Swissair has won the tender for the purchase of French airline AOM, the Swiss airline announced Tuesday in Zurich. AOM, which was put up for sale last summer, is currently owned by the troubled French state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais. Swissair will take 49% of the airline's capital, while French financial partners will own the rest. The operation now must be examined by French and European competition authorities.
Joseph Civiletto will become president and chief operating officer of American Aircarriers Support, Fort Mill, S.C., on Feb. 8, the company announced. He has been chief financial officer of Aviation Sales Co., Miami, Fla.
Airlines buying Boeing aircraft can take advantage of a type of aircraft loan previously available only in Europe - one that Airbus has used to gain market share in several critical jet sales. The newly available tool is likely to lower LanChile's payments on two Boeing 767-300s by $100,000 per aircraft per month. "For four to five years, Airbus has had a tremendous advantage over Boeing in terms of the financing they can offer to customers," said Skip Stern, managing director of CIBC World Markets, which pushed for the change and arranged the landmark LanChile deal.
U.S. National Carriers Productivity, In Revenues And Expenses Per Employee Third Quarter 1998, In Dollars Total Total Operating Operating Revenues Expenses Total (000) (000) Employees AirTran Airlines 115,079 120,377 2,489 Aloha 58,020 55,551 2,265
Air Canada, losing money and reeling from a pilots strike last year, will lay off 1,275 staff this month as part of several fleet and structural initiatives to boost profit margins and streamline the company. Another 450 positions will be eliminated by yearend. The airline yesterday posted a net loss of C$16 million (US$10.6 million) for 1998 and an operating profit of C$144 million ($95 million). The 13-day pilots strike in September cost Air Canada C$155 million ($103 million) in net income.
DOT Inspector General office's criticism of FAA's financial oversight of Denver airport spending "seems unfair to me," Lee Marable, chief counsel for Denver International Airport, told The DAILY. The IG's office completed an audit saying local officials had inappropriately spent about $1.2 million for non-airport uses associated with the disposal of Denver Stapleton, and had undercollected another $1.2 million available to it (DAILY, Feb. 2). FAA declined comment.
Ranking House Transportation aviation subcommittee member William Lipinski (D-Ill.) said yesterday in a Chicago Tribune op-ed article that slot controls should be eliminated at Chicago O'Hare to increase competition and improve service without harming safety. DOT's Patrick Murphy said recently slot controls and perimeter rules no longer are needed for aviation purposes. Lipinski questioned the need for O'Hare slot controls when DOT studied the matter in 1995, but the issue is gaining momentum in the "Year of Aviation."
FAA is reducing spending by more than $30 million during the current fiscal year, affecting maintenance and certification work, the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association said yesterday. Quoting "a highly placed FAA source," PAMA said the cutback will eliminate about 200 man-years of work through Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 1999, and reduce the agency's work on equipment certification, airline surveillance and maintenance.
A strike by Finnish air traffic controllers is costing Finnair about $3.6 million per week, Finland's flag carrier said yesterday in Helsinki. Finnish ATC engineers, on strike since the beginning of the week, pledge to continue their action until they obtain a pay increase of 20%. ATC operations are currently being staffed by Finnish civil aviation executives. Ninety percent of domestic flights were canceled on Monday and Tuesday. Most international flights operated on Monday, while 20% were canceled on Tuesday. The strike has caused public outrage in Finland.
FAA solicited comment yesterday on a proposed Technical Standard Order specifying minimum operational performance standards for stand-alone airborne navigation equipment using the Global Positioning System (GPS) enhanced by the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). In a Federal Register notice, the agency set April 16 as the deadline for comment.
Continental yesterday added to its string of superior traffic results with a record January load factor of 67.9%, up 3.1 percentage points from January 1998. Traffic increased 13.7% and capacity 8.5%. International traffic rose 15.1% on 11.9% more capacity. International capacity was 35.4% of the airline's systemwide total last month. January domestic traffic rose 13% on 6.7% more capacity. Continental Express traffic increased 37.6% on 19.3% more capacity, raising the load factor 7.3 points to a record.
The Air Transport Association is blasting the Clinton administration's budget proposal, saying it will impose heavy taxes on air travelers. "After a multi-billion dollar tax increase two years ago, the administration is now proposing to raise taxes on airline passengers by billions more," said ATA President and Chief Executive Carol Hallett. She said airline passengers "do not deserve the government dipping into their pockets yet again."
