BA services throughout the U.K. and to Ireland, the Channel Islands and Paris. The company, which employs more than 550, also operates an offshore air charter business from Aberdeen. The airline forecasts yearend passenger growth of 43%, about 840,000.
Regional jets will comprise 55% of total regional airline seats and about 75% of capacity by the end of 2003, according to industry analyst James Parker, managing director of Atlanta-based Robinson-Humphrey. Although the RJ market will be saturated by then, growth will continue as RJs are used in new medium- and long-distance service to major airline hubs and 70-seat RJs upgrade capacity in higher-load-factor markets now served by 50-seat RJs. Major airlines will continue to shift markets to their lower-cost code-sharing regional partners, Parker predicts.
Asserting an immediate, urgent need to turn FAA air traffic management into a performance-oriented, user-fee-based system, DOT Secretary Rodney Slater said yesterday the administration will press its plan forward during the "window of opportunity as the Congress prepares to act on aviation legislation." The proposal likely will be transmitted to Congress today, a DOT spokesman told The DAILY. In a speech to the Wings Club in New York, Slater said that having "reformed our personnel and acquisition practices...we need to finish the job.
Revima will maintain and service landing gear and auxiliary power units of high-capacity aircraft - 747s, DC-10s and MD-11s - operated by KLM and the Dutch carrier's affiliates under a 10-year contract. The French company, owned 70% by Sogerma and 30% by Air France, said the contract is priced in euros.