The 10 largest U.S. carriers posted poorer records in December and the year 1998, compared with November and calendar 1997, for on-time arrivals and mishandled-baggage, according to DOT's Air Travel Consumer Report; complaints were up for the year but down in December. The airlines reported an on-time arrivals record of 73.2% in December, lower than in November, 83.3%. For the year, the carriers achieved an on-time rate of 77.2%, slightly lower than 1997's 77.7%.
Malaysia Airlines has asked the transport ministry for permission to raise domestic fares by 20%, citing escalating overheads and declining revenue from the sector. The previous increase, for 16%, came in 1992. Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik denied this but indicated the government will consider the current increase if MAS makes a request. He added, however, that the current economic situation would have to be taken into account.
National Airlines, close to starting operations from Las Vegas, yesterday signed a five-year contract with Airline Automation for software related to a frequent flyer program, flight scheduling and reservations. AAI will provide e-ticket confirmations via fax, e-mail and regular mail.
US Airways' low-fare MetroJet service yesterday added 17 roundtrip flights between Washington Dulles and three new markets - Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., and Raleigh/Durham, N.C. The new schedule will offer seven daily Dulles-Atlanta nonstops, three Dulles-Birmingham flights, four Dulles-Raleigh/Durham flights and three Raleigh/Durham-Orlando flights. Sample lowest advance purchase one-way fares are $77 Dulles-Atlanta, $59 Dulles-Raleigh/Durham and $85 Raleigh/Durham-Orlando.
British Airways traffic for January rose 9.5% on 10.7% more capacity, lowering the passenger load factor 0.6 percentage points to 63.6%. Premium traffic fell for the second straight month, down 1.1%, and showed a sharper decline within Europe than outside the continent. Non-premium traffic grew 11.3%. BA's intercontinental traffic rose 10.3% last month on 11.35 more capacity, while U.K./Europe traffic grew 5.2% on 8.1% more capacity.
Alaska Airlines, one of the few airlines with double-digit growth at the moment, posted an 11.6% increase in January traffic on 10% more capacity, which boosted the load factor 0.9 percentage points to 62.1%. Alaska carried 970,800 passengers last month, up 9%. Subsidiary Horizon Air reported a 27.5% traffic rise on 26.7% more capacity, leading the load factor to grow to 57.3% from 56.9%. Horizon carried 364,900 passengers in January, compared with 295,000 in January 1998.
The House yesterday overwhelmingly approved - by a 408-3 vote - a $10.1 billion FAA reauthorization bill for the balance of fiscal 1999. In a related development, the Senate Commerce Committee announced that its planned markup today of Chairman John McCain's multi-year reauthorization - the Air Transportation Improvement Act - has been postponed because McCain has the flu.
The National Mediation Board will investigate the results of the election at Northwest that wrested the right to represent the airline's more than 2,000 mechanics away from the International Association of Machinists (IAM) in favor of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA). In a letter to Northwest yesterday, the NMB said its review of IAM's challenge to the election had turned up grounds for a field investigation. The inquiry will begin as soon as a mediator can schedule individual witnesses, NMB said.
British Midland had the best booking period in its history since it began a fare sale Jan. 14. On Sunday, the airline extended the sale by five days, until tomorrow. Originally, British Midland said it was discounting fares by $16 million across 300,000 seats systemwide. The method of describing the sale - in money rather than in percent discount - is a novel approach. The carrier has been receiving 800 calls an hour during its busiest periods.
Of 9,606 commercial aviation complaints filed at DOT in 1998, 1,001 were about foreign airlines, up from 882 in 1997.British Airways accounted for 79 complaints, Air France and Air Jamaica 71 each, KLM 58 and Lufthansa 44. United and Northwest each drew more than 1,100. Tour operators were the subject of 300 complaints, 181 of them against Sunjet International Sales.
U.S. National Carriers Productivity, In RPMs And ASMs Per Employee Third Quarter 1998 Revenue Available Passenger Seat Miles Miles Total (000) (000) Employees AirTran Airlines 842,580 1,447,916 2,489 Aloha 198,147 313,022 2,265 American Trans Air 2,624,813 3,607,022 5,065
Messier Services will repair and overhaul Ansett Australia's narrowbody fleet of 22 737 and 11 A320 aircraft under a US$5 million contract. The Messier-Bugatti unit, formed last July, said the contract is its first to provide comprehensive service for an airline's entire single-aisle fleet.
US Airways' first A320 aircraft was scheduled to enter service today on Philadelphia-Los Angeles daily service. The airline expects to receive 10 more 142-seat A320s this year. US Airways began flying 120-seat A319s last November. US Airways launched MetroJet service yesterday from Raleigh/Durham to Orlando and Washington Dulles.
